Is being "good" a thing

Hey! So, after the amazing response I got on this post detailing my struggle with planning while severely depressed, I decided to use some extra energy I’ve been having to condense all the answers I got into a master list for easy reference. I was initially just going to make and keep this but then decided that it might be useful to share in case you

1. didn’t see the initial post and feel this info would help to you, or
2. did see the post but didn’t have energy or time to read through all the responses.

Feel free to browse the list and see what may work for you if you are in a similar spot.
Things to note:

• Some of the advice given here seems to contradict itself (e.g., DO use habit and mood trackers, DON’T use habit and mood trackers) simply because multiple people gave their perspective and some of the things that worked well for some didn’t for others.
• I didn’t reference spreads unique to particular people and just focused on the general trends in suggestions – if you want to see descriptions/images of those unique spreads, I’d encourage you to read the original post.
• This advice was in the context of my particular situation (which again, you can refer to here) so it might not work for you if you are in a different situation and have different constraints.
• Lastly, if you have any ideas that you feel aren’t listed, mention them in the comments. Thank you again for all the support, and enjoy!

WHAT TO FOCUS ON

Prioritize celebrating what you do get done with Done Lists/Tada lists instead of just To Do lists!

• Consider ditching traditional habit trackers if you feel they discourage you. If you engage in a positive habit, mark it down! Then you’ll have a total of all the times you did do something instead of a tracker with glaring reminders of when you didn’t.
• Aside from habits, write at least one thing you did today, no matter how small (e.g., drank a glass of water)

Track goals in a way that shows what progress you have made even if you didn’t reach the goal

• E.g. If your goal was to get to inbox 0, write down the number of emails you did get through even if you didn’t reach 0. Acknowledge progress!

Focus less on productivity or SMART goal setting, and more on taking care of yourself and tasks that contribute to/maintain functioning.

• Once you have reached a baseline of functioning again, add goals and tasks outside of this
• Have a basic list of tasks you need to do every day that enrich you/are self-care e.g. (medication, hygiene, food and water intake, journaling, fresh air)

Focus on ‘Did I’ goals instead of ‘How Much’ goals (e.g. 'Did I drink water > Did I drink 8 glasses of water?')

• The bar for success then becomes when you did something, as opposed to only when you did a certain amount of something.
• Can be a good precursor to tracking ‘How Much’ goals once you have reached a point where you are doing the thing consistently.

THE METHOD (SPREADS AND STRUCTURE)

Create simple easy spreads

• Low set up time, takes little time to use, and don’t need to be kept up daily
• Create/buy stencils of various sized squares, letters or lines that can make the process of setting up a spread easier and faster

Stick to the extreme basics, or the original Ryder Carroll method

• Instead of weekly or daily spreads with initial set up, rapid log in your BuJo when you need to (even if that means your entries are scattered across the week or month and don’t have every day accounted for in chronological order)
• In this vein, consider avoiding spreads that are dependent on you having accomplished the previous days tasks – this way you can miss days without feeling like that jeopardizes your ability to use the journal.
• If relevant, note briefly in your journal skipped days, and why you skipped them.

Use a line a day spread that can give you an overview of your month

• one positive line about your day, or
• one line about how you were feeling that day

Gamify the structure of you BuJo or self-care tasks
Make it so you earn something if you do your tasks e.g.

• in-game ‘points’/XP
• a win in a battle/increase in battle statistics
• levelling up
• real-life rewards

If games are nor your forte, structure it differenlty but implement a reward system to create incentive

• create a tree for your habit. Draw it with no leaves. When you do the habit, add a green leaf. If you miss it, add a brown leaf. This way you are incentivized to keep the plant alive and flourishing with more green than brown leaves.
• Like with trackers, if you know the brown leaf/green leaf approach might make you fixate on the number of brown leaves (times you didn't do the habit), just focus on adding leaves when you do the habit and when you miss a day or three, don't add anything to the tree. This way the reward is getting to add leaves, and there is no reminder of when you didn't do that habit. Just a beautiful display of when you did!

Use Rolling Weeklies (sometimes called the Alistair Method)

• Create an undated master list of tasks to do, keep it in view, and slot them on to do on higher functioning days.

Break down tasks into their smallest manageable increments and tackle those
Instead of ‘do laundry’, break down tasks into:

1. remove clothes from laundry basket
2. take clothes to laundry room
3. put clothes in washing machine and start cycle
4. remove clothes from washing machine
5. put clothes in dryehang clothes up to dry
6. collect dry clothes
7. fold dry clothes
8. hang dry clothes

Detach any routines you make from a set time

• Focus on establishing the routine before you place it at a specific time or within a specific time frame e.g. do morning routine.
• This way you are free to focus on getting into the habit of the routine first without feeling obstructed by having to do it with time in mind. If you do the habit but at varying or inconsistent times, it is then still a success.
• Tackle time (when you want it to happen and how long you want it to take) once you have established this.

MENTAL HEALTH RELATED

Track things related to mental health

• Start with a few simple basic selfcare things – once the habit is ingrained, add more.
• Track mood, symptoms (when they occur, their severity) and try and identify any patters in when and why you may feel how you feel. Also be aware of what coping mechanisms do and don’t work.
• If you complete a task while experiencing a symptom, write the symptom on a column on the side of the task – this way you might notice a correlation between a symptom and the tasks you are able to do.
• If tracking your mood is too complex (multiple feelings at once) or discouraging (you mark 'sad' every day), stop!

Create a personalized resource on what to do when you feel at your worst (‘When I Feel Like Shit’ list)

• Steps to take
• Coping mechanisms that work
• Self-care you need to keep up on (medication, hygiene, food and water intake)
• Bad Thought/Good Thought list (The bad thoughts you are having, and corresponding good thoughts that give a different perspective – consider writing the good thoughts when you are clear headed and feeling good, so that you can reflect on them when you aren’t!)

Track what triggers particularly bad episodes or feelings

• This can help you avoid, manage or prepare for the trigger (if it's inevitable)

Create ‘bad day’, ‘okay day’, ‘and ‘good day’ to do lists that correspond with the kind of day you are having

• ‘Bad day’ – the absolute bare minimum you need to do to take care of yourself
• ‘Okay day’ – the bare minimum + simple task(s) to get done
• ‘Good day’ – bare minimum + more tasks that require more energy (might be a good idea to do things that will help you on worse days – meal prep, do biggest cleaning tasks, etc.)

***What would be classified as a bad, okay, and good day is very dependent on your mental health and state of functioning. Some days when I’m really non-functional, a good day is doing the bare minimum. Some days it is just staying alive. So you might categorize this differently than done here!
Forgive yourself for what you don’t or can’t get done – some days are just bad, and that’s okay!
Involve a gratitude practice in your bullet journaling

• Doesn't have to be detailed or long - it could be anything from a single word to a couple of sentences. It's a good way of reminding yourself of the bright spots of a particular day.
• No standard about what qualifies. If it's that you got through the day, add it!

(Even if you don’t have it) Check ADHD related subs for ideas on how to trick yourself into doing things!

ALTERNATIVES

Focus more on creating a stable routine and less on Bullet journaling and tasks.

• Waking up at a specific time
• Hygiene (teeth, shower)
• Meals
• Movement/exercise (even just a walk)
• A household chore

Resources and Recommendations

‘Level up your Life’ By Steven Kamb
Zinnia app for creativity and organization
domesticblisters on tiktok gives tips on what to do to keep your life functional cleaning wise
Unf*ck Your Habitat for tips on how to keep your life functional cleaning-wise, with articles on chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and cleaning-related trauma (Content warning for discussion of abuse and trauma)

