Can we just take a moment to admire the theme around this one edge case? The primary weakness of the hopper - you know, the car - is that it is more susceptible to trouble with Traffic Accident? Well played, FFG. Well played.
26 Likes
I like the thematic situation where you can blow up your Sports Hopper to save yourself, then if that still isnāt good enough, blow up the Sacrificial Clone who was driving it too!
1 Like
I decided for jokes to play BABW last night. I went 0-3 in the casual channel and 3-0 in competitive. That probably tells you everything you need to know about the strength of the deck and the state of the meta. Donāt forget your plascretes folks!
7 Likes
plascrete rotations first though XD
1 Like
Yes, I think Subcontract makes Sports Hopper much weaker, or just in general the fact that you canāt use it as a reaction. If the runner is ever tagged, they have to pop their Hopper to avoid the kill. This means you can burn through the runnerās protection just by tagging instead of actually playing Scorch. And with some of the spoiled cards involving tagsā¦ I think thatās going to be a significant weakness to Hopper.
If you hit Snare first click, you can either draw up to 5 or shake the tag, but not both.
That worries me, re: Hopper.
It does depend on what else is going to be in Flashpoint, as Flashpoint will be the last set before rotation (right?).
That is still a pretty decent chunk of unknowns. I am willing to bet that scorched will be strong, but there will be a few very narrow answers that are probably worse than Plascrete, but still give you a chance of survival.
But yeah, it does seem like the best solution is to simply avoid getting tagged.
I feel like a lot of people are missing the point and looking at this narrow minded. Is Plascrete better for Meat Damage protectionā¦ 100 effing percent. Stop comparing it to only meat damage prevention because there is only one boss in that category. Itās ALL the other things it does for you. Link, Net damage, using it on opponents turn vs IG when Genetics Pavilion is rezzed (this saved a game for me today), Faust food, and yes it is often worth paying three credits for three cards if its your only choice. It does A LOT OF SHIT.
Those of you in love with Carapace, think about the 80% of games where its a totally dead card for you. When is Hopper dead?
4 Likes
No, the entire 7th cycle will also be released before rotation. Flashpoint is the 6th cycle.
1 Like
I donāt disagree with you that Plascrete is dead in a lot of games. As a matter of fact, last weekend in the PDX regionals I really wish that Plascrete was a Hopper instead, for the reasons you described. I even think that in Anarch it might be a suitable replacement, so long as youāre also playing IHW (and youāre Anarch, so thereās a good chance of that).
In Shaper, however, I play Plascrete for a good reason, and that reason is to counter a very specific deck. Back before Butcher Shop was a thing, I didnāt bother playing Plascrete in Kate at all. The plan was to get money, and make sure that they could never actually beat you on a trace in order to get a tag on you, and with careful play, that was almost always fine. Sometimes youād throw down a Utopia Shard for extra protection, but, like Hopper, it had extra utility outside the meat damage matchup. However, once Butcher Shop became a thing, people started slotting Plascrete again, because that deck can sometimes find the kill very quickly, and it was nice to have a card in the deck that made you safe again.
The MWL came out, and now Butcher has a harder time fitting Astros in the deck as well as all the meat damage that it used to, but now it has 24/7, which keeps the deck in a very scary place. As I said earlier, a single Traffic Accident gets played and all of a sudden you need to pop the Hopper in order to not die to a following Scorch, and now youāre naked again. In this sense, the card didnāt really do the job that I put it in the deck to do in the first place.
My overall point is that Hopper is a good, versatile card, that has potential value in matchups that arenāt trying to murder you in meatspace. But I donāt play Plascrete to have good value, I play it specifically not to die to a very specific matchup. I just donāt think Hopper is quite good enough in a lot of decks to actually replace Plascrete for the job that I slot Plascrete for. Iām already okay with it being a dead draw, otherwise Iād still be playing things like Utopia Shard.
That being said, I do like it in Anarch (as stated), and in the criminal decks that run 2x Plascrete I think one of those can easily be a Hopper; potentially both of them, if the deckās right. Iām not saying that I dismiss the idea of the Hopper replacing Plascrete entirely, I just donāt believe itās right for all decks.
11 Likes
Iāll buy most of that.
This thread has been a very helpful discussion on the pros and cons of both cards. I donāt think there is one right answer (the best answer will depend on the rest of the deck and the meta), but this discussion has been very helpful in better understanding the various ways to play against each tech card as well.
Iāve been playing with Sports Hopper in Geist (shocking, I know). Getting up to 3 or 4 link has been huge. I can ignore many low-trace threats on ICE, and can even run through Assassin for cheaper than breaking it (most of the time, donāt be dumb and run on 2 credits against a rich corp).
5 Likes
2xTiger really should have sprung for the extended warranty
1 Like
I also like the perhaps more obvious one that a hot shiny car gives you more link.
Sports Hopper is 100% better for Apex, not that anyone cares. Think about that one thematically! Can some photoshop whiz out there make us a pic of Apex gunning the Hopper with tentacles flying? 
2 Likes
Lets add another option to the mix: Guru Davinda Guru Davinder Ā· NetrunnerDB
This card offers no utility as Hopper does, its strong against grouped damage (Scorch, Snare!, Junebug, Punitive) but bad against pings or singular instances of damage (Komainu, Neural EMP, Shock!). Its cheaper than both Plascrete and Hopper to install, and I cant imagine people paying the $4 fee to keep it alive unless they really have to, but there will certainly be matchups where you will want to do that. Weak to tagging of course, as its a resource.
The fact that it covers both types makes it a very interesting card for me.
1 Like
iām really liking this one for the mini factions, since itās a neutral card that costs 1 influence, it invariably helps them out more.
my one major complaint is that it would be SO PERFECT for Apex, since you can prevent ping damage with Heartbeat, and prevent big chunks of damage, something Apex doesnāt really want to do with Heartbeat, butā¦ of course itās not virtual D:
1 Like
Is there a ruling on Guru Cabinet that you can ābypassā him preventing damage (and thus self-trashing) by choosing to have another damage prevent effect step in first? He himself is not optional.
2 Likes
Like if you can use a Plascrete counter before having to pay 4 to keep guru? I think thatās an extremely important question.
They are both prevent/avoid effects so you can choose the order?
Whichā¦ I donāt understand why Davinder wasnāt virtual.
He is trying to transcend his meaty, flesh body in the freaking picture.
Maybe its just because Apex doesnāt play well with others.
Or maybe his support card will let you turn a single connection into a virtual resource.
2 Likes