So I just wanted to get people’s reactions to the recently spoiled cards “Swordsman” and “Wraparound” (reproduced below for reference).
To my mind they are meta-choices more than anything else - vs. AI only decks they are clearly a nuisance, forcing you to play “proper” breakers, but if you have the proper breakers they are way less effective than equivalent ICE of the same cost.
Wraparound is clearly worse than Ice Wall (1/1) and Himitsu-Bako (2/2) in the same cost range. In fact, as ETR barriers go, it seems that cost = strength is a good guideline. The comparison is less clear for Swordsman; the closest in terms of effect is probably Neural Katana (4/3 with -> 3 net damage), but Caduceus and Shadow are at the same price point and both have two useful subs (although admittedly filling a different role).
So do you include them in your deck to slow down and punish AI decks, but concede ground to conventional rigs (which are still popular? Or do you ignore them and hope that their mere presence in the environment will be eough to dissuade people from abusing the AI breakers?