The Next Evolution - Invasion / AGOT & CoC

[fatolaf]

News from FFG

Hello LCG Fans,

With an ever expanding structure like the LCG metagame, we are always on the lookout for cards that are hampering the game's evolution. In the past, harsh measures such as errata and banning have been used by card companies to police their games, eliminating problem cards and opening up the way for new ideas to be explored.

It is one of our goals with the LCG format to keep the need for such heavy-handed measures to an absolute minimum, so that the cards we release have the longest tournament life possible. And yet, the need to do something is sometimes there.

To this end, we have developed the restricted list, which goes into effect today (and are included in each game's FAQ, below). On the restricted list, you will find the cards that have been cramping tournament play and preventing the game from being as enjoyable as we all know it can be. Some of these cards are part of an overpowered combination, some have risen to the status of "auto-include" and are simply too pervasive in the environment, and some were printed to address a very specific situation that the game has since grown past.

When building a deck, a player may select one card from the restricted list to use in that deck, and he may not use any other cards from the restricted list in that same deck. A player may run as many copies of his chosen restricted card as the standard rules of the game (or card text) allow.

With this restricted list, we are better able to bring you a fun, healthy metagame, while keeping everyone's beloved cards legal for tournament play for as long as possible. The need to ban a card may occasionally still arrive, but we feel that the restricted list will ensure that such instances are rare.

We look forward to seeing what you all do with the new environment this upcoming regional season.

Nate French
Senior LCG Designer
Fantasy Flight Games

Warhammer Invasion

FAQ 1:4

No suprise to see which cards are restricted...

116 Warpstone Excavation
119 & 57 Innovation
2 Mining Tunnels
25 Wilhelm of the
Osterknacht
42 Reclaiming the Fallen
117 Soul Stealer

Call of Cthulhu

FAQ 1:4

Restricted:

The following cards are restricted for LCG tournament play. A player may select 1 card from this restricted list for any given deck, and cannot then play with any other restricted cards in the same deck. A player may run as many copies of his chosen restricted card in a deck as the regular game rules allow.

Descendant of Eibon (Summons of the Deep F75)
Nyarlathotep (Dreamlands F117)
Guardian Pillar (Dreamlands F78)
Itinerant Scholar (Core F30)
Jeffrey Farrington (The Order of the Silver Twilight F18)

Banned:

The following cards are banned from official tournament play for Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game

Endless Interrogation (Summons of the Deep F82)
Magah Bird (Dreamlands F110)


A Game of Thrones

FAQ 2:2

Restricted:

The following cards are restricted for LCG
tournament melee and joust play. A player
may select 1 card from the restricted list for
any given deck, and cannot then play with
any other restricted cards in the same deck. A
player may run as many copies of his chosen
restricted card in a deck as the regular game
rules (or card text) allow.

Pyromancer's Cache (ACoA F13)
Fury of the Wolf (ACoA F25)
Fury of the Lion (ACoA F26)
Fury of the Stag (ACoA F27)
Fury of the Kraken (ACoA F28)
Fury of the Dragon (ACoA F29)
Fury of the Sun (ACoA F30)
Castellan of the Rock (ACoA F93)
Venomous Blade (KLE F115)
Fear of Winter (DotN F40)
Val (DotN F117)
Narrow Escape (KotS F48)

Banned:

Jaqun H'ghar (ACoA F43)
Compelled by the Rock (ACoA F106)
Blood of the First Men (DotN F119)

[maelzch]

Woo, my orc deck is fine!

[fatolaf]

Invasion

FAQ 1:5

Torunament rules 1:2

And the first banned card:  Visit the Haunted City

A Necessary Measure

Banning cards is the last and most potent weapon to effect positive change in the competitive environment in an LCG's toolbox. However, it should not be taken lightly, and ideally would not be required at all. We apologize for having to take such a measure, but it is for the good of the game that we do so.

Visit the Haunted City is the card that is being banned for tournament play. There has been much discussion concerning this card of late, but the sheer popularity and success of Empire decks running Visit the Haunted City during regionals speaks for itself.

However, just because a card or deck is powerful, does not mean it deserves to be banned. So let us lay out the defining factors that led to this ban of Visit the Haunted City:

    Visit the Haunted City's ability to move support cards in addition to moving units. Moving your opponent's units from zone to zone is an extremely powerful ability. Being able to move your opponent's support cards as well with Visit the Haunted City warped the game, and created a card that could dictate the terms under which your opponent played. This is a design problem that should have been corrected.
    Light of Morrslieb accelerating Visit the Haunted City. With the ability to play 2 developments per turn from your hand, it was easy for someone to drop Visit the Haunted City, a cheap unit, and then throw down 2 developments before their opponent could respond. Multiple copies of Visit the Haunted City in play made it worse and were practically impossible to recover from.
    Visit the Haunted City undermined the core mechanics of the game. The foundation of Warhammer: Invasion is the three-zone system. It is one thing to manipulate your own zones, it is quite another to manipulate your opponent's (which is why Wilhelm of the Osterknacht is restricted). Any effect that directly moves cards between an opponent's zone should be rare, costly, and generally non-repeatable. By being able to repeatably move your opponent's units and support cards around, up to three times a turn and at almost any time, Visit the Haunted City removed a large part of the strategic nature of the game. Deciding where to play your cards is one of the most important decisions a player can make over the course of the game, and this decision became practically meaningless when faced with one or more copies of Visit the Haunted City on the other side of the table. It was not enjoyable to play against, and mirror matches were almost exclusively decided by the luck of the draw.

All of the reasons above led to a meta-defining and negative play experience created by Visit the Haunted City. Even decks built specifically to control this card were far from sure things, which implies an unhealthy and unbalanced play environment. Something had to be done, and due to the nature of the card and all of the reasons listed above we strongly believe that banning it is the right move. Adding it to the restricted list would not be enough to end the negative play experience it creates, and any errata would neuter the card to such an extent that it would either no longer be playable or resemble the printed card.

Once again, we apologize for releasing Visit the Haunted City in such an unbalanced state. We believe that by banning this card we are strengthening the competitive environment and allowing for other deck builds to flourish. We will continue to strive to make Warhammer: Invasion a better game, and to deliver our players a fun, exciting, and balanced experience. Without you there would be no game, and we appreciate your support.

[fatolaf]

CoC

FAQ 1:5

AGOT

FAQ 2:4