Sorry for the delay. It much longer than I thought.
RenovateThis is a strong gainer. I would compare it mainly to Develop or Duplicate, although there are obvious differences. When 2 piles are empty you can Renovate a Renovate into 2 Provinces, which is crazy, but some work has to be done before. I like it.
NitoriThis can give you huge amount of Silver, so it is obviously good in Big Money. Otherwise I am not sure you want that many, maybe early on to get some economy. This has interesting player interaction, although having it to build it up on your own (each player has his own Nitori tokens) could also be interesting. Probably you considered both ways. It has strong synergy with Guild Hall, Triumph, Feodum and maybe even more. An easy and interesting concept.
GuildPersonally, I think the Tavern Mat is not the right place for it. I would create a new Mat for it. There is some abuse of this, where you buy a lot of Guilds, put a good, high-cost card on your mat and all your Guilds become that card. That might be okay, as it requires some setup. Still I would probably put the cost at $4 or even $5, which would give you the choice of putting a cheap card on your mat, just to make Guilds cheaper to buy. The real issue with the card is the +1 Action. If you put a Moat on your mat, now you have $2 Labs; put a Smithy there and you get $4 super Labs. That is insane.
Grand LaboratoryA Lab that can give you more Labs or function as a Workshop. Therefore you pay a higher price, I like that concept. Though I think, it is too easy to get with Workshop/Remodel variants. I would like it without the cost reduction, but that can gain another Grand Laboratory (which then would not fit the contest anymore). Might be a matter of taste. I like it anyway.
PatissierWithout support it is super hard to empty this pile. And the cost reduction is hard to benefit from during your buy phase, since most of the time, you have $2 or more in Treasures. You would sometimes pay $6 for a Baker, but if that's all what would that card add to the game. So it gets more interesting when there is a way to get it with actions mainly Workshop/Remodel Variants. But then it seems too good and I just get as many of them as possible, kind of a race then. I like the idea of it caring about its own pile, but I would think another cost structure would do better on this card.
EliteFortune says hi. I would like to see another version of it, but one always has to be careful and make it really hard to get. This gets the job done and gives an interesting way of doubling your money. It comes on a terminal action and has an elegant way to say when to double your money. It also makes further Elites worth to play and gives choices on the first card to buy. Could be an Estate then Elite effectivly doubles your money, or something better, but then you get less out of the doubling. Interesting! The one issue I have is with $5-gainers like Artisan, University, Vampire, etc. With those it is too easy to get, so maybe make it $6* to get it out of this range.
Workshop of PlentyThis is just way too strong. You can always buy it without playing any cards. It is okay early on, but it gets better so fast. Midgame, it can give you engine pieces so reliable and later on it gives you Provinces or Colonies so easy. The fact that it is a Treasure and thus also counts the Treasure you have in play makes it too good. As an action it might be more interesting. Also crazy increase of cost is just insane with Bishop or Ritual.
Signet RingFirst of all +$2, +1Buy is often good enough to justify buying it for $4. Then it also gives you the choice of a Necropolis effect, that also lets you play your Treasures and return to Action Phase. That is really good with Draw-to-X and Tactician. But does not give you the possibility of Buy-and-Play shenanigains. For $7 you really need a good reason to buy it. I guess it is balanced, you get one easy early on, if you want one, but is harder to get multiple of them for Draw-to-X engines. I like it.
BoomtownYou really don't want to buy green cards early on and I don't think this is an exception. And later on it is just overpriced. It is really a pain to calculate the cost of your deck, during the game. Even more so as you also want to know, how many points you opponent has and thus how much his deck costs. It is even tricky, to get an idea of how many points it will be worth. And this applies especially to newer players, who will not know how to evaluate that card. Also it is broken with Ritual or Bishop.
RoversI really like that concept of cost depending on your Journey token. Especially as you have that conflict between having it face down for your next turn and face up for the cheaper price. That is neat. (I think a good idea is to get the second before playing the first one, so both are cheap.) But I am not that happy with the effect. I think it is too strong. Playing 2 during your turn is like Lost City + Lab, which is a lot. And is easy to do, since the first one on gives you the actions. The actions are usually a problem, one needs to solve, when playing Ranger or Giant. I would change the Journey Token effect to +2 Actions or even +1 Card, +1 Action, which makes the first one a super Lab, but it will not help to play the second one -with actions left over- anymore. There might be other ways to fix. Still, I love the concept.
AppraiserI really like the design of this. Appraiser is really hard to get, but its high reward will make up for it. It is also really good at giving you a Province + engine piece, so that you do not stall. I really like the concept. I have to issues though. The first one is that it is still easy to get with Workshop/Remodel variants. Especially if you play a Village beforehand, you get Appraiser and can still have a good turn. The second one is that it is broken with Ritual or Bishop and limits the Trash-for-Benefit cards one can create. Other than that I really like the card.
MonkThe cost structure is interesting. But I don't think the reduction plays that big of a role. I really want to buy one on the first shuffle, preferable on turn 2. The trashing effect is really strong and later it turns into a Smithy, which is a strong card. The flexibility makes it really strong (like with Steward), but it comes at a cost. Most of the time Copper will be the only Treasure in the trash, but I might still pay the price for a Smithy, if I lack of alternatives. Interesting card.
