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[popsofctown]

One Armed Man said what I meant to say.

[rinkworks]

The results for the Potion-Cost Card challenge are in!

This is what the objective was:

Create a card with a Potion component in its cost.

Deceptively simple, wasn't it?

I don't have a card of my own for this challenge, which is part of the reason I held the challenge in the first place.  For this challenge only, I was going to declare the top 2 finishers winners and include them in the contest set.  I LIED.  I'm going to include the top three, because that's how many cards there are in the tie for first place:


#1 (tie) - Retort by Kirian with 14 points (Quesnel)
$4P - Action
+3 Cards
+1 Action
Discard a card.  If it is a Potion, +1 Action.

#1 (tie) - Kingslayer by Graystripe77 with 14 points (Mweru)
$3P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Choose one: +1 Card; OR trash a card from your hand; OR +$1, +1 Buy.

#1 (tie) - Aqua Vitae by eHalcyon with 14 points (Crater)
$4P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Copper and Potion each produce an extra $1 this turn.


Pricey winners, but they seem about right to me:  A drawer that can be a Village too if you collide right, a shapeshifter that's what you want when you want it, and a stackable Coppersmith that keeps your Potions useful.  The three cards together would be a killer combination:  Use a Retort chain to draw Coppers, Aqua Vitae to turn them into Silvers, and Kingslayer to give yourself extra buys to spend all that money.  But it would be super expensive and slow to set all that up, so you'd have to be careful not to miss something quick and dirty on the board that could pile out or beat you to the Provinces before you got going.

With this trio, we have only our first repeat winner, Kirian, who also took the Non-Attack Interaction challenge.

Again, the top was tight.  Here are the rest of the competing cards:


#4 - Cauldron by jonts26 with 13 points (Khanka)
$2P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
You may discard a Potion.
If you do, +2 Cards, +1 Buy. If you do not, reveal cards from your deck until you reveal a Potion card. Put the revealed Potion card into your hand and discard the rest.

#5 (tie) - Fireworks by blueblimp with 10 points (Ontario)
$P - Action
+1 Action
Trash this card. +3 VP tokens.

#5 (tie) - Purification by One Armed Man with 10 points (Manitoba)
$2P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy
Discard or trash a card from your hand. You may gain a card costing less than it, putting it in your hand.

#7 (tie) - Unnamed (1) by Tables with 8 points (Tahoe)
$4P - Treasure
Worth $4
--
When you buy this, trash all treasure you have in play. You may not gain this card unless you buy it.

#7 (tie) - Researcher by Tejayes with 8 points (Albert)
$2P - Action
+2 Cards
You may discard a Treasure card costing at least $3 from your hand. If you do, +3 Cards.

#9 - Deal by heatthespurs with 7 points (Malawi)
$3P - Treasure
Worth $2
--
While this is in play, if you do not use up all your coins this turn, gain a Gold.
--
(Rule clarification: You have not used up all your coins if, for example,
1. You have $7 to spend in total, but spend only $6 in buying card(s);
2. You have $4P to spend in total, but spend only $4 in buying card(s).)

#10 (tie) - Enchanted Forest by DWetzel with 6 points (Victoria)
$P - Action-Victory
You may trash a Victory card from your hand.  If you do, gain an Enchanted Forest.
--
Worth 1 VP for every 2 cards in your deck which are Potions or have Potion in their cost, rounded down.

#10 (tie) - Unnamed (2) by greatexpectations with 6 points (Tazawa)
$4P - Treasure
Worth $2
+1 Buy
If you have played 3 or more Action cards this turn, +$2.
--
While this card is in play, you may trash a Potion from your hand.  If you do, gain an Action card costing up to $4.

#10 (tie) - Bartender by NoMoreFun with 6 points (Reindeer)
$1P - Action-Attack
Discard any number of cards.
Draw until you have 6 cards in hand.
You may discard a Potion. If you do, each other player gains a Curse.
You may discard a Potion. If you do, each other player discards down to 3 cards.

#10 (tie) - Levy by Schneau with 6 points (Erie)
$P - Treasure
Worth $1
+1 Buy
When you play this, gain a Soldier token.
--
When another player plays an Attack card, you may discard a Soldier token. If you do, you are unaffected by that Attack.

