Judging from these disgusting decks I keep running into, it seems like everything is strong in CTM.
I keep running fun Argus scenarios through my head. Drop two cards in a server with a Data Raven. Oh the permutations.
If they all have the āmay install from heapā clause, they could come out really fast via Inject. That could be a nice way of assembling a rig.
7 Likes
On just a cursory look; Looks like paperclip breaks every barrier in the game at the same price or cheaper than corroder. So is it now the gold standard for barrier breakers?
3 Likes
Depends on how palatable the 4c install is. 2 credits is a big fuckinā deal on breaker installs, man. Also, 3 inf keeps it out of a lot of decks, I think, but at least you only ever really need one. So in a Crim deck that would normally play a couple corroders, maybe you save an inf and go with 1 paperclip?
4 Likes
some thoughts:
Rumor Mill seems absolutely amazing for playing first click then having your way with the corp for the rest of the turn
iām wondering if the Nfr card was the one that was designed to work with Null that Damon mentioned would be ātoo strongā
Null allows it to break Wall of Static and below, but iām not really seeing how itās āomg so overpoweredā
also, iām just imagining the hilarious interaction of Quicksand vs Nfr
i donāt know if Paperclip will see a lot of play, but iām liking the math on it. also liking alternatives to everyone importing Corroder
not sure i really see the point of Data Breach. itās like From the Ashes but doesnāt cost a credit and you have to use your bonus run immediately (and both runs on one specified server). maybe weāll see some combo later, or maybe itās meant to work with Mirror/stealth?
Algo Trading and C.I. Fund (i know the latter was already spoiled completely) are interesting, but i donāt think iād ever use them.
holy shit, iām loving Golden. i am trying to find a way to really justify the expense though. 2c to boost by 4 (above average to great), 2c to break 2 subs (below average), 2c & return to grip to derez that expensive sentry the corp was using (awesome, especially if it was, say, an Archer), but having to install it again is kind of meh, even with the 1c discount from Khan. iām thinking itāll need some recurring credits to reinstall (Sahasrara, for example), but theyāre 2inf each and Khan only has 12
BUT WAIT: Temujin Contract gives you 4c every time you run a server, the exact install cost of Golden for Khan. i could definitely see a remote and/or HQ lock criminal deck that uses Temujin and Golden to keep the sentries in check. and if they donāt rez anything too expensive, just leave it out.
iām hoping there will be more cards that synergise with her ability though. iām really hoping that Golden isnāt the only one. Khan and Temujin are hitting us over the head with the allusion to Genghis Khan.
this is a gross simplification, but there was a Golden Horde commanded by his sons, and subset of that was the Blue and White Horde
the avian in Khan and Temujin is clearly blue, not gold (duh, i know), which leads me to believe that maybe weāll get a decoder and fracter with similar blue / white names that can also bounce to hand to derez corresponding ICE. i imagine the Golden will be the most expensive, being the killer of the set.
iām liking Special Report as a more targeted Corporate Shuffle
also, holy crap that flavour text! thatās a pretty big reveal to happen right away in the second pack. i am really interested to see that flavour insert.
Prisec is amazing. best of all, if you can manage to get them in a situation where they wonāt have enough money to shake the tag AND trash it + everything else in the server so you can potentially trigger it again.
Financial Collapse is pretty good, even against resource light decks. at only 2 resources it still reads: runner loses 4c or trashes a resource
also, that flavour text is amazing given the recent discussion haha.
5 Likes
I love the enthusiasm that comes through with this post. Iām stoked for this pack, too.
2 Likes
Card that synergises with Exile?!?! Never thought Iād see the day.
If there is a cycle of WW2 Spy breakers than Exile with Sahasara sounds good?
3 Likes
Except they are costing a fortune in influenceā¦
Theyāre programs for shaper; youāll only need one copy and you might skip the codegate one due to in-faction options.Donāt ruin the dream yet!
Also note how combo-riffic (if expensive) they are with MaxX - who needs clone chips?
4 Likes
Rumor Mill seems absolutely brutal. It nullifies every single defensive upgrade in play. The only two remotely playable cards it doesnāt affect are Red Herrings and Old Hollywood City Grid and both are rendered unplayable by Film Critic.
Worse of all, it has absolutely no counter because itās a current and can be kept in hand until the turn you make a run. It can be recurred with Deja Vu and Same Old Thing so if Valencia plays this, how the hell do you score? Take Palana, how can Palana win against Valencia with two copies of this card thrown in? Itās impossible.
It doesnāt even let you use Jackson or Museum so you truly are fucked.
Really, I donāt like being that guy, but I donāt understand why the designers felt the need to print this card. It does nothing but massively limit the amount of viable strategies in the game. Were Ash and Caprice such massive problems for the game that they had to make a better, less interactive version of Political Operative?
I donāt know, I feel the game has been increasingly suffering from this kind of earth-shattering designs and counters.
PD: Is it really that hard to give Criminal a playable fracter? Batty was already hard enough, now we also have Enforcing Loyalty. Bleh.
11 Likes
Prisec as an upgrade seems good in an Argus rush deck as a punishment for checking remotes or installing on a central. Snare plus prisec seems pretty mean. Definitely worth testing.
2 Likes
I actually like that Runners got finally some power cards.
Corps have been getting cards with this power level for the past 6 months.