Catalogue for Previous Weeks - F.A.Q
Song of the Week
This article is far too long to fit within the thread word limit, so it's going to be continued in a child comment which I'll link when it gets there. Furthermore, I've elected to name a few pokemons who technically have niches but too fringe to expand more on. Some of them can be found in previous weeks if appropriate.
RBY
Rhydon and Golem are the most prominent Ground types in the tier, the former with significant more usage stats in the modern metagame. Their shared Rock Ground typing hardwalls Zapdos and, to a much less prominent degree, Jolteon and Moltres. They’re also both countered by Exeggutor, as well as weak to the very popular Blizzard slamming them on their pitiful special bulk.
Rhydon is the significantly more popular of the two. It boasts better bulk, though not to a significant degree. More crucially, it has a 130 base Atk that allows its Earthquake to 2HKO Chansey, 3HKO Slowbro (sometimes), and 3HKO Snorlax. As it threatens these slower bulky mons, it can use many opportunities to set up a Substitute. Rhydon is the only viable user of the move this generation, seeing as it doesn’t block status in gen 1, but Rhydon was already immune to Thunder Wave. It needs to watch out for Sleep Powder & Stun Spore from Exeggutor, however. STAB Rock Slide helps it chase out the fliers which it walls, and the last move slot is reserved for Body Slam, whose only real use is to threaten Paralysis on Starmie or Exeggutor’s switching in. Rhydon can be an incredibly dangerous threat given some Paralysis support, and being immune to Thunder Wave itself is a great characteristic to have.
Golem’s advantages over Rhydon are: speed (which outspeeds nothing more than opposing Rhydons) and Explosion. Its Earthquake misses on very important benchmarks, and therefore it leverages its Explosion, the 2nd strongest move in the game behind Snorlax’s Self-Destruct, to wallbreak for its teammates. While Rhydon can be a late-game sweeper, Golem instead darts in and out of battle to scout for the perfect Explosion timing. OHKO-ing an opposing Tauros can be game-breaking, but it has to be very careful of Gengar or opposing Rock Grounds absorbing it.
Not mentioned: Sandslash
GSC
The ground typing becomes even more prominent in this generation. As Blizzard has been largely phased out, along with the legendary Electrics being on every single team spamming Thunder, every notable Ground types can act as a switch to them.
Nidoking is an excellent offensive threat in the GSC metagame. Aside from STAB EQ, it also learns the famed Ice Beam Thunder(bolt) coverage that allows it to punish many EQ switchins like Zapdos, Skarmory, or Cloyster. While its power without super effective coverage isn’t amazing, only boasting 92/85/85 offensive stats, the move that truly pushes it into great territory is Lovely Kiss. GSC Sleep isn’t as terrible as RBY Sleep, but it’s nevertheless a huge momentum swing. Nidoking therefore can take advantage of this to fire off strong attacks to eventually break through its usual checks given the right opportunity, something no other mixed sweepers can do. If desired, it can also run Thief to steal enemy checks’ Leftovers at the cost of a moveslot.
Steelix is the new evolution of the worthless Onyx, with excellent physical bulk and an auspicious Steel Ground typing. This makes it not weak against the common Hidden Power Ice which the legendary Electrics run, and acts as a near surefire counter to them unless they carry the rarer HP Water. Its base Atk is a pitiful 85, however, and therefore it relies more on Explosion like RBY’s Golem to break walls, but also carry Roar to act as a phaser against things like Mono-lax, Raikou, or Perish Trap Misdreavus. This shuffling also allows its team to rack up more Spikes damage. The last move is often Curse, which allows it to create some offensive pressure with a boost or two, and then abuse Roar even further.
Golem returns with renewed vigor. Having learnt Rapid Spin in a Spike-ridden metagame, Golem found itself as one of the better role compression mons that acts as an Electric check, Rapid Spinner, phaser, and Snorlax check all in one. It still never enters a battle without Explosion, and its poor special bulk means that it must scout enemy Hidden Power lest it becomes a free kill. Nevertheless, Rapid Spin is such an important utility that it sees consistent usage on many teams, so much so that the rare Hidden Power Water from Zapdos or Raikou are mostly aimed to remove it. Unlike other Spinners, Golem matches up poorly against the spiking Cloyster and Forretress, and requires offensive support elsewhere to make sure the hazards stay off.
Marowak boasts the strongest Earthquake in the game. While somewhat gimmicky, its Swords Dance set can give it the maximum 999, and with Spikes support can OHKO nearly the entire metagame at +2. However, this requires serious backup, as Marowak is otherwise painfully slow, frail, and cannot hold Leftovers. Furthermore, help against Skarmory is highly appreciated, as even with 999 Atk, a Rock Slide only 3HKOs the metal bird, who is immune to Spikes and can proceed to phaze Wak out. The 4th moveslot is usually either HP Bug to slam Exeggutor on the switch, or Rest to give it a second chance at sweeping. To get Marowak to work, some support with Agility Baton Pass from Jolteon, or Screens from Blissey is recommended, especially since the latter can Heal Bell off the sleep from Rest.
Rhydon has taken quite a fall in viability since the last generation. With weaknesses to many special attacks, Machamp, and Earthquakes, Rhydon finds itself hard-pressed to accomplish much. Unlike Golem, it provides no utility for the team aside from Roar, and the Snorlax-checking Steelix isn’t weak to Grass, ice, nor 4x weak to Water. Rhydon runs a Curse set to take advantage of its strong 130 Atk and natural physical bulk, as being slower in this generation means your Roar will go first. It cannot get past Skarmory, but can still provide some strong hits to break walls with.
Quagsire’s sole niche is a near fool-proof counter for the legendary Electrics, being immune to their Thunders and not weak to either HP Ice or Water. Its typing makes it a decent mixed wall, as not a lot of pokemons run Grass moves this generation, and can use the free turns its ok bulk generates to set up Belly Drum. EQ and HP Rock makes an ok attacking combo, and Rest can be used for longevity. If unable to set up, however, it’s defensively outclassed by the likes of Miltank or Raikou, and offensively outclassed by Marowak or Snorlax. One must build their team capable of taking advantage of this offensive defensive combination to justify using Quagsire.
Not mentioned: Piloswine, Sandslash, Donphan, Gligar, Nidoqueen
ADV
Zapdos continues to be a prominent threat, and the rise of Tyranitar, Aerodactyl, and general Rock Slide coverage gives Grounds even more viability. Lastly, an immunity to Sand in a tier where Tyranitar is king effectively boosts the longevity of all Ground pokemons, allowing them to actually gain health in Sand with Leftovers.
Swampert is the face of bulky waters in gen 3. It’s one of the most sturdy DD Tyranitar counters there are, resisting Rock unlike its Water-type brethren, and can also act as a catch-all check to many more prominent physical sweepers in the tier like Metagross, Aerodactyl, and DD Salamence. It’s so prominent that it basically forced many, many pokemon to run HP Grass just to have a chance to get past it. As a pokemon itself, however, Swampert can be as defensive or as offensive as one likes, possessing decent mixed offensive stats to complement its STAB EQ and Hydro Pump / Surf, while carrying Ice Beam for many Flying types, especially Salamence, and Grasses, like Celebi. It also has access to the great Focus Punch, which allows it to threaten Snorlax and Blissey while OHKO-ing max HP Tyranitar, something its Hydro Pump cannot do. Toxic, Roar, Protect, Refresh are all excellent moves for a more defensive variant. No matter what set it’s running, Swampert’s role in ADV OU cannot be understated, and is therefore one of the most common offensive / defensive threats of the metagame.
Dugtrio has gained Arena Trap this generation, and becomes one of the best revenge killers of the metagame. While it’s not very strong, the introduction of Choice Band gives it the power to achieve crucial KOs, and its amazing base 120 Spe means it can outrun basically any threat it encounters. The list of its victims is vast: Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, Blissey, Celebi, opposing Dugtrio, Breloom, and many, many more. It’s undoubtedly a metagame defining threat, as something like Jolteon is considered superior to the legendary Raikou by many simply due to its Dugtrio-beating speed and access to Baton Pass to escape trapping. It’s also a very important team member of special offence, an almost required piece that exists solely to reliably remove Blissey, sometimes by the otherwise unseen Beat Up.
Claydol is the Rapid Spinning Ground type of ADV. Its unique Ground Psychic typing along with Levitate means it resists all of Ground, Fighting, Electric, and Rock, and is immune to Spikes and Dugtrio’s Arena Trap. All of this means that Claydol finds many opportunities to switch in and get off a spin against many common attacks like Rock Slide, EQ, Thunderbolt etc. It also possesses a STAB Psychic to threaten out the most common spinblocker of the tier: Gengar. Finally, Explosion gives it utility as a wallbreaker, especially if running Adamant to threaten out most of the Explosion-resistant pokemon with Earthquake. However, its support requires teammates’ help against Skarmory, as it can’t meaningfully threaten the metal bird, who often forces the issue with Drill Peck.
Flygon is last. Its Ground Dragon typing and Levitate means it’s also resistant to QuakeSlide and Spikes, while also not being weak to HP Bug from DD TTar or HP Grass aimed at a teammate’s Swampert. While its 100/80/100 offensive stats won’t be winning awards, STAB EQ and a myriad of offensive options almost guarantees it’ll find a target to hit, and its defensive profile is excellent for finding chances to enter the field. It can even run a more defensive Protect Toxic set that abuses its defensive capabilities to spread status and break down many teams late-game.
Not mentioned: Gligar, Steelix, Donphan, Marowak, Camerupt, Rhydon
DPP
Stealth Rocks (SR) was introduced in this generation and became the most influential move in the metagame. Coincidentally, Ground types get them.
Swampert returns once again as the premier bulky water. With Tyranitar as popular as ever with physical Pursuit, Superpower, and STAB Stone Edge, Swampert’s defensive capabilities are called into need once again. That said, the physical special split also gave it access to physical water STAB in Waterfall and special Ground STAB in Earth Power, along with extra Ice Punch and Superpower coverage for the physical side. The most popular sets feature SR in some way, to guarantee Pert value as either a lead or a role player, either with max Atk for more damage, or mixed defence to be more of a tank. In this capacity, physical coverage is far more popular. If even more offence is desired, a bulky Choice Band set that runs Stone Edge for Zapdos and Gyarados can do a bit of wallbreaking, or even Modest special set with Hydro Pump spamming. However, these more offensive options remain unpopular compared to the utility set.
Gliscor features an excellent Ground Flying typing that gives it only 2 weaknesses, a SR neutrality but a Spikes immunity, and resistant to the new Close Combat and Superpower. 75/125/75 defences make for an excellent physical defensive profile, and 95/95 offensive stats are surprisingly decent for a mon with such great bulk. Its Stallbreaker set is its most popular, running Taunt to shut down recovery attempts on walls while also preventing offensive mons from setting up on it, and Roost for reliable recovery. If some offensive power is needed, it can run a Swords Dance set to abuse its natural bulk to gain multiple boosts due to its incredible staying power. Its attacks usually consisted of the mandatory STAB EQ, Ice Fang for Flyings, Dragons, and the occasional grasses, and perhaps Thunder Fang for bulky waters or Wing Attack for Breloom. Taunt and SR also make Gliscor a decent lead, as it can U-Turn out to keep momentum.
Flygon appreciated the generational shift very much. It gained an excellent physical dragon STAB in Outrage, and U-Turn allows it to run a very effective Choice Scarf set to utilise its good speed and great neutral coverage in just Outrage and Earthquake. Its last slot on a Scarf set can therefore be very flexible, either Thunder Punch for Gyarados, Dragon Claw for more stable STAB, or Toxic to cripple a wall. The new Life Orb also synergises well with its mixed move pool, allowing it to drop powerful Draco Meteor while still running Earthquake and Fire Blast to crush the Steels that resist its Dragon STAB. Roost can be used on this set to offset Life Orb recoil and give Flygon more general longevity, but if Expert Belt is run instead, U-Turn is always an excellent option.
Nidoqueen, despite its NU placement, is an excellent OU Stall machine. Its claim to fame is the new Toxic Spikes, and on stall teams the Poison Ground typing provide resistant to Fighting and Rock, which couples with 90/87/85 mixed bulk to check the likes of Breloom, Lucario, and Tyranitar, especially since EQ as a coverage move is rarely ran, and Poison Point can punish a lot of the U-Turn spammers in the tier. A lack of recovery does hurt, and thus Nidoqueen prefers Protect to get as much recovery out of Black Sludge as possible. While Nidoqueen’s offences aren’t anything special, its vast movepool means that its moveset can be specifically tailored to cover the threats which the rest of its team does not.
Hippowdon is the alternate Sand setter of the tier. While most prefer Tyranitar’s offensive prowess, Hippo itself is a near sure-fire Tyranitar counter, boasting a titanic physical bulk of 108/118 that can sit on most of the physical threats of the metagame. It complements this by excellent recovery in Slack Off, and SR which allows Hippo to always get pressure out of the switch. Roar synergises with this even more, racking up damage on the pesky flying types or Levitate-rs that otherwise walls it. If a more direct option is preferred, Ice Fang can slam the Gliscor and Dragons. Still, since it relies on pure bulk more than resistances to wall physical threats, it’s usually very specially frail, and has a weakness against some physical threats in Gyarados and Breloom.
Mamoswine boasts a meaty 130 Atk stat, and a unique STAB combination of Ground and Ice. Its Ice Shard is an excellent priority move which knocks the life out of dangerous threats like Latias, Flygon, and Gliscor, its STAB EQ crushes most neutral targets, and for everything else, there’s Stone Edge. Life Orb is the most popular item, allowing it to switch moves and especially abuse Ice Shard to finish off faster threats should the opportunity arise. While Superpower is a fine 4th move to slam Steels not weak to EQ like Bronzong or Skarmory, and OHKO Blissey without a second thought, Stealth Rocks can be used here to exert some pressure as the opponent switches out. Choice Band is an alternative, but locking into any of those four moves can be exploited heavily. Focus Sash makes Mamo a decent SR lead as well. Despite all this, its typing gives it a lot of common weaknesses, and 80 speed isn’t nearly as good as it used to be.
Quagsire lived under Swampert’s shadow in gen 3, but access to reliable recovery in Recover as well as Encore to counter setup sweepers gave it a niche this generation. As Swampert’s more often than not opt for offence this generation, Quagsire is a fine defensive Water Ground type that walls Starmie (with Water Absorb), Metagross, or Tyranitar. Its moveset is very predictable, however, as after the prerequisite Earthquake, the last move is either Toxic for more residual damage or Ice Punch for Flygon or Dragonite. Quagsire is extremely predictable, and must be used with consideration.
Gastrodon is yet another Water Ground type. While it isn’t immune to Water, and therefore doesn’t counter Starmie or Gyarados, it has Sticky Hold which makes it immune to Trick from a lot of choice-d pokemons. Its sole unique role is therefore as a Curse sweeper that’s immune to Trick, who sports good mixed bulk and Recover for longevity. Waterfall + Earthquake a.l.a Swampert is good enough coverage, but it’ll struggle to beat the likes of Gyarados or Latias with such limited coverage.
Rhyperior is a fierce wallbreaker, as 140 base Atk is nothing to scoff at, and its attacking options ranging from STAB EQ + Stone Edge to coverage in Aqua Tail, Megahorn, or Fire Punch are all excellent options. However, it’s really, really slow, and therefore easily forced out with its double 4x weaknesses and poor special bulk, even with Solid Rock or Sandstorm SpD boost to soften them. Choice Band is by far the most powerful option, boasting the ability to 2HKOs everything in the metagame with the right coverage. However, it doesn’t have a lot of opportunities to fire off this power due to its speed and poor matchup against the bulky waters of DPP like Swampert or Milotic.
Donphan gained SR and Ice Shard this generation. It’s now a fairly respectable Rapid Spinner in the metagame with excellent physical bulk and priority. For the most part, it’s a fine support pokemon that aims to set up SR, takes a few physical hits, and threatens revenge kills against Dragons with Ice Shard. It’s a very one dimensional pokemon in this aspect, but its effectiveness as a Rapid Spinner is appreciated.
Not mentioned: Dugtrio (R.I.P), Steelix, Nidoking, Camerupt, Gastrodon
BW
Landorus-Therian is a name one should not fail to keep in mind. It has Gliscor’s auspicious typing, combined with an excellent ability in Intimidate, fearsome 145/105/91 mixed offensive stats, and a respectable 89/90/80 bulk if kept in mind its typing and ability. Lando-T is is one of the best pokemon of gen 5 OU, and is one of the best glues for any good non-rain team. Its Choice Scarf set is an excellent scout and revenge-killer, with a strong U-Turn to punish the like of Latios. Lando-T is in fact so common that it also runs HP Ice for the mirror matchup, despite it not hitting too many other relevant targets. Earthquake is its STAB move of choice, but any other move can be slotted in and out depending on sets. Stone Edge is a natural pairing on the Scarf set, but Superpower is a fine option to drop Skarmory, Ferrothorn, or Air Balloon Heatran. If an offensive pivot is desired, just drop the Scarf and speed for a bulky spread and either Leftovers or Rocky Helmet, and you have one of the best physical checks of the metagame against the dangerous Terrakion. Lastly, access to either Swords Dance, Rock Polish, or even both on the same set can turn Lando-T into a fearsome sweeper at the drop of a hat.
Excadrill is another gen 5 addition, and after a tumultuous history of ban and unban, it settles into the metagame as the best non-rain Rapid Spinner, a.l.a old Donphan. However, it instead boasts Steelix’s typing and a 135 base Atk, making sure that Jellicient cannot simply switch into its Spin with impunity in fear of eating a STAB Earthquake. Its most common set is an offensive spread but with Leftovers and Protect for longevity, befitting of a Rapid Spinner. Unlike most other Grounds, it prefers STAB Iron Head to Rock coverage, as the former hit Latios harder, and can help it beat Breloom. As a Spinner, it can either lean into an offensive spread with STABs, or a more defensive SpD spread that prioritises its laundry list of resistances, especially to Dragon, for better longevity. Though Sand Rush is banned, a Scarf set works perfectly fine to revenge kill, or get up a desperate fast Rapid Spin before falling. Sand Force comes in nicely here, as Exca runs all 3 types of moves that get the boost in its STABs + Rock Slide.
Garchomp dropped to OU this generation, but perhaps that was the chance it needed to flex its power on the metagame. While it’s never seen without its trusty Earthquake, the sheer breadth of sets this pokemon can and does run boggles the mind. The most popular is a very straightforward Choice Scarf set to elevate a great 102 base Spe, and would be great even with just 2 moves in Outrage and Earthquake. It can afford to run Dual Chop for Sash Zam or Multiscale Dragonite, or just straight up Dragon Claw as a more reliable 3rd move. The last move on a scarf set is usually a fire coverage, either Fire Fang or Fire Blast, to roast the likes of Skarmory, Bronzong, or Ferrothorn. As a sweeper, Garchomp leverages its forced switches well with a Substitute Swords Dance set that uses Salac Berry to boost its Spe past most opposing Scarf revenge killers, as its sheer STAB combination is so good on its own. If desired, one can run just an offensive Stealth Rocks set like other Ground types, but Garchomp’s Rough Skin means it has extra synergy with Rocky Helmet that really punishes U-Turn while being simultaneously immune to Volt Switch.
Gliscor gains the excellent Poison Heal this generation, giving it amazing passive recovery and immunity to statuses. For the most part, it uses its typing and access to reliable recovery to spread Toxic with Substitute, while having STAB Earthquake to slam the Steels and Poisons immune to the status. Being always poisoned means that it now has access to Facade as a really strong neutral move to complement its EQ, and thus the Swords Dance Roost set yet see a healthy amount of usage. While Gliscor can’t get past Skarmory at all, its general positioning against the rest of the physical metagame means it will probably always have value in a team, especially if running Taunt. As with all Ground types this generation, it can run a support Stealth Rocks set as well that spread statuses in the meantime.
Mamoswine is once again an excellent offensive threat. Having learnt Icicle Crash as a strong STAB Ice attack this generation, its general offensive coverage with just its STABs is very notable. As DragMag becomes a legitimate offensive force in the metagame, Mamoswine can be found with or against them, leverage Ice Shard to shut down the Salamence, Dragonite, or Garchomps one can find on those teams. Superpower is a great general coverage move to slam Ferrothorn and Kyurem-B with, and Stealth Rocks is always an option that goes well with priority and a Focus Sash.
Gastrodon gained a water immunity this generation, and has propelled into stardom as an anti-rain wall. Its distinction comes from being a Keldeo check that isn’t weak to Pursuit, unlike Jellicient and Latios, and instead spreads status of its own with Toxic and the ridiculous Scald. It also stops Thundurus-T cold, something many other Keldeo checks cannot claim. Physically defensive is the most common spread to fulfil this niche, and with proper support from the rest of its teammates to cover its vulnerability to Toxic and Grass types, Gastrodon is a stalwart defensive answer to many of the metagame’s biggest threats.
Seismitoad is Gastrodon but with Stealth Rocks, in essence. It does everything else Gastrodon does a little worse due to its poorer bulk and no access to Recover, but the role compression can be highly desirable on more offensive teams who prioritise the momentum that hazards give, rather than a long-term wall like Gastro is.
Hippowdon once again plays second fiddle to Tyranitar as a physically defensive Sand setter. Reliable recovery means it can act as a check to many strong physical threats and prevent their setting up with Whirlwind, while setting up Stealth Rocks of its own. Its poor special bulk and weakness to Rain spam means that it might not always put it as much work as it wants to against opposing Rain, but if you want your Sand setter to also be a physical wall, Hippo’s the one for the job.
Not mentioned: Dugtrio (R.I.P), Golurk, Nidoking, Nidoqueen
Continued here in a comment

