It seems to me that all three runner factions can be competitive right now. My question is, which do you think is the strongest, and why?
Best Runner Faction
Criminals, statistically speaking. The faction's strengths work best when the Corp is at its weakest- the early game. What little defenses the Corp can raise then, Crims can evade or control.
HOWEVER, that's beginning to change with each Data Pack as new cards support the other factions, develop their particular strategies and expand what they can do.
Also, even when A:NR 1st came out and Crims had the lion's share of wins, both Anarchs and Shapers weren't too far behind anyway.
As mentioned above, Criminal has been strongest since launch since they have good early game options, and Corps haven't always had good answers. I do think that's changing with more options for the Corp, though. There's more cheap ice available so Corps can get a double wall of ice up on HQ and other critical servers early at not too much cost, complicating things for Criminals that rely on Inside Job for easy runs. Also, super-cheap ice can be dropped on Archives to slow down a Sneakdoor Beta strategy. And Chimera can easily shut down early pressure (albeit at a cost to the Corp in credits).
So long-term, I think both Shaper and Criminal will come into their own as games start going longer - and that's particularly true with Shaper getting a big slug of cards in the upcoming boxed expansion.
Nerdmeister said:
HACK THE PLANET!!!
Criminials are my favorite. I think they are easier to play. We have hard the hardest time with Shapers.