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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)
Industrial Center – C: (0:16)
Industrial Microbes – F: (1:17)
Insects – S: (2:17)
Insulation – D: (3:05)
Interstellar Colony Ship – B: (3:49)
Outro: (5:06)
source
I think industrial center might be another underrated card in this series.
I’m certainly a bigger fan of this card than almost any one else in the community, but this card is so dangerous in high level matches that it’s a card I’m constantly on the lookout for in each and every game. It’s such a valuable trump for rebate thefts, teleportation, and awards and milestones (particularly on the Tharsis map where I truly believe this is a B+ or A- tier card) that I think I would personally rate it higher in a general sense.
It’s similar to Herbivores in that it’s a card that gains in value the stronger one’s opponent(s) happen to be, but unlike herbivores it’s even more brutal against lower rated players than strong players and is almost always a card with generation delaying potential at a minuscule investment cost making it a really powerful tempo trump.
I’m not even certain that I would consider the production aspect of this card it’s “primary purpose” as I feel like it’s best use almost always is as a tempo swing hate piece.
i disagree about industrial microbes. Ok it's not cheap but the cards that produce two different resources are not common, and I had some situations where this one was super useful:
1 in a game on Elysium, at a certain point I had all the productions but energy and steel, I found that card in the draft in a generation when I was to be the first to play… so BAM, generalist milestone!
2 another case happened just yeserday: I started with IC and space elevators, but I couldn't find any other steel prod until midgame, and I also picked electrocatapult so I feared to run out of steel, then industrial microbes was a perfect match, and I was able to perform both the economy action in every generation up to the end (and in the last gen I played open city with the remaining steel). Moreover, the microbe tag helped me to get the diversifier milestone on Hellas in this case. Of course, I won both of these games.
Fun fact: it's the only card that produces energy with no power tag, so it would be awkward with Thorgate.
Industrial Center should be B tier, especially in 2 player. Its potential to ruin your opponent's plans is huge, for such a small cost. When combined with discounts or when it is drawn for free, it becomes absolutely brilliant. I think I only ever use its action in like 1% of the times I've played it.
ICS is also overrated at B tier. You don't always get the science tags required and it's damn expensive. However, I suppose it is subject to many discount and rebate cards, so I'm happy to yield to low B tier! 😊
i think F is too low for industrial microbes. It is useless late but i really like early to get a power hungry card down. yes it's more expensive than power plant but it will make it up in 4 gens. also when you compare one card against too you have to consider the the one card is also taking one less slot in the draft, so the window to use it is small but it is usable in that window. Should be D
i think industrial microbes is C
Industrial microbes: D tier: fair card after all, absolutely playable on the first two or three gens as a dev card, useless after, but the same is true for a lot of developement cards.
Industrial center: It depends on the number of players: in 2p it cuts a city slots gaining a virtual points almost for free. I agrre with C tier tho, often it is a low impact card
ICS: C tier at most. Works ONLY in the super engine/discount strategy and it's kind of average unless you have three or four discounts on it
Insects: S tier seems too high for me, but you can be right. I would have put it A tier since it requires a specific setup to be good