I woke up later than I expected, the sun shining on my face through the only bedroom window not covered by a blind. Had Herbie not cried since…when? I sat up slowly and picked up the baby monitor. It was on, and I could see the black and white image of his crib, his small form still beneath the blue blanket my mother had given him. I began to feel uneasy as I thought back to the night before.
I…I remembered putting him down at eleven and then checking on him at midnight before heading to bed, but usually he would wake me up between three and four and again between six and eight. I looked at my phone. It was ten fifteen. Had he really slept through the night for once, or had I slept through him crying?
Or was something wrong?
Pulling back the sheets, I jumped up, my heart pounding in time with my steps as I ran down the hall to his room. The house was so silent, and when I went into the nursery, the instinct that something was wrong just grew stronger. The room felt empty and cold.
Looking over into the crib, I was reaching out to pull back the blanket when I stopped myself. I could already see the rise and fall of his chest, and his face was unblemished by discomfort or bad dreams. He was sleeping well and peacefully, and here I was about to wake him up instead of being grateful for a few hours peace.
I was about to ease back out and go make some coffee when I heard a funny little snoring sound. Herbie had never snored before, though I guessed there was a first time for everything, especially with a three-month old baby. Still, I felt a new twist of worry. What if he was getting sick, and that wasn’t a snore, it was a wheeze? Wincing at the idea of disturbing him, I gently pulled back the blanket and picked him up.
He didn’t stir, his expression not changing from the placid mask of someone lost deep in slumber. This worried me more, as he normally woke up as soon as I touched him, but I held my fear in check as I eased him to my shoulder and put my ear to his face.
It didn’t sound like a wheeze, but it wasn’t a snore either, exactly. It was a thinner, more rhythmic sound that grew quiet and then louder, but was always there. Still thinking about congestion, I lifted Herbie up a bit and put my ear to his chest. The sound was clearer here, a whirring thrum that seemed to vibrate from somewhere in his core. That wasn’t right at all. I needed to call the doctor and carry…
That’s when I felt the hard place on his back.
My fingers had just brushed it, but the wrongness of it was immediately obvious. Under his onesie, right in the middle of his back, was a long, flat hardness that was cool to the touch. What was that? Laying him back down on his stomach, I pulled the onesie down as my breath caught in my throat.
It was a coin slot.
A metal coin slot, like you might find on an old-fashioned machine at one of those antique arcades or fairs. I reached out and touched the edges of it, thinking somehow it had gotten stuck to him, but no. It was flush against the flesh of the baby’s back, hard brass grown seamlessly into soft, pink skin. My mind was reeling, torn between confusion and fear and the growing realization that Herbie still hadn’t woken up.
That’s when I noticed the small gray envelope jutting out from the tangle of blanket nearby. Plucking it out, I felt the weight of something small and hard inside, and when I opened it, a thin silver coin tumbled out into my palm. Still in shock, I turned it over in my hand, studying it. One side was embossed with the face of a smiling woman crowned with a corona of sunlight. The other side showed the same woman, her thin face hard and sinister as she glared up at the moon. My eyes went back to Herbie and then to the envelope, where I could see a thin line of cramped writing on the inside of the upper flap.
This is better. It’s coin-operated.
I started to shudder, the envelope fluttering from my hand as I picked Herbie up again and began to rub his face and his arms, his legs and his feet, desperately crooning for him to wake up, to get up now. It was time to wake up and quit playing this joke. He just lay limply in my arms, purring that strange rusty-sounding snore without stirring at all.
I put him back down, tears blurring my vision as I tried to decide what to do. I should call 911. He must be sick, or I was crazy, and either way, we needed help. But…what if this was real? And what if using the coin fixed things somehow?
I hadn’t remembered dropping the coin, but after a moment of panic I found it on top of the blanket, gleaming dully as I held it in my hand. This was all insane, like some kind of nightmare. But maybe if I played by the rules, I’d wake up and everything would be okay.
So I turned Herbie back over and tugged down his onesie again. The coin slot was still there, cool to the touch and solidly real. Holding my breath, I put the coin up to the opening and dropped it in.
There was a muffled clink! and then the whirring snore grew louder for a moment before turning into a yawning sigh. Herbie turned his head and tried to push himself over as he began to wake. I let out a gasp and picked him up, looking into his face and finding his eyes. He was looking back at me, his expression drowsy but interested as he gave me what might have been a slight smile.
He was okay. He was okay and I was just messed up or…but no. The coin slot was still back there. And I could still hear a low-frequency whirring coming from inside him somewhere. Not the wet beating of a heart, but the dry orbits of an intricate clockwork.
My skin went cold as I eased the thing back down into the crib. It tried to hold on to me, but I gently pushed its grasping hands away. I…I didn’t know what this thing was, but it wasn’t my baby. Turning, I started out of the room. I’d get my phone and call Mom and then I’d go looking for Herbie. Maybe he was still in the house, but I had a feeling he was gone. Someone had taken him and left that envelope, left that thing in…
“Mommy?”
I froze, turning around slowly as Herbie’s face peered at me over the edge of the crib. How was that possible? It would have had to jump several inches and pull itself up to the edge, and Herbie was a long time from that or being able to form words.
“Mommy?” The tone was harder now, almost accusing, and my baby’s face was drawing down into a pouting frown.
I felt anger mixing with my fear as I took a step forward. “I’m not your mommy. Whatever you are, you aren’t mine.” The thing froze for a moment, and I had the thought that maybe it had broken or wound down. But then its cheek jumped as it began to pull itself over the edge. “I am. I’m your baby.” Grunting, it tugged its belly over the railing and flopped down onto the ground. Despite myself, I felt a moment of horrified panic that it had hurt itself. A moment later, the panic turned to terror as its limbs rotated with a whir and it flipped itself over and began to crab-walk toward me. “Come hold me, Mommy.”
I was back-peddling now, trying to close the door before it reached me, but it was too fast, leaping forward through the closing crack and landing on my chest. It squealed in my face with a sound like grinding gears as sparks glowed from somewhere down in its throat. Screaming, I grabbed it and slammed it into the wall and then the floor before kicking it away from me.
The meat of it was ruined now, the fleshy covering ripped and torn in a dozen places to reveal bits of gleaming metal and coiled wire, gears and axles flailing disconsolately as their places in the orderly whole were disrupted and destroyed. It was dying now, but even still it called to me, crawling to me as it clicked together pink gums made of thin strips of beaten tin.
“Mo…my. I’m your…bab…nowww…”
I was terrified to approach it, but my revulsion and rage was growing again, and I needed to make sure it was dead and stayed that way. Darting forward, I stomped on it, once, twice, and then a final third time, and that’s when the silver coin popped free from the mechanical ruin, rolling down the hall a few feet before spiraling and falling down, the evil face of the moonlight queen glaring up into the sky or perhaps toward me.
I was half-crazy as I searched the nursery and then the house for Herbie. When I saw no sign of him, I called Mom, screaming and crying into the phone before hanging up. I’d upset her, but it couldn’t be helped. She sounded as confused as I was, but I felt sure she’d call the police like I asked. I had other things to do.
I’d had the thought that I could go back and look at the recorded footage from the baby monitor. See what had happened to Herbie and when. My hands were shaking as I picked it up from beside the bed and tapped on the screen. It always kept the last 24 hours, so I jumped back ten hours and then started fast-forwarding through the footage. I found what I was looking for at 3:15.
A pair of small figures appeared from the shadows in the far corner of the room. There was no door or window there, so I wasn’t sure where they’d really come from, but I was more concerned with what they were doing. Helping each other up, they pulled themselves over into the crib. One of them scooped up Herbie even as the other was opening a dark sack and pulling his replacement out onto the bed. Weeping, I watched as Herbie began to wake and struggle, a tiny, furred hand covering his mouth before he could let out a frightened wail. The other had placed the blanket over the fake and was now opening up the sack again even as the one holding my baby stuffed Herbie inside. In a moment, they were back over the side of the crib and gone into the dark.
I dropped the monitor onto the bed and ran back into the nursery to check it. Maybe there was a hole in the wall or a secret door. Something I could use to follow wherever they had taken my baby. I just needed to check every inch of the…
Nursery.
Except it wasn’t a nursery anymore. The room was bare—no crib, no toys or changing table, no stacks of books or rocking chair. Even the walls were the stark grey they’d been when I first moved in two years before. How was any of this happening?
Stumbling back into the hall, I saw that the ruined baby-thing was gone too. There was no sign of its broken bits or torn disguise. There was no sign of anything, not even…
The coin.
My heart leapt as I saw it still dully gleaming from its resting place on the carpet, the woman’s face still harsh and displeased in the silver moonlight of some distant night. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was proof. Proof of what had happened. Proof that someone had taken my Herbie.
I let out a small scream as the doorbell rang. The police! They were here and I could show them the coin and the video and they’d help me get my baby back.
When I opened the door, I saw it was Mom instead, her face drawn and pale as she looked at me. “I…Brenda…are you all right?”
I stared at her, incredulous. “Of course not! They took him! They took him and we have to get him back! Did you call the cops?”
Her face drew down further into a frown. “No…No, honey. I didn’t. You weren’t making any sense. You were talking about a baby? What baby?”
Stepping back, I felt a chill run up my spine. “My baby. Herbie. They took him.”
She followed me inside, shaking her head slightly. “Baby, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t have a baby. You never have.”
I could barely breathe. “That…That’s not true. I have a baby. Little Herbie. What’s wrong with you?” I started to cry again. “They…they took him, and tried to trick me or trade with me. They gave me a little mechanical baby that looked like him, but it wasn’t him, and then it attacked me, and then I saw them take him, and the room was a nursery, but now its not, and I need you to know this. I need you to remember and help me find him.”
My mother stepped forward and swept me up in a hug, stroking my hair as I wept against her shoulder. “There, there. I think you’re sick, honey. We need to get you some help. It’ll be okay.” I’d wrapped my arms around her neck, but now I started to recoil. How could she not remember him? I was still pulling away when my fingertips brushed against something in the back of her neck.
It was a coin slot.
I froze, staring at her as she smiled at me, her eyes jumping slightly to the left and right as she watched me, holding me tighter with the softly ratcheting ticks of some internal metronome. “This is better. Just accept it.”
She was too strong for me to push away, so I dug into my pocket instead. Found the coin that rested there, caressing the queen’s cheek as I pulled it free and reached around its neck to the coin slot imbedded into whatever it called a spine. I saw its eyes widen as I dropped the coin in.
And then it began to scream.

