I find it interesting that Raze is below Ratcatcher apparently. I feel like Raze is stronger:
- it is a faster trasher. Ratcatcher needs two turn to take effect.
- Raze is a bit worse at trashing Copper, granted. I don't think that's huge.
- on the other hand, Raze is better for trashing Estates.
- both remove themselves from your deck when no longer needed. But Raze gives a benefit when doing that.
- Raze has some mid- to late-game utility, Ratcatcher doesn't.
Agreed, though I think Raze and Ratcatcher are very similar in value. Raze is a very solid Estate trasher that removes itself. Raze is not good at trashing Copper, Curses, and Ruins. I would never buy Raze for Copper trashing and I would only buy it in response to heavy junking if there was no other option. (However, having bought Raze for trashing Estates, I might trash a Copper if I drew it in a hand without Estates.) Lookout is pretty comparable to Raze. In both cases, you trash a card, discard a card from your deck, and end up with [hand-1] cards and net 0 actions. The advantage of Lookout is that it can trash Coppers, Curses, and Ruins. The advantage of Raze is that you have more cards to choose to trash from, and it can remove itself for benefit whenever you want to.
Ratcatcher is slow. It misses your second reshuffle 7/12 times, as opposed to Raze's 2/12 (assuming no other card draw). This problem never really goes away. Like Raze and Lookout, Ratcatcher leaves you with [hand-1] cards and net 0 actions. It can trash anything, like Lookout. You can choose from 5 cards, which could be better or worse than Raze. But, you don't get any deck filtering. You can also wait until you find the Curse you want to trash. However, with good draw or sifting, the junk might keep missing your starting hands! Ratcatcher is especially poor against hand reduction attacks like Militia.
Ultimately, it comes down to how much you value Copper-trashing. I'm meh on Copper trashing. I want to trash my Estates in 90% of games. I'll do it with Raze or Ratcatcher, if I have no better options. Raze is better for this. I only get excited about Copper trashing in the presence of certain really strong trashers (Spice Merchant and cards that can trash 2+ cards in one go). Sure, I'll probably trash some Coppers with Ratcatcher once my Estates are gone. But not many; Ratcatcher is too slow.
Bonus: Raze is better at trashing Rats than Ratcatcher!