Best and Worst Corps discussion

[RoyalRook]

There's only 12 corps, so ranking Thorgate 5th isn't exactly high praise. Just means it's not terrible.

I'd put it 7th personally, but either way the conclusion is that it's a pretty mid corporation.

My man, word up, whats your 12 corps ranking for the 3p corp era?

[BlackHatGuy]

In Order:

S-Tier) Credicor, Ecoline

A-Tier) Teractor, Cinematics, Mining Guild

B-Tier) Tharsis, Helion, Saturn, Thorgate

C-Tier) UNMI, Phobolog, Inventrix

But I should note I only play 2p so some of the precise orders might change based on experience.

[RoyalRook]

Btw this is the T4Mars draft BGA thread, a must read for all: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2505409/article

[Taruassassin]

I am appalled by all the disrespect to UNMI. It is a average to good corp in the hands of an experienced player. Regardless of opening hand you have standard project + corp action to fuel your early game. Any events or cards that terraform make it even better. terraforming score = money per gen and make people rush to join in because the game is progressing faster so they dont have time to sit around and build the perfect engine. People who play UNMI wrong have given it a bad name but experienced players will make you regret looking down on it. Ecoline however is probably the best corp usually doesnt get to shine as it should because many space/event cards spread out means they dont get to place a plant. The BGG article seems pretty old. In person and online on the map the person was talking about which is Hellas not Tharsis(which thiss thread is about). The person claims not many people try for polar explorer. GL with that theory. It is usually the most highly contested milestone on Hellas.

[RoyalRook]

I am appalled by all the disrespect to UNMI. It is a average to good corp in the hands of an experienced player. Regardless of opening hand you have standard project + corp action to fuel your early game. Any events or cards that terraform make it even better. terraforming score = money per gen and make people rush to join in because the game is progressing faster so they dont have time to sit around and build the perfect engine. People who play UNMI wrong have given it a bad name but experienced players will make you regret looking down on it. Ecoline however is probably the best corp usually doesnt get to shine as it should because many space/event cards spread out means they dont get to place a plant. The BGG article seems pretty old. In person and online on the map the person was talking about which is Hellas not Tharsis(which thiss thread is about). The person claims not many people try for polar explorer. GL with that theory. It is usually the most highly contested milestone on Hellas.

[rant]UNMI is never good, it's corp I play for the meme becaues it licks the bottom of the tier list and then some. I should never use it against any player in my class. Just because I may have some crazy games with UNMI, it doesn't mean the corp is competitive. You can always have a good run with it, but often in the end you run out of gas against a good player. An experienced player doesn't always mean he is good.

UNMI is always poor, TR events can often be bad early investment without proper discount and tempo if rushed. UNMI sins the most in those regards, which sent him directly to the trash bin. If I play 100 games against UNMI players whom are on my level, I probably win 95~98 of them in 2P. Imagine a race car with the least horsepowers, lowest gas tanks, can only keep running by accelerating into every corners and you get UNMI. 3 dollar for 1 TR in early gen is barely ok, it's so average I have no problem skipping it and do something else if it's worth my time

You know when UNMI is good? You bought almost no cards, top deck earth catapult, ai central and anti grav in drafts, but you can bet your top dollar that your other corp selection would have scored better.

None Corp Era UNMI were much much viable, because....wait for it....it's far less poor. Cash is the king baby! Merica. [/rant]

Sure UNMI could be good, have fun!

[Taruassassin]

You know when UNMI is good? You bought almost no cards, top deck earth catapult, ai central and anti grav in drafts, but you can bet your top dollar that your other corp selection would have scored better.

This is not good for UNMI specifically they are just good cards(actually its pretty bad fore UNMI because you need to set up the engine rather than terraform.), this is why i said experienced player. UNMI yes buying less cards is good, but space/event/ or project cards that terraform, which one(s) are not worth it? Standard projects(the science card) makes UNMI go even faster and probably a top pick as a UNMI player. Saying most space/events that terraform arent good is insane, since most if not all are good/great value for money. Even point neutral card like bribed committee and nuke basically have cost increased by 3 to be worth 1 vp. Every gen your money production goes up by however much terraforming you have done allowing you to do more each gen. With even just a lil luck a experienced UNMI player will have the game ending by gen 7-8 generally. If it is not then because of the terraforming score they have money production to make point plays.

[Fireblaster935]