#10 (tie) - Lycanthrope by Drab Emordnilap with 6 points (Atitlan)
$5P - Action-Attack
+2 Cards
+1 Action
Each other player may reveal a Silver card from his hand. If he doesn't, he discards his hand and draws 3 cards.

#15 (tie) - Potion Market by zporiri with 5 points (Taymyr)
$3P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1P
+1 Buy
--
When you gain this, put it and any copies of Potion Market you have in play on top of your deck.

#15 (tie) - Copper Smelter by nopawnsintended with 5 points (Saimaa)
$3P - Action
+3 Cards
+1 Action
Gain a Potion and a Copper.  You may return exactly two Potions to the supply.  If you do, +$1.

#15 (tie) - Alembic by RobertJ with 5 points (Kivu)
$3P - Treasure
When you play this, it's worth $1 per differently named Treasure card you have in play (counting this).
If you do not have a Potion in play when you play this, then +1 Buy.

#15 (tie) - Underling by Tdog with 5 points (Athabasca)
$1P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Reveal your hand. For each copy of Underling you revealed, +1 Card.

#15 (tie) - Alchemist Market by Qvist with 5 points (Argentino)
$3P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy
+$1
You may reveal a Potion from your hand. If you do, +$1.

#20 (tie) - Research (1) by Nicrosil with 4 points (Urmia)
$2P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Reveal your hand and discard all non-Action cards. Draw that many cards.
If you discard any Potions this way, +1 card.

#20 (tie) - Alcoholic by zxcvbn2 with 4 points (Onega)
$PP - Victory
Worth 1 VP for every two Potions in your deck, rounding up.

#20 (tie) - Potionmaster by Bella Cullen with 4 points (Nicaragua)
$PP - Action
Gain a Province and four Coppers on top of the deck.

#20 (tie) - Aqua Regia by dnkywin with 4 points (Matano)
$4P - Treasure
Worth $3
--
At the start of Clean-up this turn, you may trash this card. If you do, gain a Gold on top of your deck.

#20 (tie) - Currency Exchange by Polk5440 with 4 points (Caspian)
$P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
You may discard either a Potion or a Gold (but not both). If you discarded a Potion, +$2. If you discarded a Gold, +$1 and +$P.
--
This card may be purchased for $3 instead of $P.

#25 (tie) - Red Stone by PenPen with 3 points (Teshekpuk)
$5P - Action
Trash this card. Discard a Potion from your hand.
If you do both, trash a card from your hand, then gain a card of any cost.

#25 (tie) - Experiment by andwilk with 3 points (Sarez)
$4P - Action
+1 Action
Reveal the top 5 cards of your deck and discard any cards that are not Actions or Treasures.  Gain one of the remaining cards costing up to $6. Put these cards back on your deck in any order.

#25 (tie) - Enchantress by Saucery with 3 points (Como)
$4P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Choose one: Trash a card from your hand, gaining two cards costing less than the trashed card; OR reveal your hand; if you have 4 copies of any card in your hand, +2 Cards, +1 Buy.

#25 (tie) - Black Magic by WanderingWinder with 3 points (Boiling)
$5P - Action-Attack-Victory
Worth 1 VP for every Curse and Potion in your deck.
--
+1 Action
+1 Buy
+$1
Every player gains a curse.
--
(Rules clarification:  "Every player" includes you.)

#25 (tie) - Enlightenment by Guy Srinivasan with 3 points (Baikal)
$P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1P
You may choose to increase Enlightenment's cost by any number of P until the end of your turn.
--
When you buy this, +VP equal to the number of P in Enlightenment's cost.

#25 (tie) - Mad Scientist (1) by Archetype with 3 points (Adams)
$4P - Action
Choose 3: (the choices may be the same)
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 Buy

#31 (tie) - Mutant by Dubdubdubdub with 2 points (Turkana)
$2P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Reveal your hand. If you revealed at least one Mutant or Potion this way, +2 Cards.
--
When you trash this: $2, +2 VP.

