CHALLENGE #27 - COMMENTARY & RESULTSForgive me for being a little later than announced. Like last time, if your card's name is
bold, you were on my short list. Good luck!
Layman
Action - $1
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+1 Card per card you have in play costing $2 or less.
Can we assume that this card is included when played? If so, then this works nicely as a $1. Fits the theme nicely; one layman is effectively useless, but a congregation of peers strengthens him. By itself, it’s just a Ruined Library; with one other cheapo in play, it’s just a Moat. If one can get a good amount of cheapos in play, however, Layman’s power could be very strong indeed (especially with Black Market, Storyteller, etc.). Of course, at that time, there may not be enough cards left in the deck to really make it worthwhile. I like the idea, though.
Curious Spectators
Action - $1
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+1 Action per card you have in play (counting this).
A different take on Aquila’s idea. Actions vs. Cards, and counts all cards vs. just cheapos. At the start of the turn, this is either a Ruined Village or a Necropolis. The better your engine, though, the more this becomes an Action-churning machine. Theme-wise, the more going on, the more Spectators you get. Overall, I really like this; it feels like a $1 card that can be strong but never overpowering, but often a good addition to your deck if you have an extra Buy and extra $.
Bargain
Action/Reaction - $1
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Trash a card from your hand, and gain a card costing up to $1 more than it.
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When you gain a card, you may return this to the Supply from your hand to exchange that card for a card costing up to $1 more than it. Put in onto your deck in your buy phase, and into you hand otherwise.
A cheap Remodel variant with a Reaction basically treating this as a one-shot Copper to gain a more expensive card, and to put it in your hand/on your deck right away. Good for Actions and Treasures, not so hot for Victory cards. Bargaining Coppers would most likely yield more Bargains, which could have its use. That said, this is a
very wordy card. It does a lot, that’s true, but there must be a way to tersify this.
Nest-Egg
Action-Reserve-Reaction - $1
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+1 Action
Put this on your Tavern mat.
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At the start of your turn, you may call this for +$1.
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When another player plays an Attack card, you may first play this from your hand.
A little bit of Candlestick Maker, a little bit of Caravan Guard. Saving a Nest-Egg can be a good defense from unruly Militias or greedy Goons. Mostly, though, it’ll just be used for spikes as segura said. It’s a fine $1 card.
Street
Action - $1
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Reveal the top card of your deck and put it into your hand. If it’s an Action card, +1 Action.
Turn your Journey token over (it starts face up). If it’s face up, +1 Action.
Goes from Ruined Library to cantrip to Village depending on the card drawn and whether this is a even-timed play of Street. Theme-wise, a Street is only partly a village; with plenty of denizens in tow and on more active days, a Street can be busy enough to count as a Village on its own. Not the biggest fan of a wimpy effect requiring the Journey token. Nice idea, though.
Alley
Action - $1
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+3 Cards
Return this to the Supply.
I have absolutely no qualms with submitting cards posted elsewhere. I prefer making something new to exercise your creativity, but I digress. Anyway, the Alley is a one-shot Smithy. Get your seedy work done, then get out of there. On decent engine boards, this would be a good buy with an extra $1. An oldie, but a goodie.
Pendant
Treasure - $1
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$2
When you play this, put it and a card from your hand into the discard pile of the player to your left.
I reworded this to make it more grammatically correct. I hope you don’t mind. Anyway, a one-shot Silver with an Ambassador effect. Without a good card to grief your opponent, you’re basically giving them a nice card (or even two). It’s an unblockable attack, but then the opponent gets it. I see a lot of back and forth with this that honestly makes me wonder whether it’s worth it. Do Pendants really get passed around that much, anyway?
Scraps of Cloth
Treasure - $1
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$0
+1 Buy
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When you discard this from play, you may put this on top of your deck.
An interesting way to take a useless pile of rags and turn it into a reusable shopping bag capable of holding more buys. Finding the right time to buy Scraps of Cloth will be a challenge; if you already have an extra buy to use, do you really need these Scraps? You will also need a decent engine to make up for consistent having only 4 non-Scraps in hand, but hopefully the Scraps can help you get those pieces. This has potential, and I like the creativity.
Weather Vane
Night - $1
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Return this to the Supply. Reveal the top card of your deck. If it’s an…
Action card, gain a Treasure.
Treasure card, gain a Night.
Night card, gain an Action.
Yeah, there needs to be a better name for this. Secret Deal, perhaps? Anyway, it’s useless with Victory cards, and early on will mostly only gain you more copies of this, usually. Once you can reveal Actions and Nights, this can become very strong, even for a one-shot. It’ll take some finesse to make it work in your favor all the time, though, so I think it works.
Cottage
Action - $1
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+1 Card
+1 Action
You may play another Cottage from your hand.
