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[rinkworks]

Iolite and Hematite are the same.

(ninaed by WW)

I combined these two cards into Iolite, so Hematite doesn't exist anymore.  The phrasing and punctuation was slightly different, but no functional difference.

[Guy Srinivasan]

Strictly? Forge.

Then 'strictly better' doesn't apply to any card because of Possession. Can't we all agree to define 'strictly better' in a way that we might actually be able to use it to describe anything?

Festival costed at 3 is strictly better than Woodcutter (for now . The on-play effects of Festival are strictly better than the on-play effects of Woodcutter.

But sure, what's your proposed definition of 'strictly better'?

In other news, I love Ruby and Aventurine, the 3-cost "trash for 4" and 4-cost "trash for 5". I think Aventurine might be too strong? Turning your useful 4 into a Duchy is quite good. Ruby, though, is awesome fun I think.

[rinkworks]

But sure, what's your proposed definition of 'strictly better'?

This came up here (with the conversation starting a little before and continuing a little after).

The bottom line is this:  let's say you have two cards costing $3.  One gives you +2 Cards and one gives you +3 Cards.  If the context of the discussion is puzzles, by all means, point out situations where the +2 Cards one might be more beneficial.  Maybe the +3 Cards one would trigger an unwanted reshuffle or something.  And there are always Cornucopia cards that would prefer one of each than two of either.  And Possession is always an argument for a weaker card being better than a stronger one.

But if the context is card design and critiquing fan cards (as it is here), then those observations are useless and distract from what might be a real, legitimate question about balancing power and cost.

Clearly the +2 Cards card is underpowered, or the +3 Cards card is overpowered, or both.  So how do we point that out?  It's not good enough to say that one is "better" than the other.  Sea Hag is better than Thief, right?  But Sea Hag and Thief do entirely different things, and their relative strength fluctuates based on the kingdom.  So "strictly better" is a useful thing you can say to convey this point -- that one of the cards does everything the other does, plus supplies an additional benefit -- despite that there exist obscure puzzle answers to the contrary.

[rinkworks]

Added rule clarifications to Opal.

[blueblimp]

Now looking at attacks, since there is much precedence in official cards for non-weak terminal Silvers being attacks.

There are a lot of "gain a Copper" attacks. I don't like these because gaining a Copper hurts an engine a lot, BM+X only a little, and actually helps alt VP. So basically the main effect of these attacks is to make engine players cry. So I'm not fond of any of Agate, Jasper, Alaxandrite, Apatite, Beryl, Chalcedony, Peridot, Tourmaline, Hackmanite.

I've grouped the remaining attacks roughly by their main effect.

Cursers
Amethyst: Resembles Torturer, but Torturer is designed to encourage chaining. Without chaining, this doesn't do much against BM+X, usually less than a Cutpurse does.

Opal: "he may immediately buy" is a rules nightmare.

Tanzanite: I like this concept (gives a Curse but also a trash option), but I feel the choice to draw a card dilutes the concept a bit. I guess that's there for 3p/4p?

Axinite: Taking 2 Estates won't happen much early, but will happen a lot late. This card is more complicated than Witch, but does not seem more interesting.

Forced discard
Iolite: When this hits, it's usually stronger than Militia (discarding a terminal Silver instead of a Copper+Estate). Swingy. Unfriendly to engines.

Turquoise: This is functionally a Cutpurse.

Forced trash
Malachite: Complicated, and being able to trash a Silver from your opponent's deck with no compensation is strong already (that's usually what Saboteur does, and it costs $5 and has no +$2!), and then there's the other stuff also. Way too strong.

Brandburg: I don't understand what happens when this trashes a Copper. Confusing. I'm not a big fan of forced-trash type cards, anyway.

Top-deck bad cards
Aquamarine: A sort of reverse-Courtyard. Seems damaging and interesting while not being too strong. I like. (Edit: I missed that you Courtyard yourself too. Still seems fine I think.)

Moonstone: A sort of customizable Fortune Teller. I'd prefer if it didn't have the option to discard the dug-up card, because being able to skip the other player's good card will be very annoying (especially if the attack is chosen to find and discard a Moonstone!). On the other hand, then, it'd be pretty much just a Fortune Teller.

Ametrine: Since a player will always reveal a bad card to discard-or-top-deck, you'll almost always choose the top-deck option, so the discard option doesn't really need to be here. Then it overlaps too much with Garrison.

Bloodstone: Usually, playing this gains you a Copper. So... this is pretty weak unless your opponent is running a VERY trimmed deck or you are doing alt VP.

Reverse Jester
Larimar: Too many moving parts to this card, IMO.


My favourite of all these attacks is Aquamarine. A clever, unique attack that shouldn't be too strong.

[shark_bait]

Sorry for the wall of text.  I'll probably go and add more comments later, but these are my initial thoughts about everything.

Amber
$1 - Action
+$2
Discard a Treasure from your hand (or reveal a hand with no Treasure).
If you discarded any cards this way, +1 Card.

Most times discard a copper for another something.  If you draw another copper, it’s just like +$2.  If you don’t have a village and draw an action, it’s +$1.  If you don’t have a copper to discard, it’s most likely not very good.  I’d say a little weak but for $1, hey, it doesn't have to be strong.

Carnelian
$1 - Action
+$2

Not strictly inferior to Emerald

Emerald
$2 - Action
+$2

Not strictly superior to Carnelian

Jade
$2 - Action
+$2
You may gain a [This Card] in hand. If you do, trash a card from your hand.

Hmm… gain another terminal to trash a card.  I dunno how often the trashing would be worth it at the cost of another terminal.  Seems a little counter productive.

Agate
$2 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with fewer than 6 cards in hand gains a Copper in hand. If no player gains a Copper this way, discard this from play. Otherwise, play this again.

Seems broken with Any Village/Any discard.  The ability to give 3 copper and +$6 is absurdly good.

Onyx
$3 - Action
+$2
At the start of Clean-up this turn, choose up to two cards you have in play. For each you would discard from play this turn, shuffle it into your deck.

I’d call this good for engines and BM.  Shuffle your best Treasure in to play it again.  If you don’t have terminals left, put this card back in.  Seems good and doesn’t seem inherently broken in any way.

Pearl
$3 Action
+$2
You may choose to have each opponent draw a card.  If they do, +2VP.

You give them a one shot Lab and you get +2VP for it.  My instinct is that the +2VP is a bit OP for the player playing the card.  Tough to tell without play testing though. 

Jasper
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. He gains a number of Coppers equal to the number of Action cards revealed. Discard all revealed cards.

Detrimental to engines… moot in BM.

Topaz
$3 - Action
+$2
Name a card costing up to $2 and then reveal the top 3 cards of your deck.
If any copies of the named card are revealed, trash them and discard the rest.  Otherwise: Discard the revealed cards and gain a copy of the named card, putting it on top of your deck.

So you can use it to trash starting coppers/estates rather effectively and then use it as a pseudo workshop for cheap cards.  Good engine enabler as it has potential to trash multiple cards without sacrificing your current hand.  Especially with other TFB to get rid of it once initial trashing is done.

Amethyst
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may discard a Treasure or Victory card; if he doesn't, he gains a Curse.

Similar to Torturer in having a choice to discard.  No draw makes it harder to chain though… so I don’t think it would get too out of control.

Sapphire
$3 - Action
+$2
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck. if yours has or is tied for the lowest cost in $, +2 Buys.

Not really worth it most of the time.  The benefit is only marginal if you can use +buy. 

Ruby
$3 - Action
+$2
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a card costing at most $4.

Inclination is that $3 is too expensive.  But I don’t see anything inherently bad with this.

Zircon
$3 - Action
+$2
Reveal two cards from your hand.  The player to your left chooses one of them for you to trash.

Card get’s riskier and riskier as the game goes one… kinda like lookout.

Alaxandrite
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Trash a card from your hand, then draw a card.
Each other player gains a Curse and a Copper, putting one (their choice) in their hand.

Multiplayer games with this intrigue me.  I don’t really see why the choice.  I mean sure there are some options for wanting to curse (deplete pile with watchtower/ambassador in hand etc…)  But most often I would always choose copper.

Kyanite
$3 - Action
+$2
You may draw 3 cards. If you do, reveal 3 cards from your hand. The player to your left chooses one for you to discard. Trash the other two.

Interesting, you’d better hope you have 3 bad cards.  My inclination is that this card is quite powerful in BM games.  Possibly OP given that you can get an Embassy like effect and trash your junk and then choose to not trash if you don’t have bad cards to trash.

Citrine
$4 - Action
+2 Cards
+1 Buy
+$2
Discard 2 cards.

Virtual gold and a buy and sifting all in a single card.  This card in my opinion is a bit too strong at $4

Iolite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards an Action card (or reveals a hand with no Actions).

Situational attack.  Not blatantly OP but has the power to be detrimental.  Rage inducing effects similar to swindler.

Turquoise
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with at least five cards discards a Treasure card (or reveals a hand with no Treasure).

Compare to Cutpurse.  Can’t stack but can hit other treasure.  Makes multiplayer more nice, probably weaker in most situations. 

Apatite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards a card from his hand that is not a Victory card (or reveals a hand with only Victory cards) and gains a Copper, putting it in his hand.

Most null effect apart from getting an extra copper.  Not blatantly OP that I can see.

Beryl
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Draw 2 cards.
Discard 2 cards.
Everyone else discards a card and gains a Copper to their hand.

Quite powerful.  Virtual money sifter with a discard attack and copper gaining attack.  Probably OP.

