I'm not new to Dominion, just to the whole online community. This is my first article on a Dominion card, although I do like to think of myself as a decent writer in general. Before I got all the expansions, I had DA as one of my first and so I've played hundreds of games with those cards. So all in all I know a bit about them.
I saw somewhere someone saying that Marauder is not a good card because "it's way too slow." I'd like to show that in fact, Marauder is not too slow to attack, and not too slow in gaining Spoils, and is in fact almost a must buy in many kingdoms without lots of attack cards.
Slow attack? I think not!
Sea Hag is great as it can be bought in the first two turns and can deal Curses on top of other people's decks, putting the Curses "into play" very fast. While Marauder is the same $4 price as Sea Hag, it only gives Ruins and not on top of people's decks. Opponents will only get the ruins in their hands on their second reshuffle, which may seem like a long time away, but those ruins hurt more than you think. This is because Ruins, while still giving marginal benefits, are totally pointless in the early game. Great, I can play Ruined Market for +buy. Yay! (The exception being Abandoned Mine, since it can help players early on...ish). And without fast trashing, there is a good chance that the Ruins will stay around for quite a while. If they don't play the Ruins, it has the same effect as a Curse in their hand, which leads to the second point of why early Ruins are still very harmful.
At the start of the game, playing those action cards you bought is very important to get Golds or $5 cards or whatever else they do. That leaves little time for playing ruins, even if they give you $1 extra to spend, or and extra buy to pick up...um... two Pearl Divers. Most of the time, Ruins are still just junk, so dishing them out early is a good thing. And Chapelling may get rid of them easily, but then your opponents are still left with Coppers or Estates that they didn't get to trash because of the Ruins.
There are other attacks that hurt more at the start of the game (Militia, Sea Hag etc...), but this is only half the card.
But...Spoils is just a Gold...
Yes, it is just a Gold, but it's not what Spoils is that matters, it's how you get it. There are two things which make gaining spoils from Marauder a great thing.
Firstly they help boost your economy, possibly skipping Silvers. Unlike Bandit Camp, you can't rely on playing Marauder every time it comes up, so turning the Spoils into real Gold is essential. But if you buy Marauder on the first two turns, then play it as soon as it comes into your hand, you're looking at a Spoils in your second reshuffle. Is that slow? That's the same as if you had just bought the Gold (Which would require some luck in pulling up 6$ on the third or fourth turn). Sure the Spoils goes away, but just play Marauder again and it's back. Once it's replaced with a real Gold, you can trash Marauder. Now you've got a Gold and your opponent has a bunch of Ruins. Even if you only manage to give him 3-4, that's enough to slow him down for a while, especially without a cheap trashing card.
Secondly, the "price" of the Spoils is important. Marauder costs $4 and gives you Golds. $4 Gold is a great deal! It costs you an action to keep the Gold, but it gives your opponent Ruins in the process. Just like Bandit Camp is a $5 Gold which gets delayed, Marauder is a $4 Gold that is delayed and costs you an action. It's just a price you pay for how cheap it is.
How to Counter it?
The best way to counter the junk you'll get is heavy trashing. It's pretty lame I know, but other than Lighthouse or Moat, that's the best way to deal with Ruins so early in the game. You may want to keep some if you're going for a Gardens strategy, but in general you'll want to trash them. If there's no trashing, get a Marauder yourself. There is nothing more boring than playing a game with all 10 Ruins while your opponent uses his cheap Gold to buy the more powerful $5 and $6 cards. What I'm trying to say is don't look at Ruins and think "Oh, they're not that bad. They give me a little effect when I play them." Take them seriously, especially when they can be given to you so fast.
Quick Summary
In the end, there are faster, better attack cards that can be bought at the start of the game. However, by buying Marauder you guarantee yourself a Spoils(Gold) in your second reshuffle, eliminating luck factor for getting $6, and you give (mostly) useless cards to your opponents. Sea Hag is better, but Marauder is up there in terms of starting cards. The important thing to lookout for is other Marauders, since then everyone will just have tons of Ruins and Spoils.
Works with
- Buying it early
- Counters action based cards like Wandering Minstrel and Golem
- Fast deck cycling
- Scheme or Sage (can skip the Spoils with Sage, but plays Marauder more)
Does not work against
- Other, better, 4$ attack cards
- Opponents Scrying Pools
- Heavy Trashing
- Your Bishops
- Your Rabbles