This announcement makes sense, the corp metagame is a bit weak, but I expect that either 1) They expect that to change with the second half of this cycle or more likely 2) They don’t want to neuter Runner to bring up the corp power level
Does anyone know (and is allowed to discuss) what sort of testing goes into MWL changes? I’d be shocked if there wasn’t any, and they had just gone “Temujin, Bloo Moose, and to a lesser extent MO suck, here’s a paragraph of theorycrafting about what runner econ will be like without any of them, let’s just see what happens”
I’m pretty sure Boggs or Damon has said on a podcast that they have several testing groups that try different MWL variations to see the affects each has. With restrictions or bans.
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It’s clear that they listened to all of us moaning about how the last update was late and they hadn’t told us when to expect it (if at all) until the moment it actually dropped, and I love that they’ve taken our complaints on board and being a bit more regular and open about it! 
Also, the timing seems clear that this is supposed to last us through regionals season, which is also awesome, it’s very sensible to do your balance updates in between competitive seasons so people with busy lives have time to test their tournament decks and then stick with them for all the tournaments they go to.
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Yeah, testing is definitely needed and designer have mentioned that it’s done.
It will be interesting to know if Boggs uses tournament aggregate tools like ABR; Damon talked about using data that was provided by someone he trusted. I hope that Boggs takes a wider view from all available sources.
Also, I forgot to mention when I posted the Twitter link, now is a good opportunity to let FFG OP that they are doing good job, since we’ve given them constructive feedback when they weren’t.
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I ran an SC this season, and part of the kit had instructions for submitting a report back to FFG with some basic attendance numbers and information about the event. I can’t remember how much detail was specified, but I definitely pointed them to our event’s ABR page. If others are doing the same, then they should have a good amount of data to work with.
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As of 08/09/2018, MWL was leaked. This we have right now is (changed in italics):
Off
Clone Chip
Fairchild 3.0
Restricted
Aesop’s Pawnshop
Employee Strike
Film Critic
Gang Sign
Inversificator
Levy AR Lab Access
Mad Dash
Magnum Opus
Rumor Mill
Bio-Ethics Association
Bryan Stinson
Brain Rewiring
Clone Suffrage Movement
Global Food Initiative
Hunter Seeker
Mother Goddess
Mumba Temple
Mumbad City Hall
Obokata Protocol
Potential Unleashed
Skorpios Defense Systems
Surveyor
Violet Level Clearance
Whampoa Reclamation
Removed
Aaron Marrón
Bloo Moose
Faust
Hyperdriver
Mars for Martians
Salvaged Vanadis Armory
Sifr
Tapwrm
Temüjin Contract
Zer0
24/7 News Cycle
Estelle Moon
Cerebral Imaging
Museum of History
Friends in High Places
Sensie Actors Union
Errata
Maxwell James: Derez a piece of ice protecting a remote server. Use this ability only during the next paid ability window after a successful run on HQ ends
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If true, we’re in for an interesting conclusion to FFG Netrunner.
SPORTSMETAL can win worlds!
(or most likely CtM)
I was starting to get worried that FFG was just going to abandon the game and not put out a new MWL. Honestly, it had me feeling pretty discouraged about attending world’s because I didn’t want to play against CV Val 7 times in a row.
If these changes turn out to be true, I think the final state of the game should be pretty balanced considering they addressed most of the popular grievances (CV + zer0, CI, PU and Skorpios). Should be a very exciting meta after all!
Edit: Have to say though I’m disappointed that Rebirth isn’t in Mad Dash’s restricted slot. Would have liked to have seen Val hit a pinch harder.
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What was wrong with CI? It wasn’t even in an overcentralizing position within its own faction.
I liked the restricted list when it forced specialized decks like Skorpios which need a specific card to function to give up their other restricted options but giving Skorpios and PU the finger like that is just dirty.
Hyperdriver is also an interesting ban when setting up big turns is so clunky at the moment. Why restrict the diversity of decks when those decks aren’t a problem in the tournament scene (and never will be because no new sets)?
Counter surveillance or similar tag me decks have their risks already. You can’t play them in a tournament without losing to HPT, so why twist the knife by banning Mars for Martians?
Even with CV/Zer0 (a combo that really isn’t as oppressive in my opinion as some would make it out to be) I’ve quite loved the competitive meta and the rich balance between viability and innovation that has been occuring in the tournament scene. I expected a few small surgical changes, not a hacksaw aimed at punishing strategies which seem undesirable rather than powerful.
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Must have not seen the results of GenCon last weekend?
I think this list shows Boggs’ solid approach to MWL. Not only is he addressing problem cards, he’s considering what rises to the top when those cards are removed and seeing if they are problems as well when the power vacuum is created. It looks like the development team is doing a lot of testing.
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I mostly get my tournament news from regulatly checking torunament decks on Netrunnerdb, I don’t know where to find relevant streams or reports. How prevalent was CI in Gencon?
Top 3 of GenCon was CI/Val with Zer0.
Unfortunately, hardly any players have gotten around to claiming theirs spots on ABR, and have probably not posted their lists on NRDB. But you can find the Twitch VOD from the ABR page for GenCon.
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hehe, can the new board bring Boggs on as a consultant? Poor guy only got to create like 100 cards 
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Ok that’s fair and I’m less confused about why something was done. I still think it’s a bit hasty but I get it. Thanks.
Not sure what you mean by hasty. The last MWL was in April, so they were a few weeks past hitting their target of 3 months. CI has been on their radar for a while, and Boggs said he’ll take a less drastic approach to CI first to see if it solves the problem, but will likely put it on the list next time around if it’s still a problem. So he’s making good on his word.
The problem with CI is that getting to hold on to 10+ cards always breeds degenerate combos that are hard to contain even with regular MWL adjustments. I can almost guarantee that even with the Moon ban, someone would come up with another stupid combo deck where games are more or less up to RNG on the runners single accesses before the Corp just sort of ends the game.
As for Mars for Martians, while you’re right that HPT is a hard counter, decks that don’t have that specific answer can practically auto lose just as hard. Very few Corp decks can survive the 15+ accesses Counter Surveillance can land, and it can feel very oppressive if you don’t have tag punishment. I think this move was probably made to combat the “Rock Paper Scissors” meta game where deck choice was starting to matter more than in game choices, and for that I’m all for it.
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Plus, they didn’t hit the actual crux card: Counter Surveillance. But, just slows them down without M4M. They still have other ways to get credits (even things that fit in the archetype: Rogue Trading).
What you don’t want is over-representation of either HPT or CS-M4M decks that just tries to dodge the bad match-ups.
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Just out of curiosity, what were the Hyperdriver and Tapwrm decks that were chewing through the meta? Did I miss something?
(The other additions to the removed list all make complete sense to me from having watched Euros, US and NA championships.)
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