Aquamarine
$4 - Action Attack
+$2
Each player including yourself draws a card and reveals their hand.  For each hand revealed, choose one card and return it to the top of each player's deck.

Another virtual money sifter type.  Cards on top rather than discarded.  Quite powerful again, but attack can’t stack.  Probably balanced.  I like it.

Chalcedony
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards 2 different named cards and gains a Copper.
(If the player reveals a hand of all the same cards, they discard only 1 card.)

I would call this almost strictly superior to Militia.

Hematite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards an Action card from their hand, or reveals a hand with no Action cards.

Haven’t we had this one already?

Malachite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
When you play this card, you may trash it. If you do, +1 VP.
Each other player draws 2 cards, then shows you his hand. You may choose a card from each revealed hand costing up to $3 and trash it. Each other player then discards down to 4 cards in hand.
--
(Rules clarification: Attacked opponents do not see each others' hands.)

Hmmm... end game you trash it and get rid of a $3 cost card from their hand with no benefit.  Seems alright as is.  I dunno if a Terminal $3 is worth it though.  I suppose timing the buy of this card would be critical because everything play without trashing it is a time you could have played a better terminal action.

Garnet
$4 - Action
+$2
After playing this card, shuffle your discard pile and place it on top of your draw pile.

A chancellor variant!  Interesting concept… I dunno if I would want to pay $4 for it. 

Labradorite
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top card of your deck. Gain a card costing exactly $1 less.

Hmmm…  most often will be kinda random… like Jester.

Sunstone
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck.
Discard all revealed Victory and Curse cards.
Put all revealed Treasure cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.
Put all revealed Action cards on the top of your deck in any order.

Kinda like scout… kinda not.  Interesting card.  Seems balanced at $4

Moonstone
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Name a card.
Every other player reveals cards from their deck until they reveal the named card.
They discard it or put it on top of their deck, your choice.
They discard the other revealed cards.

OP imo… being able to make them miss their best card is just too good.

Ametrine
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with at least 4 cards in hand reveals a card from hand and either discards it or puts it on top of his deck, your choice.

Mild attack… not OP, seems fine.  Similar to aquamarine but no sifting benefit for player but more powerful attack.

Opal
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may reveal a Victory or Curse card from his hand. If he doesn't, he may immediately buy a Victory or Curse card, putting it in his hand. If he doesn't, he discards his hand.

Rules question.  Does he draw a new hand?  Is he allowed to play his treasure in order to buy a card?  Needs wording changes.

Peridot
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
+1 Buy
Each other player reveals the top card of his deck and then puts it back. If the revealed card was not Copper, he gains a Copper, putting it on top of his deck. 

Another copper based attack.  Seems okay and balanced.  Kept in check by not being stackable.

Spinel
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top card of your deck and either trash it, discard it, or put it back.

Nice.  Simple.  Balanced.  I like it.

Tanzanite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
All other players gain a Curse and choose to either trash a card from their hand or draw a card.

Cursing attack, allowing players a benefit as well.  Interesting and probably balanced by the ability to trash when played.

Melanite
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top and bottom cards of your deck, then reveal a card from your hand. Place one of the revealed cards in your hand, one on top of your deck, and trash the remaining card.

Sifting power and trashing power.  This is a good card.  How good, I dunno, but pretty good.

Obsidian
$4 - Action
+$2
Gain a Silver.

Compare to JoaT.  Is $2 better than draw/sifting?  I dunno.. sometimes yes… sometimes no.  Probably balanced, but I think JoaT would be my choice.

Aventurine
$4 - Action
+$2
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a Victory card costing 5 or less.

Late game trashing for a free Duchy.  Compare to monument.  If you play it more than 3 times… I’d rather have monument. 

Dioptase
$5 - Action
+$2
+2 Cards, discard 2 cards.  For each Copper discarded, +1 VP.

This is a really good $5, especially with the VP.  Perhaps too good.

Ammolite
$4 - Action
+$2
You may reveal a Victory card from your hand. If you do, gain a card costing less than the revealed card.

You need good VP to make it worthwhile… kinda like Explorer.  Seems fine, maybe a little underwhelming.  But being able to gain VP at end game makes it more powerful.

Tourmaline
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may trash a Copper.
Each other player may discard a Copper. If he does, he gains a Copper. Otherwise, he gains three Coppers.

So they can do all 3.  Hmmm… gotta think about this one more.  Gaining 3 copper seems a little extreme for a single play.  But it could only be 1… I dunno.  Hard to judge this card right off the bat.

Axinite
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player gains two Estates or a Curse, his choice.

Not quite as good as Witch/Mountebank.  Once curses run, I will always gain 1 of those.


Bloodstone
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. You choose 1 for them to place of the bottom of their deck and put the other back. If any non-Victory cards are revealed, gain a copy of one non-Victory card revealed this way.

Needs to be reworded to fit dominion style.  Dangerous to play as you might hurt yourself.

Rhodonite
$5 - Action
+$2
+1 VP for every $4 you spend this turn, rounded down.

So unless you buy a province or better, it’s a monument.  Balanced or a tidge UP I would think.

Serpentine
$5 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Discard the revealed Victory and Curse cards and put the rest back on top in any order.
If you discarded 1 or more cards, you may gain a Copper.
If you discarded 2 or more cards, you may gain a Silver.
If you discarded 3 or more cards, you may gain a Gold.
--
(Rule clarification: The Treasure-gaining clauses are independent. If you discard 3 cards you may gain any or all of Copper, Silver, and Gold.)

It’s alright.  Good sifting and setting up the next hand with a benefit for hitting lots of junk.  I’d call it balanced.

Hackmanite
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Choose one of the following:
Gain a Copper, each other opponent gains a Curse;
Gain a Silver, each other opponent gains a Copper;
Gain a Gold, each other opponent gains a Silver.

Pick your poison.  Interesting idea.  I’d say this works as it is.

Amazonite
$5 - Action
+$2
Discard any number of cards.
Draw the same number of cards. You may set aside any Action cards drawn this way, as you draw them; discard the set aside cards after you finish drawing.

Good BM enabler, similar to library.

Celestite
$5 - Action
+$2
Look through your discard pile and trash up to 2 cards from it.

Trash from the discard.  Giving $2 is a nice benefit at $5, especially with the high selectivity you can have with the trashing.

Howlite
$5 - Action
+$2
Choose one:  Gain a token, or gain a card costing up to 1 per token on your mat.  If you gained a Victory card, return two tokens to the supply.

Compare to Haggler.  I’d say this is underpowered as it will take a long time to charge up your matt.

Kunzite
$5 - Action
+$2
You may discard a Victory card costing up to $6. If you do, gain a Victory card costing up to $3 more than the discarded card, putting it into your hand.

Not good… puts duchy rushing to a whole new level.  Very unbalanced.

Larimar
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Gain a card costing up to $4, put it on top of your discard pile.
Reveal a card from your hand or the top of your discard pile.  Each opponent chooses one: he gains a copy of that card, or you do, his choice.

Attack portion doesn’t make sense.  If they choose, they either take the good card or give you a bad card.  You’re attacking yourself or giving them free stuff!

Mica
$5 - Action
+2 Cards
+$2
Discard 2 cards.

Discard based sifters like this can be very very good in BM.  At a cost of $5, this one is probably balanced.

Brandburg
$6 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player trashes a Treasure card from his hand. He then gains a Treasure card costing at most $3 less than it (cost of gained card must be no lower than $0), and may choose to put it in his hand. Otherwise he reveals his hand with no Treasure cards.

So if you trash a copper, you gain nothing.  A reverse mine that is too underpowered to be $6 imo.

[eHalcyon]

One of these is mine.

Amber
$1 - Action
+$2
Discard a Treasure from your hand (or reveal a hand with no Treasure).
If you discarded any cards this way, +1 Card.

Not sure if the Treasure discard is meant to be a penalty.  Probably.  Not that interesting.

Carnelian
$1 - Action
+$2

Joke entry, I'm sure.

Emerald
$2 - Action
+$2

Also a joke, probably.

Jade
$2 - Action
+$2
You may gain a [This Card] in hand. If you do, trash a card from your hand.

Seems simple enough.  Not bad.

Agate
$2 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with fewer than 6 cards in hand gains a Copper in hand. If no player gains a Copper this way, discard this from play. Otherwise, play this again.

This is way too strong.  It is a $2 attack that junks up decks and gives you +$4.  If you can village+Militia/Margrave/Goons, then it actually gives you +$8 and dishes out 3 Coppers!

Onyx
$3 - Action
+$2
At the start of Clean-up this turn, choose up to two cards you have in play. For each you would discard from play this turn, shuffle it into your deck.

I think it is far too strong.  You could set up a Golden Deck with this SO quickly.  Open TR-Onyx.  When you play Onyx initially, start by topdecking itself.  When you find TR, TR-Onyx and topdeck both.  In the meanwhile, pick up just 2 Silvers.  When you run into those, you can TR-Onyx + 2 Silver and buy a Province.  Then topdeck TR-Onyx and the Silvers.  Repeat.  It would set up SO fast.

Edit: I misread this.  I thought it was topdecking, but it shuffles it into the deck.

Despite this change, the Golden Deck should still be doable; you just need to filter though your discard a bit.  Hm, I guess the TR might not pair up properly and get lost... and I guess you'd need KC or else that fourth card spot will eventually lead to a reshuffle.  OK, it's not so bad.

Pearl
$3 Action
+$2
You may choose to have each opponent draw a card.  If they do, +2VP.

This is way better than Monument, despite the card draw for opponents.

Jasper
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. He gains a number of Coppers equal to the number of Action cards revealed. Discard all revealed cards.

