Magnus Arcanis wrote

"Perhaps a review of the previous two years (would go back further, but probably best to keep it lcg) and a sort of primer for this year's (once we know what is all going to be legal). Also wouldn't mind doing a primer for each of the
side tournaments(if there is any) if the format varies enough."

Well, I already got an affirmative back from Alex, so we'll start tinkering around and see what we can come up with. Lol, I'm going to warn you though. Expect it to not be released quite as frequently. Recording and editing two shows is going to be killer.

I detect a slight bitterness and sarcasm in the previous post.

I detect editing a post after there has been a reply to it (leaving the semi-permanent "New" tag).

Interesting... I thought the post was a bit whiney, but I didn't think it was going to be censored.

GREAT enthusiasm for a CoC podcast Kennon! I offer my help in any way you would find useful (i.e. strictly moral support).

Since this vaguely connects and is not worthy of its own thread:

Was "That Which Consumes" the final Hata era AP? I just picked it up and cannot get over the jank...

Since Forgotten Lore is pretty much all reprints I'm going to say yes. There was an article up where Damon introduced Ancient Relics themes so it is safe to assume that one is his. The cards seen so far seem pretty interesting, but I reserve judgment until I actually get to see an entire pack, and even then I'll still have to wait to see the entire cycle before I know whether or not he is producing stuff I want to really play with. That said he is personable, obviously cares about the game, and is a fan of the mythos. lol. I'm sure I'll find stuff I love and stuff that I think should have been done in a different way. He is also the designer for AGoT, and the Targaryen boxed set was pretty sweet. If he can avoid getting the two confused and applies that same kind of... I don't know "storyteller" kind of eye to design I think there is good things in store. Dammit now I want the new stuff to be available.

jank as in meaningless or jank as in broken. The former evaluation wouldn't faze me, the latter would be open to scrutiny :-)

Carioz said:

Most of the AP cards are bad; the type of cards that casual players will argue, "it might have uses..." There are at most 5 usable cards and only 2 are truly notable. Very weak AP overall.

Why am I not really surprised?

I haven't seen it. Are there spoilers?

I am being Lazy so no spoilers. Hopefully one of the db websites will have them up soon. Some have been spoiled on this site.

The Cthulhu 2 cost Character you drive insane to wound an exhausted low cost Character is good but my favorite is a Hastur card that goes something like this: 2 Cost Event, Response: After you succeed at a story destroy all insane Characters. Nifty!

Worst moment was finding 3 awful Syndicate cards. I mean, if you are going to the trouble of printing 3 then...

Every AP will have some highly situational cards and some outright junk.

Have we forgotten already how lame much of the Dreamland AP series was?!

The Julia Brown series was not much better! The cards were either useless or broken

with very little in between. The last two Hatta AP series were a noticeable improvement

over previous designer's efforts. Look at all the variety of deck types being played at the regionals

all around the world! Worlds 2011 will reflect the balance that has been brought to the game due to

decisions made and cards designed by Hatta. I see a lot of folks using Hatta as a scapegoat and I for one

will not be piling on. He was handed a mess with the whole birddoginterrogationsteps debacle! Damon Stone

is very qualified and will hopefully be given an opportunity to build on the foundation that James Hatta has laid.

Perhaps Tokhuah you should take a second look at the cards in 'That which Consumes'.

A Gift of Knowledge - my group has played with this and I'll bet you'll see this this card in competitive decks.

*Elder Sign parchment - this card will be played in 95% of decks including M.U.!

*The Mage Known as Magnus - deny the possibilities of this card?

Bast's Hunt - no non-Ancient One limitation!?

Sinkhole! - great potential subtype interaction. A no-loose proposition.

There are more non-jank cards in this AP. Judge for yourselves.

That Which Consumes... no the greatest expansion, but... we've seen worse.

I'd give it 5 competitive, and maybe another 6 that could see play in some strategies down the road while the rest I'll probably froget exsist.

Hybrid said:

A Gift of Knowledge - Perhaps down the road but unless it comes in a combo package it won't be fast enough currently I'd imagine.

Elder Sign Parchment - You sure you're not thinking of Forbidden Knowledge? I'm no expert on MU but ESP just doesn't seem up to par... maybe as a neat trick.

TMKaM- I'm biased.

Bast's Hunt - This is assuming the Ancient One has toughness and not invulnerability. I doubt this will make it into high level decks UNLESS A.O. decks with toughness become dominant and the few options we do have remain few. Which is entirely possible.

Sinkhole! - Fun card and it may be a no-loose, but I'm not a fan of its unreliablity. So, for me, it would warrant a little extra effort for it to be the card i want it to be. Which... maybe. However, I think decks have better things to do than making sure I get or don't get a Chthonian.

But thats just me.

Cards that could enter the competitive scene in my opinion.

1. The Mage Known as Magnus - Still biased.
2. Somnambulant Dreamer - killing people is good. Cthulhu and Hatsur are strong factions to boot.
3. Painful Reflection - Discarding outside of one's operation phase is dangerously amazing.
4. Forbidden Knowledge - 4:2 at 2 cost is kinda nice. Even nicer when I have something I don't mind losing. Nicest when I want to sacrafice a character.
5. Ritual of Inferno - Mass Location removal seems like viable option for Silver Twilight. I'm just sayin.

Possibly playable (now or maybe down the road) either competitively or casually.

