Unfortunately for Dr. Zoidberg, Futurama's melancholic urchin just can't compete with the Urchin of Dominion: Dark Ages. In fact, Urchin the card is one of Torturer's best enablers.
A wise player once said that Torturer is a Young Witch whose Bane is the value of the worst two cards in your opponent's hand. That's a clever way of saying that your opponent does have a defense against your Torturer; if he doesn't need his two weakest cards, then a single play of the card isn't hurting him. Torturer needs to be chained or Throned to do serious damage, because unlike other discarders, it does still affect a three-card hand. To that end, Torturer works well with other discarders, provided you play them first. Use Militia to give your opponent a mandatory three-card hand, and then Torturer him, so that he is forced to accept a Curse or discard down to a hand of practically nothing. And as Donald X. once said, "Discarding five cards and passing is not the path to greatness."
Of the discard attacks that complement Torturer, none are as effective as Urchin. For one thing, Urchin is non-terminal, so it's much easier to play both cards. With Militia/Margrave/Followers/Goons, you would need a village of some sort to effectively use both cards.
At $3, it's also cheaper than the other options. Aside from Militia, the other discarders are priced competitively with Torturer, which may mean you simply end up purchasing multiple Torturers. But an Urchin costs as much as a Silver, and it won't get in the way of your Torturer chain as much, since it's a cantrip.
Urchin only knocks a single card out of your opponents deck, but if you are following up with Torturer, that one card is still a pain to lose. Now he has to contemplate dropping the next two out of his four-card hand, in order to block the Curse. The effect on your opponent is essentially the same as Torturer-Torturer, but a little easier to set up.
In addition to all this, Urchin is a card that actively
wants you to play another attack card. Doing so yields a Mercenary! Among other things, Mercenary is a discard attack. Depending on your deck, you may wish to stick with the Urchin, but the trade-up isn't mandatory. If you have a deck with extra +action, or you need to do some light trashing, Mercenary can step in and accomplish these things, while still providing assistance to Torturer.
Now, Torturer is a terminal draw card, so you can run the risk of playing Torturer only to draw a bunch of Urchins and wish they were all Silvers. But lack of a tight, engine-y deck is usually a sign that Torturer wasn't the right move anyway. And if Torturer
is the right move, you are going to want Urchin. Not Zoidberg, though. Nobody wants him.