It just makes engines so sad.  However, I think this is OK.  I don't think it forces BM, it just really, really frustrates treasureless strategies.

Topaz
$3 - Action
+$2
Name a card costing up to $2 and then reveal the top 3 cards of your deck.
If any copies of the named card are revealed, trash them and discard the rest.  Otherwise: Discard the revealed cards and gain a copy of the named card, putting it on top of your deck.

Strong early trasher; whiffing is pretty bad for you.  Late game you might be afraid to play it, except there is nothing preventing a player from naming, for example, Followers.  Then nothing will be trashed.  You probably won't be able to gain Followers, of course.  Probably too strong -- the early trashing is almost as good as Chapel, except you also get +$2 and will still be able to buy something that turn because you're not trashing out of hand.

Amethyst
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may discard a Treasure or Victory card; if he doesn't, he gains a Curse.

I'm not sure.  I think this should be $4, as it is comparable to Cutpurse except it can Curse, but can also be blocked by a VP card.  I don't know.

Sapphire
$3 - Action
+$2
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck. if yours has or is tied for the lowest cost in $, +2 Buys.

I would say that this is weaker than Woodcutter.  The difference is that Woodcutter gives guaranteed +1 Buy, whereas Sapphire gives 0 or 2.  If you buy Woodcutter or Sapphire, you probably want the buys.  I don't think the possibility of 2 Buys makes up for the possibility of 0, because that second Buy is worth a lot less (you're less likely to need or use it).

Ruby
$3 - Action
+$2
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a card costing at most $4.

A mini-Feast with money attached.  Might be nice for a 3/4 opening when there are some good 4s on the board?

Zircon
$3 - Action
+$2
Reveal two cards from your hand.  The player to your left chooses one of them for you to trash.

Other early game trashers tend to be faster (Chapel, Remake, Trading Post) while single-card trashers usually have bigger benefit (Salvager, Apprentice, Remodel) and can be used to good effect in the late game.  zircon will usually be a dead card in the late game, because you won't have two other cards in hand that you're willing to trash.  It seems too weak to me.

Alaxandrite
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Trash a card from your hand, then draw a card.
Each other player gains a Curse and a Copper, putting one (their choice) in their hand.

Way, way strong.  You must trash, which is usually a good thing.  You draw a card, which is also good.  You deal out a Mountebank attack?!  Too good.  That the opponents can get some benefit from it does not make up for the amount of junk you're dealing out.

Kyanite
$3 - Action
+$2
You may draw 3 cards. If you do, reveal 3 cards from your hand. The player to your left chooses one for you to discard. Trash the other two.

Like Topaz, I think the trashing is too strong, because it doesn't eat up your hand like most trashers (Remake, chapel) but you are still trashing two at a time.  It doesn't hurt in the late game either, since the "draw 3, trash 2" is optional.

Citrine
$4 - Action
+2 Cards
+1 Buy
+$2
Discard 2 cards.

I think this would be OK at $5.

Iolite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards an Action card (or reveals a hand with no Actions).

I've seen this idea in the forums before and I'm not a fan.  Killing action cards forces a BM strategy, and this card can stack the effect.  It might be interesting with the new Ruins cards though!  Discards an Action card or gains a Ruins... that would self-mitigate.  Hm.

Turquoise
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with at least five cards discards a Treasure card (or reveals a hand with no Treasure).

Like others have stated, this is too similar to Cutpurse.

Apatite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards a card from his hand that is not a Victory card (or reveals a hand with only Victory cards) and gains a Copper, putting it in his hand.

The submissions this time around seem to have a lot of Copper attacks.  The earlier copper gaining attacks were Agate (too strong), Jasper (I thought was OK) and Alaxandrite (too strong).  This was seems fine to me.

Beryl
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Draw 2 cards.
Discard 2 cards.
Everyone else discards a card and gains a Copper to their hand.

Very similar to Apatite, but they can discard anything (attack is slightly weaker) and it comes with card filtering.  The filtering is too strong at $4.

Aquamarine
$4 - Action Attack
+$2
Each player including yourself draws a card and reveals their hand.  For each hand revealed, choose one card and return it to the top of each player's deck.

I think this is too strong.  It is similar to Pillage, with the following differences:

- extra bonuses for yourself (+$2, draw 1, put one back)
- not a one-shot
- opponents draw a card first
- the targeted attack puts back the card instead of discarding it

Might be OK at $5.

Chalcedony
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards 2 different named cards and gains a Copper.
(If the player reveals a hand of all the same cards, they discard only 1 card.)

I wish this were the name for my card, because "Chalcedony" is almost an anagram of "eHalcyon".  Granted, the name for my card is pretty good too.

This card is too strong.  The discard is almost always stronger than Militia (the restriction means you can't discard two Estates, or two Curses, or two Coppers; it limits choices), plus it's stackable, plus it's a junker.

Malachite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
When you play this card, you may trash it. If you do, +1 VP.
Each other player draws 2 cards, then shows you his hand. You may choose a card from each revealed hand costing up to $3 and trash it. Each other player then discards down to 4 cards in hand.
--
(Rules clarification: Attacked opponents do not see each others' hands.)

I guess this would mainly be used to trash opponent's Silvers and cheap Engine components?  Forcing trashes is already pretty strong, but to have it be targeted seems too much.  The $3 limit mitigates it somewhat, but not that much -- say goodbye to your favourable Hamlet split!  The VP gain feels out of place, but maybe it matches the hidden card name.

Garnet
$4 - Action
+$2
After playing this card, shuffle your discard pile and place it on top of your draw pile.

This seems pretty close to Chancellor, but with the potential for some more interesting tricks.  I wish there was a bit more to it, to enhance that side of it, like maybe a mini Cartographer effect before you put the discard on top.

Labradorite
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top card of your deck. Gain a card costing exactly $1 less.

I think this would be OK at $2.

Sunstone
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck.
Discard all revealed Victory and Curse cards.
Put all revealed Treasure cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.
Put all revealed Action cards on the top of your deck in any order.

Potentially good for setting up an engine or megaturn, though being terminal hurts it a little.  I kind of wonder if any new card types will be introduced in DA or Guilds that aren't addressed here.  The easy fix is to put the Treasure and Action parts first, and then say "discard all other revealed cards."

Moonstone
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Name a card.
Every other player reveals cards from their deck until they reveal the named card.
They discard it or put it on top of their deck, your choice.
They discard the other revealed cards.

I like this.  It could be really painful in skipping over opponent's power cards.  A very soft counter would be Tunnel, in that it would be rather risky for the Moonstone player to name anything else.  I wonder if it's too strong.  Maybe it should be $5?  Or would that be too weak?

I do wonder how political this can become with more than 2 players.  Suppose one opponent buys Mountebank, the other buys Witch.  Both have trashed away their starting Estates and no Curses have been played yet.  Which one do you call out?  All else equal, Mountebank probably hurts you more.  But maybe the person playing Witch is a much stronger player...

Ametrine
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with at least 4 cards in hand reveals a card from hand and either discards it or puts it on top of his deck, your choice.

A little mundane, but it works.  I do like the ability to choose Militia or Ghost Ship, but it's not a novel idea.

Opal
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may reveal a Victory or Curse card from his hand. If he doesn't, he may immediately buy a Victory or Curse card, putting it in his hand. If he doesn't, he discards his hand.
--
(Rules clarification: When this is played, each other player may play any number of Treasure cards from his hand, then buy a Victory or Curse card costing up to the total number of $ played. All Treasure cards played this way stay in play until that player's next Cleanup phase.)

Buying when it's not your turn doesn't make any sense.

PPE: with the clarification... um.   Still weird.  If the treasures stay in play, does that mean the player can use them again?  Then this card is often helpful to your opponents in the late game, especially if they have enough for a Province.  Even if the treasures no longer provide that coinage, you give opponents a chance to scoop an important VP card.

OTOH, it is too strong before that point.  You force opponents to buy VP, or gain a Curse, or discard their hand.  If they can only buy a cheap VP card, it's kind of like discarding your hand anyway.  So always take the Curse?  But then that's a $4 Curser there.

And then it's super swingy because it can be blocked by a card you start with.

It doesn't seem balanced, and letting opponents play cards and buy during YOUR turn is way too out there.

Now watch a card like that appear in tomorrow's DA preview.

Peridot
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
+1 Buy
Each other player reveals the top card of his deck and then puts it back. If the revealed card was not Copper, he gains a Copper, putting it on top of his deck.

It is similar to Sea Hag except it stacks worse, giving Copper instead of Curse, and it's a Woodcutter.  I think the attack portion is fine, but the benefit is still too strong for $4.  OTOH, it's too weak for $5.  Losing the +Buy would be good, I think.

Spinel
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top card of your deck and either trash it, discard it, or put it back.

Kind of boring.  Might be good at $3, though $4 is OK too.

Tanzanite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
All other players gain a Curse and choose to either trash a card from their hand or draw a card.

The other $4 cursers are YW and Hag.  YW does card filtering and comes with a Bane.  Hag doesn't benefit you at all.  This one benefits you but also your opponents.  The benefit is actually pretty nice for them, allowing them to trash curses they already have, or draw an extra card.  It sounds balanced and looks pretty good.

...having two cursers in a set is OK, right?

Melanite
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top and bottom cards of your deck, then reveal a card from your hand. Place one of the revealed cards in your hand, one on top of your deck, and trash the remaining card.

It's kind of a non-terminal silver mix of Pearl Diver and Lookout.  Seems OK to me.

Obsidian
$4 - Action
+$2
Gain a Silver.