#31 (tie) - Magic Mirror by zahlman with 2 points (Torrens)
$2P - Action-Reaction
+1 Card
+1 Action
If you have not been affected by any attacks since the end of your last turn: Name a card. Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is the named card, choose one: trash it; or gain a copy of it in hand (leaving it on the deck).
--
When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this card from your hand. If you do, you are unaffected by that Attack, and the attacker is affected by that Attack, if possible.
--
(Rules clarifications:  The player who originally played the Attack card - hereafter the OA, for Original Attacker - is added to the set of players referred to by an "each other player" clause on the Attack card. The Attack affects the OA only once regardless of how many times Magic Mirror is revealed, even if revealed by multiple players, since there is only one actual attack taking place - the Magic Mirror does not "generate" a new attack. However, if multiple Attacks are played in turn, or if an attack is played multiple times e.g. via Throne Room or King's Court, each Attack can be redirected separately with Magic Mirror.
If the card said "each player (including you)" or similar, there is no change in what happens to the OA, since he would have been affected anyway. Since you did not actually play an Attack card, the OA may not reveal Reaction cards in response, and is not protected by Lighthouse. The OA makes decisions as both the attacker and the attacked player. You do not gain any benefits mentioned on the Attack card (e.g. you do not gain a Silver by reacting to a Bureaucrat).)

#31 (tie) - Magician by Mecherath with 2 points (Toba)
$3P - Action
Trash the top card from your deck.
Gain a Gold, placing it on top of your deck.
You may reveal a Potion.  If you do, +1 Card.

#31 (tie) - Shipyard by Robz888 with 2 points (Natron)
$8P - Victory
Worth 8 VP
--
During your Buy phase, this costs $1 less for every Action card you have in play, but not less than $0.

#31 (tie) - Namelessness by popsofctown with 2 points (Ladoga)
$P - Action
+1 Action
An opponent names an Action card that is in the supply, but not in play.  Gain one from the supply.  Play it.  If it would leave play this turn, return it to the supply.

#36 (tie) - Smelter by Adrienaline with 1 point (Vostok)
$2P - Action
If you play three or more Action cards this turn, including this card, Treasure cards cost $3.
+$2
Gain a treasure card costing up to $3.
(Rules clarification: This card is affected by Highways, Bridges, Princesses etc that are played after this card, but Highways, etc, that are played before this card are overruled by this card. Order is important.)

#36 (tie) - Chemist by Grujah with 1 point (Van)
$3P - Action-Duration
Now and at the start of your next turn: +1 Potion, +1 Buy.

#36 (tie) - Smelters by Adrienaline with 1 point (Titicaca)
$2P - Action
If you have at least three Action cards in play this turn, including this card, Treasure cards cost $3P less, but not less than $0.
+$2
Gain a treasure card costing up to $3.

#36 (tie) - Research (2) by Fragasnap with 1 point (Taupo)
$2P - Action
Trash 2 cards from your hand. Gain a card costing exactly $2 or $2P more than the total cost of the trashed cards in coins.  When you gain this, you may gain an Action card costing up to $4.

#36 (tie) - If This Actually Wins I'll Give It A Real Name, But I Bet This Gets < 5 Points by Titandrake with 1 point (Tanganyika)
$P - Action
Trash this and another copy of If This Actually Wins I'll Give It A Real Name, But I Bet This Gets < 5 Points from your hand. If you do trash two If This Actually Wins I'll Give It A Real Name, But I Bet This Gets < 5 Pointss, gain 4 Actions other than If This Actually Wins I'll Give It A Real Name, But I Bet This Gets < 5 Points or 4 Treasures of your choice, putting them on top of your deck.
--
(Rules clarification: You must gain 4 Actions or 4 Treasures, not a mix of both.)

#36 (tie) - Elixir by Garth One-eye with 1 point (Superior)
$P - Treasure-Reaction
Worth $P
--
When another player plays an Attack card,
you may set this aside from your hand.
If you do, you are unaffected by that Attack.
Then at the start of your next turn,
+1 Action
+1 Card
+1 Buy
and discard this card.

