Isn't this just a Wall of Static?
Ways in which Battlement is just a Wall of Static:
- It ends the run
- It costs Corroder 2 to break
- It costs Paperclip 2 to break
- It costs Berserker 2 to break
- It costs Eater 2 to break
- It costs Faust 2 cards to break
- It costs Lady 1 counter to break
- It costs Battering Ram 2 to break
- It costs Demara 4 to break
Ways in which Battlement is not a Wall of Static
- It costs Inti 4 to break (1 less than WoS)
- It costs Chameleon 2 to break (1 more than WoS)
- It costs Saker 4 to break (1 more than WoS)
- It costs Breach 2 to break (2 less than WoS)
- It dies to Parasite more easily by one virus counter
- It costs Endless Hunger 1 more card to break
- It protects better against single-sub-breaking effects like Quetzal, Tracker, and Always Be Running
- It gains you 1 extra Chief Slee counter
- It costs 1 extra trashed card from an Armored Servers counter
- It costs 2 more in the presence of Interrupt 0
- It has 0 Official Alt-Arts (1 less than WoS)
The Verdict
Battlement is stronger against atypical, tricksy rigs that use cards like Quetzal, ABR, Endless Hunger, Adjusted Matrix, etc. It is slightly better than Wall of Static against Saker and Chameleon metas. It is slightly worse against Parasite metas. I would consider Battlement if I'm also using Armored Servers. Otherwise it does not matter at all. Seeing how WoS is pretty much never slotted by players that have access to the whole card pool, I imagine the same fate will befall Battlement.
I like the idea of multi-sub barriers existing. This is just the most uninteresting way of doing it. The numbers on Battlement are 100% fair and appropriate. There's simply no reason to print a card if it is almost exactly identical to a neutral core set card.
Would like to see more interesting effects from barriers in the future. Bailiff, Quicksand, Bulwark, Kakugo, Seidr Adaptive Barrier, and Hailstorm are all good examples of barriers with effects in addition to ETR where you can weigh your options when deckbuilding.
Ultimately, I am disappointed by the design of Battlement. If it was in Terminal Directive as a way to give access to more Barriers in a limited cardpool, I could see it. But including it in a data pack is just a total waste. :-(