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In this video series I go through all the base-game cards and rate them based on their strength and combo potential. Do you agree with my ratings? If not, let me know in the comments!
Rating Scheme:
S: gamebreakingly strong in most situations or never pass
A: gamebreakingly strong in some situations, very strong otherwise or cannot be passed sometimes
B: very strong in some situations, strong otherwise or avoid passing
C: strong in some situations, mediocre otherwise or avoid passing in some situations
D: mediocre in some situations, weak otherwise
F: complete garbage
All ratings so far can be found in this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzE-QwRTxsyb8T-B_y-VHu677-_wFnBUcYHz7I1k3cs/edit?usp=sharing
Intro: (0:00)
Flooding – D: (0:15)
Food Factory – F: (1:09)
Fuel Factory – D: (2:13)
Fueled Generators – C: (3:13)
Fusion Power – D: (4:04)
Outro: (5:00)
source
Flooding is probably the most underrated card you’ve reviewed for this series so far in my opinion. I feel like you’re dramatically underestimating its mid and late game potential, particularly as part of an event chaining sequence after you’ve secured priority to close out a particular generation unimpeded. It’s at least a C tier card for me in general and probably a B tier card in an opening hand.
I don’t really care about the -4 money hit, I feel the same about that as I do the -2 on Hackers, it’s just never relevant at all. Flooding is just one of the best and cheapest tempo pieces in the ocean department as well as one of the better set up cards as you allude to with it’s ability to pick up 6 credits of value from placement bonuses in addition to prepping your next action for maximum rebates when converting afterward.
I definitely feel like this card is underrated in your evaluations.
Flooding is absolutely not D tier. It is a brilliant way of cheaply continuing your ocean walk, and in those terraforming games you do not care about the -1VP. If you can hit your opponent it is a big bonus, but generally speaking it's simply a cheap ocean, playable at all stages of the game. C tier for me!
I also think Fuel Factory should be C tier. In an engine game, playing it early with some spare power can net a massive return on investment. It is better than Building Industries because space cards are generally better than building cards, and the MC is more flexible.
I agree on everything except for Flooding, I would put it in C tier. In my playgroup I am almost the only one that plays it, but I feel it's very versatile and underrated
Man, watching these videos makes me realise how little I actually know about this game, even after playing it for over 2 years (albeit casually). I always considered fuel factory (and therefore building industries) an amazing card with great value, especially if played early, and I still don't think I understand enough to see why it's considered so bad by some people. Maybe I just don't consider 1 power prod as valuable as I should… I can definitely see why food factory sucks, plants are incredibly valuable in all stages of the game, but power always seemed kind of expendable to me… Might just be a typical "casual player" way of thinking, though.