I don't think this very interesting.

Aventurine
$4 - Action
+$2
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a Victory card costing 5 or less.

Alright.

Dioptase
$5 - Action
+$2
+2 Cards, discard 2 cards.  For each Copper discarded, +1 VP.

But for the abuse cases, seems OK...  I'm not sure if the abuse cases are THAT bad, since the VP isn't even guaranteed.  Hm.  Still, terminal silver AND the card filtering is strong enough that the VP bonus is too much for $5.

Ammolite
$4 - Action
+$2
You may reveal a Victory card from your hand. If you do, gain a card costing less than the revealed card.

Does this compare to Explorer?  If all you have are Estates, all this really does is give you the +$2.  With something like Tunnel, you might be able to get some nice cheap cards (Hamlet!).  With Hamlet, SR, Duchy, etc. you are able to gain Silver and a host of other potentially useful cards.  Province nets a Gold.  Colony nets a Platinum!

But it isn't restricted to treasure.  It can also net important action cards, or even more green.  The latter point makes this really good for SR games.  Reveal Duchy, gain SR.  Reveal SR, gain Estate.

I like it, but I think it might be undercosted a bit.

Tourmaline
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may trash a Copper.
Each other player may discard a Copper. If he does, he gains a Copper. Otherwise, he gains three Coppers.

Comparable to Mountebank, I suppose.  The optional Copper trash might be a trap.  Options:

Trash and discard.  Net gain -$2 (from the trashed and discarded Coppers), -1 Copper from deck.
Trash only.  Net gain -$1, +2 Coppers.
Discard only.  Net gain -$1, +1 Copper.
Neither trash nor discard.  Net gain +3 Copper.

Yeah, trashing is a trap if you don't also discard.

Not sure if this is too strong.  Mountebank's Curse discard typically doesn't hurt your next hand, but discarding/trashing Copper actually does.  Trashing is often helpful in the long run though... eh.  I don't know.

Axinite
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player gains two Estates or a Curse, his choice.

Tough choice!  I'd probably take the Curse most of the time, I think.  Estates would run out fast though, especially with more than two players.

Bloodstone
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. You choose 1 for them to place of the bottom of their deck and put the other back. If any non-Victory cards are revealed, gain a copy of one non-Victory card revealed this way.

The non-VP gaining portion is so much worse than Jester.  If you hit something bad (Copper, Curse) you still have to take it yourself.

Rhodonite
$5 - Action
+$2
+1 VP for every $4 you spend this turn, rounded down.

This seems OK to me.  You're probably going to get at least 1VP out of it, in which case it's like Monument.  Sometimes you get a few more VP, in which case it's like Goons.  It also doesn't combo with cost reducers.

Oh, but wait.  The effect can be throned and KC'd... OK, that would make it too strong.

Serpentine
$5 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Discard the revealed Victory and Curse cards and put the rest back on top in any order.
If you discarded 1 or more cards, you may gain a Copper.
If you discarded 2 or more cards, you may gain a Silver.
If you discarded 3 or more cards, you may gain a Gold.
--
(Rule clarification: The Treasure-gaining clauses are independent. If you discard 3 cards you may gain any or all of Copper, Silver, and Gold.)

This card really wants you to green fast.

Hackmanite
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Choose one of the following:
Gain a Copper, each other opponent gains a Curse;
Gain a Silver, each other opponent gains a Copper;
Gain a Gold, each other opponent gains a Silver.

Quite interesting.  Looks good to me.

Amazonite
$5 - Action
+$2
Discard any number of cards.
Draw the same number of cards. You may set aside any Action cards drawn this way, as you draw them; discard the set aside cards after you finish drawing.

Library-Cellar combo?  Not sure if it would tend to be stronger or weaker than Library.  It would leave you with a smaller hand, unless you have other support.  Hm.

Celestite
$5 - Action
+$2
Look through your discard pile and trash up to 2 cards from it.

I suppose I know whose this is.

Seems OK to me.

Howlite
$5 - Action
+$2
Choose one:  Gain a token, or gain a card costing up to 1 per token on your mat.  If you gained a Victory card, return two tokens to the supply.

The first time I read this, I thought the "gained a Victory card" included purchases in the Buy phase.  If it only refers to gaining with the card, that's a bit better.  It would usually take too long to build up to a good level though.  But hey, it might actually be quite strong on some boards, if there is a lot of non-VP stuff you want to gain.

Kunzite
$5 - Action
+$2
You may discard a Victory card costing up to $6. If you do, gain a Victory card costing up to $3 more than the discarded card, putting it into your hand.

Isn't this too strong?  It seems strong to me, but maybe I'm crazy.

At the very least, this could facilitate an amazing KC megaturn.  So that's interesting.

Larimar
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Gain a card costing up to $4, put it on top of your discard pile.
Reveal a card from your hand or the top of your discard pile.  Each opponent chooses one: he gains a copy of that card, or you do, his choice.

It's kind of like... you gain a card, and then every opponent flips that card with Jester.  Weird.

Mica
$5 - Action
+2 Cards
+$2
Discard 2 cards.

Properly priced for the filtering it gives.

But WW brings up a good point that the effect is worse than Vault.  Hm.

Brandburg
$6 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player trashes a Treasure card from his hand. He then gains a Treasure card costing at most $3 less than it (cost of gained card must be no lower than $0), and may choose to put it in his hand. Otherwise he reveals his hand with no Treasure cards.

Would this be too strong for $5?  I'm not sure.

[One Armed Man]

Amber
It is difficult to determine the use of this. It gives you a replacement card for a copper (hopefully), and that card could be a copper (good blah), action(uggh), victory card (bad blah), or better treasure (yay). Also, if you have village and then this, you are happier about drawing an action. It seems balanced, but it creates a negative feeling too much of the time.

Carnelian
Too cheap

Emerald
Too expensive. Hah

Jade
This seems too strong for $2. As long as you have the cards in hand to pull this off, it is like a Diadem. A Bazaar Jade opening could lead to a turn 3 of: Bazaar, Jade, trashing Estate, Jade, trashing Estate or Copper, play Copper Copper. Buy Bazaar. Your deck is now B+B+J+J+J+C+C+C+C+C+C+E+(C/E) after turn 3.

Agate
Village, Militia, Agate? Then you get $8 even without the other cards in your hand. For $2, no.

Onyx
Shuffling doesn't make me happy usually. From a balance prospective I would rather it say shuffle than bottom of the deck. This card is a terminal and shuffles at the end of the turn, so I am okay with thinking of it as ann Inn or something. Seems okay.

Pearl
Such a strange bonus. 3 cost seems a little low to let everyone draw a card, but this is a terminal. Council Room, Governor, and Vault let them do that for 5. Drawing cards can make everything go fast; +VPs make the game slow. This might fit right in the middle.

Jasper
Hurting other people based on how Action-heavy their deck is? You are already hurting them a bit by discarding their Action cards and then you hit them with Copper. That seems harsh. It can give 2 pieces of junk per hit like a 3 cost Mountebank.

Topaz
2 points of this card: name Copper/Estate/Curse and hope you trash something; name a 2 cost you don't think you have on your deck (Hamlet, Crossroads, Lighthouse) and gain it. You can potentially get very lucky with this thing; the first benefit might need to be tuned down. Seems okay.

Amethyst
No. As a curser it is too cheap. It doesn't scale well for multiplayer games. It is too strong.

Sapphire
A little contest and the reward is +2 buys? What if you don't want that? How often is this better than weak card Woodcutter. A better version might draw the card into your hand if it is cheaper.

Ruby
This card lets you get a pseudo-4/4 opening whereas feast lets you get 5/3. It also is an alt-vp enabler or a terminal silver that turns into a cantrip once you have acquired all the Attacks you can handle. Seems fun.

Zircon
If you don't have 2 cards you want to trash, you don't want to even play this. This leaves Estates/ Curses stuffing your deck. This makes this card an awkward, weaker Moneylender.

Alaxandrite
This is extremely strong at 3 or practically any cost. This is better than mountebank.

Kyanite
Another Zircon-like card that makes you expose cards to your opponent's trashing grips. In multiplayer, this can lead to too much collaberation. This one is too strong.

Citrine
Too strong. Mica is closer to the right power level. This is a much, much better woodcutter since it is most of a Young Witch.

Iolite
The best counter to itself. It crushes engines and makes you want to play Big Money. These I don't like. See Cavalry from the "Strife" expansion, which takes out Attacks. It does so in a way that is a bit friendlier since the card is a cantrip that cost 5.

Turquoise
This is way too similar to a Cutpurse, especially on the surface. In 2-player it is better since it takes out unlucky Golds and Silvers. It does lead to a different counter. If opponent gets Cutpurse, you trash Coppers. If opponent gets Turquoise, you never buy high cost treasure.

Apatite
Unlike Turqoise, your opponent can discard dead terminals if they like. This can hit you more than once in multiplayer, but at that point it reads "Each other player gains a Copper", which is decently nasty for a $4 terminal silver attack. On its very first play is the only time it possibly causes any damage. It is cool if you can follow Militia up with this, but not overpowering. Seems okay.

Beryl
This is Apatite with a tacked on Young Witch. I like Apatite better since this one is too strong for the same reason Citrine is.

Aquamarine
In multiplayer, it is a game of, "No, Steve should put the Gold back" "He should put the Mountebank back". Haha. All the attack does is screw up engines by top-decking villages and make cards occassionally miss the reshuffle. For a card that could be played so often, I don't like thinking about how I can give a player exactly $7 in their hand so they can't get a Province or put an Estate back so they have $11 in hand with no buy. Doing that so many times in a multiplayer game would be weird. How about they put the most expensive card they reveal back and they choose in case of a tie? That (weaker) card could get some other bonus and an increased cost. Also, our set already has a top-deck attack.
The above was before I noticed you do this to yourself, too. A +$2, +1 card Mandarin is powerful at $4 without an attack. Too strong.

