Trashing attack

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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, all of 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.
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[[Image:Swindler.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Swindler]], a trashing attack card.]]
  
So, this has lead to various solutions to get around the problem. The most direct variant is [[Saboteur]] which looks for a card costing at least $3 to trash and allows other players to choose a replacement whose cost is at most $2 more 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.
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A Trashing attack is an [[attack]] card which [[trashes]] other players' cards, typically from the top of their deck. Most of these attack have certain constraints on what cards they are able to trash.
  
A different solution is to only trash a certain price range of cards. [[Knights]] and [[Rogue]] both only trash cards from the top 2 cards of opponents decks and only trash those in the range of $3 - $6. Also, the victim chooses which card to trash if both are eligible. 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.
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==List of Cards==
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[[Hex]]es listed function as the relevant Attack when revealed by an Attack-[[Doom]] card.
  
Finally, there is the trash attack which targets a type of card; namely, [[treasure]]. [[Thief]], [[Noble Brigand]] and [[Pirate Ship]] all trash a Treasure card from the top of opponents' decks and Thief and Pirate Ship allow the attacker to gain the trashed card. This still has a random factor, but it does avoid the weird game state. Also, a big problem with Thief and Pirate Ship is that the attack trashes Coppers which is usually beneficial for the opponents. This is avoided in Noble Brigand.
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Cards in ''italics'' have been [[removed]].
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===Trash and replace with other cards===
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*[[Intrigue]]: ''{{Card|Saboteur}}'' -- Find and trash a card costing {{Cost|3}} or more. Replacement at least {{Cost|2}} cheaper, victim's choice.
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*[[Intrigue]]: {{Card|Swindler}} -- Replacement of same cost, attacker's choice.
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*[[Nocturne]]: {{Hex|Locusts}} -- Replacement cheaper and of same type, victim's choice unless a {{Card|Copper}} or {{Card|Estate}} was trashed (in this case replaced with {{Card|Curse}}).
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*[[Allies]]: {{card|Barbarian}} -- Replacement cheaper and of same type, victim's choice but only if trashed card cost {{Cost|3}} or more (otherwise replaced with {{Card|Curse}}).
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===Trash card in certain price range===
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* Between {{Cost|3}} and {{Cost|6}}
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**[[Dark Ages]]: {{Card|Knights}}
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**[[Dark Ages]]: {{Card|Rogue}}
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**[[Adventures]]: {{Card|Giant}}
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* Between {{Cost|3}} and {{Cost|4}}
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**[[Adventures]]: {{Card|Warrior}}
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**[[Nocturne]]: {{Hex|War}}
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===Trash Treasures===
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*[[Base]]: ''{{Card|Thief}}''
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*[[Base]]: {{card|Bandit}}
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*[[Seaside]]: ''{{Card|Pirate Ship}}''
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*[[Seaside]]: {{card|Corsair}}
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*[[Hinterlands]]: ''{{Card|Noble Brigand}}''
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===Related===
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[[Exile]] attacks have some similarities to trashing attacks in that they remove cards from your opponent's deck, but unlike real trashing, the Exiled card can be gotten back, and still count for determining {{VP}}.
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* [[Menagerie (expansion)|Menagerie]]: {{Card|Cardinal}} and {{card|Gatekeeper}}
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{{event|Maelstrom}}, from {{Set|Plunder}}, forces opponents to trash a card from their hand; this may be beneficial if they have junk in their hand, but may act as an attack if they have nothing in hand that they want to trash.
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==Gallery==
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{{CardImage|Bandit}}{{CardImage|Barbarian}}{{CardImage|Corsair}}{{CardImage|Giant}}{{CardImage|Knights}}{{CardImage|Rogue}}{{CardImage|Swindler}}{{CardImage|Warrior}}{{LandscapeImage|Locusts}}{{LandscapeImage|War}}
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===Exile Attacks===
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{{CardImage|Cardinal}}{{CardImage|Gatekeeper}}
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===Removed cards===
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{{CardImage|Noble Brigand}}{{CardImage|Pirate Ship}}{{CardImage|Saboteur}}{{CardImage|Thief}}
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==Trivia==
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===Development comments===
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These cards have a complicated history due to major balance issues. The most obvious trashing attack, "Each other player trashes the top card of their deck." has major problems.
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{{Quote|Text=
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This is the hardest kind of attack to make. It has to be that there isn't too much variance in how it hits the other players - no making one player lose a {{Card|Province}} while another loses a {{Card|Copper}}. It has to be good enough to play - trashing {{Card|Copper}}s and {{Card|Estate}}s is usually not what you're after. It can't generate a ridiculous game state too easily - some of the early cards in this category would by themselves lead to a game where everyone had just 5 cards and could not get ahead. And finally it has to be that the text actually fits on the card. With all of those other conditions to meet, it's tricky.
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Ultimately, there usually isn't much room to define these attacks by the extra stuff they do; they often end up defined by how they handle the problems above. And then some people don't like them. My stuff, my precious stuff! So I do these less often than the other attacks.
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|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
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|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=125.msg1172#msg1172 Dominion Seaside Preview]
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}}
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{{Quote|Text= Prior to development of the main set, there were a bunch of cards in different expansions that were variations on "trash the top card of each other player's deck." Once it became apparent that that concept was flawed, all of those cards needed reworking, and some just died.
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|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
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|Source=[https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/418644/secret-history-intrigue-cards BoardGameGeek, The Secret History of the Intrigue Cards, 2009]
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}}
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{{Navbox card categories}}
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[[Category:Attacks]]

