[Note: Still focused on testing, nothing to report on the Corp front. Low effort blogging continues until after Worlds.]
So, there’s usually a metagame shakeup before Worlds. I was shooting the shit with Netjogging and Knack last night about what might be valid targets for NSG to mess with. I was hyper-focused on them banning a card from the Shaper pool, but it was brought to my attention that they could just as easily unban cards from other factions.
Let’s see what we’ve got.
The green underline represents a card I think could be unbanned maybe safely (Gold Farmer), although “it’s miserable out of GameNET” is a valid and legitimate concern. Otherwise, it costs Cleaver 1 (+ 2 credits lost), so it’s not going break runner econ. Ice trashing is an Anarch faction specialty, so this could incentivize people to choose Orange over Green; and giving NBN a boost after the Bellona ban is worth considering. Not sure how good this would be in the Azmari combo decks which are already quite dominant, so that’s a serious counterpoint.
The orange underlines represent cards that are probably too spicy to unban, but are not totally outside sane consideration (like Project Vacheron, Kakugo, Hired Help, or Drago). I kinda wanna see what happens if Tithonium makes a comeback. Maybe it will give all those World Tree and Lobisomem decks a bit of a pause?
I don’t think any runner cards can be “safely” brought back given current winrates. Any of the Crim cards immediately get slotted into Shaper and Anarch shells (PAD Tap and Bukhgalter) and could do very bad things to the meta.
Fantasy land though-
Trick Shot is banned.
K2CP Turbine is banned.
The Price is banned.
Gold Farmer is unbanned.
Crowdfunding is unbanned.
There, now Crim can finally win Worlds again. You’re welcome.
A lot of people hate on Trick Shot, and I'm not denying it's not a bloated card, but when I think about what I dislike playing against Shaper it's actually not much of a problem.
Physarum is just a stupid that strains Corp deckbuilding and prevents Shaper from fearing facechecks. Combine that with Simulchip/Muse recursion and rig shooting against Shaper is usually a turn at most of time. Compare that to potentially game ending against Criminal or at least forcing an Anarch player to get to the bottom of their deck, and it's clear Shaper have a skewed strength.
And speaking of, recursion! Muse. This is secretly the problem card IMO (along with cards that elongate Runner economies like DJ Fenris for Steve and Ashen Epilogue, the latter of which I'm shocked got printed). Muse is everything. It's better consistency at finding breakers, econ with Coalescence, and allows you to find power cards like World Tree. It's 3 more copies of Simulchip OR SMC that let you recur econ, shrug off rig shooting and pick out specific solutions from discard for your one of programs like Physarum, Botulus, Hush etc. And it's two bodies on the board for an Aesop's Pawnshop or World Tree.
Am I crazy or is Muse the problem? This is a thought that's come to me recently. Trick Shot and Burner are so strong but I can respect them. I can make the R&D run taxing, I can use Spin Doctor or ice HQ to ward away Burner. Muse? There's nothing you can do about it.
My personal banlist is 2, maybe 3 cards right now. Physarum, because the card is straining Corp deckbuilding and is too strong an out to too many cards (Hush and Airblades were already printed to deal with on encounter text, why did we need a cheaper more universal one?). Muse, to reduce Shaper recursion and consistency (this probably hurts the breaker variance we're seeing in Shaper since power counter rigs like Revolver/Propeller and Euler/Pelangi 0c break rigs rely on Muse to keep going, but tbh I think the fact that Shaper can play whatever rig it feels like and the other factions have to make serious decisions is a sign of them overperforming). And, probably Ashen Epilogue or DJ Fenris. Maybe both.
For the record, I think on Corp end something on HB is gonna have to give at some point; Gatekeeper and Drafter are messed up ICE and Saisentan/Anansi facechecks are so debilitating Jinteki gets to turn off interaction until breakers come down, which is a serious problem for Criminal.
Fantasyland:
Bans:
Moshing or Price (preferably moshing, card is fucked)
Physarum (Slight hit to WT early game consistency and means they can't just avoid *everything*)
Trick Shot (I fucking love this card but it's just too much I think)
Anoetic Void (too consistent at defending remotes. Squashes the other options that do similar things like bio vault and Adrian Seis. Those actually have a coat. No real exploitable downside because running the same remote a few times the same turn just isn't viable like it was when Ash/Caprice was a thing. I'm the resident PD hater but this is my Fantasyland and I'll do what I want here)
Unbans:
Mti did nothing wrong.
SSL would be okay right now I think.
If you don't unban Mti I think that Shipment from Tennin could potentially come off the list. Maybe Stegadon becomes too strong but I think that tunneling one central is probably enough counterplay?