Chalcedony
This scales poorly for multiple plays. Players will have to discard their 2nd&3rd or 1st&2nd(tie) best cards on the second play too often.

Hematite
See my comments on Iolite.

Malachite
This is very similar to Monument late game. This is the point where the attack is weakest. An opponent with Gold Gold Province Copper Estate draws Silver Malachite. Then you trash their Silver, and they discard a Province and Estate. Now they have Gold Gold Malachite Copper. You kind of helped them. I can see why you want to get rid of this late game. I don't like how you can trash an opponent's 3-costs on turn 3 while giving yourself a big benefit.

Garnet
A Chancellor that favors the cards you bought last turn over the ones you buy this turn. Not worth $4.

Labradorite
This can accidently gain an Estate. It can also gain a Duchy or Gold (it seems like it does best with a 7 cost). Swingy, and often does nothing but reveal the card. In multiples, each play of it does the same thing. If it discarded the card, then you would feel less bad about hitting a crappy card and less good about hitting a great one.

Sunstone
Hey! That is my card! Mix/ Scribe from challenge 5. I did not submit this one. The only change is that Sunstone discards curses instead of trashing them. If this wins, should its submitter get credit for it or me?

Moonstone
A missile that gets rid of any card. It misses if the opponent has it in their hand. Seems political, especially if only one player has a power-curser so far and you want to get rid of it. I like that it is also a playable Fortune-teller side.

Ametrine
This is like a Militia. If an Estate is revealed, it is top-decked. In multiples, it is much better than militia, but only slightly better than Ghost ship. We already have a top-deck attack, but I prefer this to Aquamarine.

Opal
Immediately buy? As in spend Treasure from their hand? On your turn? This is too wacky for such a benign card.

Peridot
A Woodcutter that hands out Coppers ~50% of the time and doesn't work in multiples. It does a very little thing. I am confused as to whether I like this or not. Seems okay.

Spinel
Seems great, since it is a trasher that you don't have to worry about the card taking up a spot in your hand. A counter to Fortune Teller or Rabble. Such a good opener it seems obvious to open this in nearly every 4/3 (It competes with Jack). Too good compared to Loan, Money Lender, Develop, Spice Merchant, etc.

Tanzanite
We already have a 4 cost curser. This one seems a little too strong for $4. Even if you assume they already have a Curse in their hand, they had to have drawn it anyway (taking away a +1 card they would have drawn). As strong as Young Witch.

Melanite
This seems better than Spinel. You have the trashing choice between 7 cards rather than 3 (for lookout). Then you place another bad card on the bottom of your deck and a good card on the top. Needs to be +$1 or cost more.

Obsidian
Seems fine, but boring. The JOAT comparisons are obvious.

Aventurine
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a Victory card costing 5 or less.
Not exactly the same as a card talked about during the contest... Attribution issues aside, the things I said then apply now. Weaker than Monument except if you get the card late game. It almost occupies the same design space as this set's Tea House card. You buy it when you get $4 late game.

Dioptase
Too strong. I don't want any of this contest's Micas to win.

Ammolite
Potentially gain some Golds/Platinum/7 cost actions. Another reason to rush an expensive Victory than tournament. This is an improved (cost reduction) version of Explorer. Seems okay.

Tourmaline
Trash a copper (from their hand)? This attack can cause a Miltia-like effect. You would rather discard a Copper instead of trashing it if you only want to get rid of one, since discarding prevents you from gaining more. This can hand out 3 coppers, which is often worse than the impact of a Mountebank. This is like a Cutpurse where your opponent also gains a Copper. The card reads in an almost-confusing way.

Axinite
Giving the player the choice makes this almost strictly worse than Witch/Torturer/Mounteback. I would like weaker cursers, not strictly weaker ones.

Bloodstone
This needs a "you may" before the "gain a copy" line.

Rhodonite
Mostly the same as a Monument until you are able to buy a Province. This might need to say "When this is in play", not sure. Makes for an interesting Megaturn, but one that gives a huge point advantage while not necessarily making the game. It needs +buy unless you use it for 8 or higher cost cards. Seems okay.

Serpentine
You get a bigger advantage when you discard all your Victory and Curse? That is very swingy, especially gaining a Silver and a Gold. On a good day it is a little better than Jester. On a bad day it lets you rearrange the top of your deck, blah.

Hackmanite
Out of the choose a Treasure option cards from this contest, I like this one the best. It is cute and has a Governor-like option. The Silver option is an attack. A quirk that bothers me: if your opponent(s) has(ve) Moat, they probably have to reveal it before you make a call whether to give them a Silver.

Amazonite
A Library Cellar... I'd want to discard Coppers and terminals a lot of the time, so I would likely get better cards back. Seems okay.

Celestite
When this misses the shuffle, it is really crappy. Too swingy.

Howlite
A Pirate-Ship that seems okay for 2 Player. Similar to the Stockpile card from the "Strife" fan expansion. You need to play this quite a few times to get huge bonuses, long enough that you would be greening when you finished. If you play this 7 times in a game (with drawing/Kings Court/Throne Room/Scheme/buying 2), the best you can get is Duchy (for VP). If you play it 10 times, the best you can get is Province Duchy. 11 is Province Province, but only if you didn't get a Duchy when you had a chance to. A little mind game. You can also use this to gain a 2 or 3 cost action. Seems fun.

Kunzite
Expand is upset that this card is so much better. Apologize.

Larimar
An odd attack. The best thing to do is show your opponents a Silver (the weakest thing to reveal with a Jester). That is obvious and would get old quickly. There is probably a way to perfect this idea (Actions only maybe?)

Mica
The proper cost for this effect. The way these cards are in ascending order, this card is like a breath of fresh air. I think that gives it an advantage. In a vacuum, I wouldn't have thought of picking this as a winner. Vault isn't better. Vault has a benefit your opponents can get.

Brandburg
A minor punishment for the opponent having no Coppers. An attack that so often helps the opponent. Not what I want to wait until I get $6 for to grab a terminal silver. The opponent could also grab this card instead of a Gold so they don't have to risk losing a Gold. It is usually worth the risk because this card isn't good.

[Polk5440]

My voting criteria for this challenge: If a card is "worse" than Emerald or Carnelian, I will not give it an approval vote.

In honor of the PGA Championship this weekend, if I like a card better than Emerald, I will deem it to have "made the cut" and I will think about approval voting (or better) from the set of cards that make the cut.

Carnelian
$1 - Action
+$2


Emerald
$2 - Action
+$2

For the sake of completeness, I actually like Emerald better than Carnelian and Duchess. With Duchess, it always slows the game down too much with all it's options that don't matter that much, and I would rather play with a weak straight up terminal silver at the same price in most games than it. With Carnelian, I would rather have Poor House as the $1 card that ruins my Remaking and Upgrading of Copper. And hey -- soon I'll get my wish!

The Sifters: Draw 2, Discard 2

Made the cut: Mica, Dioptase, Beryl
Missed the cut: Citrine

So better players than me think Mica is the balanced card here, huh? Well, I think it's too boring and I like Dioptase better. Yes, it's more powerful, but I am not convinced it's more powerful than other power 5s. And it looks like a lot of fun to play. There is an interesting dynamic here with only getting VP chips when you discard Copper: How much buying power to sacrifice for VP? If you have $8 in hand after the draw, do you discard two Coppers (if you have them) and pick up a Gold and 2 VP chips? Or buy the Province?

Dioptase
$5 - Action
+$2
+2 Cards, discard 2 cards.  For each Copper discarded, +1 VP.

Announcer: Too much green clogging up your engine?
Sad Person: (nods and pouts)
Announcer: How would you like an Invisible Estate?
Person, now Happy: (Smiles and nods)
Announcer: Introducing: The Invisible Estate! It gives you all the VP benefits of a regular Estate without all the deck clog! Amazing! It must be really pricy right? Got some extra money in hand? Well, have I got a deal for you! For the price of a regular Estate, you can have the brand new Invisible Estate instead! And you don't even need an extra Buy!
Person: Wow! Sounds like a great deal! But I don't know...
Announcer: But wait, there's more! For a limited time only, Invisible Estates are half price! If you vote now, you can get Invisible Estates on every turn you play this card for just $1! It's such a good deal, some are calling it toooooo good!
Voice Over, spoken artificially quickly: Restrictions Apply. Limit 2 Invisible Estates per person per turn. You must have a Dioptase in play to purchase. Only Copper is accepted as payment.

Beryl
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Draw 2 cards.
Discard 2 cards.
Everyone else discards a card and gains a Copper to their hand.

I also like Beryl. I think the attack is more interesting than Young Witch. Maybe too much power for $4, but I like the concept of this card. I am all for more attacks that clog other peoples' engines.

Cheap Cards

Missed the Cut: Amber, Agate, and Jade.

Attacks

Made the Cut: Amethyst, Apatite, Iolite, Tanzanite, Hackmanite, Jasper, Aquamarine

Missed the Cut: Turquoise (too similar to Cutpurse), Brandburg (a Saboteur for Treasure in Hand for $6? ehck...), Chalcedony (worse than Militia much of the time), Moonstone (too much like a political Fortune Teller for my taste), Bloodstone (I'd rather just play with Jester), Opal (an out of place buy phase? Sounds too much like my least favorite card ever, Black Market), Malachite (too much going on), Peridot (too much like Sea Hag, which I don't really care for), Larimar (shouldn't be an attack, would play too slowly; I would rather play with Jester), Tourmaline (unfun Copper flood), Ametrine (doesn't seem that fun), Axinite (would rather just have Mountebank),  Alaxandrite (I wish this didn't have the last sentence. Otherwise, I would like it. Too strong.).