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When you gain this, choose one: +1 Card; or +1 Action; or +1 Buy; or +$1.
Two Cottages in hand basically becomes a Village, while more will crank up the Actions. +1 Buy on gain can be rather nutty, as you can buy a lot of Cottages in one turn. I think this may be a little overpowered at $1. I’d take out the “play another Cottage” effect because the on-gain effect by itself makes this interesting.
Field
Action - $1
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+1 Buy
Trash a non-Duration card you have in play costing $5 or more. Gain a card costing up to $1 per differently costed card you have in play.
Sowing a bunch of inexpensive cards will prove fruitful, but grains that grow too tall will be harvested first. An interesting drawback to this card, though a good engine board will make this reliable for gaining Provinces, perhaps. It’s very interesting, for sure.
Lucky Penny
Treasure/Reaction - $1
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$1
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When you would gain a card, you may reveal this from your hand and either discard it to instead gain a card costing $1 more, or trash it to instead gain a card costing $2 more.
Either this is a Copper you can basically play when you gain a card outside of your Buy phase, or it’s a one-shot Silver for any gain. As you said, it can be a decent Curser/Junker counter. I’m not a fan of the name being so close to Lucky Coin, but otherwise, I like this.
Outhouse
Action/Duration - $1
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Flip your Journey token (it starts face up). If it’s face up, trash up to 2 cards from your hand.
At the start of your next turn, +1 Action, +$1
Similar to Fishing Village, but with a weak trashing effect instead. While it fits the theming well, that’s kind of weak for a Journey token effect, even if the card is a $1 wonder. Much like the Silver contest, the theming is great, but the mechanics need tweaking.
Iron Fist
Reaction - $1
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When you buy a card, you may discard this from your hand. If you do, if the bought card is an…
Action card, +1 Villager
Treasure card, +1 Coffers
Victory card, set aside the top card of your deck, putting it into your hand at the end of the turn.
A pure Reaction for $1 seems fitting. It basically adds a relevant bonus effect when you buy a card, which isn’t terrible. The theme, though… I don’t get it. How is absolute rule related to this effect?
Loose Change
Treasure/Reserve - $1
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$1
Put this on your Tavern mat.
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At the start of your Buy phase, you may call this, for +1 Buy.
It’s Coin of the Realm, but it gives you a Buy instead of two Actions. Again, the theming isn’t exactly fitting, but Coin of the Realm isn’t any better, so whatever. A fine entry.
Actor
Action - $1
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+1 Card
+1 Villager
Sometimes, it’s the simplest cards that can prove to be the most creative and beautiful. If you need the action right away, then yes, it’s just a cantrip. If not, though, you can save that Action for later. The theme works as it alludes to Acting Troupe. The art you chose is bizarre, to say the least, but other than that, this is a wonderful $1 card.
Investment
Action - $1
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+1 Card
+1 Action
You may trash all Investments you have in play (including this) to gain a non-Investment card costing exactly $1 per Investment you trashed.
Sort of like a variant of Coffers, really. With a spare buy and $ to spend, pick up an Investment, build them up, then trade them off for a good card. Getting this really only makes sense in that situation, though (apart from Upgrade/Remake and the like). Theming works great, of course. On boards without decent sources of +Buy or trash-for-gains, this would probably be ignored. I can see its use, though.
Yeast
Action - $1
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+1 Action
Choose one: gain a Yeast; or trash this and a card from your hand.
Sure, a non-terminal trasher can be useful, but I wonder if this is swift enough to be worthwhile, especially if you use Yeast to gain more Yeast. How much should you let your bread rise before you bake it? It’s a good theme, just not the most exciting mechanic.
Seneschal
Action - $1
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+$1
You may trash an Estate from your hand for +1VP.
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Setup: Each player starts with one extra Estate (not from the Supply).
The effect itself seems doable by itself for a $1 card – not too powerful by itself, but can be an option for boards without better trashers. The Setup rule, however, I just do not care for. For multiplayer games IRL, getting those extra Estates could be an issue (resolvable by packing six Estates in with Seneschal). As well, it’s possible to get a rather lame 2-4 opener while your opponent gets 3-4 or even 2-5. Themewise, it seems like something a Seneschal would do as the steward of the house. Still, I’d dump the Setup rule.
My top two were clear pretty much from the get-go:
Scraps of Cloth by wittyhowlard and
Actor by belugawhale. In the end, though, one card really fulfilled the theme of "I'd Buy That for $1." And that card is...
WINNER: ACTOR by belugawhale! RUNNER-UP:
Scraps of Cloth by
wittyhowlard.
Congratulations on winning with your very first entry in these weekly contests, belugawhale! As I said, sometimes it's the simplest cards that make the biggest impact. I cannot wait to see your challenge. And thanks to everyone who participated!