WDC #184: Spring is in the AirCommentary & ResultsThanks everyone for the submissions! Since I started the contest, the weather where I live has gotten gross again (gotta love the American Midwest), so it was nice to be reminded of the warm weather to come with all these pleasantly flavored entries. It was neat to see so many different directions people went mechanically and thematically.
OPs are linked, shortlisted entries are bolded, enjoy!
Farmer by seguraA Gathering card that lets you discard green cards for VP tokens or trash to take the VP on the pile. I don't love that the regular effect doesn't move the game toward an end, most cards that gain tokens at least do something else to move the game forward, providing coin, gaining cards, or trashing cards. The Gathering mechanic cleverly helps mitigate this, though I imagine there will be boards where it's possible to build an engine that can outpace the points that might be gained through trashing Farmers. I do like the flavor of Farmers tending to their crops.
Rabbit by X-traDefinitely thematic! It's a one-shot Moat that seeds your next hand with multiples. Obviously you need substantial village support for these to be most helpful (they're bonkers with Lost Arts and Academy), and like Rats there will be plenty of boards where Rabbits are a trap. Eventually all the Rabbits die though
, and on boards where they're good, I think they'll empty a LOT faster than Rats will, which could be problematic maybe? Still a fun one nonetheless.
Blossom by AJL828 An Event that can discard differently named Actions from hand to gain copies of them. I like the theme of having to plant them (vs. getting to play them) if you want to get the blossoms. Seems balanced for the reasons you mentioned, and the differently named cause keeps it from piling too quickly. If it seems too strong when play testing, you could easily make it cost $2 and discard/gain just one Action. I like the $4 cost one though.
Small Seed, Plain Plant, Bold Blossom by BryGuyA Traveller line that sees your seed eventually grow into a beautiful blossom. Small Seed is a Village which I'll admit is an interesting way to start a Traveller line since it encourages you to keep them around instead of exchanging. The upgrade for this one also helps thin Coppers. Plain Plant offers some light sifting and coin, and can return an Estate and itself to the Supply (technically this shouldn't use the exchange language) to get the last one in the line. Bold Blossom is like a bigger Puzzle Box but you get the payload on the Duration turn. Generally the last card in the Traveller line should be something super powerful and worth putting in the work for, but to be honest, Bold Blossom doesn't quite do it for me. Moving the payout to the turn you play it would help, and then it could potentially function exactly like Puzzle Box and not need to be a Duration, but even then, this needs something a bit more to compare to the power level of things like Teacher and Champion.
Spell of the Equinox by NoMoreFun LOVE the theme of Equinox here and rewarding an equal number of cards played in the "day" and in the Night. Unfortunately, I fear this is way too strong for its cost, for all three things it can gain. It's better at gaining Imps in the early game than Devil's Workshop. It's better at gaining Wisps than Druid with Swamps gift. And it's way better at gaining Wishes than Leprechaun. This can gain all three non-terminally and without penalty, whereas most other Spirit gainers and Wish gainers have much stricter conditions. I still love the idea, but I think it needs to be more challenging to gain all three of these things (perhaps it looks for a precise number of each for each condition similar to Leprechaun).
Renovate by Augie279A mass Improve that can Upgrade any number of Actions you have in play, definitely some good spring cleaning vibes. Obviously this is most potent in the endgame by turning a bunch of $4s into Duchies all at once (or King's Courts into Provinces), which adds a swinginess I typically don't care for. There's some utility in the midgame too if you have the right cards in play and in the Supply. The biggest challenge is the cost. Due to its unlimited potential, it has to be expensive, but in many cases, you just won't have enough viable Upgradeable options in play to really justify spending $8. Restricting it to gaining just Actions like Procession and reducing the cost to $4 might be a little more interesting and would eliminate the mass Duchy-gaining problem
Pollinated by Will(ow|iam) A Trait! It's a pretty simple one that makes copies of that card come with an extra copy like Port. My only issue here is that this enters design space that's sort of already covered by Friendly. That said, I think the non-optional nature of this one will make it play pretty different on some boards.
Spring by majiponiA non-terminal draw card that gets +3 Cards and a Buy on every other play. At a glance, I think compares a little too favorably to Ranger, and the similarities make me feel like this one could use some tweaking to differentiate it. I don't mind the idea of using the Journey token, but an every other play draw is something that Ranger has already explored.