#36 (tie) - Poison Ivy by Powerman with 1 point (Pinatubo)
$4P - Action-Attack
+$2
Choose 2:
- Each other player gains a Curse or 2 Coppers (his choice);
- Each other player with 3 or more cards in hand puts a card on top of his deck;
- Each other player reveals the top 4 cards of his deck, discards one of his choice, trashes one of your choice, and puts the others on top of his deck.
(The choices may be the same)
--
Setup: In games using this, add [Support Card] as an extra Kingdom card pile.
.
.
[Support Card]
$P - Action-Reaction
+1 Card
+1 Action
--
When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, you are unaffected by that Attack.
--
(Rules clarification:  [Support Card] is only available in the kingdom if Poison Ivy is also.)

#36 (tie) - Shrine of the Truth by ChocophileBenj with 1 point (Maracaibo)
$3P - Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+1 VP
--
During your Clean-up phase, you may discard a Victory card from your hand. If you do, put this on top of your deck.

#36 (tie) - Distiller by ashersky with 1 point (Biwa)
$5P - Action-Attack
+$P
+2 Cards
You may trash a Potion from your hand.  If you do, +2 VP.
Each other player trashes a Potion from their hand, or reveals a hand with no Potions.  For each Potion trashed this way, +2 VP.
If no Potions are trashed by your opponents: +2 Actions.

#45 (tie) - Cistern by shark bait with 0 points (Winnipeg)
$P - Action-Duration
+1 Action
--
While in play: Cards from your Cistern mat may be used as if they were in your hand.  During your buy phase you may place up to 2 Treasure cards on your Cistern mat for each Cistern in play.  If you choose to discard a Cistern from play, +1 Buy.
--
(Rules clarification:  Cistern stays in play until the player chooses to discard it.  Cards may only be placed on the Cistern mat during the buy phase.  Treasures played from your Cistern mat during your buy phase are discarded after play.  Cards from the Cistern mat may be utilized during the action phase.  When a card is used from the Cistern mat you treat it as if it were in your hand.  For example, you may play a Mine and trash a Silver from your Cistern mat and gain a Gold in hand.  Similarly, Minting a Gold from your Cistern mat gains a Gold placed in your discard pile while your Gold remains on your Cistern mat.  Because cards on your Cistern mat are treated like cards in your hand, treasures may be discarded from your Cistern mat if an action card like Cellar, Warehouse, Oasis, etc, is played.  A Cistern may only be discarded for +1 Buy if there remains at least 1 Cistern for every 2 treasures on the mat.)

#45 (tie) - Mad Scientist (2) by Dsell with 0 points (Tana)
$6P - Action
+1 Action
If this is the first time you've played this card this turn, trash your hand. If you trashed any cards this way, gain up to 4 non-Victory cards; put them in your hand.

#45 (tie) - Alkahest by dghunter79 with 0 points (Ohrid)
$5P - Treasure
Worth $2P
--
Immediately after your buy phase, if Alkahest is in play, you may trash it, along with any other treasure cards in play.  Gain a card worth less than the total amount all the treasures trashed this way produced when they entered play.
--
When you trash this, you may gain a card costing less than this.

#45 (tie) - Sorcerer by Michaelf7777777 with 0 points (Nettilling)
$3P - Action-Victory
Choose one: Copper produces an extra $1P and Potions provide an extra $1 this turn, OR trash a Copper or Potion card from your hand.
Gain a Copper or Potion card; put it into your hand.
--
Worth 1 VP for every three Potions in your deck.

#45 (tie) - Quicksilver by razorborne with 0 points (Michigan)
$P - Treasure
Worth $2P

#45 (tie) - Bonfire by dnkywin with 0 points (Huron)
$P - Victory
Worth 1 VP per Bonfire you have (including this).

[Polk5440]

For this challenge only, I was going to declare the top 2 finishers winners and include them in the contest set.  I LIED.  I'm going to include the top three, because that's how many cards there are in the tie for first place.

Wow. I guess the voting is working out better than expected! Ask for multiple winners, and you get it!

Congratulations to the winners. Nice cards all around (that is, if you're into the Potion thing  ).

[Polk5440]

Also, it's kind of cool a cheaper card won the non-terminal silver challenge while more expensive cards won the Potion challenge.

[NoMoreFun]

Well done to everyone, especially the winners.