Letās have runners have some fun againā¦
Itās goo when runners get good cards. But I donāt think those cards should encourage runner decks that sit back and do nothing until the corp tries to score and then get into the remote without any problems because they can blank every single card the corp plays (via Blackmail + Rumor Mill)
3 Likes
I agree there seems to be a way higher variance in card strength, and Iām not sure I have the mental strength to reevaluate my matchups every pack. It seems they often just increase the power of what the factions are already good at - HB gets more good ICE, NBN gets more good shuffle effects and tag stuff, Anarch is the only faction that gets good currents, Crim is still fucked if they get locked out of all servers, but if you canāt they make tons of money. Iām not entirely happy about this. Clot was a bit clunky, but good design in that it had counterplay, same with PolOp and Councilman. Iām really not happy about Rumour Mill, as it seems to make NBN the go-to faction again, because CI and Palana have both suddenly become huge liabilities. I just donāt like autolose matchups.
Or, you know, play Weyland I guess?
5 Likes
Rumour mill does scare me quite a bit. It makes it hard to score, and prevents the corp ditching the agendas with Jackson. What can Palana do? Iām thinking maybe it encourages corps to:
- Play more 3/2 agendas. Palana has some available that it generally chooses not to play, but maybe the bluffing side of glacier will have to be used more, instead of high powered scores such as Corporate Sales team.
- Play more currents. Awkward unless you really wanted the current in your deck anyway, because runner likely has more ways to recur theirs.
- Play more of a fast advance supporting plan (but this is HB, really)
But I must admit really not liking this card. I donāt think it addresses any particular problem the game had, and political operative is already a strong, but fair card.
The rest of the pack is excellent. The two fracters add two viable options for anarchs, and Iām eager to try Kilrain Chang in my shapers (not so much Algo trading). Temujin contracts I think is an amazing economy card, to the point that I want to splash it, but probably wonāt be able to.
I do like Golden, but wonder how often the runner will want to use the derez effect. Itās rather expensive to install and bad against gearcheck, which is what I think keeps Shrike from being played much. Maybe alongside mimic?
Prisec is great. Good for Weyland decks that have issues landing tags, good for NBN tax decks, good in controlling the message. I really really want to stick 3 of these on R&D, lol.
Aiki is probably better than my first impression, but Iām not sure I want to play this as a cheap ice over the more straightforward pup and yagura. I like Fairchild, as itās annoying for Faust and for most standard codegate breakers, but the big question will be the prevalence of Yog, Itās a pretty nasty facecheck and soon as the runner has installed anything of any value.
Enforcing Loyalty I originally misread as trace 5 with the previous spoilers, and we now know it has a trash cost. I donāt know if itās that good, you really need the runner to be broke, or to trash a very high impact card, leading to a lockout, but I donāt know how often those sitations will come up. Trashing plascrete is possible for a kill-deck, but again, you need them to be poor.
Good pack in the main, I think.
1 Like
If paperclip is part of a cycle, which seems likely, then Iād be interested to try them out in Maxx. She has trouble paying the inf for clone chips these days, so the less you have to use recursion on breakers the better, and this would help counteract the problem reg anarch has digging for breakersāyou basically get to draw 3 cards towards youāre breakers every turn for 0 clicks, plus this lets you go nuts with inject if you want. Sounds like fun!
3 Likes
If you look at all the ways to break high-strength sentries, youāll probably notice that they are all expensive or involve trashing a card.
Femme can bypass.
Faerie can break, but trashes itself.
Ninja and Shrike are both expensive, and boost awkwardly.
Switchblade and Dagger are both stealth.
Garrote is expensive and costs 2 MU.
If Golden is a bad reusable killer, then there is only 1 good reusable killer: Mimic, which it has the downside of being fixed strength.
So I think Golden is very powerful for what it is. But I wonāt argue that killers are as a group are the weakest breakers.
5 Likes
I think the simplest comparison for Golden is to Shrike:
Both cost 5 to play and have a base strength of 1.
Both pump for 2. But Shrike is 2 for +3 and Golden is 2 for +4. So Golden is 2 cheaper to break for ST5 and ST8+.
Both break for 2. But Shrike breaks all and Golden breaks only 2. So Shrike is 2 cheaper to break for 3+ subs.
In total:
+2 for Golden: Taurus, Grim, Gemini, Nebula, Sherlock 1.0, Assassin, Virgo,
-2 for Golden: Enforcer, Archer, Sherlock 2.0, Ichi 1.0, Muckraker, Tsurugi, Errand Boy
Complicated: Swarm(+2 up to -infinity), Information Overload(= up to -infinity), Tour Guide(= up to -infinity)
Shrike is a cloud breaker, Golden has its capsize-ability.
I would argue that Shrike and Golden are of about equal strength with a slight edge for Golden. Shrike might be a little better regarding breaking ice, but I think Goldens ability is pretty strong. Especially considering the ice for which Shrike is cheaper. Archer, Enforcer and (possibly) Muckraker might be cheaper for Shrike, but I would happily pay to force the corp to return them to hand.
6 Likes
I feel like criminal is still being neglected as a faction. They are not giving them tools to be competitive again, but instead just print stuff that compares badly to already existing cards. I hope this trend stops.
On a more happy note, the rest of the cards seem cool, and they all give interesting options, so Iām happy for those.
2 Likes
Paperclip and Golden are both very good breakers for crim. Sure, Paperclip is 3 inf, but now you canāt be locked out by barriers. Criminals naturally have redundancy for killers (mongooses, faeries, femmes etc), leaving only decoders as the problem that needs recursion.
Golden is on par with Shrike as said above, which was the premier single-card reusable killer until now.
Not to mention the huge econ boost of Temujin Contract.
13 Likes