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Weekly Design Contest / Re: Weekly Design Contest #227: Shadows
« on: August 17, 2024, 09:16:47 am »
Shed by Jonatan Djurachkovitch
6/10
Not much to say here. The likelihood of Shadow whiffing is decreased by the abilities and I like that the topdeck ability also interacts with non-Shadows.
Furnace by Tiago
2/10
So Furance potentially topdecks Furnace. This would be nice with a normal Smithy, but what is the point of it given that you can play that bottom-decked Furnace anyway as if in your hand? That makes no sense and if anything that ability is a nerf so the card is weaker than Barge.
Kamidana by BryGuy
0/10
The second version was solid and I liked it a lot (8/10).
This is version is far too good (the only card besides Royal Blacksmith which can net draw 4) and also too complex (the discarding Debt part, you won't ever need that unless there are Debt-costed cards in the Kingdom).
Shaded by binbag420
7/10
A Shadow trait is fairly natural and I really like the downside.
Doppelganger by NoMoreFun
4/10
I don't know. Suppose there is Ironworks and Dopperganger in the Kingdom and you always blow up your Doppelgangers. Ironworks constantly gains Doppelgangers, so here we have -1 Card. Doppelganger Thrones those cards so we have +1 Card at best. The vanillas cancel each other so Ironworks kind of works like Throne Room.
At worst, i.e. if Doppelganger is in your hand or in your discard pile, which will often happen in this scenario due to Ironworks, we have net vanillas of -1 Card. So no, I am not convinced.
On the other hand, it is a one-shot $2 so it should be weak.
Pickpocket by X-tra
2/10
This does not excite me. Guaranteed spiking to $5 after the first shuffle is nice but that is really all that this card achieves.
Baseline scenario is terminal Silver. Sure, you can be thin and have no Treasures (terminal Gold) or you have to discard a Silver (terminal Copper), but terminal Silver seems to be the most likely and also the average case.
Compared to other terminal Silvers that draw like Cargo Ship (get that $5 the very next turn), Fortune Hunter (can make $4 or $5) or Garrison (draws potentially a lot), this seems weak, boring and not worth the terminal space.
Monopoly by faust
8/10
This is super novel and obviously brilliant. The only thing that does not convince me is the card effect, it is very extreme. I am also not a huge fan of the war of attrition-ish minigame that arises once everybody can draw their deck.
Compared to e.g. Flag Bearer or Treasurer, which feature similar minigames, the minigames occur here less often, the payoff is larger and the cost (Flag Bearer can be gained without being bought) is also larger.
Fairies by DashingEpistocrat
2/10
So Scheme but with cards from your hand and potentially more than 1 Card.
I think this does not work. In a decent engine, which is kind of the main situation in which your want this, you often draw your Fairies during your turn so it is no longer a cantrip.
In a decent engine, you can draw stuff dead but you mostly have your good stuff in play.
Increasing consistency with a card that is not all that consistent is not a decent insurance policy.
Stalker by silverspawn
9/10
Unlike the previous two Smithies that could be weaker, this is a proper Smithy+. It simple, it is either a Smithy or a Hunting Grounds, and the only thing that we can discuss is the parameter of 4 cards.
In a normal draw deck it is OKisk, because you can pull Village-Stalker-Village-Stalker with the second Stalker being buffed. I also think this illustrates that the first version with 5 cards was likely wrong.
In a deck with many Durations and cantrips, like Peddlers or splitters or whatever, this will shine.
Badge/Sheriff by LibraryAdventurer
7/10
Badge is vanilla-wise a Copper, a Treasure-Peddler (not underpriced like Supplies), a Fugitive or a Lab. Although it is obviously stronger in Kingdoms with Attacks, I like that you made sure that it is also decent in Kingdoms without such that those Sheriffs might see the light of day.
Sheriff is vanilla- wise often something like +2 Cards +2 Coins +1 Buy. This is pretty strong (and totally fine for the lower part of a split pile) given that +2 Cards +2 Coins is probably a $5.