Latest revision as of 04:22, 12 December 2022

Swindler, a trashing attack card.

A Trashing attack is an attack card which trashes other players' cards, typically from the top of their deck. Most of these attack have certain constraints on what cards they are able to trash.

Contents

[edit] List of Cards

Hexes listed function as the relevant Attack when revealed by an Attack-Doom card.

Cards in italics have been removed.

[edit] Trash and replace with other cards

  • Intrigue: SaboteurSaboteur.jpg -- Find and trash a card costing $3 or more. Replacement at least $2 cheaper, victim's choice.
  • Intrigue: SwindlerSwindler.jpg -- Replacement of same cost, attacker's choice.
  • Nocturne: LocustsLocusts.jpg -- Replacement cheaper and of same type, victim's choice unless a CopperCopper.jpg or EstateEstate.jpg was trashed (in this case replaced with CurseCurse.jpg).
  • Allies: BarbarianBarbarian.jpg -- Replacement cheaper and of same type, victim's choice but only if trashed card cost $3 or more (otherwise replaced with CurseCurse.jpg).

[edit] Trash card in certain price range

[edit] Trash Treasures

[edit] Related

Exile attacks have some similarities to trashing attacks in that they remove cards from your opponent's deck, but unlike real trashing, the Exiled card can be gotten back, and still count for determining VP.

MaelstromMaelstrom.jpg, from PlunderPlunder (expansion).jpg, forces opponents to trash a card from their hand; this may be beneficial if they have junk in their hand, but may act as an attack if they have nothing in hand that they want to trash.

[edit] Gallery

Bandit.jpgBarbarian.jpgCorsair.jpgGiant.jpgKnights.jpgRogue.jpgSwindler.jpgWarrior.jpgLocusts.jpgWar.jpg

[edit] Exile Attacks

Cardinal.jpgGatekeeper.jpg

[edit] Removed cards

Noble Brigand.jpgPirate Ship.jpgSaboteur.jpgThief.jpg

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Development comments

These cards have a complicated history due to major balance issues. The most obvious trashing attack, "Each other player trashes the top card of their deck." has major problems.

This is the hardest kind of attack to make. It has to be that there isn't too much variance in how it hits the other players - no making one player lose a ProvinceProvince.jpg while another loses a CopperCopper.jpg. It has to be good enough to play - trashing CopperCopper.jpgs and EstateEstate.jpgs is usually not what you're after. It can't generate a ridiculous game state too easily - some of the early cards in this category would by themselves lead to a game where everyone had just 5 cards and could not get ahead. And finally it has to be that the text actually fits on the card. With all of those other conditions to meet, it's tricky. Ultimately, there usually isn't much room to define these attacks by the extra stuff they do; they often end up defined by how they handle the problems above. And then some people don't like them. My stuff, my precious stuff! So I do these less often than the other attacks.


Prior to development of the main set, there were a bunch of cards in different expansions that were variations on "trash the top card of each other player's deck." Once it became apparent that that concept was flawed, all of those cards needed reworking, and some just died.


Attacks Attack immunityCurserDeck inspection attackDeck order attackHandsize attackJunking attackTrashing attackTurn-worsening attack
Buy/Money +BuyCost-reducerDisappearing moneyOverpayPeddler variantTerminal silverVirtual coinVirtual +Buy
Cycling Deck discarderDeck inspectorDiggingDiscard for benefitSifter
Terminality CantripNon-terminalNon-terminal drawSoft terminalTerminalTerminal drawThrone Room variantVillageConditional non-terminal
Other Alt-VPBasic cardsDuration drawCommand variantGainerLuck-basedNon-Attack interactionOne-shotRemodelerSplit pileTop deckerTrasherVanillaExtra turn
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