Major Features

• Added logistic requests to spidertron.
• Train stop allows to set limit of incoming trains.

Features

• The continue button now respects the last type of game played (single player, MP host, MP client).
• Added support to use blueprints, deconstruction planners, upgrade planners, and modded selection tools from the map view.
• Hovering the alert notification will show arrows on the edge of the pointing to alert locations.
• Rich text icon selector.
• Newly unlocked recipes are highlighted until hovered.
• Spidertron remotes now allow to add queue commands and a command to follow any entity.
• Added vertical/horizontal blueprint flipping.
• Transport belt drag building is locked into a line, can be turned off by an interface setting.
• Ghosts can be fast replaced and rotated.
• Ghost build can be used to fast replace non-ghost entities, which results in an upgrade order with (optionally) a direction change order.

Minor Features

• When editing blueprint: Added a way to specify relative grid position for blueprint that is snapping to absolute grid. Blueprint preview rendering box is updated based on selected grid size and position.
• Inventory transfer works on empty equipment grid slot the same as on empty inventory slot (moves all).
• Equipment can be placed by moving.
• Cursor replenishes when placing into the equipment grid the same way as when building in world.
• Spidertron item shows its color.
• Added a way to reset spidertron remote.
• Spider tries to move legs away when they are blocking robots construction.
• Power poles/underground belts built by dragging logic works also with ghost building.
• Power pole ghosts show connections.
• Power pole connections are saved in the blueprint. They still auto connect to other poles outside the blueprint.
• Entities marked for deconstruction show the target upgrade.
• Added tags, worker robots, rail signal states and recipes toggles into the settings to what show on the map.
• Added support to use the add-stop and add-temporary-stop controls for the train you're driving in the map view.
• Added hotkey (F10) to switch between viewed player in replay.
• Added support to reset mod settings in the "failed to load mods" startup GUI.
• Expanded undo to work with fast replace and upgrade planner.
• Added SteelSeries GameSense support. more

Graphics

• Added unique technology icon for Advanced material processing 2 (Electric furnace).
• Changed postprocessing effect in zoomed-to-world view.
• Added detailed night lighting of entities.

Optimisations

• Multithreaded belt update logic.
• Overall small entity update time reduction + statistics of how much update time is taken by individual entities.

Balancing

• Productivity module 1 decreases speed of the machine by 5% instead of 15%.
• Productivity module 2 decreases speed of the machine by 10% instead of 15%.

Changes

• the Close GUI key-binding (default value is "E") was renamed to Confirm Gui. It works the same as before for many cases (just closing the GUI), but in a lot of other cases, it works as confirm, which generally means the same as clicking the "green button".
• Renamed clean-cursor to clear-cursor on all the relevant places (locale, key-binding name)
• Equipment placing now uses the build key-binding instead of the cursor transfer. The default same key-binding is the same.
• Changed maximum temperature of all fluids apart water and steam to be the same as the default.
• Poles built by dragging are now actually build on the maximum connection distance from the last built pole instead of the previous logic that was working weird in a lot of corner cases.
• Underground belt build by dragging now accept the existing piece you start building on as part of the dragging logic.
• Removed 'mineable wreckage' entity. more
• Removed the (+/-) buttons for logistic requests, instead they expand dynamically when something is put in the last line.
• Wave defense can now only be won by launching a rocket.
• Invalid names of icons in preview icons of blueprint tools now load as unknowns instead of canceling the import string process for that item. more
• Fluids in train circuit logic treat summed < 1 fluid values as 1 instead of 0.
• Clicking non-empty quickbar slot with something in cursor sets the quickbar slot to the cursor value rather than selecting the quickbar value.
• Invalid rail signals output no values into circuit network.
• Added a confirmation message when loading saves with removed mods or changed mod settings.
• The cut tool now properly includes trains. It showed trains in the selection preview, but ignored them.
• Added alternate control locales for keyboard and mouse scroll control binds. more
• Disabled loading of saves before 0.18.0 version (You can use 1.0 to load older saves and re-save them).
• Adjusted the artillery turret collision box so it is possible to squeak through.
• Removed the 'Rocket silos stats' GUI.
• Arithmetic combinator 'Each' signal can now be used in either left or right parameter.

Gui

• Added unique icons for technology effects.
• Added list of affected entities to the technology effect tooltips.
• Menu background now features various factory simulations instead of a static picture.
• When entering vehicle, the vehicle window is shown next to the character gun window, instead of replacing it.
• Moved the charactevehicle gun window to the left of the quickbar.
• Removed the "Character" tab from the character window.
• Changed the flat character screen option to be defaulted to true.
• Added held stack item slot for inserter window.
• Improved the tips and tricks window: it contains index, search and allows interactive text tags to be used.
• Added search to loading/saving, settings, shortcuts selection, multiplayer host settings windows and rename stop.
• Moved the ammo/used-up/health indicator of items down, so it is not obstructed by the number.
• Added underline for hyperlinks.
• Personal request button have custom text + red diode when it is out of network or when the personal requests are turned off.
• Logistic/Trash request buttons show only one number when the trash and request count is the same.
• Train elapsed time condition has confirmation button and only updates the time when confirmed.
• Fixed styles for: browse games GUI, host game settings, opened character and select upgrade slot.
• Tabbing into a textfield selects the text.
• Removed tiles stay in the list of components in the blueprint setup GUI with 0, the same way as entities, so they can be easily enabled.
• Added minimum/maximum temperature and heat capacity info to the fluid tooltip.
• Added usage instruction to capsules/fish.
• Fixed fish tooltip so it shows consumption/healing instead of shooting/damage.

Sounds

• Added blueprint building sound.
• Added undo sound.
• Added sound for rail planner activation.
• Added sound for copy/paste.
• Added sound for opening items and armor.
• Added sound for selection start and selection finish. Related to blueprint tools.
• Added sound for pipe to ground as per the pipe.
• Added sound effects and a specific music track to the main menu.
• Assembling Machine 2 and 3 made less noisy
• Robot repair reworked to sound more high tech
• Removed dead space at the end of some sounds which may have stopped sounds playing
• Ghost rail building now has the ghost building sound
• Lowered volume on game won and lost sounds
• Assembling Machine 2 and 3 made less noisy.
• Robot repair reworked to sound more high tech.
• Removed dead space at the end of some sounds which may have stopped sounds playing.
• Ghost rail building now has the ghost building sound.
• Lowered volume on game won and lost sounds.