Considering how hard it is to cost potion cards (I know I drastically undercosted mine ), are we going to keep ourselves open to changing the cost with playtesting?

[rinkworks]

Well done to everyone, especially the winners.

Considering how hard it is to cost potion cards (I know I drastically undercosted mine ), are we going to keep ourselves open to changing the cost with playtesting?

Yes, tweaks like that will be allowed.  I'm not sure how that process will work, though, because it depends on how many people actually try out the cards (I know I have and will).  Seems like we should have some sort of deadline on changes so that we're not tweaking ad nauseum.  And I only really want to make the most necessary of changes unless the original author is on board.

But we're doing fine so far and can formalize that process if necessary later.

[eHalcyon]

Woo! 

Big thanks to WanderingWinder for giving me his opinions on the card.  Potion cards are extremely difficult to price, and I did a really poor job of it the first go around.  I sent at least four revisions to rinkworks, and at one point I think the card cost only $2P and came with +Buy as well!

Edit: reading card names is interesting.  @dg -- Alkahest?  Sounds Xingese...

[jonts26]

One lousy point. Maybe I would have won had I properly priced it at $3P?

[Graystripe77]

Woo! I actually had a good card this time! I may keep this one for my expansion...

[ChocophileBenj]

Wooo, near to bottom ! Too bad I forgot this point of rules about the endless games !

Three winners ? And the fourth is near ! Congrats to all four !
But wait... another benefit-from-copper among the winners ? I HATE THOSE COPPERS, lol ! But it seems copper is coming back... why not, it's such a nice card (it even winned a challenge), let's forget those coppersmiths and take a non-terminal version !
Kingslayer is a good choice between different $5 (although to complete the trash option, the "gain a card costing exactly $1 more" is missing in order to get upgrade... maybe !) But everybody who knows the difference between market and lab will choose the lab option except if no better source of +buy or +$1 absolutely needed, right ?
Retort seemed a bit overpowered to me, and it met lots of my ideas to the non-terminal draw challenge.

Cauldron is very nice too... only one point behind and before a gap of 3 points !

And once again, a really generalistic challenge leads to really tied results !

[zahlman]

Wow, I got two whole points for something I pretty much knew would be rejected out of hand, and I even forgot to vote? x.x

[rinkworks]

One lousy point. Maybe I would have won had I properly priced it at $3P?

No idea how it might have affected the voting, but yeah, that did feel slightly too good at $2P.  It traded away Alchemist's advantage (top-decking) for its two weaknesses (Potion doesn't always show up; lack of +Buy).  It's arguable which one is stronger overall, but the fact that it's arguable makes your card look very very good for $2P.

[NoMoreFun]

What would be a reasonable cost for my card (Reindeer/Bartender)? I didn't think it was that strong (especially for a card you can't open with) or that easy to get multiple copies, so I thought $1P was fine, but everyone said it was overpowered.

[Titandrake]

Oh hey, I was right about my card. I forgot to vote, but it wouldn't have mattered.

The effect of Bartender feels sort of strong. It drops off much more late game (assuming you don't buy a 2nd or 3rd potion), but early on you could probably get a potion consistently if you discard everything except Silver. So it's pretty much a Curser early on.

Although this isn't necessarily a strike against the card, it counters itself pretty well. If Militiaed, draw back up. If Cursed, then the discard gives you a chance to get good cards.

[rinkworks]

What would be a reasonable cost for my card (Reindeer/Bartender)? I didn't think it was that strong (especially for a card you can't open with) or that easy to get multiple copies, so I thought $1P was fine, but everyone said it was overpowered.

A cost of $1P is roughly like a $3 cost that's harder to pile-drive.  But this card is terminal, so you probably don't WANT to pile-drive it too much, so the restricted access isn't that huge a disadvantage except that it requires an extra shuffle to start using it.  Also note that most attacks are terminal anyway and are still strong cards.  So these factors would point toward the card being undercosted.

But your card doesn't attack unless you've got a Potion in hand.  The Filter/Draw effect helps you get that Potion in hand; still, you need it to attack, and if you use it you can't play it.  So that would appear to be a significant drawback.

Bottom line, I don't know what it should cost.  There aren't many terminal Potion cards, and none of those are attacks, so I don't know what would feel right.  I think my instinct is to start off playtesting at $2P and go from there.