Maypole by emtzalexAn Action-Treasure that essentially plays either an Action or a Treasure from your top 4 cards. Option one is sort of like a mini-Golem, and option two is similar to Fortune Hunter. Its dual nature means it can be put to use in either phase and doesn't mind being drawn dead, and it's cool that you reveal first before deciding the option. Sometimes you'll play Actions with it in your Buy phase, always a good time. $4 seems like the right cost, especially considering its flexibility.
Granary by JWA Village that can discard an Action for a Lost City effect. Simple and will lead to some interesting decisions of when to discard, though the bottom feels a bit tacked on. As it is, I think it's a weak $5, especially compared to something like Capital City or Hunting Lodge. Dropping the VP should allow it to safely cost $4, which feels more compelling.
Resurrection by xyz123Night Remodel always seemed like something missing from the official Night cards (though DXV tried a few versions). This Resurrection is a really interesting (and thematic) take on the idea, though I'd recommend upping the cost to $5. Remodeling from play lets it work as a Night card, and the from trash piece, while weak at first, will get stronger as the game goes on. This can gain Provinces from the trash, something all other from trash-gainers are careful not to, so consider adding a cost or non-VP card restriction on the from trash option. You can still get Provinces by trashing Golds from play (which is already better than what most Remodel variants can do).
Rainmaker and Rain by czzzzMake it rain! Excellent call on making Rain a Treasure
. As an Exiler/psuedotrasher, Rainmaker is really slow. I'd definitely recommend adding +1 Action (which the original had), compare with something like Bounty Hunter. It is really cool that the Rains build up in Exile and can then all come out at once. Rain itself seems fine, a one-shot Copper with a nice Duration draw effect, nothing too crazy. I like the ideas here, but Rainmaker really needs something more to make it worth going for.
Florist and Wild Meadow by RovingBearA split pile. Florist is a cheap Action that can discard for coin or to put something from the discard into hand. Already there's Harbinger issues here (less useful when discard is empty, which in a lot of games is quite often), and discarding two cards for it feels steep. Wild Meadow is Duchy with a VP bonus if you have Florists in play, a bit boring but seems fine. However the big issue here is that it's very rare that you'll have more than one Florist in play to get the bonus. Moreover, the Meadows might not get uncovered considering you don't exactly want a bunch of Florists. I'd suggest making Florist a cantrip, perhaps with may discard a card for +$1 or put a card from discard into your hand so it's more attractive to pick up in multiples. I do like the theme here and the art especially was nicely chosen.
Planter by LibraryAdventurerTaxman without the attack, and then some light sifting and Duration draw on the next turn. The gain and play helps a lot (and it's a fun effect I wish more cards had), but I think Planter is still too slow to justify picking up over other $5 costs on most boards. A more traditional Remodel effect could be worth trying instead, or perhaps make it a Night card.
Vernal Blossoms and Poem Notes by EthanBig fan of the flavor here, and I love that keeping your Poet Notes around can help you better enjoy Vernal Blossom's full majesty. As a VP card, Vernal Blossoms works nicely, and the minigame of getting the bonus VP is a compelling one, especially when Villagers are more scarce--when is it worth exchanging them for VP vs. holding onto them for +Actions? And Poem Notes is an excellent Heirloom--it's still just a Copper and there's still the question of keeping it or not (especially if you're planning to trash your Estates), but it also can change up the opening a bit by making you more likely to open double terminal. If there's any concern, it's that Villagers can become extra plentiful on some boards (such as with Recruiter), such that Vernal Blossoms bonus becomes automatic. Aside from that though, I think it's a fantastic entry.
Spig by arowdokA Project that grants an extra card each turn, provided you "plant" a Gold. The mechanic is flavorful already and it's fun that it makes it a more of a mini game vs. just giving you the +1 Card unconditionally. $4 is pretty cheap as far as Projects are concerned, but you do have to put in some work to get the benefit. Nice one!
Seed by Violet CLMThe "In games using this" bottom is of course the most interesting idea of the card. Overpay is a unique way to make this work, though I agree that it's much too strong to work on Estates and should probably have a limit, lest the pile run too fast. My bigger issue is that with the card itself being a cantrip and eventual VP token, I see little reason for the card to exist at all. Why not just get the tokens upon overpay instead of getting a cantrip you'll trash immediately anyway? The card should do something more to incentivize keeping them around, otherwise it's sort of just another Great Hall.
Honorable Mentions: Rabbit by X-tra, Spell of the Equinox by NoMoreFun, Resurrection by xyz123, Sprig by arowdok
Runner Up: Blossom by AJL828
WINNER: Vernal Blossoms and Poem Notes by EthanCongrats to Ethan and thanks everyone for participating! Now everyone go outside and look at some real blossoms.