As you can see, I am not that fond of attacks.

Tanzanite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
All other players gain a Curse and choose to either trash a card from their hand or draw a card.

I like this style of attack: Positive and negative externalities! And not too many choices that it would slow the game down. Slick. One of the few attacks submitted that actually feels like the +$2 belongs for balance and style and isn't just stuck there as a requirement of the contest.

Hackmanite
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Choose one of the following:
Gain a Copper, each other opponent gains a Curse;
Gain a Silver, each other opponent gains a Copper;
Gain a Gold, each other opponent gains a Silver.

I like the choice of attack or benefit, but on a first read, it doesn't quite excite me like Tanzanite did.

Iolite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards an Action card (or reveals a hand with no Actions).

Apatite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards a card from his hand that is not a Victory card (or reveals a hand with only Victory cards) and gains a Copper, putting it in his hand.

Amethyst
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may discard a Treasure or Victory card; if he doesn't, he gains a Curse.

I like these discard attacks. I like that Iolite is nice and simple, but I also like that Amethyst and Apatite have clogging potential without being overpowered. Apatite's clogging with Coppers is a good idea in my book. Scrying Pool engine builders should have to think twice more often. And Coppers don't run out as quickly as Curses! I like that Copper clogs are different than Curse clogs. Copper at least helps you buy things, and there's a couple of different ways of dealing with Coppers (Loan and Mint) that doesn't apply to Curses. So the fact they clog differently is interesting.

Jasper
$3 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. He gains a number of Coppers equal to the number of Action cards revealed. Discard all revealed cards.

Another Copper clog.

I am a little concerned that cards that deal out so many Coppers (like Apatite and Jasper) without also giving engine builders a way to deal with so much clog could be uninteresting in too many games (remove multiple paths to victory). I am also holding onto my own version of Copper clog for a future contest which I like a whole lot better than any of these. So I like the idea but am a little biased against these particular cards for that reason.

Aquamarine
$4 - Action Attack
+$2
Each player including yourself draws a card and reveals their hand.  For each hand revealed, choose one card and return it to the top of each player's deck.

I think I like it, but I worry that it would play too slowly or be too uninteresting. I don't know if everyone would like revealing their hands all the time, either. Some revealing is tolerable, but hands are supposed to be private information most of the time!

The Rest

Good grief, there's more entries every week! I Will think about the rest later....

[zahlman]

Thoughts on every other one, chosen to skip mine:

Amber
$1 - Action
+$2
Discard a Treasure from your hand (or reveal a hand with no Treasure).
If you discarded any cards this way, +1 Card.

Since the discard is compulsory, this is not as powerful as it looks. It's actually likely to bite you in BM. In an engine, drawing a card to replace your Copper in hand is worth about as much as discarding a Copper off your deck, I guess... so a nice lubricant if there is no or bad trashing, but the price point means you can't really get it early unless you open 5/2...

Actually, wait! By analogy with Poor House, I guess you could play a Remake-Amber strategy, aiming to get rid of all the Copper and forsake the potential +1 Card. You get +$2 each instead of the up to $4 of Poor House, but it's non-terminal meaning that you don't need Villages. So it's probably a little easier to set up. Hmm.

Emerald
$2 - Action
+$2

Lol. Strictly less interesting than Duchess. Pass.

Agate
$2 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with fewer than 6 cards in hand gains a Copper in hand. If no player gains a Copper this way, discard this from play. Otherwise, play this again.

Way too strong. Compare Duchess; the Spy effect is pretty much a wash, and being able to gain it with Duchies is pretty minor compared to basically any kind of Attack worth mentioning. And this is potentially a very strong attack! I can see Village-Militia-Agate causing some ragequits. Not to mention what happens if you toss it into Torturer chains. Oh man. That might be more of a "threat is stronger than the execution" thing, but if you convince opponents to always take Curses because of the threat of getting triple- or quintuple-Coppered, then you've effectively just turned your Torturers into almost strictly better Witches.

Pearl
$3 Action
+$2
You may choose to have each opponent draw a card.  If they do, +2VP.

So, a super-Monument with an externality. I think the effect of the externality is being overestimated here and that this can cost $4 (consider Smithy/Council Room, and the value of the +1 Buy), and then it just looks awkward next to an ordinary Monument.

Topaz
$3 - Action
+$2
Name a card costing up to $2 and then reveal the top 3 cards of your deck.
If any copies of the named card are revealed, trash them and discard the rest.  Otherwise: Discard the revealed cards and gain a copy of the named card, putting it on top of your deck.

So maybe if you're trying to empty a stack of Pawn or Haven or something to power up Cities, this could be kind of interesting although hard to use. In the ordinary case, it's obviously meant to trash your starting Coppers and Estates, up to 3 at a time. If it could reliably do that and also give +$2, it'd clearly be too powerful at $3, so the idea is to balance it by having a chance to get one back instead. I don't think that really works out, though. You could open Topaz/Topaz and do a fair amount of trashing in turns 3 and 4 if they don't collide (about as much as with 1 Chapel use, on average, I guess), and get +$2 on both those turns as well which could get 2 early Silvers or something like that. And then like with Chapel, you could more or less put them away. But then, now you have 2 dead cards instead of 1, and the 30% chance collision really hurts... hmm. This is probably actually OK.

Sapphire
$3 - Action
+$2
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck. if yours has or is tied for the lowest cost in $, +2 Buys.

Power to the Pawns! Clearly Woodcutter was used as a reference point for balancing this. It seems worse on average: getting the second additional buy is often much less important than the first, and in multiplayer, your EV for # of buys credited will go down as there are more opponents who can beat you. And Woodcutter is already seen as fairly low tier. Pass.

Zircon
$3 - Action
+$2
Reveal two cards from your hand.  The player to your left chooses one of them for you to trash.

I think I would choose this over Steward almost every time. The thing about $3 cards is that their frequency of purchase is generally much higher near the beginning of the game, when they're worth purchasing; accordingly, $3s that are powerful early are powerful full stop. And, early, I can basically always find 2 of {Copper, Estate} to reveal.

Kyanite
$3 - Action
+$2
You may draw 3 cards. If you do, reveal 3 cards from your hand. The player to your left chooses one for you to discard. Trash the other two.

Whoo boy. Same comment as above, but more so. The vanilla bonus is whatever, but the mechanic takes everything that's wrong with Lookout and makes it ten times worse. Early, it's a crazy powerhouse (compare to Topaz - this one will always trash 2 cards, Topaz needs a little luck to trash 2 and a lot of luck to trash 3) and late it's unplayable (with Topaz, you're fairly safe if, say, Pawn is in the kingdom; most of the time it doesn't really matter if you either trash or gain one since they're playable as do-nothing cantrips).

Iolite (also Hematite, lol)
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards an Action card (or reveals a hand with no Actions).

An anti-engine Cutpurse. Neat concept. But unless the potential engines on board are quite strong, opponents can just counter by going BM, and an Iolite-BM mirror match is basically a BM mirror match. The idea is so simple and yet so promising, and yet I can tell it needs work.

Apatite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player discards a card from his hand that is not a Victory card (or reveals a hand with only Victory cards) and gains a Copper, putting it in his hand.

Weak-ish attack now (compare to Militia: you lose only 1 card, and you get to replace it with Copper at least - sure, it has to be a non-Victory card, but early on this is basically no attack, since you'll almost always have a Copper) + weak-ish attack ongoing (compare Mountebank: don't gain a Curse with the copper, and it's in hand where you have the chance to trash it, though you don't get to discard a Curse to defend) = balanced? I suspect it is. It also apparently gets stronger over time, and a lot of ordinary attacks don't do that (cursers add a card to an expanding deck, for progressively less marginal effect; discard attacks vary over time depending on greening conditions; Ambassador can run out of stuff to give you). I like this one. I think I really like it.

Aquamarine
$4 - Action Attack
+$2
Each player including yourself draws a card and reveals their hand.  For each hand revealed, choose one card and return it to the top of each player's deck.

This seems really really weak. When the attack returns cards to the deck, I think it doesn't matter as much whose choice it is what gets returned. This doesn't reduce hand size, it potentially puts good cards into opponent's hands, basically all the damage it can do against BM is to put an Estate in the player's next hand from the current one. Again I guess this is more anti-engine; in the best case scenario, opponent holds, say, Village-Smithy, draws a Smithy and you make him return the Village. But yeah I'm pretty much 100% sure Militia-BM does way better against plain BM than Aquamarine-BM does.

Garnet
$4 - Action
+$2
After playing this card, shuffle your discard pile and place it on top of your draw pile.

Well, I guess that's stronger than Chancellor, but Chancellor is already seen as a weak $3 and this isn't a huge improvement. Tack on a +Buy and I'd think about it.

Sunstone
$4 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck.
Discard all revealed Victory and Curse cards.
Put all revealed Treasure cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.
Put all revealed Action cards on the top of your deck in any order.

Didn't we already have this in the deck improver challenge? The sorting is weird; if I don't want the Treasure in my next hand, I don't want it at all. Bottom-decking it is just awkward and seems like it's intended more for the novelty than anything else. That said, it looks better than Scout and worse than, say, Cartographer, so it's probably at least balanced. But I don't like it.

