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[mameluke]

Both seem to be similar cards, but Forager is non-terminal. I can't really figure out why they're at the same cost, since Trade Route very rarely gives more $ than Forager (late in the game, when you are less likely to trash anyhow, but Forager could just as likely give +$3 or more).

[Titandrake]

Forager only gets up to $3+ in games that are engine favored, in a more treasure based game you usually don't trash Gold to Forager. Trade Route does better in games with less engine potential.

If Forager is available, it's more likely the engine on the board will be strong, and if both were in the same kingdom, you'd usually buy Forager over Trade Route, but some games are more interesting because the engine is not so clear cut and trashing is harder to come by.

[mameluke]

Is that really worth it being a terminal action, though? I guess treasure decks don't care as much about early trashing, but.

[Awaclus]

Both seem to be similar cards, but Forager is non-terminal. I can't really figure out why they're at the same cost, since Trade Route very rarely gives more $ than Forager (late in the game, when you are less likely to trash anyhow, but Forager could just as likely give +$3 or more).

Because Forager is a powerful card while Trade Route is not.

[Dingan]

As-is, Forager is way better.  In my opinion, Trade Route should give +1 action.  In which case, I think it would still be slightly worse than Forager, hence it would be a reasonable $3 card.

[DG]

There seems to be a common play style at the moment where both players seem to want high income foragers, so they both trash a variety of treasures, so the foragers do indeed provide a high income. There should however be plenty of occasions when players are less generous towards each other and the foragers stay at +1 coin. Trade routes will naturally tend to get bigger income in the endgame when victory cards are bought. Overall, trade route still probably doesn't compare well with forager but neither does woodcutter or nomad camp.

[Beyond Awesome]

Trade Route cost the same because it came out before Forager and Donald X. probably realized he could slightly up the power level of trashers.

[Seprix]

There seems to be a common play style at the moment where both players seem to want high income foragers, so they both trash a variety of treasures, so the foragers do indeed provide a high income.

I let my opponent trash the valuable cards if possible, so I don't waste a trash on something I could use to gain X. I also hold back on trashing copper if I can trash an estate, so I get the most value out of my Forager.

[Drab Emordnilap]

So the interesting thing about Dominion is that, each game is self-contained. Parenthesis disregard black-market). So any given game of dominion, you have to evaluate each card on its merits not in a vacuum, but it this particular game. So yeah, in a vacuum forager is stronger than trade route, but there's plenty of games the trade routes there and forages not.  And that can lead to more interesting decisions. There's plenty of games where it would be obvious to buy forager, but buying trade route is a decision point. And that's only the case because trade route is weaker than forager for the same cost.

Also, posting on FB. DS is hard using only voice control.

[Davio]

Forager needs a bit of work to make it worth something, you actively have to trash Silver and Gold.
Trade Route is often automatically powered during the late game as Duchies and Estates get bought.

I think Forager is still better, especially because of the +Buy. That's the icing on the cake for it and what makes Trade Route pale in comparison.

[Seprix]

Forager needs a bit of work to make it worth something, you actively have to trash Silver and Gold.
Trade Route is often automatically powered during the late game as Duchies and Estates get bought.

I think Forager is still better, especially because of the +Buy. That's the icing on the cake for it and what makes Trade Route pale in comparison.

Trade Route has +buy. I think you mean +action.

[Davio]

No, what I mean is:

Forager would already be powerful with its +1 Action, +$ and trash, without the +Buy.
If it didn't have +Buy, Trade Route would have something powerful that Forager is missing.

But the way it is, Forager really one-ups Trade Route in most aspects.

[Aleimon Thimble]

Meh. They're both the same cost and they're both trashers, but I feel they're easily different enough to defend the existence of Trade Route. Forager isn't even close to strictly superior.

First of all, Forager gets stronger by trashing, while Trade Route gets stronger by buying. You might green just a bit earlier than you usually would if you want to power up your Trade Routes, but at least you're not forced to destroy a 6-cost card (Gold) if you want to make it strong. Second of all, they're both kingdom-dependent: Trade Route gets stronger with alt-VP, especially functional alt-VP like Great Hall and Nobles, while Forager likes alt-treasure, especially early-game stuff (Quarry, Talisman, Loan) or stuff you might want to trash anyway (IGG). Those are pretty different kinds of boards.

In general, I agree Forager is stronger, but they're not as similar as they might seem.

[Seprix]

Meh. They're both the same cost and they're both trashers, but I feel they're easily different enough to defend the existence of Trade Route. Forager isn't even close to strictly superior.

I think Forager is as close to strictly superior as you can get without being so in comparison to Trade Route. That +Action alone makes it very compelling, and the +$ it pretty much automatically provides is much stronger than the late +$ or +$ Trade Route will often provide, especially since you will likely not have as many targets by then.

First of all, Forager gets stronger by trashing, while Trade Route gets stronger by buying. You might green just a bit earlier than you usually would if you want to power up your Trade Routes, but at least you're not forced to destroy a 6-cost card (Gold) if you want to make it strong.

I'm not so sure destroying Gold for it's own sake earlier on is the best use for Forager. I think the time you would want to do that is in a double Tactician board in an immediate example or very specific cases where you want to squeeze the extra dollar out of your deck in the last turn. You also may be hurting yourself for the benefit of money with a couple of trashes by greening early with Trade Route, especially if it's the only method of trashing in the game!

Second of all, they're both kingdom-dependent: Trade Route gets stronger with alt-VP, especially functional alt-VP like Great Hall and Nobles, while Forager likes alt-treasure, especially early-game stuff (Quarry, Talisman, Loan) or stuff you might want to trash anyway (IGG). Those are pretty different kinds of boards.

Trade Route might be worth pursuing in a deck with Nobles and Great Hall. In a game where that card is the only +buy, it would be worth it for sure, but the fact that it is a terminal really hurts it early on, making you want two of them at most a lot of the time. Forager doesn't have that problem, and you can buy 3 or 4 Foragers right off the bat and be fine.

You also want to be careful with alt-treasure trashing and Forager. It is true that you gain benefits, but so does your opponent, taking into account what best helps your deck move along. Trashing IGG can be a good choice, trashing Quarry can likely be bad, especially with Forager buys in the first place to increase your gains. I'm not entirely sure if it's worth trashing as many treasures as you have to boost Forager or not. I don't think it is, but I'm not really sure about it.

In general, I agree Forager is stronger, but they're not as similar as they might seem.

The thing to take away from this is that Trade Route is an 'endgame' trasher, and not the great kind like Butcher or Graverobber. As previous people have said, every kingdom is it's own strategy. One game where Trade Route is awful and another where it is great. I find the best times Trade Route shines is when there are no other trashers on the board but a gargantuan engine besides.

[Chris is me]

It's also worth keeping in mind that cost isn't directly related to power, but to how available the card should be to obtain. Trade Route at $2 or $3 at the beginning of the game isn't that important of a distinction in a lot of cases; it's usually "all your money this turn" anyway. Near the end of the game, when you may have excess Actions, excess Buys, and several tokens on the TR pile, it's probably for the best that you can't get four Trade Route with $8.

Forager is really good, and Trade Route really isn't. That's all there is to it, really. Sometimes Trade Route is still worth it, if you really need to trash, or there's alt VP, or you really need +Buy, but almost never is it better than Forager.

[AdamH]

Wow, I got to this thread late, but nobody has made this comment, so I'll accept my free respect:

Man, why do people complain about Trade Route? They can't all be the best $3 card ever.

Ahem, please go back to your discussion.