Right, that’s what I was saying, Netrunner that isn’t a CCG could be great. You need a much larger pool than just revised though, for any variety or pace. Even the cube that someone constructed from the entire pre-Nisei card pool for 20+ decks only managed decks that were (I paraphrase) rather shit, and looked down on by many who were used to playing the “real game”.
But none of that precludes designing a complete game that doesn’t have all these issues, and is aimed at allowing one deck of each faction to be constructed simultaneously, with sideboard cards. The barrier to that is simply that CCGs are far more profitable.
This is why I sold my original Netrunner cards (which I still regret). Don’t have the latest hot card? Then you lose, because it’s literally more efficient than anything you’ve got. (I was playing before Jackson Howard came in).
The LCG model is “buy every new pack or lose”, and that’s fair enough. Game of thrones 2nd ed wasn’t quite so bad because you had so many factions that they could keep going on old cards for a bit, and I’m happy that Marvel Champions sidesteps it completely, but Netrunner was one of the most demanding for constant purchases.
I’m intrigued by this argument of Commands & Colors as a lane battler. I was confused at first but then I saw it. And yeah, that makes sense. And it’s one of the best?
I think the stress of lane battling is that it tends to be zero sum and destructive. And it’s generally a tug of war where someone gets some momentum and then has to ram it home in a demoralizing way.
I’ve always like Air, Land, & Sea for the way it lets you react. I mean, I love Schotten Totten and it’s fantastic, but if you make a mistake or get outplayed, that’s just an open wound for the rest of the game. You can’t fix it or pivot it (good thing there’s 8 other lanes to work with…). The way you can bluff in AL&S or spirit your cards away to a different lane keeps it from ever feeling completely mean or from snowballing.
Radlands, in my experience, is more like a slap fight. You put down a terrible threat, I whack it and put something down. You whack back before I can execute, on and on, until someone whacks hard enough or generates enough momentum to break through. I have very little time playing this so I want to get better at it and see what else it has, but I share it as sort of what a lane battler can be when it’s just blunt tug of war.
C&C is brilliant. I like the soft board control, a lot of the game is just putting yourself in a better position to capitalize later. I like the card limitations insofar as you can’t focus on just one lane, and sometimes you can poke your head out too far but survive because your opponent doesn’t have the cards. It’s also a pretty deft system with room for maneuvering, a chance to do something worthwhile with a bad hand, and an ingrown balance factor (in that you use up all your cards for a lane, or all your big cards, to get that advantage and you’ll likely need to rebuild after).
Ooh, does Gwent count as a loose example? I’ve been playing through the Witcher 3 and Gwent occupies this strange space where it’s a little side challenge that never has too much friction - mostly it’s a collection mini game where if you have collected strong enough cards you can beat someone and if not then come back later!
It works well inside a larger game but I have no idea how well that translates into a balanced competitive card game, as I believe there’s a physical version coming out soon?