Trashing attack
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[[Image:Swindler.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Swindler]], a trashing attack card.]] | [[Image:Swindler.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Swindler]], a trashing attack card.]] | ||
| − | A Trashing attack is an [[attack]] card which [[trashes]] other players' cards. These cards have a complicated history due to major balance issues. The most obvious trashing attack is "Each other player trashes the top card of their deck." However, this has three problems | + | A Trashing attack is an [[attack]] card which [[trashes]] other players' cards. These cards have a complicated history due to major balance issues. The most obvious trashing attack is "Each other player trashes the top card of their deck." However, this has three problems which have been pointed out by [[Donald X. Vaccarino]]: |
* First, it can often be weak by trashing weak cards. | * First, it can often be weak by trashing weak cards. | ||
* Alternatively, it can be very random, trashing good cards for some, but bad cards for others. | * Alternatively, it can be very random, trashing good cards for some, but bad cards for others. | ||
Revision as of 06:03, 5 July 2022
A Trashing attack is an attack card which trashes other players' cards. These cards have a complicated history due to major balance issues. The most obvious trashing attack is "Each other player trashes the top card of their deck." However, this has three problems which have been pointed out by Donald X. Vaccarino:
- First, it can often be weak by trashing weak cards.
- Alternatively, it can be very random, trashing good cards for some, but bad cards for others.
- Finally, it can cause a strange game where no one can get anywhere because they only have 5 cards and anything they buy gets trashed.
So, this has led to various solutions to get around the problem. The most direct variant is Saboteur which looks for a card costing at least 
to trash and allows other players to choose a replacement whose cost is at most 
less than the trashed card. This eliminates the weakness, decreases the randomness and eliminates the strange game state. Another card which gives players a replacement is Swindler, which allows the attacking player to choose a replacement for the trashed card at the same cost. Locusts and Barbarian also fall into this category when the trashed card is not one of a handful of cheap cards, allowing the victim to choose a lower-cost card to replace it.
A different solution is to only trash a certain price range of cards. Knights, Rogue, and Giant only trash cards in the range of –
, and if more than one card is eligible for Knights or Rogue, the victim chooses which card to trash. This solution also eliminates the weakness and weird game state, and does a better job at avoiding randomness in the attack than Saboteur does. This avoids the need for a replacement as Saboteur provides. Warrior and War take this to the extreme by only trashing cards that cost either or 
.
Finally, there is the trashing attack which targets a type of card; namely, Treasure. Thief, Bandit, Noble Brigand and Pirate Ship all trash a Treasure card from the top of opponents' decks; Thief, Noble Brigand, and Bandit allow the attacker to gain Treasure as well. This still has a random factor, but it does avoid the weird game state. Corsair trashes Treasure from opponents' play area instead, making it less random. Thief and Pirate Ship were removed on the grounds that the attack trashes Coppers, which is usually beneficial for the opponents; newer Treasure-trashing attacks avoid that problem.
Cardinal and Gatekeeper function obliquely as trashing attacks in that they remove cards from your opponent's deck, but unlike real trashing, the Exiled card can be gotten back, and any Exiled Victory cards still give 
.
