Just like XI7 this card is so good that its an auto-include on every ship that has one or multiple single defense tokens like Brace. Its so good in fact, that it shapes the whole way we think about ships and fleetbuilding and the playability value of many ships.
Because ECM is just so good, it almost automatically makes ever ship that CANNOT take it a worse option.
Ships like the Victory and the Raider are considered less competitive by many people because they simply have no def retro slot. Same problem goes for the Interdictor und Quasar to some extent, though they do have a monopoly in very specialized roles which for the most part makes up for it.
(I know there are other issue with the vic, but those can be "fixed" by your playstyle, objec tives, commander etc so no problem there)
Rebel Fleets have dominated the competitive play since the game's start and i think until now there has never been a Imperial Fleet winning a World Championship. (Granted, that doesnt necessarily say much but still interesting)
So lets take a look at the rebel ships. All of the ships that lack the def retro slot (Nebulon, Hammerhead, Liberty, Pelta) are seen much less often at the table in competitve games for some reason. Coincidence? I think not. Because the same issue can be spotted at the imperial fleets, ISDs dominate the scene and everyone cries about every other ship that does not have Tua-ECM beeing lackluster in some way. (I am not one of those players, but i still notice this phenomenon)
And before you start ragetyping about Yavaris and Demolisher, yeah those are exceptions but only because they are "broken" in their own way. No one plays a Nebulon B in a carrier role without Yavaris (except for me) or thinks about whether to spend those spare 10 points on Demolisher or another upgrade/squadron. Justifying a ships competitive value by a single broken card is a poor judgement of the ship itself.
So, im aware that correlation =/= causality and that ECM isnt the reason behind all problems but it plays a major factor because its an "absolute effect". What do i mean by this? Well lets take a look at all the card effects that have been considered broken during the games lifespan.
(Pre-nerf)
-General Rieekan: Allows ALL ships and unique squadrons to stay alive for the whole round
-Demolisher: Reverses games fundamental rule of shooting before moving
-Unlimited Bomber Command Center Rerolls
-Relay: Activate squadrons across the whole play area
-Unlimited Number of cheap ship activations
-Place commander on a ship similiar cost-wise to a squadron (flotillas)
-Yavaris: Basically gives you the equivalent of 40-60 points of squadron firepower (Aces) for 5 points.
-Turbolaser Reroute Circuits: +4 Damage in best case for 7 points and the cost of exhausting two defense tokens that can cancel 2 damage, 4 in best case.
Most of these are absolute effects, which just give you an advantage without any prerequirements. Pay and profit. S ome like TRCs had SOME prerequirements but those were just too weak to balance out the benefit.
From a game designing perspective i can tell you: Absolute effects are NEVER a good idea for a game. I have seen the same problem in many other games.
And so that's the issue with ECM (and XI7 too, for that matter) Ab solute effects that let you profit in such a efficient way that not paying the cost for the upgrade and including it automatically puts you at a disadvantage. And any ship that cannot take that specific upgrade.
Imagine, how much more would for example Victories be played if ECM didn't exist in the game? You'd have the same chance of halving damage as your opponent does. (Excluding Double Brace Ships)
I really think that if FFG ever does a Armada 2.0 ECM will be one of the first things to change.
I would suggest changing ECM to the following: (I know the wording is off, but im sure you'll get what i mean)
"While defending, before the Spend Accuracy step you may exhaust this card to remove one die of your opponents attack pool that shows a accuracy symbol."
This way you can still use your brace if your opponent only rolls 1 accuracy but your opponent still has a chance to block the brace if he has 2 accuracies.
So please FFG change ECM in some way because it severely limits playing options. And while you're at it change back the XI7/Advanced Projectors Interaction to the way it worked before and increase the cost for Yavaris. (The effect is cool, just needs to cost about 15 points or so, 5 for each 3-4 extra blue squadron dice seem fair since you dont get the extra hull and defense tokens of real squadrons)
Like and share(?) this post if you too want these things to change.
Edited by >kkj