Kappa by fika monster
?/10
I have a hard time to judge the strength of this:
Inn sifts with a net draw of -1. This is a DoubleVillage with, at best, a net draw of -2. Seems weak.
On the other hand, a ShadowVillage is strong and massively increases the consistency of your deck.
Dojo by LTaco
10/10
I really like this Throne. It is very clear and "sharp", i.e. the advantage and disadvantage relative to Throne Room are immediately apparent.
It is slightly more (emergently) complex than Throne: Throne is good once you have a decent Action density whereas this also makes you want to build a deck with a variety of Actions.
Private Shrine by emtzalex
8/10
I have a soft spot for trash-for-Debt cards because unlike many trashers they are non-trivial to analyze and because they amplify the "payload trough" problem of trashing.
Swordsmith by AJL828
5/10
Similar to Conjurer. I think this could be simpler as the conditional non-terminality will rarely trigger.
Tuna byMochaMoko
1/10
What other posters said: far better than Plunder. Also, a deck with Market and 4 Tunas might not really want to green (quickly). That is more of a theoretical thing but it highlights the issue of pairing Coffers with VPs on a non-terminal.
I like the idea of a Treasure-Shadow that can work like a Treasure-Peddler though.
Manhunt by Snorka
0/10
This is a boring BM card. Spike to a Manhunt, buy a Copper (to be able to produce 8 Coins) and then just buy Manhunts/Provinces.
Silhouettist by infangthief
9/10
Basically a Shadow version of Courier. I like it, simple yet complex and it feels like it could be an official card.
Coffee House by grep
10/10
Man, this is sweet. Kudos for making a Lab via a pure Reaction.!
You often have no discard so this does not work as a mono-engine card. It could be a $4 but to test it $3 is the right price.
Portent by JW
4/10
The sifting makes this is too similar to Rustic Village for my taste.
The increase of consistency a Shadow splitter provides is nice but like with Kappa, a net draw of -1 can hurt you.
Lots of interesting cards so no easy choice. The winner is Coffee House by grep.
6/10
Not much to say here. The likelihood of Shadow whiffing is decreased by the abilities and I like that the topdeck ability also interacts with non-Shadows.
Furnace by Tiago
2/10
So Furance potentially topdecks Furnace. This would be nice with a normal Smithy, but what is the point of it given that you can play that bottom-decked Furnace anyway as if in your hand? That makes no sense and if anything that ability is a nerf so the card is weaker than Barge.
Kamidana by BryGuy
0/10
The second version was solid and I liked it a lot (8/10).
This is version is far too good (the only card besides Royal Blacksmith which can net draw 4) and also too complex (the discarding Debt part, you won't ever need that unless there are Debt-costed cards in the Kingdom).
Shaded by binbag420
7/10
A Shadow trait is fairly natural and I really like the downside.
Doppelganger by NoMoreFun
4/10
I don't know. Suppose there is Ironworks and Dopperganger in the Kingdom and you always blow up your Doppelgangers. Ironworks constantly gains Doppelgangers, so here we have -1 Card. Doppelganger Thrones those cards so we have +1 Card at best. The vanillas cancel each other so Ironworks kind of works like Throne Room.
At worst, i.e. if Doppelganger is in your hand or in your discard pile, which will often happen in this scenario due to Ironworks, we have net vanillas of -1 Card. So no, I am not convinced.
On the other hand, it is a one-shot $2 so it should be weak.
Pickpocket by X-tra
2/10
This does not excite me. Guaranteed spiking to $5 after the first shuffle is nice but that is really all that this card achieves.
Baseline scenario is terminal Silver. Sure, you can be thin and have no Treasures (terminal Gold) or you have to discard a Silver (terminal Copper), but terminal Silver seems to be the most likely and also the average case.
Compared to other terminal Silvers that draw like Cargo Ship (get that $5 the very next turn), Fortune Hunter (can make $4 or $5) or Garrison (draws potentially a lot), this seems weak, boring and not worth the terminal space.
