On Parity Shift 6. "problematic card".

Black Hand cards are not equally powerful, Seraph cards are equally powerful, and seraph trait is scarce AND they don't have good crypt AND seraph trait cost just as much as prince title despite not giving any votes.

Ohlmann wrote:

* the "pool swing" is a false concept. Parity shift does 5 pool damage and bloat 5 pool, two very distinct effects that only rarely can be compared.

And yet it is a single action that does both at the exact same time. So call it a false concept all you want, but it is the best way to sum up what is happening. My prey loses 5 pool. I gain 5 pool. With a single action. No other card can do that reliably (Ancient Influence can do that under circumstances over which you have no control). There are a few Political Action cards that can do 10 pool damage at once, one of which requires extensive set up and the tapping of 6 minions to do it. The other ones are all completely out of your control, in terms of how much damage you do (i.e. they are dependent on random factors involving your prey's number or size of minions). There are a couple Political Action cards that can gain you 10 pool, but they also require extensive set up (i.e. 10 minions in play, one way or the other). One vote makes your prey lose 5 pool and you gain 5 pool at the same time. Of all of these cards, the one that makes your prey lose 5 pool and you gain 5 pool at the same time is far and away the best one.

You have not convinced me that Parity shift have made every non-parity shift deck futile. They are documented sabbats votes decks, and they are far from being unplayable.

They are not unplayable. They are, however, generally best replaced with decks that use Parity Shift. I realize that people sometimes play decks that are not the absolute best decks for any number of reasons (entertainment/grins/stubbornness/experimentation/irrational clan love/whatever). There are plenty of decks that are far from unplayable yet still clearly not as good as the similar yet obviously better decks (People play stealth and bleed decks all the time that aren't weenie DEM stealth and bleed. But the weenie DEM stealth bleed deck is probably more effective than all of them). Yet if I were playing the optimal vote deck with the sole intention of winning? I'd be using Parity Shift. 'Cause it would be foolish not to.

even the bests vote deck does not play only parity shift. It may be a reason behind this, like the fact that Parity Shift is not alway the best option.

The best vote decks use a variety of votes. But Parity Shift is going to be among them. As it is the best Political Action in the game. Far and away.

no deck have good reason to stop playing immediatly when they see a parity shift. While very powerful, it does not shut down decks completely, or have huge and unavoidable effects.

Luckily, VTES mostly avoids this. So not an issue even remotely to consider. No card in the game is that powerful. That doesn't mean that some cards aren't overpowered. No decks have a good reason to stop playing immediately when they see a Villein or a Lilith's Blessing, and yet people are arguing that those cards are overpowered and need fixing as well. What are you gonna do?

That's why I believe Graverobbing is more powerful than Parity shift, because the effect can be much, much more drastic.

Well, then your view of the game is so far removed from my own that this is a mostly pointless discussion. Graverobbing is a strong card that is extremely conditional and either has an incredibly high likelihood of being a dead draw (as you can't torporize folks yourself) or is getting in the way of your ability to use it (i.e. you can torporize reliably, but Graverobbing doesn't help, and actively hinders you torporizing folks when you draw it). I have seen relatively few decks in existence that are both good at reliably playing Graverobbing *and* good at reliably winning. I have seen countless decks in existence that are both good at reliably playing Parity Shift *and* good at reliably winning.

Tosh wrote:

In our play group there is normally one (sometimes two) political deck packing Parity Shifts or a Reckless Agitation deck. Most of our players pack either confusions of the eye, delaying tactics, D.I and of course intercept.

In our play group, there is normally one (sometimes two) bloat decks packing Villein or Giant's Blood. Most of our players pack either Sudden Reversal, Wash, and of course rush combat.

Oh. Wait.

Tosh wrote:

In our play group there is normally one (sometimes two) political deck packing Parity Shifts or a Reckless Agitation deck. Most of our players pack either confusions of the eye, delaying tactics, D.I and of course intercept.

Prey of a parity shift decks are normally smart enough to try to keep their pool out of parity shift range if they can, however Reckless Agitation/voter cap seem do very well also (not over powered though).

I think Parity Shift is a powerful card, however not excessively so.

Is there excessively powerful card in the game?
Heart of N'Cheat'Us (too strong, rare and time consuming)
Temptation of Greater Power (breaks the for two or more players)
Anthellos the red star (easy master recursion is just wrong)

What do you think out of Parity Shift range would be?
3-5 pool below the shifter is what I am comfortable with

No question, it is one of the strongest political cards around. But that's what it is. Just a political action. It can be blocked, DI'ed, voted down, also Poison Pill and Delaying Tactics do a good job. i even prefer Poison Pill because the player does not get his card back on hand.

Most of the time the player is not in the position to gain the 5 pool. He needs vote push and has to give pool to his crosstable buddy.

If you complain about not having any votes in your deck, or don't have the possibility to block or don't play Poison Pill/Delaying Tactis then you should have a look at your deck again and change something.

The card is strong, but not overpowered. Just leave it as it is.