Augur by somekindoftony
An interesting take on +2 cards. I'm always worried about self-gaining cards leading to swingy games, but this one's non-terminal so that shouldn't be an issue most of the time. The on-gain seems like the strongest part. Sifting through 4 then drawing 2 is about as good as embassy, and the first time you buy it it's is almost as good as night watchman. You don't want to fill your deck with these and that's an elegant downside, but IMO 4 card sifting is a little strong for a $2 card.
Naval Blockade by spheremonk
Embargo is kinda a crappy card, but making it an event means it's much easier to play with. I agree with your decision to add +Buy to the card, as otherwise this wouldn't get bought so often. Smuggles are needed to counterbalance people who spam this event, but at the same time reduces the effect from "gain a curse" to the more boring "spend $2 more per card". This is a big improvement over Embargo, but still not the most exciting card in the world.
Insurance by majiponi
I like silver gainers and this card counters junking and trashing attacks in a neat way. I know I'd have tons of fun if I managed to win a game because of this. The card does have an obvious downside though - if you buy this card the silver gaining is mandatory. It turns the card into a noob trap, which is a concern, but it's an interesting downside for players who know how to play.
Stud by NoMoreFun
The effect seems reasonable and at the right power level, and I really like how it requries card synergies to become good. I know Donald X didn't like $2 projects for being "auto buys", but this one seems docile enough to not cause issues (plus, it's not like vagrant and pearl diver aren't "auto buys on $2 hands" either). Pretty good card!
Turtle by mad4mathf
I think this card is too strong because of the words "any number". Village is $3 and gives you two actions, while this is $2 and gives you infinite. The downside is that your cards are set aside for a turn, halving your effective payload. With that said, I think this card has a great idea behind it. If it only let you set aside 2 actions (maybe 3) then I would be a big fan.
Diving School by ConMan
This card reminds me of City Gate and Silos, and I think it's a similar power level. The buy restriction does make it more interesting, but it also makes it way more expensive without +Buy. But if you do have +Buy, then the decision to buy this becomes uninteresting again. Haha, I dunno. It's alright, but I think City Gate and Silos covers enough ground in this area.
Bagpiper by grep
Bagpiper looks a lot like Soldier. The attack is intentionally weak, but I find the copper gaining unnecssary - "discard down to 4" would be my preference for the top. The bottom text is more interesting than the top albeit similar to Soldier. It seems nuts on a few boards - with Minion or Scrying Pool the card can easily push +$10 as a $2 non-terminal, which is busted.
Mule by mandioca15
This is like a weaker version of Diplomat. +2 cards at $2 is not a bad effect per se, but it seems overly hard to activate the +1 Action effect and doesn't work against "discard 1" attacks. I think it needs a buff.
Caver by Aquila
I love the simplicity here and think it's a perfect $2 card to play in an engine. BUT... there's a problem. This card is too good if drawn on turn 4. Getting +2 cards and +$2 on turn 4 can be a strong advantage on certain boards and I believe this overshadows Caver's use elsewhere. Maybe +2 Actions instead of +$2 would work better? That would be similar to Shanty Town in terms of power.
Rook by [TP] Inferno
Seems about as powerful as squire or hamlet, but the +2 Cards is a strong perk. Not all that exciting but not offensive either.
Lost Coins by Krush
This reminds me a lot of Mining Village. It feels like an obvious buy to me. If you have an extra $2 left over, just buy this and save the money for next turn. It's roughly equivalent to 2 coin tokens on gain, which is perhaps too strong for costing $2 and should instead cost $3 (or have a tweaked effect). But I still like the card a lot and would enjoy using it with Remodel.
Angel of Death by D782802859
Cursing everybody on gain is interesting, but it hurts yourself badly and I'm not sure if this effect is worth it. Most boards won't have a way to ensure your hand starts with a curse, meaning your Angel will return to the supply and be very sad. Making the Angel a laboratory-like action would be better - it's easier and more tactical to reveal curses that way.
Smithing Tools by X-tra
Really cool card. This little guy can draw a ton of cards if enough are in play, but I'm not sold on the player interaction bit. It seems like you'd want to play them regardless unless you didn't have enough +Actions to begin with. Personally, I'd prefer if this only counted your own Smithing Tools in play and leave the player interaction to controlling the split (like Fool's Gold). Good card nonetheless.