Ametrine
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player with at least 4 cards in hand reveals a card from hand and either discards it or puts it on top of his deck, your choice.

Ooh. Mind games. I guess it could get political ("Why did you discard his Curse and topdeck mine?") but no more so than Swindler. It's hard to pick something where you're indifferent to whether it gets topdecked or discarded (Pawn? GH?). Anyway this seems to avoid the standard traps in designing Attack cards, and seems like the right strength of Attack for a $4, so I approve.

Peridot
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
+1 Buy
Each other player reveals the top card of his deck and then puts it back. If the revealed card was not Copper, he gains a Copper, putting it on top of his deck.

A copper-er. Interesting. Not sure what the +Buy is doing here.

Tanzanite
$4 - Action-Attack
+$2
All other players gain a Curse and choose to either trash a card from their hand or draw a card.

... This is just weird. I don't think I can evaluate it properly. It definitely gets weaker as the game progresses, as opponents become more likely to have a Curse in hand - at which point the attack has basically no effect until the pile runs out, and then it starts being a boon to opponents instead of an attack. It would be nice to have a way to do something useful with the card when that happens.

Obsidian
$4 - Action
+$2
Gain a Silver.

That is basically the same as "Gain a silver in hand", carefully skirting around the rules. So this is like Explorer without the option to reveal a Province. The $4-$5 power gap is supposed to be fairly big, so I conclude that this is probably too strong. I could be convinced otherwise, but I can't approve this one anyway; it's honestly pretty boring.

Dioptase
$5 - Action
+$2
+2 Cards, discard 2 cards.  For each Copper discarded, +1 VP.

Strictly more powerful than Mica. Ok, well, I see what everyone else was saying about Mica now... the filtering is basically going to add $1 or so of value to your hand on average, and $5 is a fine price for what becomes approximately a terminal Gold. So if that's correctly costed, then this is clearly overpowered.

I'm a fan of the underlying idea, though. I think it gives you the correct amount of VP on average, for the price, compared to Monument. So... say we changed it to "Reveal and discard 2 cards...."? I could get behind the resulting card, yeah. Except, then, you have to keep your Coppers, and actually it gets worse over time as you buy other interesting stuff. Eventually it would fall behind Monument, even. What a pity.

Tourmaline
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player may trash a Copper.
Each other player may discard a Copper. If he does, he gains a Copper. Otherwise, he gains three Coppers.

Ouch! So if I have 2 coppers in hand, I effectively get double-Cutpursed, or triple-Coppered, or Cutpursed-and-Coppered. (I could trash and then not discard, to get Cutpursed-and-double-Coppered; but if I prefer that to gaining a single Copper, like because of Counting House or something, then I'd just take the triple-Copper option.) Quite the dilemma. If I don't have those Coppers in hand then I just lose options. Strong attack no matter how you cut it.

Bloodstone
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each player reveals the top 2 cards of his deck. You choose 1 for them to place of the bottom of their deck and put the other back. If any non-Victory cards are revealed, gain a copy of one non-Victory card revealed this way.

An attack that hurts a little, but helps you a lot. Interesting.

Serpentine
$5 - Action
+$2
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Discard the revealed Victory and Curse cards and put the rest back on top in any order.
If you discarded 1 or more cards, you may gain a Copper.
If you discarded 2 or more cards, you may gain a Silver.
If you discarded 3 or more cards, you may gain a Gold.
--
(Rule clarification: The Treasure-gaining clauses are independent. If you discard 3 cards you may gain any or all of Copper, Silver, and Gold.)

So the worse your deck is, the more help you get. If you discard 2 cards, then you effectively get silver-in-hand (assuming you don't want to gain the Copper as well); if you discard 3 cards, you get silver-in-hand plus gold-in-discard, which is probably a little better than gold-in-hand on average, but maybe not. Compared to Explorer, this has a lot more flavour and seems competitive in power level. I like it.

Amazonite
$5 - Action
+$2
Discard any number of cards.
Draw the same number of cards. You may set aside any Action cards drawn this way, as you draw them; discard the set aside cards after you finish drawing.

Library-ish draw, to 2 fewer cards in typical situations, getting $2 instead. I guess compared to Library it's weaker in BM, stronger in engines, unless maybe if your villages are Hamlet or FV.

Howlite
$5 - Action
+$2
Choose one:  Gain a token, or gain a card costing up to 1 per token on your mat.  If you gained a Victory card, return two tokens to the supply.

I assume that should be "[This Card] mat". Once it's powered up, it gets a Province every third time; seen another way, FV-FV-Howlite-Howlite-Howlite eventually gets two Provinces. So, potentially very powerful, but you really need to be able to draw your deck to (a) play it enough times and then (b) line everything up. Nice on Buy-less boards, though. Maybe try it with Chapel + Xroads?

Larimar
$5 - Action-Attack
+$2
Gain a card costing up to $4, put it on top of your discard pile.
Reveal a card from your hand or the top of your discard pile.  Each opponent chooses one: he gains a copy of that card, or you do, his choice.

Well... the top of your discard pile is where gained cards normally go anyway, so I'm not really sure what's going on here. That sounds like a clumsy attempt to avoid losing track of the gained card. Anyway, the attack portion could get a bit political I guess ("Why didn't *you* make him take the extra Forge instead of getting one for yourself?"). But more than that, this is just really tricky. You'd never really want to reveal a terminal in a multiplayer game, and you can't reveal anything too good, or too bad. The attack portion just seems unworkable. Other than that, this is Workshop with a +$2 attached, which is not especially interesting.

Brandburg
$6 - Action-Attack
+$2
Each other player trashes a Treasure card from his hand. He then gains a Treasure card costing at most $3 less than it (cost of gained card must be no lower than $0), and may choose to put it in his hand. Otherwise he reveals his hand with no Treasure cards.

So... an attack that anti-Mines the opponents. Basically as good as playing Mine yourself, but only if you hit a Silver or better in everyone else's hand. If you do, well, Mine with a +$2 attached is really really good for a $6 card. If you don't, then it gets proportionately worse... so it's swingy, and more likely to be too weak than too strong (although when it's too strong, it feels awesome), and is worse in multiplayer games. Again, full marks for creativity but it needs some work.

[Tables]

I once played with a card very very similar to Garnet. The only difference was it discarded the rest of your deck before putting what WAS your discard pile onto your deck (shuffled). Sounds like a big difference, but it isn't, because you almost never see those cards. The idea is, you pick up two Garnets and just build your deck up. Then, you just start playing them as you see them. Very quickly, you have more or less two very small piles of cards you're alternating between using, each of which has a Garnet in, and meanwhile, Victory cards you buy mostly get buried into the third pile (the rest of your deck in this case), letting you green quite consistently.

Hmm... It was a long while ago since I played this card, so I'm not sure exactly what I did to make this work. But it was pretty much BM+This card, so I know it doesn't take enablers, and basically trashed any other BM on the board. Maybe there was something subtle that was the problem, but... eh.

Chalcedony, as people have pointed out, is ridiculous. It's basically Militia (one of the stronger $4's) at $4, except the opponent has less choice about what to discard, and the discard stacks, and they also get junk thrown into their deck. At $5, this card would be overpowered. At $6 I think it'd be competitive.

Finally I've read most of the comments and I think a few people are misreading some cards. Some of them are pretty confusing rules wise, like Opal, but then I think e.g. some people misread Onyx's shuffle-into-deck as topdecking.

[zahlman]

It's basically Militia (one of the stronger $4's)

Come to think of it, my analysis is guilty of comparing the attacks that work more like Militia to Militia, while comparing the attacks that work more like Cutpurse to Cutpurse. And I guess if Militia and Cutpurse were out, I would personally always take Militia... I mean I'm sure there are spots where Cutpurse would be stronger, but I don't think I'm good enough to spot them :/

[Polk5440]

...A continuation of my previous post.

Trash &/or Gain

Made the Cut: Ruby, Aventurine, Zircon (I do like Zircon more than Kyanite, but it's a weak trasher that doesn't excite me quite as much as some other cards), and Topaz (a safer Lookout, but seems like too strong of a trasher for $3), Obsidian (nice, but hard to get priced right since it's so much like a boring Explorer), Kunzite (I feel like this should read "you may trash a Victory card" instead).   

Missed the Cut: Kyanite, Howlite, Spinel (I wish the ability was a replacement for Spy's ability. Actually, it might just make a good house rule for Spy. It doesn't seem to fit on a terminal silver), and Celestite (I always shuffle Counting Houses to the top of the deck; I'm sure I'd have the same bad luck with this one), Labradorite, Ammolite (mid and late game it seems like it would be a lot better than Haggler which makes nervous)

Ruby
$3 - Action
+$2
You may trash this card. If you do, gain a card costing at most $4.

I like Ruby the best out of all the cards in this category. Like others have said, it's a mini-Feast (and one that I would actually play!). I like Aventurine as well, but not as much as Ruby.

Improve the Top of Your Deck (Again)

Made the Cut: Sunstone (I like this better than Serpentine), Melanite (I think I would prefer this over Lookout in most kingdoms)

Missed the Cut: Garnet, Onyx (too much shuffling), Serpentine,

I'm not sure if these ideas are good enough to win in the terminal silver category....

Odds and Ends

Made the Cut: Amazonite, Sapphire

Missed the Cut: Rhodonite (why is this incentive interesting? Why not just play with Monument? I would just buy stuff anyway...), Pearl (!),
 

Amazonite
$5 - Action
+$2
Discard any number of cards.
Draw the same number of cards. You may set aside any Action cards drawn this way, as you draw them; discard the set aside cards after you finish drawing.

