The Chronos Protocol Identities

I don't think it's going to be possible to form an opinion fully of these cards without being influenced by the game in its current state. I also feel that it's going to be inevitable that cards considered unbalanced will slip through as FF design team isn't infallible but they are doing a great job and I am looking forward to eventual restricted lists as I really like the way they handle those overpowered cards in their other LCGs.

That all being said, I am personally cheering for HB! I do agree that whatever gets released most certainly affects future card design, and HB being released will likely prohibit the design of neural emp style brain dmg cards for some time or so heavily influence their design such that costs associated with them are that much higher.

*Edit*
Also the new Jinteki would certainly play amazingly for a rush deck. Run all super cheap end the run ice, turn 2 neural emp to toss their most threatening card, clicks 2&3 to install the appropriate ice (One with no solutions in their hand) and an agenda behind it.

While the game situation will be different when the identities come out, I still have to vote on them based on the current situation (well, in april) and I don't like how the HB one changes how runners have to build their decks or playstyle.
I also really like what will be possible with the new Jinteki Identity in terms of deckbuilding (and it will bring in deckbuilds we haven't seen yet ).

... I don't like how the HB one changes how runners have to build their decks or playstyle.
I also really like what will be possible with the new Jinteki Identity in terms of deckbuilding (and it will bring in deckbuilds we haven't seen yet ).

No corp ID in the game forces the runners to build their deck a certain way and these two are no different. Will these ID's influence how a runner plays? I would think so because every ID influences a runner's play as a runner becomes more familiar with the potential weapons at each corp's disposal. My point is, people play differently against a Jinteki player than a Weyland player (etc.) because the threats are usually different so i wouldn't hold that against HB Chronos.

I like the HB identity although I won't have a chance to vote. If it does get voted in I would definitely give it a try .

I don't like the HB identity for a few reasons:
1. It increases unlikely(lucky) wins as you can not influence which card will be deleted. A breaker is bad but an economy card, a tutor or some operations you would loose the copy in hand but you wouldn't even notice loosing the other two if the game dosn't last that long.
2. It ruines suprise plays. There are already HB brain dmg builds but it takes the runner a few turns to figure out what to expect. With this ID the runner knows you will pack every conveniant source of BD and will behave accordingly from the start.
3. Easy to counter as said in the video: if you haven't adjusted your deck (and noone will just for this single ID) you just make sure to toss copys of important breakers before you run and everything is fine. You won't loose account siphon to this cause you will most likely use it to run when you catch the brain dmg.

I don't know yet whether I'll have a chance to vote (need some events on Oz guys!!!), but I'm really torn on which one I'd go for.

For me...

Jinteki:
- what additional damage sources will we see in Honor and Profit?
- agreed that the deck probably looks similar to a lot of current PE builds. There'll be a little less damage firing because of the lack when Agendas are scored/stolen, but overall I think a look at the current levels of damage taken is pretty indicative of how potent this ID is (and I could/would totally swap PE for this, not that I play Jinteki much though).

HB:
- what if that BD sticks?! Yes, there's a chance I'll hit your Easy Mark/Infiltration/useless card, but how many Runner decks are currently running useless cards? Heck, a singleton Scorched becomes huge when the Runner thinks "I don't need to play this Plascrete; I'm playing HB" and it (and all other copies) gets eaten by BD.

- it also leads into other avenues for the HB:CP player. I "know" you're going to pitch copies of important cards, which might lead into a situation where you're holding <5 cards in hand, which suddenly starts turning on Net and Meat damage.

Overall though, I completely get behind the statement at the beginning of the vid guys; don't just look at the current card pool when evaluating these IDs, but take the current pool into account because barring Banned/Restricted lists, everything we have now we will also have when the winner is released.

Good video this time round lads, you've grown more into your roles, the initial giddiness has evened out a little bit to make for more passionate and thoughtful card analysis, while still maintaining your personalities and different play styles. Keep 'em coming!