Town Charter by curtis
Cool card and it seems balanced, but it's very similar to Toil. To me, I'd rather play with Toil because it has more contrast with Villa, but this card's certainly alright.
Tally by LibraryAdventurer
Dunno if this was intended, but the strategy here is to use it every turn and keep your coppers out of your deck. If you open with a +Buy card on turn 1, you can do this every turn beginning on turn 2 and build extremely quickly from there. I think it's stronger than chapel, and maybe beats donate on some boards because you keep your buying power while simultaneously thinning. It's kinda cool for that reason and I'd love to play a few games with it, but I can't select it for being so powerful. P.S. I did the math and this+travelling fair alone drains provinces in 9 turns while also buying a duchy and estate
Rabbit by Rhodos
I love the top effect on a $2 card and like the design a lot, but the bottom text is too good for your opponents. It's a big enough penalty that if there's any other draw cards on the board you should use those instead of rabbit, and if rabbit is the only draw, you're probably better off skipping it. I can make a suggestion: give a villager instead of a coffer. Villagers aren't as dangerous to give to your opponent.
Cleaning Crew by grrgrrgrr
If you can play two of these per turn you get a cantrip trasher - that's cute! I guess it's a bit lucky if you line it up early on, but really you're better off waiting until you can draw deck before going for these. Besides the luck factor it's a nice card.
Sorcerer's Apprentice by mail-mi
A nice, decent $2 trasher, but I'm not sold on the bottom half. I don't think there are enough cards to activate it with and ironically it's bad against trashing attacks. I know you can react it with another copy of itself, but that doesn't seem reliable enough to shoot for.
Retreiver by scolapasta
Another reaction! This one seems easier to activate than Sorcerer's Apprentice because there's plenty of discarding effects in the game. The reaction is cute, but problematic. If you and your opponent open Retreiver/Cellar, and you line them up on turn 3/4 while your opponent doesn't, you're miles and miles ahead of them. The benefit to having this in hand with a discarder on turn 3 or 4 is too massive to be fair.
Shipyard by segura
It's the child of Cathedral and Sinister Plot! I suspect the game will be over long before the token points actually matter. In this regard I think Cathedral has a more relevant downside, but I do like the concept of this one.
Horse Thief by Optimal_Inefficiency
The debt effects are too weak. Tax itself is very weak, but Tax can be used instantly. Most players will simply use this for horses and only horse, which is fine, but still rather weak. To buff it, I'd suggest having only two choices: "+2 horses and add 2 debt to a pile; or remove all debt from a pile". Nice theme.
Nun by Gubump
A simple, inoffensive exiler. I'm sure it's a powerful card, though a bit slower than Bounty Hunter because it wrecks your spending power. Overall a good, albeit obvious design.
Climber by Freddy10
This one's a really clever and thematic take on sifting. A few have argued that it's too strong. I dunno about that, but I think it would be better at $3. That way, silver can't activate it so easily. I'm also not convinced it needs to use an artifact - you could probably phrase it to all be on one card. Good job with this one.
Oyster Farmer by spineflu
Hmm this one seems very weak in its current state and looks inferior compared to Border Guard. The idea is cute and I love money support but it needs to be much, much stronger to be worth buying over silver.
Sanctum by Gazbag
Interesting. You want to buy big cards to trash with this, but if you spend all your coppers you won't be able to trash them. It reminds me of cemetary and banish in a good way. The fact that it's a terminal reserve card make it a bit lucky to use though.
Lady by Fragasnap
This is a really elegant way to make a $2 market. It seems like a very reasonable design for a $2 card, while not being strictly better than herbalist or CM. This is a very good $2 card design.
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Results:
It's always hard to pick winners. There were lots of interesting card designs submitted, but right now I can think of four entries that are excellent enough to be printed and played with now.
Winner:
Lady by Fragasnap
Runner ups:
Stud by NoMoreFun
Sanctum by Gazbag
Smithing Tools by X-tra
And as a bonus:
Will be excellent with tweaks:
Turtle by mad4math
Rabbit by Rhodos
Climber by Freddy10
Thanks to all that participated.