Monopoly by faust
8/10
This is super novel and obviously brilliant. The only thing that does not convince me is the card effect, it is very extreme. I am also not a huge fan of the war of attrition-ish minigame that arises once everybody can draw their deck.
Compared to e.g. Flag Bearer or Treasurer, which feature similar minigames, the minigames occur here less often, the payoff is larger and the cost (Flag Bearer can be gained without being bought) is also larger.
Fairies by DashingEpistocrat
2/10
So Scheme but with cards from your hand and potentially more than 1 Card.
I think this does not work. In a decent engine, which is kind of the main situation in which your want this, you often draw your Fairies during your turn so it is no longer a cantrip.
In a decent engine, you can draw stuff dead but you mostly have your good stuff in play.
Increasing consistency with a card that is not all that consistent is not a decent insurance policy.
Stalker by silverspawn
9/10
Unlike the previous two Smithies that could be weaker, this is a proper Smithy+. It simple, it is either a Smithy or a Hunting Grounds, and the only thing that we can discuss is the parameter of 4 cards.
In a normal draw deck it is OKisk, because you can pull Village-Stalker-Village-Stalker with the second Stalker being buffed. I also think this illustrates that the first version with 5 cards was likely wrong.
In a deck with many Durations and cantrips, like Peddlers or splitters or whatever, this will shine.
Badge/Sheriff by LibraryAdventurer
7/10
Badge is vanilla-wise a Copper, a Treasure-Peddler (not underpriced like Supplies), a Fugitive or a Lab. Although it is obviously stronger in Kingdoms with Attacks, I like that you made sure that it is also decent in Kingdoms without such that those Sheriffs might see the light of day.
Sheriff is vanilla- wise often something like +2 Cards +2 Coins +1 Buy. This is pretty strong (and totally fine for the lower part of a split pile) given that +2 Cards +2 Coins is probably a $5.
Kappa by fika monster
?/10
I have a hard time to judge the strength of this:
Inn sifts with a net draw of -1. This is a DoubleVillage with, at best, a net draw of -2. Seems weak.
On the other hand, a ShadowVillage is strong and massively increases the consistency of your deck.
Dojo by LTaco
10/10
I really like this Throne. It is very clear and "sharp", i.e. the advantage and disadvantage relative to Throne Room are immediately apparent.
It is slightly more (emergently) complex than Throne: Throne is good once you have a decent Action density whereas this also makes you want to build a deck with a variety of Actions.
Private Shrine by emtzalex
8/10
I have a soft spot for trash-for-Debt cards because unlike many trashers they are non-trivial to analyze and because they amplify the "payload trough" problem of trashing.
Swordsmith by AJL828
5/10
Similar to Conjurer. I think this could be simpler as the conditional non-terminality will rarely trigger.
Tuna byMochaMoko
1/10
What other posters said: far better than Plunder. Also, a deck with Market and 4 Tunas might not really want to green (quickly). That is more of a theoretical thing but it highlights the issue of pairing Coffers with VPs on a non-terminal.
I like the idea of a Treasure-Shadow that can work like a Treasure-Peddler though.
Manhunt by Snorka
0/10
This is a boring BM card. Spike to a Manhunt, buy a Copper (to be able to produce 8 Coins) and then just buy Manhunts/Provinces.
Silhouettist by infangthief
9/10
Basically a Shadow version of Courier. I like it, simple yet complex and it feels like it could be an official card.
Coffee House by grep
10/10
Man, this is sweet. Kudos for making a Lab via a pure Reaction.!
You often have no discard so this does not work as a mono-engine card. It could be a $4 but to test it $3 is the right price.
Portent by JW
4/10
The sifting makes this is too similar to Rustic Village for my taste.
The increase of consistency a Shadow splitter provides is nice but like with Kappa, a net draw of -1 can hurt you.
Lots of interesting cards so no easy choice. The winner is Coffee House by grep.