Bugfixes

• Fixed that copying the spider in the map editor while it had equipment crashed the game. more
• Fixed a crash when trying to use different weapons in the spider. more
• Fixed a crash when reading/writing blueprint icons through the Lua API in some cases. more
• Fixed a crash when importing blueprint books in some cases. more
• Fixed that the spidertron would still be marked as moving when it wasn't resulting in the 'enable logistics while moving' option not working. more
• Fixed splitter behaviour when putting to it directly and it has the priority output blocked. more
• Fixed that spidertron descriptions didn't show the custom name. more
• Fixed building curved rails with damaged rails could duplicate rails. more
• Fixed logistic request slot highlighting when they're changed through circuit connections. more
• Fixed a game freeze when empty unit groups are told to build bases. more
• Fixed LuaTrain::path_end_stop would return nil when train had path extended due to waypoint.
• Fixed the spidertron preview box.
• Fixed that the blueprint book preview disappeared after editing it.
• Fixed that spidertron and its remote weren't swappable.
• Fixed that players could be stuck in walls when building them.
• Removed the possibility to specify alpha when changing player color by command.
• Fixed LuaInventory::find_empty_stack would return only filtered stacks when filter is provided. more
• Fixed that blueprint library slots padding was too big.
• Fixed that some items didn't render properly in the world. Specifically blueprint like items, spidertrons and spider remotes. more
• Fixed a crash when a modded fast train goes through junction occupied by another train. more
• Fixed replay desync when existing save is given to a server which promotes or demotes a player based on its own admin list. more
• Fixed train GUI instructions for translations that are long. more
• Fixed interaction with the delete button in the blueprint setup. more
• Fixed that map preview in the train window wasn't squashing its size when needed. more
• Fixed that force-building blueprint from the blueprint library on top of an existing electric pole triggered wire removal instead of blueprint building. more
• Fixed that the map editor spawn-items GUI didn't work with chat rich text. more
• Fixed that deconstruction planners and upgrade planners wouldn't show the logistic overlay when used from the blueprint library. more
• Fixed that rebinding rotate to middle mouse button caused conflicts when trying to rotate while modifiers were pressed. more
• Fixed on_gui_switch_state_changed was not fired for custom switch elements in some cases. more
• Fixed that entities were selected under the GUI on the right side.
• Fixed that the key to activate tooltips didn't work outside game, or when the game was stopped.
• Fixed Team production script error when building before any round starts. more
• Fixed Wave defense error message would error due to trying to concatenate a nil variable. more
• Fixed that it was possible to stay invulnerable after the crash site cutscene. more
• Fixed train mini-tutorial script errors due to missing entity prototypes. more
• Fixed tightspot script error when trying to restore invalid entities. more
• Fixed that bonus research production could add progress even if no research could be done. more
• Fixed that game.server_save() was able to write to locations outside the saves folder. more
• Fixed that technology tooltip in the lab GUI wouldn't update when research changed. more
• Fixed a bad message when using the permissions command. more
• Fixed a crash when remote calls fail. more
• Fixed that biters would sometimes not be able to attack entities blocking their way. more
• Fixed that writing .energy for entities with heat energy sources didn't work correctly. more
• Fixed that non-blueprint items in blueprint books didn't draw their name. more
• Fixed that the cut-paste tool allowed alt-cutting which didn't deconstruct what was selected. more
• Fixed that setting rolling-stock inventory size to 0 while having an equipment great meant the GUI couldn't be opened. more
• Fixed that trying to save temporary LuaItemStacks from some events resulted in the save failing to load. more
• Fixed that blueprint component icons weren't kept in a stable order. more
• Fixed that the finished game sound could play multiple times. more
• Fixed that building blueprints by dragging in the map view didn't work correctly. more
• Fixed that building train ghosts manually didn't work in most cases. more
• Fixed that moving blueprint sin the blueprint library didn't make sounds.
• Fixed that opening/closing sound were not working properly in latency in some cases.
• Fixed that LuaEntity::can_insert() didn't work right for module inventories. more
• Fixed that on_player_built_tile had the wrong 'tile' when using hazard concrete in some cases. more
• Fixed that some of the checkboxes weren't highlighted as they should when hovering reset in the map generator GUI. more
• Fixed performance issue related to rendering long train paths. more
• Fixed missing tooltip on the editing button in upgrade planner, deconstruction planner and blueprint book. more
• Fixed Shallow water 2 to be layered above sand tiles and therefore missing transitions with sand tiles. more
• Fixed stone path and concrete were missing transitions to out-of-map tiles. more
• Fixed the upgrade planner to upgrade the corresponding underground belt for all combinations of real/ghost connections.
• Fixed that biters could get stuck trying to pathfind toward spidertron, causing performance issues. (https://forums.factorio.com/88744 https://forums.factorio.com/89327)
• Fixed lights near right or bottom edge of the screen would render twice sometimes. more
• Fixed that setting style properties on LuaGuiElements didn't work correctly for some widget types. more
• Fixed that rails didn't have the building smoke.
• Fixed that modded locomotives with void energy sources and equipment grids wouldn't show the grid in the GUI. more
• Fixed that modded productivity bonuses in tooltips didn't always show everything. more
• Fixed that unit groups could get stuck in the gathering phase. more
• Fixed that negative damage stickers didn't work. more
• Fixed that selection tool type items marked as mod-openable didn't work correctly in the quickbar. more
• Fixed that train would not repath when possible due to being in chain signal section. more
• Fixed GeneratorPrototype::scale_fluid_usage would cause non-linear scaling of fluid consumption based on energy demand. more
• Fixed crash when storage tank was defined with too small fluid flow sprite with low priority and ended up streamed. more
• Fixed rotating assembling machines with heat and fluid connections. more
• Fixed that it was possible to hold ghost building + blueprint from the library at the same time. more
• Fixed crash related to being possible to insert blueprint for re-assignment into the blueprint library. more
• Fixed that previous technology key-binding focused search in the blueprint library. more
• Fixed that ghosts created by destroying entities weren't upgradeable. more
• Fixed that kick & ban commands broke replays. more
• Fixed that spidertron would stretch its leg way too much in some special situations. more
• Fixed offshore pump underwater layer being drawn over landfill tiles sometimes. more
• Fixed decimal textfield would not take decimal point as input when selection would make it valid input. more
• Fixed that train could get stuck within chain signal section when exit signal is requested to close by circuit network and train is forced to repath. more
• Fixed that train would not immediately reserve signals in chain signal section after repath when there are no signals within braking distance.
• Fixed that wrong slider position when requesting items in some cases. more
• Fixed that rocket silo without fixed_recipe didn't save its recipe in the blueprint. more
• Fixed that the total-raw list in the recipe tooltip for some translations. more
• Fixed glitching sound loops: steam turbine and electric furnace. more
• Fixed changing dawn property of a surface would create visual glitch in day-night cycle. more
• Fixed misleading tooltip for disabled shortcut bar items. more
• Fixed startup music volume balance. more
• Fixed that sounds outside of radar coverage would still play. more
• Fixed personal laser defense with minimum range would stop working when enemies would get within minimum range. more
• Fixed that automatic rail signal direction selection works also when ghost-force building over trees/rocks in the way. more
• Fixed that the replay controls weren't accessible when the current player opened the technology screen. more
• Fixed the hand behaviour for some cases of fast entity transfer. more
• Fixed sizing of the right panel when show_side_menu is disabled. more
• Fixed that blueprint book tooltip based on chat icon had overflowing contents. more
• Fixed that the entity hover interval wasn't applied when switching from entity to entity. more
• Fixed that belts didn't show the proper curved preview when fast replacing. more
• Fixed that the entity tooltip was being shown in some cases where it was not supposed to. more
• Fixed that the station name icons were clipped in some cases. more
• Fixed that the minimap focus wasn't updating when switching player in the replay. more
• Fixed that it wasn't possible to start scenario with replay enabled. more
• Fixed losing chain signals in the advanced rail mini-tutorial. more
• Fixed train buttons being cut off in advanced rail mini-tutorial in some locales. more
• Fixed a crash related to building laser turrets through robots. more
• Fixed Bulgarian language name. more
• Fixed text box font not refreshing after being changed. more
• Clarified tooltip text for locked levels in new game GUI. more
• Fixed server crashing when quitting while it's saving for desync report. more
• Fixed that rolling stock rotation was not set correctly when using the pipette tool. more
• Fixed that if else chain noise expressions would sometimes produce corrupt results. more
• Fixed a crash when using identical literal expression in spot noise expressions. more
• Fixed that steam engine would show as producing 960kW in electric network GUI. more
• Fixed that rail ghost building didn't play the ghost building sound.
• Fixed a crash when a startup error tried to use rich-text. more
• Fixed a crash when related to editing edited scenarios while in vehicles. more
• Fixed that it was possible to specify a rail signal pair that does not collide with each other. more
• Fixed that collision box could be removed from the rail signal resulting in a signal that could be placed not on a tile center. more
• Fixed that it was possible to specify a transport belt connectable entity that would not collide with other belt connectable entities. more
• Fixed barrel recipe generation not taking into account fluid icon_size if fluid icons were defined. more
• Fixed that clients wouldn't be able to join a multiplayer game if the banlist was too large. more
• Fixed that selecting folders in the save-game-gui would still allow saving as the save file name. more
• Fixed a crash when opening the blueprint library through lua. more
• Fixed the program exit status code when a dedicated server fails. more
• Fixed that blueprints with rolling stocks could get invalidated when syncing shelves. more
• Fixed that the technology screen would show a "Resume" button for technology levels that haven't yet been researched at all. more
• Fixed that cars with minimap_representation set would still render the default triangle. more
• Fixed building assembling machine ghosts with unresearched recipes left them with no fluid connection previews. more
• Fixed that biters who couldn't reach their spawner would remain on the map, potentially preventing other biters from spawning. more
• Fixed script data leak in wave defense scenario. more
• Fixed that background sound didn't fade out when stopping replay. more
• Fixed that the deconstruction planner ignored tile mode & filters when cancelling deconstruction.
• Fixed signature error when updating non-steam version on OSX. more
• Fixed fast-replacing entity connected to a ghost entity by circuit network. more
• Fixed that on some maps, biter attacks could decrease almost to nothing. more
• Fixed inserter with fluid energy source could consume too much fluid when no fluid usage was given and scaling was disabled. more
• Fixed that building rolling stock could place multiple of them when there are close adjacent rails. more
• Fixed that LuaPlayer::can_place_entity would not calculate player reach the same way as manual building. more
• Fixed that steam engine in multiple connected electric networks would overproduce and waste energy. more
• Fixed problems related to opening blueprint while other blueprint is in the process of being configured. more
• Fixed cutscene starting at {0,0} instead of player position when no start_position was given. more
• Fixed electric network GUI production bar related to tertiary energy sources. more
• Fixed a crash in the pathfinder that could happen when the bounding box didn't contain the tile center. more
• Fixed tooltips not showing electric energy source information for electric-energy-interface entities. more
• Fixed that undoing a deconstruction order of entities with item requests didn't recover these requests unless the entity was actually removed. more
• Fixed that spidertron remote usage on map was bound to open item control rather than the build item control it is bound to in normal view. more
• Fixed that flamethrower turrets could fail to shoot at a target. more
• Fixed problem with rich text in blueprint library. more
• Fixed tiles would be rendered with 1px gap between them at some positions, zoom levels and screen resolutions. more
• Fixed heat pipe related drawing only working for boiler type entities. more
• Fixed that running /server-save wouldn't save anything if the server was started with --start-server-load-scenario. more
• Fixed activation working sound playing even when the entity was already active when being encountered. more
• Fixed a pathfinding-related crash. more
• Fixed crash when organizing sprites into atlases when using "not-compressed" sprite flag. more
• Fixed pipe-to-ground working sound would ignore flow rate. more
• Fixed crash when calling take_screenshot with very small resolution values. more
• Fixed that setting fluid wagon fluid through the Lua API didn't update the train inactivity value. more
• Fixed various issues related to entities leaving gaps when building too fast.
• Fixed a crash when setting specific fluids in the infinity pipe GUI. more
• Fixed that the admin GUI didn't live-update the whitelisted field. more
• Fixed crash related to migrating circuit network entities while loading the blueprint library. more
• Fixed that artillery would keep shooting at something when it moved out of range. more
• Fixed softlock in tutorial if the player took the iron plates too quickly. more
• Fixed missing blueprint components scroll bar when there is a lot of components. more

