Mountebank

Mountebank
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Attack
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Prosperity
Illustrator(s)	Kieron O'Gorman
Card text
+ Each other player may discard a Curse. If they don't, they gain a Curse and a Copper.

Mountebank is an Action–Attack card from Prosperity. It is considered one of the strongest Cursers because it can hand out two junk cards per play—both a Curse and an only slightly less undesirable Copper—thus rapidly weakening engines that would otherwise be able to get deck control. It is less effective against players who have already been hit by it a few times, since an opponent who already has a Curse in hand may discard it to avoid the junk-distribution effects of Mountebank.

It was removed from the second edition of Prosperity and replaced with Charlatan, which retains the theme of a curser that distributes junk Treasure, but in a less oppressive and frustrating way.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• This hits the other players in turn order, which can matter when the Curse or Copper piles are low.
• Each of the other players in turn chooses whether or not to discard a Curse card, and the players who do not gain a Curse and a Copper from the Supply, putting them into their discard piles.
• If either the Curse or Copper pile is empty, players still gain the other card.

Other Rules clarifications

• A player hit by Mountebank gains the Curse first, and then the Copper.

Strategy

Before it was removed, Mountebank was a terminal silver with an Attack oppressive enough to make it one of the strongest cards in the game. It is more harmful to your opponents than other junking Attacks because it causes them to gain two junk cards at once and can continue to give out Coppers after the Curses run out; this means that it is often centralizing and leads to a slog more often than most junkers do.

Playing Mountebanks early and often is the best way to cripple your opponents’ decks. Gaining a copy of Mountebank as early as possible, including in the opening, is usually a priority and it is often a good plan to make use of effects like Transport or Ferry to do so. Another way to ensure you can play Mountebank early on is to gain an Overlord in the opening, which is possible regardless of your opening split while offering extra flexibility later. While it’s usually difficult to try and get full deck control with your opponents attacking you with their Mountebanks, you can still try to increase how frequently you draw your own Mountebanks with thinning or cycling effects such as Spice Merchant or Warehouse respectively. You can also add additional copies of Mountebank. Generally, about two copies of Mountebank are sufficient: it is terminal, so you don't want too many, but two is unlikely to be enough to cause terminal collision problems, assuming that your opponents are also attacking you. The impact of additional copies is somewhat reduced by Mountebank’s conditional junking (i.e., if they’re already very junked, it’s harder to junk them more).

There are a few factors that can mitigate Mountebank’s impact. Very strong thinning such as Chapel can make dealing with Mountebank much more manageable, and it is sometimes skippable as a result. Otherwise, avoiding as much of Mountebank’s junk as possible is usually a priority, so it’s usually the right move to discard a Curse if you have one in hand when attacked, even if keeping it would have enabled you to trash it; this may continue to be the case even once the Curses run out. Given the option to counter the attack, it is often preferable to trash your Curses after your Coppers and Estates. Occasionally it may even be beneficial to use effects such as topdecking with Courtyard to make sure you will have a Curse in hand to discard.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+ Each other player may discard a Curse. If he doesn’t, he gains a Curse and a Copper.	Prosperity	October 2010
		+ Each other player may discard a Curse. If they don’t, they gain a Curse and a Copper.	Prosperity (2016 printing)	February 2017

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text
Chinese	詐騙			+ 其它玩家可以棄掉手上的一張詛咒。如果沒棄，則他獲得一張詛咒與一張銅幣。
Czech	Mastičkář (lit. quack)
Dutch	Charlatan (lit. charlatan)			+ Iedere andere speler mag een vloekkaart afleggen. Als hij dat niet doet, pakt hij een vloekkaart en een koperkaart.
Finnish	Petkuttaja (lit. trickster)
French	Charlatan (lit. charlatan)			+ Tous vos adversaires peuvent défausser une Malédiction. S'ils ne le font pas, ils reçoivent une Malédiction et un Cuivre.
German	Quacksalber (lit. quack)			+ Jeder Mitspieler darf einen Fluch aus seiner Hand ablegen. Wer das nicht tut, nimmt einen Fluch und ein Kupfer.
Italian	Ciarlatano (lit. charlatan)
Japanese	香具師 (pron. yashi, lit. charlatan)			+ 他のプレイヤーは全員、呪い1枚を捨て札にしてもよく、捨て札にしなかった場合、呪い1枚と銅貨1枚を獲得する。
Polish	Szarlatan (lit. charlatan)			+ Każdy z pozostałych graczy może odrzucić Klątwę. Jeżeli tego nie zrobi, dodaje Klątwę i Miedziaka.
Russian	Шаралатан (pron. sharlatan, lit. charlatan)
Spanish	Charlatán (lit. charlatan)

Trivia

Official card art.

Name

Mountebank was originally called Villain, then Trickster. The Germans said, could you rename that? As they'd already used Trickster for Swindler.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, from the forums

Secret History

Originally it had the Mint "penalty" and no discarding clause. It was too powerful and left the set. Later I brought it back without the "penalty" (yes it is not really a penalty), then added the Curse-Moating. Briefly you just revealed the Curse (rather than discard it), but I decided that was more hosing than I wanted.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Other Secret History of the Prosperity Cards

Retrospective

The early attacks, e.g. Mountebank, weren't just "this is what it is because of Witch." Rather they're "this is what it is because of the same factors that make Witch what it is, e.g. how much we know about the game so far." For some years though, man maybe even just after Prosperity, the goal has been, this new Witch needs to not look awful next to Witch, while also not being as good as Witch.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2018

Any fixing of Mountebank would necessarily start with changing what it does; cost is a distraction.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2020

Second edition removal

Mountebank is easily one of the most miserable powerful attacks in the game. It fits the theme of Ghost Ship and Ambassador: you get so much junk that you don't get to see your deck. It's the card I most wanted to replace in Prosperity.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Prosperity 2E Preview 1