$3
1.) Fishing Village [X]
2.) Ambassador [X]
3.) Gear [X]
4.) Urchin [X]
5.) Amulet [X]
6.) Steward [X]
7.) Ferry [X]
8.) Masquerade [X]
9.) Hermit [X]
10.) Swindler [X]
11.) Watchtower [X]
12.) Village [X]
13.) Forager [X]
14.) Menagerie [X]
15.) Market Square [X]
16.) Dungeon [X]
17.) Warehouse [X]
18.) Scheme [X]
19.) Lookout [X]
20.) Bonfire [X]
21.) Plan [X]
22.) Black Market [X]
23.) Wishing Well [X]
24.) Oasis [X]
25.) Workshop [X]
26.) Oracle [X]
27.) Shanty Town [X]
28.) Tunnel [X]
29.) Doctor [X]
30.) Expedition [X]
31.) Smugglers [X]
32.) Masterpiece [X]
33.) Storeroom [X]
34.) Sage [X]
35.) Guide [X]
36.) Develop [X]
37.) Woodcutter [X]
38.) Trade Route [X]
39.) Caravan Guard [X]
40.) Great Hall [X]
41.) Fortune Teller [X]
42.) Loan [X]
43.) Chancellor [X]
$4
1.) Herald [X]
2.) Remake [X]
3.) Wandering Minstrel [X]
4.) Jack of all Trades [X]
5.) Tournament [X]
6.) Bridge [X]
7.) Throne Room [X]
8.) Conspirator [X]
9.) Port [X]
10.) Ironmonger [X]
11.) Militia [X]
12.) Sea Hag [X]
13.) Monument [X]
14.) Spice Merchant [X]
15.) Ironworks [X]
16.) Quarry [X]
17.) Magpie [X]
18.) Worker's Village [X]
19.) Smithy [X]
20.) Caravan [X]
21.) Envoy [X]
22.) Young Witch [X]
23.) Salvager [X]
24.) Mining Village [X]
25.) Plaza [X]
26.) Remodel [X]
27.) Gardens [X]
28.) Fortress [X]
29.) Armory [X]
30.) Trader [X]
31.) Farming Village [X]
32.) Walled Village [X]
33.) Bishop [X]
34.) Moneylender [X]
35.) Marauder [X]
36.) Island [X]
37.) Duplicate [X]
38.) Scavenger [X]
39.) Feodum [X]
40.) Messenger [X]
41.) Ranger [X]
42.) Horse Traders [X]
43.) Baron [X]
44.) Silk Road [X]
45.) Coppersmith [X]
46.) Procession [X]
47.) Miser [X]
48.) Bureaucrat [X]
49.) Pilgrimage [X]
50.) Advisor [X]
51.) Mission [X]
52.) Cutpurse [X]
53.) Nomad Camp [X]
54.) Death Cart [X]
55.) Treasure Map [X]
56.) Noble Brigand [X]
57.) Talisman [X]
58.) Pirate Ship [X]
59.) Transmogrify [X]
60.) Navigator [X]
61.) Spy [X]
62.) Taxman [X]
63.) Feast [X]
64.) Rats [X]
65.) Scout [X]
66.) Thief [X]
Finished the $3 and $4 lists. Notable placements:
$3
1. Fishing Village: The easiest way ever to never have a shortage of extra Actions again, plus it gives as much money as a Silver, only a bit more spread out over turns. Remember when the Silver test was a thing? Silver never passes the Fishing Village test, even in BM. Villages are underrated in general, they are often so crucial for engines, and Fishing Village is easily the strongest one out there, unless you count King's Court maybe. It's a close call, Ambassador is also still as powerful as always, but Fishing Village takes the cake imo.
3. Gear: I think we all learned how strong Gear really is in the past year, even outside TripleGear-BM. It only took 14th place last year, let's get it up where it belongs.
8. Masquerade: I think it's a bit overrated. Draw and trashing in a single card is pretty nice, but it only trashes a single card at a time, which is why I prefer Amulet and Steward to it. It's also a bit awkward later in the game because you can't reliably use it as draw anymore; you don't want to give your opponent good cards, so you're forced to keep Coppers around even if your opponent skips Masquerade.
25. Workshop: It emerged from the depths of the rankings a little bit last year, but it needs to rise even further. Gainers are so important, it's basically +$4 +1 Buy, except you can't use the extra money for an extra expensive card, but in many cases that's perfectly fine.
35. Guide: It's not actually that good. Sure, sometimes you want to skip a hand, but is the opportunity cost of getting a Guide in the first place really worth it? Usually it isn't, unless you happen to have an extra buy/gain around anyway. I'd rather have a trasher or a sifter or Scheme so I don't need Guide in the first place.
42. Loan: It actually gained two places last year, I'm not sure why. Loan sucks. You use it to get rid of Copper, but it's actually a Copper on play itself, so you need to play it twice before your deck is any better than it used to be without it, ASSUMING you don't skip your better Treasures instead. Which is not a good assumption as it happens all the time. Any other trasher is better, even Trade Route. You have to be really desperate before Loan is worth it.
$4
1. Herald: If you ask me, there's no clear-cut all-powerful $4 card. It's probably the most moderate batch of cards, smack in the middle of everything. Might as well go with my personal favorite for #1 then. It's a very good card, maybe not much stronger than the other cards in the top 10, but still. If your deck is anything resembling action dense (i.e. if there's any trashing at all), you might just have yourself a very cheap Lost City.
8. Conspirator: I was surprised it's only #22 in last year's ranking. $2 on a cantrip is a ton of money, even if it's conditional. You have to be a bit careful that you don't overdo it, because drawing a hand of five Conspirators is sad, but otherwise it becomes very powerful very quickly.
10. Ironmonger: Just a bit overrated. It helps you hit $5 early-game, which is cool, but later on it's often just a Village, and sometimes it's not when you really want it to be. It's a good card, but a bit too unreliable for a place in the top 5.
17. Magpie: Yup, I admit it. We all overrated it, I jumped on the bandwagon too. Let's get this thing out of the top 10 this time.
33. Bishop: The sad thing is that you can't open with it without helping your opponent way too much. That means it's only good as payload later in the game. It's still a good card in some engines, but not as spammable as people used to think.
35. Marauder: Seriously? Place 14 for a poor man's Soothsayer last year? It's terminal, it doesn't draw, it slowly gives bad cards to your opponent that aren't nearly as bad as Curses... it's really average. I mean, it can be a good addition to an engine, but it's not that important to go for quickly.
45. Coppersmith: Again, I may be biased due to nostalgia here. I'll freely admit that. Couldn't bear to put it any lower than this though.
64. Rats: Nope. I'm not convinced. It's still bottom of the barrel. Those cute tricks with TFB rarely work, it's a big hassle to upgrade your junk into higher-cost junk, and then half the time it doesn't even collide with your TFB card... and it ends up eating your deck without giving sufficient benefits. Next year, it's definitely going to be dead last, when Thief and Scout are officially gone.