CHALLENGE #66 RESULTS
Bookkeeper/Counting House by NoMoreFun
This card obviously synergises with Counting House, but shines the most with Draw-to-X. In those situations, having only 5 of these can be immensely frustrating, since it is very easy to get your second or third copy of this, given it costs only $3 and has +Buy. For these reasons, I think this card works better as a separate pile, rather than part of a split pile. Secret Chamber was terrible, but adding +Actions makes it quite powerfull, probably too good for $3.
Diary/Secret Chamber by majipony
Diaries are going to need an external trigger pretty much 100% of the time, since Secret Chamber itself is just far too weak to pull it of. And even then, it's not going to be worth it most of the time I'm afraid. Sea Hag is gone out of favor because it essentially junks the player by being in the deck, and this card has that problem times 1000. I'm not sold, sorry.
Rascals/Night Watchman by X-tra
The attack looks OK-ish, since it makes buying them when hitting lots of $$ less unappealing. The only problem is that this duo functions the best when your deck has lots Rascals/Night Watchmans, but little else. In these scenario, the deck can produce lots of VP per turn, but is completely unable to put an end to the game. Donald X avoids such scenario like a plague.
Another problem is that Racals are absolute garbage without triggers. And that Night Watchman is pretty horrible when locked behind 5 cards. So there is that.
Kudos for making the randomizer, though. I like that a lot.
Mine/Diamond by Pubby
I adore the idea of putting a "lvl 4" treasure below Mine. Mine are always pretty good in Colony games, so having a card like that is a great way of making Mine consistently better.
I'm not keen on Diamond, however. 8 VP is just way too much. It becomes nearly impossible to overcome losing the Diamond split, especially considering Diamonds are not dead cards. I also don't like that that it cannot be bought: Mine is already pretty convenient at getting lvl 4 Treasures anyway. If you wanna improve this card, my suggestion is to tweak it into a Treasure that is balanced at $9.
Accountant/Coppersmith by mail-mi
Accountant is alright for trashing and +Buy, although it is a little bland. However, if you wanna make it share a pile with Coppersmith, you really have make it enhance Coppersmith. Coppersmith really needs a card that helps it connect Coppers with itself. Otherwise, it just fails to be viable, Accountant or not.
You could consider it making it draw another card if you have a Copper in hand and price it at $4. Not sure if that is balanced though.
Navigator/Explorer Ship by D782802859
Explorer Ship is going to be somewhat bad on its own, but with Navigator, it can be quite fearsome. It can be somewhat clunky though, because playing Explorer when not drawn by Navigator is quite taxing on the terminal space. Especially if drawn at the start of a shuffle. That said, it can be phenominal at reactivating a stalling deck. Needs playtesting to see how things balance out, but I like the nom a lot. FINALIST
Scribe/King's Court by Aquila
I don't mind cutting the King's Court count to 5, but Scribe looks rather broken. This is cheaper than Poach, which is actively a nuissance at some point. This on the other hand can always act as a Peddler unless you really whiff, since you can always regain this with your $4 costing component. The idea of denying a King's Court when you are already in the lead doesn't amuse me either.
Path/Scout by [TP] Inferno
One of the most important things to remember about Scout is that it's not only absolutely misserable on average, but that its ceiling is absurdly low as well. It never comboed with anything; even the "amazing" Scout/Ironworks/Great Hall trio was actualy very mediocre in practice.
With that said, I am not sold at this making Scout viable. Making matters worse, you butchered its vanilla quite heavily, as it is essentially a Copper when all Paths are gone. Something I would not want in my deck, even less in multiples. Not even with Groom or Ironworks. It tempts me to say that this is actually going to be the weaker part of the pile, but I guess it can escape that fate. Sorry, but this didn't work out. Better luck next time.
Surveyor/Explorer by popsofctown
I really fail to see how this qualifies as a $2 cost; $3 or $4 would be better. It also works poorly with Explorer, since that card gains Treasures to hand, while the exchanged card would not go to hand. Indeed, too fiddly.
Thief/Golden Egg by somekindoftony
Very wacky, but definitely way of improving the Thief. With two players, Thief is still beyond terrible, especially since you don't wanna burn through 5 Thieves in order to activate Golden Egg. In 3+ player games, the flow of Gold becomes a little too automatic, especially when players won't play Thief every turn (not unlikely, as there are only 5 in the game). Definitely fun in casual play.
