SMC/Clone Chip definitely were a step in speeding up the game pace. I feel like the longer the game is out the faster it will become, since Runner economies will only get more and more efficient. Cards that support disrupting a runner with a full rig (like Keegan and Batty) can help work against this.
The wording on Sentinel is a little confusing. Is it for the remainder of the run or until Sentinel is passed? At first I was thinking the templating could be cleaned up by making it “When Sentinel is rezzed, the runner may not install programs for the remainder of the turn” but then I realized you could combine this with something like Executive Boot Camp to make yourself un-Clot-able. Either way, the card is nasty out of Blue Sun.
Also a nit: the server you mention in the Faust section would take 4 cards to break since Wendigo is strength 4.
Yep, Sentinel’s wording was very intentional - I had to make sure it only did what it was designed to do, without straying into unintended territory. Initially the wording made it so that you had to pass Sentinel before you could install any programs that turn - I think the current wording actually avoids that (technically), even if it sounds a little confusing.
Also, thanks about the correction in the Faust section. Originally, the ice was Enigma, but I figured I really should try to talk about Weyland’s ice as much as possible. Just forgot to make the change.
<3. I really like the suggested cards this time. Since ICE is such a huge part of the corp’s deck, ICE that does neat stuff - such as Architect or Grail - is some of my favorite design space. “When rezzed, for rest of turn” effects have the potential to be very interesting in the faction with OIA and EBC. I understand your desire to make it very specific, but allowing for secondary, off-the-wall plays is really appealing.
Still going - here’s Part III of The Woes of Weyland series. We’re talking about Weyland’s scoring situation in this one, so agendas, protection upgrades, fast advance tools, and ambushes are all discussed.
Wait, what’s that? Aside from agendas, Weyland doesn’t have any of those things? Hmm, you don’t say? More in the article (obviously).
Enjoyed the article. Cecil seems horribly below curve. I think he would be more reasonable if he simply added an ETR to every piece of ICE protecting his server, without trashing or paying extra credits. Not OP by any means, and still worse than Ash and Caprice.
I feel that wouldn’t really be his ‘thing’ though- he’s not meant to just tax the runner but to say “sorry, try again” like Ash and Caprice. He does seem a little below the power curve, especially against parasuckers.
Hmm, I’m intrigued that you both seem to think he’s below curve (even well below, for that matter) - I’m wondering if (I don’t want to make assumptions) perhaps you are misinterpreting how he works? Just in case though - remember, his ability applies to all pieces of ice protecting a server. If he only worked for a single piece of ice, a la Corporate Troubleshooter, Cecil would be completely terrible.
The thing is, early game, he’s clearly pretty awful - you’d far prefer Ash in almost all instances. Late game, however, Cecil’s ability to lock down a server is nigh-unparalleled - assuming you have three or more ice shoring up the server. To clarify, if you have sufficient money with Cecil (you probably won’t even need more than the Runner), and the Runner isn’t bypassing ice or Parasuckering it down, there’s no “sorry, try again about it” - the Runner just isn’t getting in. He gets far, far better, the more rezzed ice you have protecting a server.
For instance, say you have an Ice Wall, Spiderweb and Enigma protecting your remote - hardly a monster remote. With Cecil, if you pay 7 credits (2 to rez him, plus 5 credits for his ability), you will add 15 ‘End the run.’ subroutines to your server. Assuming the Runner is employing regular breaker solutions (which, admittedly, isn’t necessarily a fair assumption to make), that’s +15 credits they have to pay to break into your server - extremely backbreaking.
If anything, if the meta moved back to glacier, I fear Cecil would probably be too strong, as long as the Corp had strong economy and recursion tools.
One thing that’s neat is that Cecil kind of doubles as AI hate - something else Weyland lacks. Crypsis, Atman, Darwin, Eater, Faust, Overmind - none of these cards really want to deal with 15 extra subroutines.
I haven’t commented much (or any), @divadus, but I’m enjoying your articles so far. Looking forward to the next ones.
I also failed at reading comprehension. Didn’t realize that Cecil adds multiple ETR to every piece of ICE. I rescind my statement; he’s pretty awesome. I think he would have to be able to affect all pieces of ICE, not just barriers.
An alternate idea could be something like pay X to double the number of subs on X pieces of ICE until end of turn. Less potential to make an astronomical number of subs, but might still be okay. It does diminish the value on gearcheck, though; it would be a glacier card and not viable for rush. It would maker Archer pretty solid
[quote=“TheRedArmy, post:30, topic:6431, full:true”]
One thing that’s neat is that Cecil kind of doubles as AI hate - something else Weyland lacks. Crypsis, Atman, Darwin, Eater, Faust, Overmind - none of these cards really want to deal with 15 extra subroutines.
I haven’t commented much (or any), @divadus, but I’m enjoying your articles so far. Looking forward to the next ones.
[/quote]Yep, very much intentional with Cecil. As stated in the article, it’s also tech against the ‘power counter’ breaker solutions, particularly Lady and D4v1d, which have historically been major headaches for Weyland’s ice suite.
And thanks. Two more to go, hopefully just as good as their predecessors. Perhaps even better! (Nah, who am I kidding - it’s all downhill from here…)
Heh, glad to hear that you approve of the design (now that you fully comprehend it)! I tried various alternative ideas centred around the basic conceit of adding subroutines, and the one I ended up with seemed like the tidiest solution to me, both wording-wise and mechanically. While I recognize the value in a solution such as yours, it would be a little broken being able to pay 1 credit to give Hive 5 extra subroutines. And Archer would also be brutal, as you note.
Fair point - I did actually give several such examples in the previous two articles, but not so much with this one, which was more about simply comparing Weyland’s (absence of) scoring tools with those possessed by the other Corp factions. For that matter, Subpar Scoring is actually the only article whose analysis is almost entirely comparison-based - the remaining two articles, particularly the next one, provide several examples of common Weyland-getting-screwed scenarios.
In all honesty, I originally wanted to add a preface to the series, stating that it was primarily targeted at intermediate-and-above level players, or at least not complete newbies. Not out of any spite or condescension, but because some of the arguments and evidence I use are not things that newer players are really going to have much experience of, so it won’t mean much to them.
In the end, I hope I achieved a reasonably happy medium and approach that appeals to/works for most players.
I feel that anyone who dismisses Braintrust as a blank 3-2 agenda has underestimated the card. Jinteki often struggles to rez ICE, and Braintrust help that exact issue.
If you need to rez ice why not use the 2 credits and 2 clicks you invested in overadvancing braintrust to rez them instead? Saving the credits has the advantage of flexibility over having to rez 4 ice to recoup costs.
Over advancing beale puts credits and clicks towards winning the game, clicks you’d have to spend on another agenda later anyway. Braintrust’s overadvanced value is at the whims of the runner.
Damn, I actually just realized that I forgot to link this - was planning to do so a couple of days back. Basically, Damon replies to my replies to his replies to my article. There’s levels to this ish, you know?
