i want to actually just put this out there as an brainstorm/analysis.
not necessarily for or against this card
Amanda's Plot:
I. Jason was playing Amanda+Katana with the combo of Kenjutsu+Quiet Street on top of Amanda's plot, which can only be stopped if the opponent plays enough Concentrate+Versus to get out of the trap the moment it spawns or you have to survive to a hand size low enough to replenish from a large draw and survive the following discards of his turn, into the next round to have enough removal/ignore effects to get rid of the Plot.
(hope this makes sense)
General Katana's persona/power is now back in the limelight.
it was a beautiful but soft lock of sorts. i even said it at end of match ... and i had intuition during, but i could not put my finger on it at the moment, which was to survive a turn or two without drawing up. then draw up a bunch of cards. (i did have a hand full of defense)
anyhow, once the cards get drawn back up, you may or may not be able to have enough necessary cards to remove the plot.
Because this game is mechanically created around a standard card cycle of 3 cards played per turn, Amanda's plot technically
allows all newly drawn cards to be removed each incoming cycle before they can be used.
Of course, most players try to play more than 4 cards per turn, but that's beside the point.
the 3 card cycle of 1 def, 1 special, 1 attack is pretty much heart of the game.
you get a Reveal of opponent's hand Along with the discard of 3 cards of choice and this is why the effect is very burdensome to fight against.
And then of course, with the Master's Attacks used for discard, basically, Amanda is paying 0 cards to discard 3 by choice.
but.. this is quite a setup.
1 pre-game get plot
1 pre-game get situation
1 pre-game get location
1 situation - Kenjutsu
1 location - Quiet Street
1 plot - The Raven
for bonus efficiency - 3 Master's Attack in hand (this is bonus but necessity per se)
6 cards in total to keep the combo rolling at max efficiency.
3 cards running the heart of the engine.
countered by
some combo of minimum of 6 cards (ignore/nullifies with at least 4 plot removals), Amanda can pick just the Plot removers and leave the nullifies, that's why you need at least 4.
II. and this really only removes half a problem, if you plan on playing special cards (especially events) later on.
III. so my questions are now ...
is it just the Plot?
is it just the Kenjutsu+Quiet Street?
(having the master attacks is bonus - but then, Amanda got Master boosted too in the set)
what happens if it does get broken? (one good General Katana exertion)
how long does it take to re-build?
can it be rebuilt realistically without the bring-in effects?
IV. what are instant ways to stop this combo?
Pre-Game discard to remove all Plots / Situations / Objects / Locations played or put into play last turn. (this slows down the overall combo but not a complete breaker)
General Katana's power
Terence Kincaid's power (but with giving up special slot)
anti-reveal cards? (i dont think i know them all)
Insightful planning can break a piece of it one time.
if Type1:
Nef Draw Up
Nef Discard to Endurance
(but these two powers were solutions to many things)
V. If you wanted to nerf any part of this combo, what do you nerf?
if nerfing the plot:
reduce number of cards picked?
maybe location for the discarded cards change from Discard Pile to bottom of endurance?
opponent gets chance to draw back some/all of the cards at end of MD/MD?
change the card type?
if nerfing the situation:
i dont see much of a way to change it currently unless maybe placing some kind of cost?
but that would not reduce it's effectiveness
if nerfing the location:
so many ways to nullify locations and playing a location removes it.
Quiet Street is a pretty powerful but manageable card.
But should a location be able to stop an Event or Situation or Object or Plot from being played?
if nerfing the pre-games:
...
For me, the most powerful part of the combo is the Pre-game bring in for the location.
the Location card can act defensively removing a location while simultaneously offensively putting in place a favored effect.
Though locations equally effect both players (actually not true - but for another thread), the mere act of playing a location is like two effects in one.
But because it is a pre-game slot used, i don't particularly mind it.
Another note: it seems The Raven does not mention it is a Reveal effect? was that intentional?
These are just some thoughts. And no, im not promoting the idea of handing people a General Katana Quickening to play with
every tournament. hah.