I do think it ended up where every step is worth stopping on sometimes, except Page (and yes even then but way less often).
Huh, i always thought the whole point of Page was "Play 8 of these and then a Warrior." At least the carnage you can do with this left a lasting impression on me.
You've played a bunch of cantrips and drawn two cards because your opponent almost certainly has a Champion already?
The point is that your opponent never gets a Champion, nor a Hero, and later not even a chance to play Treasure Hunter. If two players go for this, one will be lucky and trash the other's Warrior, and then that other player never really comes back. From this point onward you can actually make pretty much sure your opponent is incapable of ever reaching Champion, or attacking with Warrior. You kill every card he gains in the $3/$4 span, while having all the time in the world to keep building your engine (as long as the trash-a-ton keeps running). The fact Page is a Traveller actually supports this, as your opponent will put them back in the supply for you to gain when he exchanges them for Treasure Hunter. If there are no good $5s, or you can throw in something to keep your opponent from reaching $5, he can just as well quit. Even if there are, he basically has to hope for a hand with 5 Coppers to appear. I have done this in an actual game and know it works. Edit: Or, of course, he must buy something like Silver, hope to draw it in hand, and skip the Page line entirely. Treasure Hunter doesn't work, unless he trashed down, as either TH or Warrior (and Silver) will be trashed.
Obviously, if your opponent actually manages to get a Hero, you must switch plans, and exchange your Warrior for a Hero, and your Pages for Treaaure Hunters, to still have a chance. If your opponent's Warrior trashes yours, however, you can only hope he actually thinks Warrior is just a stepping stone and exchanges it. Either way, Warrior trashing Warrior is usually a big step towards winning, either way. Multipage-Warrior is a way to get there with a high probability, as Pages both boost your Warrior and defend against opponent's.