I believe that this will be a dominant card in the new set. Thinning your deck without having to sacrifice VP's is huge. It also protects your Provinces from goofy cards like the Swindler and Saboteur. Definitely a powerful card.
I believe that this will be a dominant card in the new set.
I'm not so sure. In the late game, it will obviously be better to buy provinces. It does let you grab a couple of points safely in the early game... but it doesn't really thin your deck that much, and it may take money, and a spare action, away from developing your deck in the crucial early phase. It seems a nice card, no doubt, but something tells me it may be a honeypot.
Aside: This card can be throne roomed, right? If not, it would have contained one of those odd "if you do" clauses, I suppose.
This could be quite useful when you're stuck with 2 treasure or with excess funds, i.e. 10 treasure, Province + Island (presuming you had more than 1 buy)
This could be quite useful when you're stuck with 2 treasure or with excess funds, i.e. 10 treasure, Province + Island (presuming you had more than 1 buy)
I'm curious on how this card is balanced... why would anyone go for a Duchy when this is available? I guess because everyone has access to it it is balanced? Still, I can't see myself NOT buying a TON of these.
It also protects your Provinces from goofy cards like the Swindler and Saboteur. Definitely a powerful card.
Aren't Provinces safe from the Swindler? Any Province that you flip is going to have to be replaced by another Province.
I would contend that just because you get to "replace" it doesn't make it "safe". Sometimes you need that last Province to win, but if you acquire it because it replaces one you just lost, your position is not improved and now the game is over (thus the potential for improving your score is gone).
The "replacement" is not the same as a "protection".
It also protects your Provinces from goofy cards like the Swindler and Saboteur. Definitely a powerful card.
Aren't Provinces safe from the Swindler? Any Province that you flip is going to have to be replaced by another Province.
I would contend that just because you get to "replace" it doesn't make it "safe". Sometimes you need that last Province to win, but if you acquire it because it replaces one you just lost, your position is not improved and now the game is over (thus the potential for improving your score is gone).
The "replacement" is not the same as a "protection".
I guess we were thinking the same thing in different words. I considered that the game state would change (i.e. the number of provinces left to purchase), but decided that while that could affect the game, you're not going to have fewer provinces than you did before the swindler (thus that one province is safe). I'd say that the top province in the purchase stack is unsafe.
It also protects your Provinces from goofy cards like the Swindler and Saboteur. Definitely a powerful card.
Aren't Provinces safe from the Swindler? Any Province that you flip is going to have to be replaced by another Province.
I would contend that just because you get to "replace" it doesn't make it "safe". Sometimes you need that last Province to win, but if you acquire it because it replaces one you just lost, your position is not improved and now the game is over (thus the potential for improving your score is gone).
The "replacement" is not the same as a "protection".
I guess we were thinking the same thing in different words. I considered that the game state would change (i.e. the number of provinces left to purchase), but decided that while that could affect the game, you're not going to have fewer provinces than you did before the swindler (thus that one province is safe). I'd say that the top province in the purchase stack is unsafe.