Modding

• New item flag "spawnable", every item has to have that flag to be creatable through the shortcuts directly. more
• Renamed create-blueprint-item shortcut action to spawn-item and item_to_create to item_to_spawn.
• Increased the total number of collision masks from 14 to 55. See the lua-api collision mask concepts page for which layers the game doesn't actively use.
• Changed collision mask 'layer-11' to 'rail-layer'.
• Changed collision mask 'layer-12' to 'transport-belt-layer'.
• Changed loader to only connect to the front belt, not from side. This is to fix internal problems related to modded loaders with custom sizes and side loading of it.
• Implemented NoiseExpressions::fromPropertyTree for the "offset-points" noise expression function.
• Removed rocket silo rocket prototype property "result_items" because it did nothing.
• Added draw_as_light and draw_as_glow property to sprite definitions. draw_as_shadow, draw_as_light and draw_as_glow are mutually exclusive and draw_as_shadow takes precedence.
• Unified laser and beam related ammo categories to just "laser" and "beam".
• Renamed technology "laser-turret-speed"->"laser-shooting-speed", it now affects both robots and laser turrets.
• Renamed technology "turrets"->"gun-turret", "laser-turrets"->"laser-turret", "combat-robotics"->"defender", "combat-robotics-2"->"distractor", "combat-robotics-3"->"destroyer" "tanks"->"tank", "stone-walls"->"stone-wall", "gates"->"gate"
• Internal spidertron specification in a way to make torso and leg scaling much easier.
• Renamed "source_effects" property of line trigger item to "range_effects", due to ambiguity with source_effects on action delivery. more
• Added the "linked-container" entity type.
• Removed 'small-plane', 'computer', 'railgun-dart' and 'railgun' items.
• Removed 'bait-chest', 'crash-site-assembling-machine-1-broken', 'crash-site-assembling-machine-1-repaired', 'crash-site-assembling-machine-2-broken', 'crash-site-assembling-machine-2-repaired', 'crash-site-electric-pole', 'crash-site-generator', 'crash-site-lab-broken' and 'crash-site-lab-repaired' entities.
• Removed the "auto-character-logistic-trash-slots" modifier and forceDataValues. The auto trash are now always enabled when any trash slots present.
• Added direction to SimpleEntityWithOwner and SimpleEntityWithForce.
• Constrained collision_box and collision_mask of transport belt connectable prototypes so it is not possible to build the entities in overlapping positions. more
• Added optional draw_fluid_icon_override boolean to pipe to ground prototypes. Causes fluid icon to be drawn, ignoring the usual pair requirement.
• Removed fluid turret prototype property 'indicator_light'.
• Added fluid turret prototype properties 'enough_fuel_indicator_light' and 'not_enough_fuel_indicator_light'.
• Added locomotive and car prototype properties 'front_light_pictures' and 'darkness_to_render_light_animation'.
• Renamed logistic-container prototype property 'logistic_slots_count' to 'max_logistic_slots'.
• The data stage files are no longer divided into demo and non-demo. This means the files with the demo- prefix were either merged into files without the prefix and/or the prefix was removed from the file name.

Scripting

• Renamed the clean_cursor method to clear_cursor.
• Renamed on_put_item to on_pre_build, as it is much more precise name for that event. It fires when anything is used for building: item, blueprint, blueprint record or ghost cursor.
• Changed 'control_behavior.parameters.parameters' to just 'control_behavior.parameters' for LuaDeciderCombinatorControlBehavior, LuaConstantCombinatorControlBehavior, and LuaArithmeticCombinatorControlBehavior.
• Changed LuaItemStack::active_index to return nil if the blueprint book inventory has zero slots. more
• Changed LuaItemStack::count to return 0 instead of failing when the stack is empty.
• Changed LuaControl for players in cutscenes so the character is still usable.
• Changed on_player_cancelled_crafting 'cancel_count' to report the exact number of crafts cancelled.
• Decoupled deactivation by script and deactivation by circuit network.
• mod-gui.lua no longer defines 'mod_gui' as a global variable, it is now only available when required: local mod_gui = require("mod-gui")
• Made LuaEntity::speed read work with spider-vehicle.
• Made LuaEntityPrototype::guns read work for spider-vehicle.
• Removed LuaEntityPrototype::production read.
• Removed LuaBootstrap::is_game_in_debug_mode read.
• Added LuaEntityPrototype::max_energy_production read.
• Added LuaEntity::trains_limit read/write.
• Added LuaEntity::trains_count read.
• Added LuaTrainStopControlBehavior::trains_count_signal, trains_limit_signal, set_trains_limit and read_trains_count read/write.
• Added LuaEntity::tree_gray_stage_index, read/write.
• Added LuaEntity::tree_gray_stage_index_max read.
• Added LuaEntity::can_wires_reach().
• Added LuaEntity::crafting_queue_progress read.
• Added on_spider_command_completed event.
• Added LuaEntity::get_connected_rolling_stock().
• Added 'create_at_cursor' to LuaPlayer::create_local_flying_text().
• Added LuaGameScript::map_gen_presets read.
• Added LuaStyle::extra_margin_when_activated and extra_padding_when_activated write, which also accept arrays of values.
• Added LuaStyle::size write.
• Added LuaGuiElement::name write support.
• Added LuaGuiElement::tags read/write.
• Added LuaTile::to_be_deconstructed().
• Added LuaGuiElement::bring_to_front().
• Added 'has-rocket-launch-products' filter to ItemPrototypeFilters.
• Added support to save/load LuaProfilers. They simply reset the time when saved/loaded.
• Added LuaEntityPrototype::guns for artillery turrets and wagons.
• Added LuaEntity::combat_robot_owner read/write.
• Added LuaPlayer::clear_recipe_notifications and LuaPlayer::add_recipe_notification
• Added LuaGuiElement::add "index" property, allowing insertion to anywhere in the parent element.
• Added LuaGuiElement::get_index_in_parent().
• Added support to connect/disconnect power switches through LuaEntity::connect_neighboudisconnect_neighbour.
• Added LuaForce::get_linked_inventory().
• Added LuaEntity::link_id read/write.
• Added LuaGui 'relative' (player.gui.relative). For showing a CustomGuiElement relative to some base game C++ GUI.
• Added LuaGuiElement::anchor read/write.
• Added 'alt_mode' to on_player_toggled_alt_mode event.
• Added 'cursor_position' to the custom input events.
• Added 'queued_count' to on_pre_player_crafted_item.
• Added LuaPlayer::cutscene_character read.

Use the automatic updater if you can (check experimental updates in other settings) or download full installation at http://www.factorio.com/download/experimental.

i'm starting to feel like modern Yugioh is a clown car, and every time the banlist apprehends the first few clowns that lead the format, 4-5 more step out to take their place. we didn't even have Linkross in handcuffs yet before VFD took the wheel and Vanity's Ruler got into the passenger seat. happy new year
 
This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.

• Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
• Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
• Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats.
  • These deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
  • Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
• Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, which can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $25-30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
• Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.

Decks are grouped into four "tiers" and listed alphabetically by tier. Decklists are built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. Not all of them are perfect, but this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists. Don't feel obligated to stick to the sample lists either; you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you.
Feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months.
[Last updated: 23 Jan 2021]
Previous version: October 2020 Post
 

S Tier

The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.
 

Drytron

Price: $100 Imgur | DuelingBook

• New Ritual-based combo deck from Genesis Impact that has a lot of recursion from the Graveyard, boasting a strong grind game as well as potent turn 1 boards that can win the game outright.
• The level 1 Drytron cards tribute other Drytron cards or Ritual cards in hand/field, so this deck abuses Cyber Angel Benten's lack of a once per turn clause to gain a ton of resources and search a lot of power LIGHT Fairy cards, such as Herald of Orange Light and Vanity's Ruler.
• Drytron Nova is an automatic 3-of inclusion in every competitive version of this deck, but also currently sits at around $40 each in NA. Novas are a massive boost in consistency, though the deck is honestly still playable without it, and is quite cheap otherwise. With even one copy of Nova, you should look to also include three copies of Drytron Fafnir (their Field Spell) which can search Nova as well.
• The absence of Nova + Fafnir from the main leaves a lot of space to be filled. There are many ways you can go about this.
  • The sample list plays a small Pre-Prep engine with Herald of Perfection. It's very simple to play, especially if you're unfamiliar with the deck, and helps raise your overall ceiling - athough optimized competitive builds have generally moved away from Pre-Prep.
  • Another viable Ritual engine is the Megalith engine, which provides numerous options. These variants generally also suffer from consistency issues, made worse by the lack of Novas in the budget version. Less consistent access to Alpha means less consistent usage of extra Ritual monsters.
  • You could play cards that search Drytron monsters in an attempt to patch up consistency. Examples include Where Arf Thou, or normal summons that fetch Drytrons such as Cyber Dragon Core (getting Emergency) and Mathematician. Also viable is Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin, which is an interesting tech in Drytron that helps you beat handtraps like Droll & Lock Bird.
  • Finally, you can always just play more handtraps or generic power cards.
• This deck is a relatively new deck, and is getting support in Lightning Overdrive, which might indicate that it's relatively safe from the next banlist. However, there's no telling what Konami will do, so don't take my word as gospel.

 

Virtual World

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Combo deck with an extra deck toolbox, using Synchro and Xyz monsters to break boards or to win the game with True King of All Calamities and their recurring boss monster, Shenshen. The Virtual World monsters have a shared restriction which means that Link monsters are usually not played in this deck at all.
• Most of the main deck VW monsters can dump other VW cards from Deck to GY, and their continuous spell Qinglong is a searcher in the GY. Combined with Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu's ability to search for VW cards as well, the deck is consistent at doing the same combos and executing its gameplan almost every game, as most combinations of 2 Virtual World cards result in some type of combo.
• Despite being one of the top decks in the format, this deck is also quite cheap. Staples aside, the most pricey card in the main is Lulu at around $18-20 each. Can you get away with fewer copies of her? Probably, but you really want to get 3 due to Desires, and her being one of the best cards in your deck.
• Saw success immediately after PHRA release, even in the previous combo-infested format where Virtual World took the most representation and top cut spots at LCS 8, eventually winning the entire tournament. Post-banlist, they also took the most top cut spots and then won LCS 9, versus an entirely different playing field full of Zoodiac, Drytron, and Eldlich variants.
• Recent combos using Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing to search either one of the Virtual World tuners (Lulu or Laolao) have opened up some new combo routes that make Foolish Burial Goods a lot more forgiving to play, allowing you to still end on impressive boards despite using Qinglong somewhat suboptimally. On the other hand, Chaofeng's price also spiked quite heavily after LCS 9, so you may not want to play it.
• Non-budget players will first and foremost want to add Zeus to the Extra Deck, as it helps greatly with going second and also dealing with threats like Dragoon. Another common inclusion is Triple Tactics Talents, though this card is by no means mandatory in the deck, and has also seen a decline in popularity lately.

 

A Tier

Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.
 

Altergeist

Price: $75+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
• Altergeist have seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, and saw recent success with a top 8 finish at LCS 9. That deck was a Dogmatika variant piloted by Lars Junginger, playing the recently released Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden to make it slightly easier to summon Ecclesia in some hands.
• The Dogmatika engine is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package. Of course, the deck is also perfectly playable as pure Altergeist.
• Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, and Evenly Matched. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
• The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
• Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Virtual World, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
• The release of Blazing Vortex in early February also brings along an incredibly powerful staple card in Pot of Prosperity. Altergeist, along with virtually every other deck that enjoys running Pot of Extravagance currently, will appreciate Prosperity as well. Many OCG decks are choosing to play both Extrav + Prosperity in their decklists. Of course, Prosperity is also a Secret Rare, and is virtually guaranteed to be around $100, so this is not applicable on a budget.

 

Prank-Kids

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
• Got a great boost in Phantom Rage with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo.
• Prank-Kids Place is a little pricey, currently sitting at around $17 per copy in NA. While it contributes to your overall consistency (as it's equivalent to any Prank name), you can definitely get away with cutting copies of Place if your budget is tight.
• Notably took 1st place at the Canadian Remote Duel Invitational in mid-January, piloted by Hanko Chow.
• This deck appreciates the inclusion of Predaplant Verte Anaconda (currently over $30 apiece in NA) which can dump Thunder Dragon Fusion to help field Battle Butler, your main win condition. It was dropped from the provided list for budget reasons, but it's a great inclusion if you have a copy already. In conjunction with cards like Link Spider, it also improves your ability to play through disruption and through Nibiru.
• This deck has many characteristics of a great deck, but suffers from similar problems as Zoodiac in that it struggles to play through disruption on your normal summon, or cards like Ash negating your first Prank-Kid effect. The inclusion of Polymerization in the main deck helps to combat this, but also popular are builds that don't play Poly at all and instead just load the main deck with handtraps and powerful staples like Forbidden Droplet.
• Pot of Desires is included in this example main deck to help boost consistency and overall power, but some players opt not to run it.