Pearl Diver/Pearl by Segura
Pearl Diver is indeed a straightforward card to use in this contest, as it's very similar to Patrician or Settlers. Pearl looks like a pretty strong card, as it's always in the right position for engines. And if your deck stalls, you can use those Pearl divers to draw it prematurely. Great use of Pearl Divers ability. It is powerful, but you have to get past those Pearl Divers first in order to get it in the first place, so it seems balanced. FINALIST
Snitch/Black Market by grep
Snitch looks extremely swingy. If it gains you a King's Court or Possession, you have gotten yourself a very powerful card for free. And if it reveals a crap card, you have devoted your handsize on nothing. Black Market at least produces $2, and with revealing 3 cards, it is more consistent at revealing viable stuff. Plus, getting stuff from Black Market diminishes your buying power or this turn.
I honestly also don't see the appeal in locking Black Market till lategame either.
Oasis/Observatory by Something_Smart
Looks like a decent Peddler variant that interacts nicely with Oasis. It is obviously not very good when you have drawn a lot, but it is otherwise quite nice. I don't see why the drawing and Treasure playing should be mutually exclusive. If you don't want to enable it before drawing, enable it afterwards. That said, solid idea overall. FINALIST
Chariot Race/Spectators by BlueHairedMeerkat
Designing a card that gives VP without gaining or trashing needs to be done with extremely great care. We don't want strategies were you can generate a gigantic amount of VP per turn, without working towards an end. Chariot Race counteracts that by not (or less likely) producing VP when the opponent has expensive cards, such as Province. Spectators doesn't counteract this possibility at all, and it will be way too easy to ensure VP out of each play, without neutering your deck.
Warehouse/Goods by mandioca15
I don't think Goods works very well in a split pile, since you are essentially forcing the player to use Warehouse as a trigger, and not, for instance, Dungeon. Also, having only 5 Warehouses in the supply means that the strategy itself won't be good if you don't win the split. For the card itself, it's alright, but terminal gold is kinda lame. And I feel that Village Green makes a card like this kinda unnecessary.
Advisor/Confidant by spineflu
You revisited your entry quite a few times, and I can say for sure that each entry has been much better than the previous one. Confidant would be horribly overpowered as a top card, but as a bottom card, I can see it working out. It also works nicely with Advisor, because having a Confidant in your deck means the left player has to think twice before choosing the best card. Especially when Advisor reveals a Curse. Very elegant design. FINALIST
Mineral Deposit/Grand Market by alion8me
This is very hard to judge on face value. Shrinking the Grand Market count to 5 nerfs it a lot, as it's no longer possible to really snowball on it. It also means that when one player gets access to the first Grand Market, the other player has extremely little time to catch up. I think the most common scenario will be buying the fifth Mineral Deposit when hitting $8, and buying earlier Mineral Depositis when you have $2 left to spend. I'm just not sold that this is a recipe for fun, though that might be more a problem of Grand Market.
Harvest/Yield by Supernova888
Yield is going to be very awesome with Tactician or Vault, but this awesomeness will be completely offset when it is covered by 5 of those crappy Harvests. The interaction with Harvest is going to be rather poor, especially when Harvest cares about diversity. And honestly, being a $5 costing silver is kinda boring as well. Also, unlocking this just to get a +Buy will be rather awkward, as the player with less Harvests will be likely in an advantage.
Copper Mine/Coppersmith by Gubumb
This can definitely improve Coppersmith, as this is helpful for increasing the Copper density. That said, I don't recall Copper/Beggar being a thing, as the support Coppersmith primarily needs, is the ability to aligh Coppersmith with your Coppersmiths, while also making sure Coppersmith gets played often. Since Coppersmith was an extremely narrow card, this kind of support is to be expected from a card that shares its pile. As a card on its own, it's definitely likeable with Gardens or Counting House, but it is rather unlikely that you'd also pick up a Coppersmith in those situations.
Sage/Wisdom Scroll by LibraryAdventurer
The problem with Wisdom Scroll is that whenever the Coppers and Estates are gone, this card can consistently hit $4. That is very strong, especially since it is also nonterminal (and gives +Buy!). The worst part is that when this scenario occurs, Sage is worthless. And then, the player who bought Sage the most often gets punished for his good deed of unlocking Wisdom Scroll. As a result, I'm afraid this card wouldn't be able to survive an audition of testing.
Village/Urban Planner by scolapasta
The problem of putting a Village and a Smithy variant in one pile is that you strip the ability to choose the order in which the parts are obtained. The supply of either is much more limited as well. This turns engine building more into a race of getting as many cards of that pile as possible. Also, when there are only 5 Villages, it is far more unlikely for Urban Planner's ability to have any relevance.
I also prefer if you don't cater the wording to Way of the Chameleon, and instead say something like you may spend any amount of unused actions, to draw that many.
So the top 4 is:
4) Oasis/Observatory by Something_Smart
3) Navigator/Explorer Ship by D782802859
2) Pearl Diver/Pearl by Segura
1) Advisor/Confidant by spineflu
Congratulations, spineflu, for winning this weak's challenge!
EDIT: And thanks to all participants for the many good submissions.