Combinator cards should have negative chemistry with each other

[Wheatchex]

I think a very doable way in the current engine to balance combinator teams would be to flip the Combinator Card Type to a negativechemistry modifier with each other. Change it to -10. Seriously, hear me out.

Teambuilding would get much more interesting if the overcharged superteams had a harder time fitting together. The player choices would become much less automatic if they didn't get along, and adding each additional combinator made the problem snowball a little worse.


Adding a single combi would be unquestionably better than playing the regular version of the same guy. But the same-type penalty compounds with each additional player - same as the Mission Edition teams, but in reverse - so adding those 10th, 15th, 20th cards will exact a real price as the modifier keeps stacking higher.

All the other modifiers would stay intact, so combinator cards could still have positive chemistry with each other for same team, years played together, etc. if those are enough to overcome the penalty. The team chemistry number can still bottom out wherever it does now, at zero probably - no need to change that.

This all would give more reasons to roster a lower number of combis, and maybe a wider diversity of them, since choosing players with a positive chemistry modifier to offset the penalty would be more helpful.

I don't think this would fix the combinator team problem - I'm sure 12 or 15 of them would still be very doable, and enough to dominate a team of regulars - but it could certainly help pull things a little more toward balance. And adding a choice about how many to roster puts a little more emphasis back on team building rather than just gratuitous spending and card shop grinding.

Also I like the idea that Combis are just kind of diva'd up in general and would cause trouble when relegated to the back end of the bench or pen.

Just one little minus symbol, c'mon lets try it

[Kushiel]

I believe that too many people have too much money in Combinators for them to go away or to be changed drastically at this point. Probably next March will see a couple of changes.