1. Fire Extinguisher - Locations have a lot of hate, and agency likes a locations. proctecting a precious one for a 1 cost support isn't the worst thing ever.
2. Misguided Dreams - Night only, but making my opponent do what he doesn't want to do is a good way to remove hope.
3. Elder Sign Parchment - Its an artifact, and help at sniping stories. Useable, probably. 95% of MU decks...ehhhh not THAT good.
4. Rumormill - One day Stall decks will rise. Don't think this will break them open but it will be in the possibly considered pile.
5. Strung Up! - One sided skill reduction can be scary with the right strat. Needs a few more cards for it break out I think, but a decent piece of ammo.
6. First of Yog-Sothoh - Cards like these are often way to slow, but Yog likes suprises and this one can keep giving. Re-useability is at the top of the list of things that unbalance the world. Doubt it will be earth shattering, but giving TCA turn-in and turn out isn't the worst thing the purple faction can do.

Niche cards.

1. Final Note - If you focus on the crazies it could be good. Not a fan of having to succeed first though.
2. Sinkhole - Shub removal, just unreliable.
3. Bast's Hunt - Again, if toughness becomes king, Bast will hunt it.
4. A Gift for Knowledge - I smell combo in its future (shame it wasn't a spell). However that might also mean Bast will be hunting it. Not so optimistic about it being a 'good' combo though.

Cards that likely will take up space in your colletion.

1. Unlikely Informant - Unlikely to be Played is more like it. There are just better options from Agency. So unless hand knowledge becomes meta critical... ya.
2. Crooked Treasurer - its like Gun Runner's Club except a lot worse. 4 cost ST with AAA and only 3 skill...Criminal and Lodge just... what a strange character.
3. You're Outta Here! - This wouldn't be bad if syndicate didn't have better, non-loyal, options that will cover the majority of situations where this cause would be used. I mean. I have to not commit a SYN guy, play loyal 2, to push a non-AO off a story? Isn't Low Blow just leaps and bounds better? Hell even Intimidate works better.
4. Sleepin' wit' da Fishes - Love the card. Perhaps there might be a rush+discard deck that could use such a beast. Draw disruption is fun but when its best used in the late game while you're trying to pressure stories is a rather narrow best case scenario.
5. Flesh Ward - This is a solid card. Unfortuneatly there just isn't a BIG reason to use it. 2 for Toughness +2 is neat and could really annoy some opponent's, however unless it too ends up as part of the illusionary A Gift of Knowledge combo (or something similiar) I just don't see it taking up a card slot. However it IS also a spell so thats worth something I guess.

Again. Merely my predictions/opinions.

If I would be right... its a pretty even spread. Not that is necessarily a good thing as I would prefer the "Cards that likely will take up space in your collection" tier to be at zero. Realistically I'd prefer it to be 2 or less and it would from one of the factions that got 3 cards from the pack.

So.. not the most dynamic pack ever, but its far better than say... the caccophony. My personal attachment aside, I'm certainly not upset with the pack and there has been a good deal of good cards from this last cycle (both competitively and casually).

As for Hata. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. He was overall a positive thing for the game. Was he perfect? Did he fix all the problems? No, but I know I certainly didn't expect him to be perfect or fix everything. From where the game was to the way it is now Hata got CoC to improve and thats all we could fairly ask of the guy. Sure I've had my complaints, beefs... irkings, but bottom line things are better. Is there room for improvement? Ya. Will Damon continue to improve things? I certainly think he will. Will he fix all and be perfect? Probably not. Will mistakes be made? Being humans, odds are yes. But thats just being realistic. All we can hope for at this point is that things continue to improve and that Damon will make more right choices than wrong, and again based on my limited interaction with the man he will have success in doing so.

Though I am still waiting for a lead designer that will actually let me help. Think I was promised playtester status... 5 times now. Yet... despite probing no follow up. Haven't asked Damon yet, maybe after I get to meet him at gencon (if he attends of course)... odds are though they probably wouldn't want to work with me now anyway! lol.

Ah well, I can still help in other ways right? Ya. Speaking of... people that are expecting emails from me. Obviously things are taking a bit longer (I blame my job and holidays) than I had originally thought, which makes sense being that I didn't think everything through before I started the interview thing. Rest assured, in theory, I probably will have something to you guys next week at some point.

I would downgrade most of the "potential" cards because in my experience those cards never see the inside of a deck as more (usually better) cards are released.

Even though I am not a Hastur player Final Note does seem interesting as an alternative or addition to Loft. When I have seen our local Hastur master lock down by driving everything insane he typically holds off and does it at the start of his opponent's story phase (with the 2 card combo). This means succeeding on the following turn is almost a given.

@ Syndicate cards

Strung Up has the same effect on Panic as placing a random Syndicate card down as a resource. Torch Singer and Bouncer are superior for targeted reduction. For this sort of tech to be useful it needs to be printed on a permanent, like Gangsters Moll.

You're Outa Here is awful because, on top of the better cards mentioned above, it is exactly the same as Kidnapping 101 with the negative additions of requiring an exhaust and loyal. YOH is beyond a bad card, it shows a total lack of imagination on a design level.

The sad thing is there is a way to bring in interesting mechanics to Syndicate, particularly on a Character level. I wish FFG would at least accept general ideas because even an effect like On the Lam can be arrived at while not being broken with the right additional specifications. Someday there may be a willing ear so no more about this here...

A quick point on Strung Up. I was thinking more in terms of effects that invovle X skill or in combination with stuff like Spellbound Shoggoth for some kind of good reason. Though it also has minor uses outside of what Panic can accomplish. Panic is a far better card, but a potentional candidate for the "possible cards one could use to fill out a theme" in a low syndicate count deck.

Best case scenario... if there was some kind of permanet that came out that said, "Characters that have 0 skill are destoryed." I could easily see Strung Up show up in a deck with something like that for instance.

Probably still shoebox worthy though and it won't see a lot play if ever. But potential seemed like a generously fair ranking.