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[verikt]

Here's a game where scout turned out useful
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/31/game-20120731-070846-e906d0ed.html

I agree scout was useful here, but I think you bought one too early, if you notice, your first two activations were completely dead.

Also, I'm not sure why you didn't focus on emptying out the duchies before hitting the provinces: you could have won the split like 6-2 and gotten way more points from dukes. Was there danger of piling that I didn't see? Actually on second thought you were probably worried about piling from pawn-island-duchy. Nevermind.

My first activation let me pick what to draw with wishing well, and trash all seven coppers.
I'm not sure whether it was the best buy for turn 3 but look at my other choices. Ironworks, which is dead as soon as we finish islands. Wishing well, island or another silver. Why would I want another silver with tac and mint? I'd rather have nothing but golds and green, and scout to draw the green. And yeah, I didn't go for duchies because of the piles. He had 2 ironworks to my one, and my deck was half the size of his.

[popsofctown]

So, I'm glad to see that someone is trying to give Scout some love.  I'm not glad to see that Scout's best situation is ignored.  There is a card, not mentioned once in this article, which Scout is actually very decent support for, and which I am most likely to pick one up with.  And any article that tries to explain why Scout is not the worst card around (it's not!  It is merely fourth-worst) needs to talk about this synergy.

That card is Scrying Pool.

So, my favorite partners to Scout are not Great Hall, or Crossroads, or anything like that.  They are, IMO, Vineyard (which has already been mentioned above) and Scrying Pool.  Here's why:

* both of those cards need non-terminal actions, Scrying Pool to increase draw power and Vineyard to pump up VP without increasing terminal clashes.  Scout could do absolutely nothing for you and still be of value with these two cards around.
* The reordering and clearing is particularly useful with Pools: take green into your hand, set up a Treasure to discard, pick up Actions.
* Sweeping green into your hand helps with Vineyard, too, especially if you're relying on cantrips etc. and would be liable to choke on Vineyards as you green.

Here are a couple examples of Scout providing actual value to Pool (and other) decks:

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110614-105235-db2b72f7.html : it doesn't really ever sweep up green, but it does encheapen Peddler and improve Pool efficiency.  Interestingly, the Tactician buy was a complete waste as I always preferred to just play Witch or Salvager, and I Salvage it after a while.

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110904-225805-1a8943b9.html : Obviously Nobles, and Copper-specific trashing, both boost Scout here as well.  RisingJaguar and I would probably both do the same thing without Scout around, but it was pretty clearly a good buy when you happened to only have $4 or $5 here.  (Didn't RisingJaguar admit he used to buy Scout 60 percent of the time?  I'd love to hear him chime in here.)

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120612-133532-e5582d6b.html : Okay, actually I lost this one.  But the Scout pretty much always improved my next hand by sweeping a bit of green into the current one.  It's a fun contrast of styles, as Feast/Duke edges out Vineyard/Transmute.

http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120514-140331-5890997b.html : An odd case where Scout is used as support for Tactician/Vault.  Heumidin's Turn 17 is the best example of it in action.

Hunted for this thread to give an obligatory I-won-a-game-off-of-this-post-after-reading-it upvote

[verikt]

The first really useful scout game I remember playing
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201208/09/game-20120809-102033-d3d11c6b.html

[Powerman]

The first really useful scout game I remember playing
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201208/09/game-20120809-102033-d3d11c6b.html

It looks like a good board for Scout, having Ironworks - Tunnel - Cellar.  Good spot!

[clb]

Either "Conquer Bot" is really Robz or it has been reading the forum and doesn't quite understand. In a recent game with Sea Hag and Embargo, he chose to embargo the Scout.

[^_^_^_^]

Robz up voted it, it is probably either Robz or he has an Apprentice!

[DG]

The bots seem to embargo the pile they're least likely to buy so you might see embargoed scouts again.

I did play one game where I embargoed silver. One bot kept buying silvers and took the curses whilst the other one bought a lot of scouts. It would actually have been ok if it had bought any great halls from the supply to go with it!

[Roadrunner7671]

Powerman, you really made Scout look good. I applaud your knowledge on this noble card. However, this article is about three years old. I think the forum has learned a lot about Scout since then, and I think a Scout 2 should be made.

Disclaimer: I am not volunteering, I am far too illiterate to write an article about any card.

[shark_bait]

I just bought Scout in an IRL game with a Bazaar/Wharf/Conspirator no trashing engine.  It helped activate a couple of early conspirators and lined up a Bazaar to draw the Wharf.  I think I just might be able to say that my deck was better with Scout than it was without.

[Roadrunner7671]

I just bought Scout in an IRL game with a Bazaar/Wharf/Conspirator no trashing engine.  It helped activate a couple of early conspirators and lined up a Bazaar to draw the Wharf.  I think I just might be able to say that my deck was better with Scout than it was without.

This is huge. Whoever writes the article needs to quote you on this.

[nate_w]

I just bought Scout in an IRL game with a Bazaar/Wharf/Conspirator no trashing engine.  It helped activate a couple of early conspirators and lined up a Bazaar to draw the Wharf.  I think I just might be able to say that my deck was better with Scout than it was without.

This is huge. Whoever writes the article needs to quote you on this.

"Scout: sometimes doesn't make your deck worse!"

Similarly you want to buy coppers sometimes (way more often).  Should there be an article on buying copper?

[shark_bait]

I just bought Scout in an IRL game with a Bazaar/Wharf/Conspirator no trashing engine.  It helped activate a couple of early conspirators and lined up a Bazaar to draw the Wharf.  I think I just might be able to say that my deck was better with Scout than it was without.

This is huge. Whoever writes the article needs to quote you on this.

"Scout: sometimes doesn't make your deck worse!"

Similarly you want to buy coppers sometimes (way more often).  Should there be an article on buying copper?

Situation 1:  Oh <inset expletive of choice here>... I trashed too much with my Chapel.  Better buy a Copper.

Situation 2:  I'm a <insert insult of choice here>.  Why did I buy that Mint.  Better buy a Copper.

Joking aside, there are numerous instances when it's a good thing.  Too many to write in a short paragraph.  An article would probably fit a nice niche.

[ConMan]

Similarly you want to buy coppers sometimes (way more often).  Should there be an article on buying copper?

Probably. Working out when you actually want to buy Copper is a really interesting strategic and tactical decision that must be very easy to mess up. The two biggest cases - Gardens and Goons - are already covered somewhat in other articles, but I think there's still more to discuss. And if you wanted to be cheeky, you could call it something like "Behind Silver".

[Eevee]

All things considered, copper is a significantly stronger card than scout.