 

Salamangreat

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
• The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
• The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
• Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is a tremendous improvement to this deck's strength.
• Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.
• The provided list plays Rivalry + Strike, a potent option allowing you to sometimes win games even into established boards. Strike is quite solid in the current format, as even the combo decks don't usually end on ways to punish a lot of set backrow.
• Parallel eXceed is an optional card, and can be cut in favor of more backrow or handtraps. On one hand, it allows you to more easily link climb when going second, and can easily add a Dweller or Bagooska to your board going first (Dweller is very good right now, as well). On the other hand, players may prefer to run more defensive cards instead of eXceed.

 

Subterror

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
• Pure Guru control is the most played variant, and is more or less a stun deck that tries to abuse Guru as much as possible. While most Guru lists online are Numeron and/or Dragoon hybrids, the pure version saw some success earlier this format at the Benelux Remote Duel Extravaganza, finishing top 4. You can watch that deck profile here, and the sample list is generally based off of that list.
  • While Dragoon isn't budget-friendly, the Numeron engine is very accessible for little cost, and is a viable variant of this deck as well. Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves. If you are interested in this version, you can check the Subterror list on the previous budget post.
• The sample list doesn't have a complete extra deck, mainly because it doesn't play Extravagance and you barely go into the Extra Deck to begin with. Relinquished Anima is a decent option if you can shell out the $7-8 for it, since sometimes you can turn Fiendess into Anima. Apart from that, provided Extra Deck options include anti-Maximus cards for the Dogmatika matchup, and Aussa + Zoodiac Drident in case you face a Zoodiac player. Taking their Zoo monster and then slapping your Drident on top can be potent.
• This deck usually plays Extravagance over Desires, but Desires is quite a serviceable replacement. Similarly to Altergeist, this deck also enjoys Pot of Prosperity post-BLVO.

 

B Tier

Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).
 

Dinosaurs

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
• Dinosaur's strength tends to be largely meta-dependent, particularly how well it can counter the existing top decks. During the previous two combo-infested formats with decks like Dragon Link and Adamancipator running around, Dinos had several extremely impressive showing at events, such as TeamSamuraiX1's win at the first NA Remote Duel Invitational, as well as all three first-place players at LCS 7 (a 3v3 event) playing Dino.
• In the current format, Dinosaurs are struggling. The Virtual World matchup is difficult, and it's hard for Dinosaur to build to beat all of VW, Drytron, Eldlich variants, and the plethora of rogue decks running around. Additionally, Mystic Mine is not very potent this format as both Virtual World and Eldlich have in-engine outs to the card, which is another blow to the Dinosaur strategy. Finally, the popularity of handtraps like Skull Meister and Artifact Lancea in the side or even the main deck are also reasons this deck has declined.
• The provided variant still plays Mine, as it has utility breaking boards. Deckout is a much less reliable strategy against VW and Eldlich, but you can still stall for some turns until you can make a push for game. The addition of Cosmic Cyclone is also an attempt at neutering cards like Chuche and Conquistador.
• If you wanted to build this deck without Mines, you would have to find replacements for quite a few cards (and frankly, Dinosaur does not have very many good ones). Most power staples are not budget, such as Lightning Storm, Talents, Droplet, etc. This deck also really appreciates Pot of Extravagance, which still sits barely out of budget range at around $25 each in NA.
• Budget Dino must also deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, an extremely powerful addition to the deck that opens up many new combos. However, sitting at around $60 per copy, the card is inaccessible on a budget.
• The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.

 

Dragon Link

Price: $100-150+ (depending on Extra Deck) Imgur | DuelingBook

• Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that was a dominant force in the meta for about half a year, but lost a lot of resilience and power with the recent bans to Linkross and Dragon Buster Destruction Sword.
• The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc. This also means that the budget version doesn't actually care about the Linkross ban at all.
• This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
• An interesting option the deck has is to use Union Carrier to equip handtraps such as Artifact Lancea. On the opponent's turn, Hieratic Seal can be used to return the handtrap to your hand, making it live immediately. This is something you may want to consider in the main deck if you frequently have to deal with decks like Virtual World and Dinosaur. Another option is to equip Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to Carrier (they're both machines) and then bounce it to hand, as a weapon against Drytron. Carrier isn't in the example list, but this is a really interesting option to consider.
• With Linkross out of the picture, playing Fibrax alone is an option if you either already own a copy or can afford the $20 needed to obtain one. You may have to retool your combos to incorporate Fiber, but the card can definitely add flexibility and resilience to your deck if you use it well.

 

Paleozoic Frogs

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Backrow-heavy control deck that summons its Traps to the field as monsters and pressures the opponent with Toadally Awesome
• After being absent from the budget post for about a year, Paleo makes its triumphant return as its boss monster, Toad, returns to 3. Toad's reprint in Maximum Gold also brought this card down from $20 each to just a few bucks, making the entire deck extremely cheap.
• As a control deck, Paleo suffers from more weaknesses compared to Eldlich, Altergeist, and Subterror. Notably, the engine tends to bleed advantage unless you've managed to maintain access to Swap Frog, and you can be quickly outpaced by stronger decks. However, in games where you can establish a Toad early, or where you can maintain control with your backrow, you can do quite well.
• Paleo saw a surprising amount of success in various remote duel events this format, though some of that success is likely due to the format being unexplored and some sort of "new toy syndrome" as Toad recently went from 2 to 3.
• Paleo struggles to out Dragoon, especially without access to Ice Dragon's Prison, a $40 card. An interesting option catching on in the meta lately is the use of Mirror Force cards, particularly Quaking and Storming, as they both pressure Dragoon. Still, the card puts quite a lot of pressure on this deck.
• Speaking of Dragoon, some Paleo players opt to play that package in this deck as well. Swap Frog is a one card Dragoon as you can simply dump Ronin, turn Swap into Almiraj, and then revive Ronin to make Verte from there.
• Fiend Griefing is presented as an interesting option which is very decent in the current meta, particularly vs Drytron. Combining it with Absolute King Back Jack is a classic combo that Paleo played a long time ago in 2017, during early Zoo formats.

 

Shaddoll (Magistus)

Price: $100+, can be closer to $50 with fewer copies of Schism Imgur | DuelingBook

• Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
• Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks such as Drytron. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism.
• The current meta is favorable for Shaddoll not only due to Winda being effective vs Drytron, but also due to Ariel being very strong against a large chunk of the format, including Eldlich variants. Her ability to banish 3 cards from the GY is so strong that some decks are splashing in Sinister Shadow Games + Ariel just for that option, which we saw played in some of the 60-card Eldlich decks at LCS 9.
  • The growing popularity of Shaddoll cards has also caused Shaddoll Schism to go up in price substantially. Currently, it's around $17, but it may continue to rise.
• The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Invoked Shaddoll was a popular hybrid in earlier formats, but with the release of the Magistus archetype in GEIM, Shaddolls got access to Rilliona and Magistus Invocation. This is an improvement since Magistus Invocation can fuse from hand and field whereas the regular Invocation can only fuse from hand when summoning Shaddolls. Additionally, Artemis provides a super convenient way for the deck to turn any Shaddoll into a LIGHT monster, which is important for summoning Construct.
• While the full Dogmatika package is very expensive due to Nadir Servant being a $75 card, one option is to play just one copy of Ecclesia (around $20) along with Maximus and a playset of Dogmatika Punishment. Maximus and Punishment have a ton of synergy in the Shaddoll deck in conjunction with Apkallone's GY effect, and this combination is deadly even on a budget.
• Other normal summons such as Mathematician and even Gale Dogra are potent on this deck, and can be played in addition to Rilliona or as a replacement for her. Yet another option is to run 1 copy of the now-cheap Eldlich the Golden Lord as a LIGHT monster for Shaddoll Fusion that can easily revive itself.
• Another popular variant is a very trap-heavy list, sometimes cutting the Magistus cards entirely. PAK and SirEmanon's YouTube channels both have their own takes on this, if you're interested.

 

Unchained

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
• Can be built to go first or to go second quite effectively. Since going second is very difficult this format, the provided list aims to go first, playing a bunch of trap cards.
• Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events. After the December banlist, Unchained has rapidly gained popularity in online remote duel events, and is one of the more prominent rogue decks this format. This success could be because the format is generally slower compared to previous ones, and many destruction-based cards such as Torrential Tribute are very popular currently, which this deck enjoys.
• Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
• This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into backrow or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some backrow decks as well as Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.

 

C Tier

Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.
 

Burning Abyss

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
• Gradually got more and more cards back from the banlist, with Cir and Graff being unlimited on the December 2020 list. The deck is now more or less "full power" with the exception of Beatrice, who is still limited.
• The deck aims to establish Beatrice on turn 1 backed up with trap cards. The BA cards as well as Beatrice are extremely floaty, so this deck can put up quite a fight in grind games. Fiend Griefing is a solid card in the current meta, and is excellent in the Burning Abyss deck as you can send Farfa for further disruption, Graff/Scarm for followup, or Back Jack for more traps.
• This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire). Nowadays, Phantom Knight decks are typically either built pure or with an extremely compact BA engine. While it's possible to play a more dedicated hybrid build, the release of PK Torn Scales combined with most key BA cards being unlimited means that it's just better to focus on one or the other.
• Many other options are playable - Desires for draw power, playing more traps, more handtraps, etc. Consider Needle Ceiling over Torrential as it can be harder to pull off, but combos better with Trap Trick. Players with access to Ice Dragon's Prison should play it, and adventurous duelists can even opt to play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss.
• As a deck easily capable of churning out Rank 3 Xyzs, you also have easy access to Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, one of the most powerful extra deck cards in the format. If this is an accessible option, it should be played.

 

Sky Striker

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
• Formerly an extremely dominant control deck, modern-day Striker no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
• You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. Some players opt for alternatives such as the Utopia Double package, which Zoé Weber played in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational last format. Another option is to simply not run it at all, and close games the old-fashioned way.
• In previous formats, this deck was oftentimes played like an anti-meta going second deck, packing tons of removal cards and usually 3 copies of Mystic Mine in the main deck. In the current format, this strategy is a lot more difficult due to several factors - it's very hard to go second this format in general, and Mine is a lot less effective vs the top decks right now.
• Instead, the sample list plays a going-first strategy with powerful trap cards like There Can Be Only One and Solemn Strike. It's possible to build this deck to go second, but you'd probably want to play board breakers instead of trap cards, and potentially also maindeck PSY-Framegear Gamma.
• Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
• Roze is the most expensive card in this list. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.

 

Zoodiac

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Xyz-focused deck with a gimmick allowing you to use any one Zoodiac as the entire Xyz material requirement for another Zoodiac. This lets you stack Zoo Xyz monsters on top of each other, making use of their effects.
• Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. This deck is also commonly played as a hybrid deck, oftentimes with Eldlich and sometimes with Dogmatika cards. Both of these options are quite expensive, so they are not shown.
• The deck's strength in competitive play comes almost entirely from Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, an extremely powerful Xyz monster that Zoodiac can effortlessly make due to Zoodiac Boarbow. Zoo is also easily able to summon Zeus with many materials, allowing it to repeatedly nuke the board.
• Budget Zoo without Zeus is extremely weak by comparison. Relying solely on Drident + handtraps is not a reliable win condition, so cards like Parallel eXceed and Pot of Avarice are included in the sample list to give this deck a boost. While Megaclops is a troublesome boss monster in some matchups, the big three decks (Drytron, Virtual World, and Eldlich) generally don't have much trouble dealing with it.
• Even with Zeus, the deck has been struggling in the current competitive meta. Noteworthy is its performance at LCS 9, where out of a whopping 51 Zoodiac variants that entered the tournament, only 1 survived until top 16.

 

Up-And-Coming

Decks to watch out for, oftentimes due to recent online success or new support being announced. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves.
 

