Reviews by category 2 - Ruins for Benefit:
In this category, I am including any card that directly tries to make it desirable to collect or otherwise use Ruins (e.g. by playing them multiple times or playing the top Ruins), but also cards that seem designed to combo well with Ruins without naming them (e.g. wanting a large number/variety of Action cards, or cards that cost less than a small amount). Also, in each category, I will skip over any cards reviewed for a prior category.
Junkyard (A)
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $5
+1 Action. You may gain a Ruins, putting it into your hand. Discard any number of cards. +1 Card per card discarded. +1 Card per Action card discarded. You may trash this.
When you trash this, +2 Cards.
So it's like a Cellar, but turns into a Lab for every Action card you chuck, and lets you boost it by taking a Ruins. Almost certainly overpowered, especially in a decently thinned deck in which case it's comparable to Scrying Pool.
Robber Baron
Types: Action – Attack – Looter
Cost: $4
You may discard a Ruins. If you do, +$3 and each other player discards down to 3 cards in hand. Otherwise, gain a Ruins.
When you gain this, gain 2 Ruins.
It takes the principle of Baron, but works on Ruins and has an attack instead of a buy. Cute idea, but I don't know how it would work in practice.
King of the Slums
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $5
Look at the top 3 cards of the Ruins pile. Gain any number of them, putting them into your hand. Put the rest back in any order. Choose up to 3 Ruins from your hand. Play the first one three times, the second one twice, and the third one once.
A bit too complicated. I think it would be better to make it just Throne Room all three Ruins, and even then you're very much at the mercy of the order of the pile. Also probably needs a means of getting rid of Ruins when you really don't want them any more, otherwise you're going to have far too many of them in your deck. (Also, "Slumlord" is a much more efficient name.)
Archaeologist
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $5
+1 Card. +1 Action. You may trash the top card of the Ruins pile.
While this card is in play, when you play an Action card, play a copy of the top card of the Ruins pile.
Like the previous, way too dependent on the order of Ruins, even if it has the ability to adjust them. And then if you do, the tracking could become a nightmare. But the idea that with this in play, every Market Square becomes a Market, or every Village an activated City, or every Smithy a Village/Smithy combo? Scarily powerful. This is one of those ideas that I *want* to work, and I have a half-idea about how to do so which is not quite as crazy as this but still slightly so, but I don't think it can every really work as intended.
Raid
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $3
Choose one: Play and trash up to 2 Action cards from your hand; or gain any number of Action cards from the trash costing up to $3 and play them in any order.
When you trash this, each other player gains a Ruins.
Actually, this is not too bad, although I *think* that it may be possible to create an infinite (or at least annoyingly large and hard to track) loop with these somehow. Also, it needs some clarification on two points: first, do you (play 2 cards) then (trash the 2 cards), or do you (play and then trash) 2 cards; second, is the cost restriction per-card or total?
Angry Mob
Types: Action – Attack – Looter
Cost: $4
+1 Action. +1 Buy. Each player gains a Ruins, putting it into his hand.
While this is in play, when you buy a Ruins, you may trash this. If you do, gain a Mob Boss from the Mob Boss pile.
Mob Boss
Types: Action
Cost: $0*
+1 Buy. Reveal your hand. For each Ruins revealed, +1 Card and +$1. You may return a Ruins from your hand to the Supply. If you do, +1 Action. (This is not in the Supply.)
I ... think this works, although as far as self-upgrading cards go it's not quite as great as Madman or Mercenary. Self-comboes reasonably decently, and also self-counters to some small extent.
Garderobe
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $2
+1 Action. +$2. Gain a Ruins, putting it into your hand. You may play an Action card from your hand costing up to $3.
Eh. Kind of cute in that once you've picked up a couple of Ruined Markets it can keep getting more of itself. Also, a hand of these and a Watchtower would be a terrifying experience. I don't mind this.
Drug
Types: Action – Victory – Looter
Cost: $5
+1 Card. +1 Action. +$1. You may gain a Ruins. If you do, +1 Card. You may gain a Ruins. If you do, +1 Action.
Worth –3 VP if every other player has fewer Ruins than you.
Terrible name. Interesting effect. Probably a little too weak to work though - in order to be particuarly useful, you have to really flood your deck with junk.
Blood Feud
Types:
Action – Attack – Looter
Cost: $4
Choose one: +1 Action, +$1, and each player (including you) gains a Ruins, putting it in his hand; or reveal up to 3 cards from your hand, play the revealed Action cards in any order, then trash all the revealed cards.
In a similar vein to Raid, but again with a pretty dodgy name. The second choice is a bit odd - clearly the aim is to let you play the Ruins before trashing them, as well as trashing a bunch of random junk. I think it's ok, although I feel like there's a powerful combo that I'm missing.
Mendicant
Types: Action – Looter
Cost: $2
+1 Card. +1 Action. Gain a Ruins, putting it into your hand. You may play any number of Ruins from your hand. If you played two or more, +1 Card.
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Similar to Garderobe. Probably about as ok as it too. More useful when there's an Attack/Looter around though.