When looking at Sifr, we all say the by 1 is not a real payment for such a powerful effect, we could just replace the “by” with a “to” so you can use it afterwards hand size is 1. The effect would still be powerful but the downside would be also something to take into account 
Is the downside to strong? Would Sifr still see play? What are your thoughts?
What about tying the number of cards the Runner’s grip is reduced by to the amount by which the ice’s strength is reduced by?
I think removing the +2mu would help a lot. Given the choice of Parasites or your breakers might slow down the instant-parasite spam.
I can see making something unique or errata’ing it to limit one per deck like wireless net pavilion or astro, but it’s hard to envision an errata that changes the text printed on the card.
There are a lot of ways the card could have actually been balanced (including nixing the +2 MU or even making it -1 MU, adding a line that says the ice can’t be destroyed this turn, reducing the strength of the ice to 1 instead of zero or any number of other things), but it’s way too late to put the toothpaste back in the tube in my opinion. I think sifr clearly deserves to be the first Netrunner card to be banned.
If we have to submit changes, I have two potential options for review:
The first being to change the trigger cost to “take 1 Net Damage (cannot be prevented)”. Still targets cards in the Grip, but actually costs something real.
The second being to change it to “reduce your hand size by X until end of turn, and then reduce the encountered piece of ICEs strength by X.”
They’re both good ideas.
How about “Limit 0 per deck.”
“Take 1 brain” instead of lowering handsize by 1 for a turn.
Or, errata that says, “Remove ‘until the beginning of your next turn.’” The handsize reduction is permanent. Lets you play with all the anarch/neutral cards that increase hand size, and fits into the whole “I’m going to destroy myself now to get into this server and win before the downside affects me” idea that Anarch cards typically have.
I like most of the ideas. I thought about something just small, but I agree to errata the text… but as already mentioned in another thread in translations this is quite common. So why not here too?
There are a plethora of good ideas that would have made the card less broken. However, those are not what we got.
I don’t want any functional change to any card, ever, through errata. Ban it if it’s that bad.
And I don’t care as this our today situation with the translation errors.
To be fair, we’ve already had multiple functional changes to how cards work via errata.
We’ve had deck building restrictions (Limit 1, MWL), and uniqueness. While the latter is technically a functional change, it doesn’t change the written effect on the card. All the current changes are pretty easy to remember.
That said, I hate the uniqueness changes. Those cards should have just been banned too.
If you start tinkering with the costs, abilities, and written effects of cards you massively increasing the complexity of an already hugely complex game, and you’re demanding players remember changes in gameplay.
I don’t know about you, but I forget triggers now. I’d certainly forget a dozen cards not doing what they say they do.
Final point… I don’t care if other languages have had functional errata. The English version, which is the native version of the game, largely have not. I do not wish to start now.
Bans. We need bans.
I don’t think anyone supports them deliberately adding translation errors either.
At the risk of explaining the joke, this is by far the best suggestion because it actually jives with Null’s “I love zeroes” theme.
I don’t support changing the effect (just ban it if it’s too strong) and I don’t think anything beyond an MWL will realistically happen here, but this comment made me realize how cool SIFR could have been.
That would have made for an interesting combo with Emptied Mind. Pack Citadel Santuary and Feedback Filter so you do not die on the Corp’s turn. It is probably a very terrible idea just to get an extra click per turn. But with clickless draw at the start of your turn (Wyldside + Adjusted Chronotype) there might’ve been some jank that worked every so often.
To all the people saying they don’t like text errata, or powerlevel errata, or errata that does anything to the printed card: I agree. And FFG has made it pretty apparent through their previous powerlevel changes (The MWL, Astroscrips, Wireless Net Pavillion) that they do not want to errata card text at all, and will bend heaven and earth not to.
I took this thread to be a card design brainstorm, on different variants of Sifr that may be more balanced. A dream of what could have been, not a hope of what will (because it won’t).
That’s an interesting effect, although I doubt this gets played without some kind of mu bonus. Although I agree with simply lowering the mu given to 1 would have made it pushed, but not out of control.
It should be noted that FFG has just functionally errata-ed 4 cards in X-Wing for game play balance. link
The cards all still do what they once did, but the way they can do it has been significantly changed so that either, the risk/reward ratio is a lot less beneficial, or the opponent can now interact with the ability (stress/blocking).
Aslo, we have seen card errata in ANR before, though mainly to correct poor formatting - Q-chips and I expect SYNC BRE soon, plus the changes to WNP and MoH, so changing the text on Sifr is far more likely than a ban.
In fact have they ever straight up banned a card before in any of their LCGs? It’s is more likely they’ll sit on their hands for a while, look at the store championship data to see if it is as bad for the meta as people are complaining about, wait another 6 months before putting it on the MWL and then maybe in 3 years time, when all their soft control options haven’t fixed it, then do something drastic. Though hopefully not that long!