I like the Library x Cellar mechanic here.

Sapphire
$3 - Action
+$2
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck. if yours has or is tied for the lowest cost in $, +2 Buys.

I like the idea of a bonus being random and the interaction (in the Tribute family, I guess), but I don't know if this is the most interesting implementation.


Lots of fun cards this time around. I submitted a card to the contest, but I didn't have any good ideas, so I am enjoying reading other people's good ones.

[popsofctown]

Can I withdraw my entry?  It might be a good idea for that to be an option to be considered for everyone.  My entry for the terminal silver competition was last second and on second thought, was not worth sending in.  When there are so many entries to consider, adding effort to discussion and voting, it seems like it would be useful for my card to be removed from the ballot.

[eHalcyon]

I once played with a card very very similar to Garnet. The only difference was it discarded the rest of your deck before putting what WAS your discard pile onto your deck (shuffled). Sounds like a big difference, but it isn't, because you almost never see those cards. The idea is, you pick up two Garnets and just build your deck up. Then, you just start playing them as you see them. Very quickly, you have more or less two very small piles of cards you're alternating between using, each of which has a Garnet in, and meanwhile, Victory cards you buy mostly get buried into the third pile (the rest of your deck in this case), letting you green quite consistently.

Hmm... It was a long while ago since I played this card, so I'm not sure exactly what I did to make this work. But it was pretty much BM+This card, so I know it doesn't take enablers, and basically trashed any other BM on the board. Maybe there was something subtle that was the problem, but... eh.

[snip]

Finally I've read most of the comments and I think a few people are misreading some cards. Some of them are pretty confusing rules wise, like Opal, but then I think e.g. some people misread Onyx's shuffle-into-deck as topdecking.

How does this Garnet strategy work?  Wouldn't the Victory cards you gain get shuffled and topdecked?  How would they end up buried in a third pile?

I did misread Onyx.  OK, it's more reasonable, but you should still be able to get it into a Golden Deck scenario.  It's just a little extra work to filter everything else into the discard first.  I think it would still be too easy to do.

Edit: Upon further reflection, I retract the statement.  The Golden Deck would be tricky to set up because requisite cards might not match up with the Onyx.  Also, KC would be needed over TR because Onyx-ing four cards leaves a fifth spot that eventually leads to a reshuffle (though other cards could fill in -- Scheme, for instance, but then there are already TR/KC-Scheme shenanigans).

[One Armed Man]

Mine had a terrible mistake on it that I didn't notice until it was posted about. I am upset about it, but what can I do... I can root for my potion card!

[DWetzel]

Can I withdraw my entry?  It might be a good idea for that to be an option to be considered for everyone.  My entry for the terminal silver competition was last second and on second thought, was not worth sending in.  When there are so many entries to consider, adding effort to discussion and voting, it seems like it would be useful for my card to be removed from the ballot.

Oh, no, you get to suffer with the rest of us losers!

[Titandrake]

I think once you're on the ballot, you can't withdraw. Just in case some votes are conditional on certain cards existing. E.g., someone might vote for the $1 cost +$2 over the $2 cost, and if the $1 cost didn't exist they would vote for the $2 cost because the idea is silly enough to vote for. Who knows

[Robz888]

In trying to adjust for one problem with my card, I created a huge other problem that I didn't realize. Yeah, my card is awful!

[eHalcyon]

Thoughts on every other one, chosen to skip mine:

Hey, even though you only gave thoughts on every other card, did you look at all of them anyway?  Because in at least one of the two contests, you skipped mine and I hope it gets a fair shot.

[nopawnsintended]

I'm limiting to cards that give me a favorable impression this week (obviously, one of the cards is mine).  Unlike others, I like the sifting dynamic.

Topaz has an interesting dynamic. Could use to trash Coppers and Estates, but could also gain some power $2 cost cards (lighthouse, courtyard).

Citrine: I like the idea, but the price isn't right at $4.  +1 Buy and 2 cards of sift on a terminal $2 is much stronger than $4 cost should be.

Beryl: Copper "attack" on the same idea.  At $4, underpriced for the same reason as Citrine.

Garnet: A better Chancellor if you want to "activate" it.  Suppose that you've played all of your good cards.  Wouldn't it be great to put those good cards back on top of the deck without shuffling in the junk at the bottom?  Garnet does that.  One question / clarification I'd have is whether Garnet would trigger a Stash reshuffle.  That is, can I put the Stashes atop the deck too?  I think, maybe… so this should be better than Chancellor… not sure how much better.  I like trying to make Chancellor better.

Ametrine: A weird mix between a soft Militia and a Bureaucrat that gives one shot terminal silver now instead of Silver on deck.  It is weird, but interesting.

Spinel:  Initially, I read this as lookout, but with +$2 instead of +1 Card, +1 Action.  Not the right way to think about it.  This is a better self-spy.  I think I like it.

Dioptase: I like it.  It is a little strong at $5 with the VP option, but note that getting VP is going to cost in spending power.  I think Polk5440 sums up my sentiment w/ respect to the card.  I don't think it is right to think of the VP option as "free"... you don't always get 2VP with this card.  Conditions apply, which could lead to some interesting choices.

Rhondonite: I like the idea of an alternate Monument, but I think this could be ambiguous as worded.  "Every $4 you spend this turn" could be "Every $4 in cost among cards you bought this turn."  Other than that, I like it.

Mica: I like the 2-card sifting mechanic, but I think this one is boring relative to the other options with sifting.  In particular, some have compared Mica to Vault saying that it is a weak $5.  Others have said that it is priced right at $5.  I think both of these comments are right.  It is a relatively weak $5.… so it feels like it needs a little more for my taste (I like strong $5 cost cards).

Looking back at these comments, I guess I don't like attacks.  Personal preference I guess, but what can I say?

[Davio]

Finally my card has a cool name, now it only needs votes. 

This is how it goes for every challenge.
- Submits card, thinks he's going to win
- Sees other cards, knows he's going to lose

 

[zahlman]

In trying to adjust for one problem with my card, I created a huge other problem that I didn't realize. Yeah, my card is awful!

You mean, you broke its interaction with Scout?

Thoughts on every other one, chosen to skip mine:

Hey, even though you only gave thoughts on every other card, did you look at all of them anyway?  Because in at least one of the two contests, you skipped mine and I hope it gets a fair shot.

I will look at the rest later and withhold my commentary.

I'm limiting to cards that give me a favorable impression this week (obviously, one of the cards is mine).  Unlike others, I like the sifting dynamic.

I get the impression that people don't mind sifting, they just think it's massively undervalued.

I'm thinking of playing with some simulation to see what happens to average hand value when Mica is played by a BMU-Mica bot.

Topaz has an interesting dynamic. Could use to trash Coppers and Estates, but could also gain some power $2 cost cards (lighthouse, courtyard).

I do kinda like these cards that focus on interacting with $2 actions (or FG).

Garnet: A better Chancellor if you want to "activate" it.  Suppose that you've played all of your good cards.  Wouldn't it be great to put those good cards back on top of the deck without shuffling in the junk at the bottom?  Garnet does that.  One question / clarification I'd have is whether Garnet would trigger a Stash reshuffle.  That is, can I put the Stashes atop the deck too?  I think, maybe… so this should be better than Chancellor… not sure how much better.  I like trying to make Chancellor better.

I think it's the same as if you shuffled in Actions with Inn.

Dioptase: I like it.  It is a little strong at $5 with the VP option, but note that getting VP is going to cost in spending power.  I think Polk5440 sums up my sentiment w/ respect to the card.  I don't think it is right to think of the VP option as "free"... you don't always get 2VP with this card.  Conditions apply, which could lead to some interesting choices.

Again, I guess we could just simulate Smithy-BMU vs Mica-BMU and then vs Dioptase-BMU? :/ But then, maybe freaky stuff happens in engines. It seems intuitively unlikely to me, but you never know.

Looking back at these comments, I guess I don't like attacks.  Personal preference I guess, but what can I say?

I like strong attacks (though, cursing, not so much) and slow (in # of turns) games. I'm guessing I have much higher tolerance for AP in the card designs than most people here. I think it shows in my submissions this time around - arguably, both of them.

Finally my card has a cool name, now it only needs votes. 

This is how it goes for every challenge.
- Submits card, thinks he's going to win
- Sees other cards, knows he's going to lose

 

Oh, definitely.

[Tables]

With the Garnet thing, I'm not sure exactly what happened. I don't have the wording for my old card, which could have made a big difference, and I realised it was totally broken pretty soon after and fixed it to something different, but it could be a key thing about it which made it break which this doesn't do that's the problem. If I remember correctly, it was:
+$2
Set your deck aside. Shuffle your discard pile and place it face down, it is now your deck. The set aside cards are now your discard pile.

It was a little more elegantly worded than that, but mechanically, that was it. As you can see, very similar. And it had this serious issue that somehow cropped up. I can't explain it any more unfortunately.

I might try and give serious comments this time on the cards, but there's a few I really like.

[nopawnsintended]

Garnet: A better Chancellor if you want to "activate" it.  Suppose that you've played all of your good cards.  Wouldn't it be great to put those good cards back on top of the deck without shuffling in the junk at the bottom?  Garnet does that.  One question / clarification I'd have is whether Garnet would trigger a Stash reshuffle.  That is, can I put the Stashes atop the deck too?  I think, maybe… so this should be better than Chancellor… not sure how much better.  I like trying to make Chancellor better.

I think it's the same as if you shuffled in Actions with Inn.

Not quite.  Garnet lets you retrieve your high-value money as well as your high-value actions.