Rush is a deck that uses cards like Workshop or Rebuild to circumvent building at all.
I disagree. The rush does build, just less than the typical slog. There is no way to go for green starting turn one.
...being junky, cycling slowly, not buying Provinces/Colonies and profiting from alt-VP aren't the answers to any obstacles, they are superficial attributes of a few rush decks (but not most of them, since almost all viable rushes involve Rebuild somehow, and that deck cycles fast, gains Provinces and doesn't require alt-VP to be present).
Of course there are exceptions. It just so happens that Rebuild is a rather powerful (and stupid) one. I would still call Rebuild a fast slog (aka rush), since it relies on drawing key action cards, doesn't strive to do so by increasing its handsize and only needs enough economy to get to its key cards (Rebuild, Estate, sometimes Duchy).
I made the mistake of not referring to the obstacles, but to me, both rush and slog have roughly this approach:
- You add a few key cards into your deck that allow you to buy or gain the VP you're going for. These might be gainers, terminals like Baron, or cards like Rebuild.
- The green and other junk will dilute your deck, but this is often mitigated by cycling slowly to delay the effect (except with Rebuild, where the strong cycling incentivizes you to build slightly longer and buy even more Rebuilds). You may only need one or two of the aforementioned cards per hand to have a decent turn. Otherwise you may buy additional coppers to maintain your economy.
- You don't really need more than five cards. After building, you use your key cards to buy or gain VP. A bigger handsize would often just lead to collision or unused money.
- You are often perfectly content playing one terminal per turn. In other instances your key actions may be non-terminal or there are villages with low opportunity cost. You often use gainers or cards that give additional buys if you need them.
- You only build for a few turns before diving for green. You will see your key cards just as often as other deck types early on. Later you don't even want to see the cards you buy. You may get a sifter if you anticipate to have a very junky deck.
- You just put up with that. You have enough copies of your key cards to not be hurt too badly by them sometimes colliding or drawing them at an inopportune moment.
- You put yourself in a VP lead early on. You either sustain that lead until you reached 50 % or you go for a three pile ending, usually on mostly VP piles.
If anything, slog is closer to big money. The differences between big money and slog are that while both build the deck, the slog only builds it slightly better or roughly as good as its initial state, and the slog doesn't try to empty Provinces, it tries to have more points than the opponent at all times. They have the same solution for all the other obstacles.
I do agree that slogs and money can be somewhat similar. Mostly because they have little control over their deck, their opponents and piles compared to engines. The main difference is really just that money decks rely on economy from treasure cards, while slogs need key action cards to have a decent turn. Embassy decks can be somewhat sloggy, sometimes just skipping gold, while Philstone or Counting House slogs may feel like money.
Rushes' solutions are largely based on transcending the concept of having a good deck and having a good hand with cards like Rebuild, Ironworks+Gardens, Lurker+Hunting Grounds, etc, that allow you to play good enough turns with super awful hands.
Well, turns out that a hand with two Lurkers and three Duchies is not so awful if there is Hunting Grounds on the board and the Duchy pile is empty on turn 9. While it would be bad to have that hand (or that deck) on most boards, it's absolutely great here. I don't think economy should be used as the primary criterion to judge a deck.
I appreciate that the obstacles offer a perspective different from the established "superficial attributes". However, like infangthief, I disagree strongly with lumping handsize and buys together as one obstacle. As faust pointed out, different subtypes of engine may deal with the obstacles in different ways. And according to yourself, money and slog are similar in terms of obstacle solutions. Therefore it's hard for me to see these obstacles as the ultimate deck type definition.
