Just to make this clear, 1c / ice is better than a BP on 2 ice deep servers. Make it infinite, the card should cost 6-10, as BP cost a 3 - 4 - 5c diff, depending of the cycle. Influence should also jump to 3-4-5, since synergies with Shaper breakers and R&D locks are evident (with Smoke, for exemple).
Film Critic - although there is an easy fix: make it click, click, trash to liberate the agenda you’re hosting, I do feel that this is another case of a card that is bad for the game in that it turns off one of the central moments in Netrunner: accessing and stealing an agenda.
Self-defending agendas have a counterplay, and I prefer cards that enhance or hinder counterplays rather than cards that simply turn off a key feature of the game.
So in my view, there should be no saving Film Critic’s mechanic. To be honest I would rather the card is banned.
Temujin: another take on it. Everything stays the same except
“choose a server protected by at least 1 piece of rezzed ICE…”
Thematically you are being paid to break into a protected server. Mechanically it focuses on helping to fund runs rather than providing an economic burst. Criminal is also the faction that leverages de-rezzing ICE so Temujin will work best in that followed by Reina and other kinds of economic suppression strategies. May also be popular in run-based Shaper with cards like kyuban, bankroll and so on.
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i completely agree with you, but let me offer up something that could maybe work
Film Critic type, cost and influence remains unchanged, text becomes
Whenever you access an agenda, you may add that agenda to your score area. If you do, add Film Critic as a hosted condition counter to that agenda with the text “This agenda is worth -1 point.”
also the Temujin only being able to target a server with ice is one i’ve thought of as well. that’s why i think just paying for the number of ice stipulates that as well as stopping it from being such a powerhouse early. the main thing we want to turn off is that turn one run archives 3 times, but i think we all want to have the run R&D for accesses and be able to run in again late game when the corp has a massive tower of ice
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Interesting. “one thumb down from the critic.” It’s a cute idea, you sacrifice points for safety. Maybe take the “may” out of it so that you have to host FC whenever you access an agenda.
I did see that. I think I prefer the restriction on only choosing a server with rezzed ICE rather than limiting its payout to the number of ICE. That way you give the crims a really good incentive to de-rez the ICE and you can get a sort of economic warfare aspect. e.g. running an enigma. Install. Run/break. de-rez. Run again and so on. You realise just how busted original Temmy is when even if you stipulate a server with rezzed ICE it still looks really strong and really threatening.
While they’re not banned, I wouldn’t mind it if the Conspiracy breakers had a extra line on them. Not sure on how to specifically word it, but something like, “If (self) is trashed while installed, remove it from the game instead.” So it still works with Inject/self-mill, but at least can actually go away if the corp actually gets off a trash effect.
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That’s absolutely an abuse case.
But not of Aaron.
Given the ire directed at Film Critic, I’m seeing a trend of people hating when ‘spoiler’ cards that kill off or spoil a specific part of the game. Aaron prevents tag shenanigans, Film Critic prevents Agenda-steal shenanigans. However, both of these cards have significant downsides and ways to work around them. First, they’re both Resources, the second-easiest type of card to deal with (Currents are the easiest.) Second, both of them have specific things you can do to make them worthless. Run only GFI or no painful agendas to make Film Critic worthless. Don’t rely on tags to make Aaron much less useful. (He still draws cards, at least, which to me is an indication of a good card; it’s never completely dead, just sub-optimal sometimes.) Both of them can be dealt with by an MCA Informant/Contract Killer if either of those cards actively disrupts your strategy.
Ultimately the game revolves around the Runner choosing to counter or disrupt specific Corp strategies, and Film Critic (and Aaron) fit into those counter-strategies.
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My most hated thing about conspiracy breakers is how you can setup a server that’s like ichi + vanilla and the runner will just run through the server, trashing their paperclip and then reinstalling it. Infinite reinstalls is stupid, and i think adding a real cost to the breaker install from heap is something that definitely should have happened.
Although they aren’t banned cards, my proposed fix for conspiracy breakers would be: When you encounter a barrier, you may RFG a program from your heap to install paperclip from your heap.
This way you need a few extra programs in your deck just to guarantee you can do the installs.
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or maybe trash an installed program
it could still work with the conspiracy breakers themselves, but gets quite expensive reinstalling them
or what about a line after installing from heap “If you do, trash [conspiracy break name] after the current encounter ends”
that way, there’s some kind of credit cap on how abusable that is, and it’s not an easy way to just discard the card from your hand to reinstall later whenever you want.
also Paperclip should never have had str 1. should have been 0 and maybe, 1c, xc: +x str and break x subs, but a more elegant way would be to just increase the install cost
Although Paperclip is not on the banned list how I would do it is:
Cost 4, Str 0.
1C: +1 STR, break 1 subroutine.
Can be installed from heap etc
If Paperclip is trashed while installed, remove it from the game.
This way, the cost for paperclip to break any barrier is STR+subs (-1). That makes is less efficient than current.
RGF clause also makes it fragile.In retrospect, I think all of the conspiracy breakers should have had a RFG if trashed while installed clause.
Install from heap is nice and feels really Anarchy but effective immunity from rig-shooting is what led to Skorpios and look how that turned out. Thing is, whenever you expand options in a game you discover unintended consequences down the line. That’s why fairly quick rotation and no evergreen cards is so good for LCGs. You can push the limits and if it goes wrong you’re not stuck forever.
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The easiest way to fix the Conspiracy breakers is to give them Faerie’s text about trashing if used during an encounter. You’d also drop the install costs to 2 and 1 for Paperclip and the others. It makes thematic sense that conspiracies stay in the trash primarily, and it also opens them up wider to counterplay with dealing with the heap. I’m mildly concerned that it could make them unplayable, though… Oh no. How terrible. (Could get some really cute Exile synergies going that way, too.)
The other problem is that there’s no ‘standard’ barrier breaker, with Corroder rotating out. Paperclip is the closest we have to a fracter that is 1cr: +1Str, 1cr: Break 1 sub.
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this is the real problem tbh
black orchestra and mkultra are balanced by the fact that the boost and break ratio is really only good if you only have to use it once. after that, it quickly gets quite unweildy, and we need paperclip, it would just send totally the wrong message to restrict or ban blorch/mk and leave clippy alone
and paperclip is always worth it, much more than other breakers, and there isn’t really an alternative. yusuf requires viruses. tycoon is just really bad if you use it a lot. nfr and berserker are really interesting design but fall way short by absolutely needing other support cards to work, support cards that make paperclip even better anyway. laamb is the closest thing, and it’s not even in anarch (which is supposed to be the fracter faction). i believe that if we had gotten a new cycle after kitara, anarch would have received a new fracter that would have replaced corroder/paperclip
Agreed. In an ideal world, the bin breakers would rotate out and there would be a new, boringly efficient anarch fracter costing about 3 Influence.
The Boring Breaker
Cost 1, STR 0
Anarch, influence 3
1C: STR +1
1C: Break 1 barrier subroutine
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From classic NR; Proteus expansion.
http://www.emergencyshutdown.net/images/onr/proteus/boring_bit.jpg
(All classic cards can be found Loading...)
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It appears my Boring Bit brought the discussion to a close. That wasn’t the intention.
Has anyone any more thoughts on the cards not discussed already?