[ashersky]

#36 (tie) - Distiller by ashersky with 1 point (Biwa)
$5P - Action-Attack
+$P
+2 Cards
You may trash a Potion from your hand.  If you do, +2 VP.
Each other player trashes a Potion from their hand, or reveals a hand with no Potions.  For each Potion trashed this way, +2 VP.
If no Potions are trashed by your opponents: +2 Actions.

At the very least, I liked my name.  Distilling Potions into VP.  I thought with the high cost, it could balance the strength, but I think killing your opponents Potions became too strong for most.  I was looking for reasons to buy Potions, and as VP fodder, it seemed okay.  Oh well, I was clearly off.

Congrats to the winners!

[Kirian]

Well... I wasn't expecting that!

For the record, a retort is an ancient-style distilling flask.  The idea, of course, is that you're distilling your cards into better ones (by combining Warehouse and Lab).  Also glad to see someone got Aqua Vitae in the top three!

[eHalcyon]

Well... I wasn't expecting that!

For the record, a retort is an ancient-style distilling flask.  The idea, of course, is that you're distilling your cards into better ones (by combining Warehouse and Lab).  Also glad to see someone got Aqua Vitae in the top three!

That is some obscure diction there, sir.  Awesome.




Also, random bonus concept:

Excess Lead
$P - Victory
Worth 2VP
--
When you trash this, +2VP and gain a Gold, putting it on top of your deck.



Transmute this for lots of Gold and accolades from your peers.

[Kirian]

Well... I wasn't expecting that!

For the record, a retort is an ancient-style distilling flask.  The idea, of course, is that you're distilling your cards into better ones (by combining Warehouse and Lab).  Also glad to see someone got Aqua Vitae in the top three!

That is some obscure diction there, sir.  Awesome.

Obscurity is relative.  For a chemistry teacher with a particular interest in the history of alchemy and chemistry... yeah.

Also, random bonus concept:

Excess Lead
$P - Victory
Worth 2VP
--
When you trash this, +2VP and gain a Gold, putting it on top of your deck.

Transmute this for lots of Gold and accolades from your peers.

"They're looking for a way to turn lead into gold, or at least into something better than lead. That lead had just been too good of a bargain to pass up; you didn't think, where will I put all this lead, what am I going to do with this lead anyway."

[eHalcyon]

Also, random bonus concept:

Excess Lead
$P - Victory
Worth 2VP
--
When you trash this, +2VP and gain a Gold, putting it on top of your deck.

Transmute this for lots of Gold and accolades from your peers.

"They're looking for a way to turn lead into gold, or at least into something better than lead. That lead had just been too good of a bargain to pass up; you didn't think, where will I put all this lead, what am I going to do with this lead anyway."

That's why I put in the "Excess" descriptor.

[One Armed Man]

for manitoba/ Purification (tied-5th place), i went through ideas to see if they interacted well with other potion cards. It turns out mine doesn't interact as well with 2 of the winners.

transmute- gain estates from silvers to make into golds
vineyards- gain actions
univ- turn actions into Victorys
Apoth - turn estates to coppers
Scrying - trash coppers
Alchemist - ensure you get potion
philosophers- gain enlarges deck
familiar- trash curses, downgrade itself.
golem - pull this up with golem to get rid of weaker actions
possession - turn opponent's best stuff into stuff for you.

retort- gain actions? not much interaction here
kingslayer- not much interaction here
aqua vitae- turn estates to coppers

[PenPen]

Congrats to our triple winners here!

I thought my card (Red Stone/Teshekpuk) would get like 1 vote (that's from me submitting my vote) given the comments the card got. The original idea was from FullMetal Alchemist where the red stone/philosopher's stone would break the alchemy law of equivalent exchange (and the red stone would break afterwards).

There were a few ideas that I had with this (I was thinking something outrageous like trashing your hand and gain as many cards as your previous hand size, with the same total cost first) but settled for a tradeoff on one card. The cost and the requirements became much more stringent when I was getting into the balancing stage, and it turns out to be a card that's kind of a dud.

Still thanks to the guys voting for me!