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Author Topic: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?  (Read 4222 times)

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ehunt

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Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« on: September 30, 2011, 03:43:18 pm »
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Occasionally, say after a secret chamber, a trading post is the last (or one of the last two) cards in my hand; I play it and don't get a silver (but possibly trash a card). I think this is a little weird, since

1. other cards with "trade" in the title don't have this restriction, so it's not just for thematic reasons, and

2. the situation is pretty rare, and trading post already isn't that great of a 5, so it's hard to imagine that this would be the difference between the card being overpowered or not.

Does anybody know what the rationale here is?

(Note: I am not asking a rules question - I understand that the wording on trading post is different from the wording on trade route and horse traders; I am just curious why the decision was made to word it differently).
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Jack Rudd

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2011, 03:55:45 pm »
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I think it's the same thing as with Remake and Steward: the big feature that puts a brake on their power is the requirement to trash two cards rather than having the option to trash only one.
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guided

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2011, 04:00:26 pm »
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I think it's the same thing as with Remake and Steward: the big feature that puts a brake on their power is the requirement to trash two cards rather than having the option to trash only one.
I think you're misunderstanding. Remake and Steward absolutely can be used to trash only one card if you have only one card in hand. The question is why you don't gain a Silver if you fail to trash 2 cards with Trading Post.

My answer? Iunno. It rarely comes up, and when it does proposing to change it would leave you with a mere $2 in hand... so it doesn't bother me as-is.
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rinkworks

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2011, 04:08:54 pm »
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I dunno either.  But Trading Post is a pretty spectacular $5 if you can get one within the first two turns, so the slight nerf doesn't really hurt it any.
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barsooma

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2011, 04:45:12 pm »
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You could even see this as a potential benefit - usually at some point you don't want anymore silvers, so here's a way to use it to simply trash one card. <br>Well, simple probably isn't the right word actually...
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ChaosRed

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2011, 05:39:00 pm »
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Wait, does Trading Post let you trash just one? I've never heard the interpretation before.

My understanding is, you could still play Trading Post and not trash anything, but still get it out of your hand. It matters in cards that "draw until you have". So if you still had an Action on the stack after playing Trading Post, the card that says "draw until you have", would draw an additional card. It allows you to play TD without activating its ability, which in narrow instances is useful.

But because TD doesn't say "trash up to 2, if you trash 2 gain a Silver", it is news to me you can use it to just trash a card and not gain a Silver. Wow, even cooler card than I thought, and it makes my point about "draw until you have" factor moot.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2011, 05:43:09 pm by ChaosRed »
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AJD

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2011, 05:41:27 pm »
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If you have only one other card, or no cards, in your hand when you play Trading Post, you trash that one card if it's there and don't get a silver. Otherwise, you must trash two.
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ChaosRed

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2011, 05:43:54 pm »
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If you have only one other card, or no cards, in your hand when you play Trading Post, you trash that one card if it's there and don't get a silver. Otherwise, you must trash two.

Wow, I had no idea this is how it worked, I thought you must trash 2 or you don't get to trash at all.
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HiveMindEmulator

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2011, 05:47:00 pm »
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I doubt it's for balance reasons. It probably just got written that way at first, and there was no need to change it. It came out as part of intrigue, where a bunch of the cards have "if" in the text, so it makes sense.
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DG

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2011, 06:11:12 pm »
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Quote
trading post already isn't that great of a 5

You might only need one, but that one trading post can be the strongest card in many kingdoms. It can frequently surpass cards that you might generally consider to be strong, such as chapel or witch. I don't really see the condition being important though and it might as well stay since

Quote
it's hard to imagine that this would be the difference between the card being overpowered or not.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2011, 06:13:43 pm by DG »
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Donald X.

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2011, 07:20:37 pm »
+1

I doubt it's for balance reasons. It probably just got written that way at first, and there was no need to change it. It came out as part of intrigue, where a bunch of the cards have "if" in the text, so it makes sense.
Yeah, the reason here is just "seemed natural, didn't think about it." It's the kind of thing I consider more these days.
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Markov Chain

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2011, 10:39:52 pm »
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One reason for limiting the card with "if you do" is that you might Throne Room it and run out of cards: TR/Trading Post/3xCopper gets rid of all three coppers but replaces them with only one silver.

But the "if" restriction would be more natural on some other cards.  TR/Feast is very powerful as you can turn one $4 card into two $5 cards.

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guided

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #12 on: October 02, 2011, 08:42:01 am »
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TR/Feast is an interesting combo that works the way it does on purpose. It's not overpowered.
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glasser

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2011, 06:49:58 pm »
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One reason for limiting the card with "if you do" is that you might Throne Room it and run out of cards: TR/Trading Post/3xCopper gets rid of all three coppers but replaces them with only one silver.

Actually, the "if you do" doesn't come into play in that case: Throne Room, Trading Post, trash two coppers and gain a silver in hand, trash a silver and a copper and gain a silver in hand.
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biopower

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Re: Why does trading post have the "if you do" clause?
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2011, 06:59:42 pm »
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I think he meant King's Court.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2011, 07:05:39 pm by biopower »
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