Tri-Brigade

Price: $100 (for now) Imgur | DuelingBook

• Link-focused deck that plays a variety of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The maindeck Tri-Brigades cheat out powerful Link monsters, provided your GY is set up. This deck also trivially access the Simorgh link, which can sometimes seal games on its own through the WIND Barrier Statue.
• In the current format, Tri-Brigade has seen fairly sparse success, usually mixed with Zoodiac. However, BLVO gives us Tri-Brigade Kitt, a great boost to this deck and a fantastic combo piece.
• Further support in LIOV and beyond is also very promising, making this deck a potentially solid investment for the future.
• The Tri-Brigade core is currently quite cheap, but this could change in the future depending on hype and the market.
• owo

 

Traptrix

Price: $100-150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Control deck with an extremely powerful Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
• The sample list incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. Just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful. Another option is to dump El Shaddoll Apkallone, then adding and discarding Ariel in order to trigger her effect and banish 3 cards, which is insane value.
• If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap. Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
• This deck is definitely still getting support, as LIOV brings a new Link 2 and main deck monster.

 

Plunder Patroll

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game.
• The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
• Many Plunder lists play Forbidden Droplet, as it has great synergy with the cards. Without Droplet, you could fill the space with several different options. This deck chooses to play the Undine package, but you can also go for cards like Foolish Burial Goods, Salvage, Silent Angler, Tenyi Spirit - Shthana, Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark, or just more generic staples.
• This deck is getting at least one more support card in LIOV, that being Ravenwing. Many people speculate that they'll also get another Patrollship of a new attribute, which would be a huge buff to the deck.

 

Honorable Mentions

• Megalith, Madolche, Pendulum decks, Cyber Dragon, Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, Crusadia (Guardragon), ABC, D/D, Generaider, and more - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
• Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Infernoid, Invoked variants, HERO, etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Chamber Dragonmaid, Cursed Eldland, Invocation, etc.
• Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.

 
 
I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

Card Balance in LoR

There's been a lot of recent discussion on what the next balance patch should look like, and I feel like a lot of discussion overemphasizes the importance of card balance as opposed to deck balance. I think it's reasonable that LoR wants a range of viable decks with similar power levels, but I'll argue that I don't even think having a game with balanced cards is a good thing.
Decks win games, not cards, and in decks with 40 cards and 2 regions there's a lot of room for cards that, in a vacuum, are more mana-efficient than their competition but don't hurt the metagame health because you can't just run the 20 best cards and win every game. Deck strength isn't a simple function of the individual strengths of cards, but rather that combined with their synergies and the current meta matchups.

Card Balance Statistics

Because of this, when you look at cards by win rate, you don't see the truly best cards, because it's hard to have a crazy high win rate if everyone uses something. If a card had an 100% usage rate it'd have a 50% win rate, after all. This means that I'm not going to use win rate to say that cards are good or bad, because the best cards by win rate are usually just the cards that only see play in tier 1 decks: not [[Mystic Shot]] (50% win rate on the dot), but [[Augmented Experimenter]] (55% win rate). Chances are, if you're running Augmented Experimenter, you're running discard aggro, which is a good deck that isn't hard to pilot, and so you're likely to win. Mystic Shot is included in all sorts of offbeat decks, so its gets dragged down even though I'd claim it's a much better card.
Instead, I'm going to use inclusion rate as a better stat, with some caveats when necessary. The list sorted by inclusion rate looks a lot more like the best cards in the game: [[Deny]], [[Pale Cascade]], [[Hush]], [[Mystic Shot]], and [[The Grand Plaza]] are the top 5.

Commonalities In the Best Cards

What do these top cards have in common? Some of the commonalities are probably due to the choice of statistic. Cards that require very specific decks to shine are obviously not going to be included because they get dragged down by every other deck their regions run. ([[The Harrowing]] is a fantastic card, but two of the most common SI decks, BWSI Go Hard and FTR Control, get very little value from it, and it's a 9 mana Slow spell so they're not going to just throw a copy in.)
You might notice that, while some of these are complained about often (I see you, Grand Plaza with over 2.8 copies per Demacia deck in both All Ranks and Masters!!!), many aren't: [[Mystic Shot]], [[Single Combat]], [[Thermogenic Beam]], and [[Glimpse Beyond]] are all top 15 cards by this metric. Why are some of these cards so hated when others aren't?

What Makes Cards Hated?

Let's look at some of these hated cards to try and find some commonalities.

• Being good is obviously correlated with being disliked: no one hates [[Parade Electrorig]] because it's complete trash. (What a revelation, I know.)
• Cards that have easy comparisons to other regions can feel overtuned because it's easy to see the mana advantage they give over other cards. [[Ravenous Flock]] is often highlighted for this reason: it's so much better than [[Paddle Star]] that it must be broken, right? [[Sharpened Resolve]] is a way better [[Twin Disciplines]], and [[Sharpsight]] is way better than both of them.
• Polarized cards with really good ceilings are easy to complain about. [[Hush]] singlehandedly dismantles some archetypes, and seeing a 2 mana card undo much more than that clearly suggests overtuning. Compare [[Mystic Shot]], which is extraordinarily consistent but rarely has some amazing payoff.
• There's also definitely an echo chamber effect which I won't ignore: watching a streamer dunk on [[Pale Cascade]] certainly prompts some thought about how insane the card is. This isn't really something balance patches control, though, so I'll ignore it.

But these aren't necessarily great predictors either: [[Relentless Pursuit]] is a top 15 card that compares very, very well to other sources of Rally (moment of silence for [[Shunpo]]), has one of the highest value ceilings in the game, but isn't complained about to the same degree as other cards like it.

Card Balance vs. Card Design

I think the answer is really that people dislike the appearance of imbalance more than they do actual card imbalance, because having better-than-average cards isn't actually a bad thing.
Let's say [[Single Combat]] was 1 mana more. In fact, we don't have to imagine, because [[Strafing Strike]] exists. It's not unheard of to run Strafing Strike as a fourth Single Combat, and if Single Combat didn't exist I think the vast majority of current decks running Single Combat would just run three Strafing Strike, even without the heal effect.
This makes Single Combat one of the best cards in the game for sure. It's 33% cheaper than a card that would see heavy play if it didn't outcompete it. There are an average of 2.65 Single Combats per Demacia deck, 6th in the entire game. The card is crazy.
Yet someone replying to my last post said the card was one of their favorites. I hear basically no one complain about Single Combat.
That's for good reason: the card is well designed! It makes games more interactive, it makes the most vanilla archetype in LoR a lot more strategic, it can be played around using a wide variety of mechanics so almost any deck has some way of dealing with it, and it's just an interesting card that makes interesting moments.
Because it's a fun card, having it be really good is, if anything, good for the game, because it means that on average more cards in a game are interesting. ([[Chief Mechanist Zevi]] is a super interesting card, but it doesn't make the game more fun because you'll never see it played!)
There's a lot of discussion that basically has people talking past each other here: "Hush isn't good" is not the opposite of "Hush needs a change." Cards can be badly designed even if they aren't good. A 0-mana Burst "win the game if your opponent has a Vladimir in their hand, deck, or board" would be unplayable, but it would be an awful card design.
This is not to say that card balance isn't an issue at all. This is mainly because overpowered cards can cause more random variation in games, which is personally not a fun part of the game. A 0-mana "win the game" card would obviously be terrible to play with, because it would make any game a coin flip. Cards like [[Targon's Peak]] have explicit randomness that can be frustrating, but cards that you really want to draw compared to other cards in your deck have a similar randomness that can be harder to spot because they don't say "random" on the card face.
This is a common link to a lot of the hated cards I was talking about earlier: they're cards you don't want your opponent to draw. Almost all of the cards I'm talking about are cheap and can use spell mana: people know that the chance their opponent has drawn [[The Dreadway]] by turn 9 is pretty good, but playing [[Teemo]] turn 1 prompts a sigh from people because it swings the game measurably but isn't incredibly likely either. Zoe is great if you can draw her. Pale Cascade is always great, but in the early game it's way more likely that the stats matter and the extra card can be seen earlier: its a great card to play early.

What Makes a Card Broken?

If I had to define "broken" using this metric, it would be this: a card is broken if, in decks that have high win rates even without it, that card being drawn significantly improves deck win rates. I don't know of any such stats that track this, but I'd be interested in looking at them.
To make it clearer what this definition is not:

• It's not "cards that make decks better when played", because otherwise [[Purrsuit of Perfection]] would be broken. Playing FTR usually wins you the game because your deck is made to win in the lategame and, if you're playing FTR, you got there.
• It's also not cards that improve a random deck's win rate the most. That's mainly a function of having high synergy, which isn't a bad thing on its own, although it can be argued that cards like this are still annoying because they make drawing it more important. I'd love to see a [[Yasuo]] tutor in the game, for example, because the luck of drawing him is a huge swing for Stun decks. But, importantly, [[Yasuo]] makes an awful deck playable, not a good deck overpowered.
• Similarly, it's not comparing decks by win rate with or without the card. That instead measures a card's "wins above replacement", which depends as much on the replacement as it does the card itself. [[Genevieve Elmheart]] is a great card, but she has the terrible luck of competing with [[Cithria the Bold]], which is one of the best cards in the game.
• It has virtually nothing to do with mana advantage or comparisons to other cards in the game! People often fall into a trap of comparing terrible cards to decent ones or overemphasizing nerfs because you remember how good it used to be. Just because [[Scaled Snapper]] is 100% objectively better than [[Golden Crushbot]] in every single instance it's played except Allegiance odds doesn't mean the card is good!

The main problem with this definition I can see is that it doesn't account for the meta knowledge of players. There's a class of cards like [[Deny]], [[The Ruination]], [[Sharpsight]], and [[Hush]] that are so common and have such a high potential to win games or net huge value that they can win games without ever being played or drawn! If I see a Shen/Fiora list has 7 cards and 5 mana open, there's no way I'm playing my [[Supernova]] unless I'm really in dire straits and can't afford to play around [[Deny]], but they might not even run it in their deck! Honestly, this is what makes the dominance of cards like [[Deny]] even more remarkable: they're so good that, even though just bluffing it is already good, playing it is still so much better: it's a buff to all of Ionia.
This has a direct correlation with the design goal of rewarding strategic play, and so it's clear why a card like this is bad for the game: if winning games is more about getting lucky than playing well, that's obviously not super fun for a competitive scene.

Is That Always a Bad Thing?

Cards that aren't even broken because they're not actually good can still be bad for the game's health if they still tick the other boxes. One reason I think Daybreak gets a lot of shade thrown at it is because the Leona level up condition is hugely draw dependent, and I'd like to see more tutors for cards like Yasuo that need to be played to make their decks work. Saying "oh look, Crimsons aren't that good, let's add [[The Scargrounds]]" just makes a deck that's either above average or really bad, not a deck that's consistently playable.
Similarly, I think there are plenty of objectively overpowered cards that I wouldn't tweak. Core cards help build region identity, which isn't often talked about as an important thing because it's not directly related to competitive gameplay but is still important. If you look at the list of cards by inclusion rate, you can see the core identities of different regions: counterspells in Ionia, direct damage in P&Z, combat tricks in Demacia, death synergy and high-end control in SI, etc. As long as they're not so good that they turn games into coin flips, they benefit the game and make deckbuilding more interesting. I want to play Fiora with the counterspells of Ionia, the protection and Spellshield of Targon, and the combat buffs of Freljord, but I have to pick one of them. The problem only comes when having [[Riposte]] and [[Bastion]] alongside a drawn [[Fiora]] are so good that you turn the game into a slot machine.

Wrapping Up

Sorry for the wall of text! One last thing is that I wish people talked more about the bad cards being buffed. Having good cards isn't necessarily bad, but I'd argue having cards like [[Parade Electrorig]] is basically just a waste of developer time for nothing: they could remove it next patch and no one would notice! These cards don't get talked about precisely because they're never seen, but if you look at the inclusion stats sorted in the other direction you see a ton of fruitless developer work making really interesting card designs that could be unlocked with just a bit more love from Riot.
tl;dr being a good card isn't the same thing as being broken: cards that make the game more random and less strategic because drawing them is more important than playing well are a problem, but plenty of absolutely overpowered cards make the game way more enjoyable, give regions identities, and still work because they give consistent value alongside other core cards and aren't so irreplaceable that you lose without them.
What do you all think about this? Do you think Glimpse Beyond needs to be nerfed? I'm interested to hear.