But at $5 it's pretty clearly in the bottom 5 for its cost. I think that's a pretty good demonstration of the fact the jump between $4 and $5 is so severe.
I don't think it is in the bottom 5 for $5. You have Saboteur, Counting House, Stash, Outpost, Mine. Those are all definitely worse, right? Then you have Harvest, Mandarin, and Cache, which I think are probably still worse than Explorer. Mandarin and Cache are debatable, but still, Explorer would miss the bottom 5.
Just my thoughts--you may certainly disagree. And I know it's splitting hairs a bit, but that's what these threads are for!
I'd say that Outpost and Mine are, while certainly not good cards, both clearly better than Explorer. FWIW, my bottom 5 is Counting House as the clear #1 worst, some combination of Cache, Saboteur, and Explorer as #2 through #4, and Stash and Mandarin fighting it out for the #5 spot.
I guess Mine, Tribute, Harvest, and Outpost would probably round out my bottom ten in roughly that order.
Well, we definitely agree on which cards go in the bottom 10! It's nice to hear Mandarin get some hate. Such a bad card, and I don't even really understand why it's so bad, but it is. I guess just gaining it is such an awful pain.
I'd pick up a Cache in a higher percentage of games than I'd pick up a contraband. (Trader, Watchtower, Greening, Spicemerchant/Moneylender, Counting House (ok.. not really), apothecary...)
Oh, I completely forgot about Contraband. I think it's somewhere in the Mine/Tribute/Harvest/Outpost scrum. Royal Seal's down there too- it not bad
per se, it's certainly better than Stash, but actually buying it is rarely the best option.
As for Mandarin... it is a royal pain to buy, very hard to use, and just ignoring it is a good rule of thumb that will rarely steer you wrong. The on-gain effect is usually a severe penalty, and the when-play topdecking is better but often also hurts. But there are a few situations where I've made good use of it:
a) It can be an income source in heavy treasureless engines- Scrying Pool and the like, pick it up with virtual money and use it for both the cash and topdeck spare engine parts for next turn.
b) Situationally, as an endgame treasure pusher in clogged BM decks- get it instead of duchy if you're ahead and just need that last Province sooner.
c)
Very rarely as an opening with a power $5 that does nothing for your economy. Mandarin/Hunting Party and Mandarin/Mandarin/Mandarin/Apprentice are the only two that come to mind right now, there are probably a couple others.
Basically, all of these situations try to sidestep the problem that Mandarin's when gain effect
really sucks most of the time, by either a) avoiding it entirely, b) being the one situation where it's an actual benefit, c) trading tempo for power.