I've been getting more and more appreciative of Noble Brigand's power, especially that of forcing the reshuffle if in player 2 position in a 2-player game. Using Geronimoo's simulator, a simple Noble Brigand strategy beats simple Familiar strategy 54% of the time if Player 1 gets 3/4 and Player 2 gets 4/3. Obviously, this changes greatly depending upon other cards in the kingdom, but I almost always open Noble Brigand on a Familiar board with the 3/4, 4/3 split described above, and I am usually able to dish out more curses than my opponent.