Merry MenThis is a neat idea. Though I think it slows the game quite a lot, due to all the decisions you have to make. I like the "I split, you choose" mechanic, but I think it just does not fit into Dominion. Also I think, it is just way to weak. The first attack is worse than discard down to 4, though it scales when played multiple times, but it does not help itself to play multiple times. And +2 cards next turn, is also not that amazing.
Treasuer CoveSo, without any additional Treasured or Victory cards, this costs $7. I assume that, most of the time and on average, you also have Provinces and Duchies at the end of the game and when you play Treasure Cove, you have played 2 Treasures before. That would make it +$3 and 3VP. Which is pretty strong at $7 and you would always buy it over Gold. It has a variance, but I think more likely to even get a stronger effect that it is to get a worse effect, compared to the above case. If there are even other Treasures or VP cards, the cost of Treasure Cove increases, but I guess the benefit not so often. Because some Treasures or Victory cards you don't want at all, and with others you don't want to have a great mix with them and the standard ones. Of course this depends highly on the specific cards. I would also change it, to say Supply pile, but that is a minor thing. I think it is a little bit too strong, but I can't do other than to say I love that concept and would like to playtest Treasure Cove and see how it does.
TulipI guess you miscorrected yourself here. With $1* cost it seems weird, it will almost always cost 0. I think it was $12* before and I will judge that on, if you don't mind. So if uncontested it gives you +$1 and you may return this, to get a card costing up to $x+2, where x is what you paid for Tulip. And it does not cost you an action like Feast would. In total that seems a little too strong. Maybe you could nerf it a little. Despite this, it brings player interaction, without beeing an attack. Returning it should always be good, but buying has the potential to make your opponent's next Tulip better. It is an interesting way of a Feast.
Cunning PlansWith $7* it is still quite cheap, when you consider the cost reduction. +Cards on a treasure is kind of weird, by itself not problematic though. But the card is just insane in Big Money decks. It makes this turn and the next one so much better. Since with no actions you have nothing to draw dead. And in Big Money, I come to the point, where I can buy this quite quickly. I think this enables Big Money just a little bit too much.
InvestmentsCoffers are strong, no doubt. But you invest a lot here to get them. I don't think you ever want more then one of them. This implies when the first one is in Exile, it will stay there. But then to keep the Investment on the Tavern Mat, I need to spend one less per turn than I could, which is costy. The strength of Pageant for example is that it gives you that effect optionally. Over all I cannot think of the point in a game, where I want to buy this.
IrrigationThis idea is new and interesting. The first one for $3 compares to Experiment, which you often want to have. And you often willing to pay $4 for the effect. At $5 it is not good enough anymore by itself. So the question is do you go all the way up to $8. I guess you don't want to buy a super Lab for 8$ all that often and enabling it is also costy. Sure, you can buy multiple cheap ones and keep the last and thus never paid $8, but then you probably need to skip playing some, which is also a high cost. After all I really like the idea, but I would make it 4 tokens instead of 5.
MetalsmithThis is really bad at trashing/remodeling the cards you begin with. But it does a good job at turning actions into stronger ones, and you even got to play your actions before that. Kind of like Procession. It starts weak, but can get pretty strong at the end, turning actions you played into Provinces. This is really interesting.
ArchipelagoExiling a Victory card is really good, as it keeps your deck consistent. Exiling a Copper is also good, but makes further Archipelagos more expensive. When you have to exile a Treasure you would like to keep, that hurts of course. The fact that the Copper goes to Exile, might give you the opportunity to discard the Coppers, to get Archipelago cheaper, in case you need it. I like that. It enables strategies where you buy a lot of those and keep Exiling them, to maintain a playable deck. It also loves Trash-for-Benefit: Buy one early for $4, exile an Estate and a Copper, then trash it at $6 with Salvager for example. I really like the design! (I would let it say "may" instead of "can").
FieldsAt the point, where I want a "free" Duchy in my deck, usually Provinces have been bought already. Maybe I grap 1 or 2 Fields before that And at this point I never want Fields over a Province. If I hit $7 then, I almost always buy Fields over a Duchy. So I does not really give interesting decisions all that much. The thing that makes games with this more interesting is Duchy Dancing. I would suggest changing it to giving you a card that costs up to $5. That you make it similar to Banquete, but only giving you one bad card. And later on when you go green, it is not that cheap anymore, but has the potential to provide points, while also giving you a good card, that can help to protect you from dud turns.
DeedThis is like: Cantrip or +1Action,-1Buy,+1VP, which is pretty weak. And the VPs on this are limited (which in general is a really good idea). Of course there are Trash-for-Benefit interactions, but I don't think it is worth the VP to buy this card only to trash it.
SellswordA card that helps you trashing, while also junking your opponent. And, by doing so, it also gives your opponent the opportunity to get a cheap Sellsword himself. Interesting concept. Maybe with reliable +Buys on the board, you just wait until you get cursed and then pick up a cheap Sellsword, but it comes quite late then. I like it.
The final results:Cards I would love too see with little changes:Rovers
Irrigation
EliteRunners Up:segura's Treasure Cove
Inferno's RenovateRenovate
$5*
Action
Trash a card from your hand. Gain 2 cards each costing exactly $1 more than it.
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This costs $1 more per empty Supply pile.
X-tra's Grand Laboratory
Winner:grep's Archipelago
Archipelago
$6* - Victory
3VP
When you buy this, Exile a Treasure card from play, and you can Exile a Victory card from hand.
(This costs $2 less if you have no Coppers in Exile)