1. Credicore - Really good starting cash and a good chunk of the best cards are 20+ mc anyway. You dont realize how good the corp is until you start spamming events.
2. Terractor - The only reason its lower than credicore is because credicore can sp greeneries and cities way better. Other than that, 60 starting cash is extremely good and there are plenty of earth tags in the game.
3. Mining Guild - If this corp finds tiles and card draw early on this is the best corp in the game and its not even close. Without tiles, this corp is actually really bad. Good news is, when you pick this corp you have tiles so its really solid. Also, people tend to place the first ocean on the cards so if mining guild gets oceans early there are three really good spots rather than the 1 that every other corp gets.
4. IC - Media group is one of the best cards in the game so having a slightly worse media group is a great ability. I still wouldnt pick this corp if you dont have a good steel target early because if you dont find any in the first couple drafts its actually really bad. Also, most events are really really good so IC makes them better. If you have a good steel target then IC kind of starts with 70 mc. I used to hate this corp but it has grown on me and I actually really like it.
5. Ecoline - Good for rush but make sure you can raise heat. You will know the pain if you maxed oxygen but heat is low amd your opponent out engines you. Trust me, raise heat as ecoline.
6. Inventrix - Underrated corp. 3 bonus cards is nice, the ability is actually surprisingly useful, and a starting science tag can also be really helpful. Being able to play early kelp farming, AI, or other power cards can make this corp really strong. The only thing this corp lacks is production so if you can manage a little bit of prod early this corp will do you good.
7/8. Tharsis/Saturn Systems - I put these corps this low because I play mostly 2 player and they do better the more players obviously. As tharsis you dont want to sp cities early and unless you have city and energy cards I dont like the corp. Good against ecoline and can claim mayor ealy but the corps ability isnt usually worth it because city cards arent that good. For SS, I think theyre better than tharsis in 2p because there are less people to cut jovs. If you manage to find all 4 jov mults you win, but you also win with any other corp so… I think theyre fun to play and an underrated part of this corp is the fact that there are a lot more cards that your opponent has to cut. People might flame me for putting tharsis this low but trust me, in 2 player competitive theyre mid. In 5 player casual best cop in the game because players spam cities for no reason.
9. UNMI - People hate this corp for no reason. As long as you have an efficient way to increase TR in your first couple gens then this corp is good. I agree its not as good as the other ones but its not the worst corp.
10. - Helion - I feel like this corp should be better than it is but theyre not good. As helion, you want to raise heat to max as fast as possible so that you get value out of heat and your opponent cant. However, that rarely happens and if you cant make it happen this corp might as well not have an ability. You almost never want to spend heat as mc so this corps ability essentially is just 3 heat prod. I wish it was better but alas, it sucks.
11. Phobolog - If you get no titanium prod this corp sucks. If you dont get a good titanium target they also suck. With good prod they can be decent but generally not a good corp.
12. Thorgate - I hate this corp dont play this corp. Energy cards suck in bulk and the only good ones are quantum and mass. Only good thing is they start with an energy.

[Corbz]

You know when UNMI is good? You bought almost no cards, top deck earth catapult, ai central and anti grav in drafts, but you can bet your top dollar that your other corp selection would have scored better.

This is not good for UNMI specifically they are just good cards(actually its pretty bad fore UNMI because you need to set up the engine rather than terraform.), this is why i said experienced player. UNMI yes buying less cards is good, but space/event/ or project cards that terraform, which one(s) are not worth it? Standard projects(the science card) makes UNMI go even faster and probably a top pick as a UNMI player. Saying most space/events that terraform arent good is insane, since most if not all are good/great value for money. Even point neutral card like bribed committee and nuke basically have cost increased by 3 to be worth 1 vp. Every gen your money production goes up by however much terraforming you have done allowing you to do more each gen. With even just a lil luck a experienced UNMI player will have the game ending by gen 7-8 generally. If it is not then because of the terraforming score they have money production to make point plays.

Hi Taruassassin. My twopence worth, UNMI isn't a strong corp even in the hands of an experienced player.

Standard Projects are never a good thing to do as UNMI at the start of game. They just aren't efficient, even when paying 3 MC on top for an extra TR.

Space events are generally good, and Royal Rook didn't say they aren't. They are just generally better later in the game when you may have space discounts and can kill plants. Early game they are generally OK.

The premium cards, like Earth Cat and AI are good for all corps as long as you get them early. With both of those cards in hand, you should go for engine irrespective of what corp you are. This is what RoyalRook was trying to say. But if you have both of those cards, the other corp is probably the better choice.

[Glados93]

Objective Corporation tier list for 3p basegame with Corporate Era based on winning percentage from a sample of 1,556 games of the just finished Arena Season 18. All games included at least one of the top ~ 35 players in the Arena Season (most of you guys posting here )

Corp winrate (wins/games)

Credicor..... 42.6 % (225/528)
IC............... 42.0 % (177/421)
Saturn........ 37.1 % (176/474)
Ecoline....... 36.8 % (138/375)
Tharsis....... 36.2 % (210/580)
MG............. 34.4 % (154/448)
Teractor..... 31.0 % (137/442)
PhoboLog... 29.1 % (94/323)
Helion........ 25.8 % (86/333)
ThorGate.... 25.7 % (58/226)
Inventrix ....24.0 % (76/317)
UNMI..........12.4 % (25/201)

[Yahyra]

You know when UNMI is good? You bought almost no cards, top deck earth catapult, ai central and anti grav in drafts, but you can bet your top dollar that your other corp selection would have scored better.

This is not good for UNMI specifically they are just good cards(actually its pretty bad fore UNMI because you need to set up the engine rather than terraform.), this is why i said experienced player. UNMI yes buying less cards is good, but space/event/ or project cards that terraform, which one(s) are not worth it? Standard projects(the science card) makes UNMI go even faster and probably a top pick as a UNMI player. Saying most space/events that terraform arent good is insane, since most if not all are good/great value for money. Even point neutral card like bribed committee and nuke basically have cost increased by 3 to be worth 1 vp. Every gen your money production goes up by however much terraforming you have done allowing you to do more each gen. With even just a lil luck a experienced UNMI player will have the game ending by gen 7-8 generally. If it is not then because of the terraforming score they have money production to make point plays.

Hi Taruassassin. My twopence worth, UNMI isn't a strong corp even in the hands of an experienced player.

Standard Projects are never a good thing to do as UNMI at the start of game. They just aren't efficient, even when paying 3 MC on top for an extra TR.

Space events are generally good, and Royal Rook didn't say they aren't. They are just generally better later in the game when you may have space discounts and can kill plants. Early game they are generally OK.

The premium cards, like Earth Cat and AI are good for all corps as long as you get them early. With both of those cards in hand, you should go for engine irrespective of what corp you are. This is what RoyalRook was trying to say. But if you have both of those cards, the other corp is probably the better choice.

The good cop / bad cop dynamic between Corbz and Rooks is hilarious. Thank you for being so friendly and inviting in your posts, Corbz.

Best wishes.

ps - Don't you all enjoy getting bad corp decisions( like Inventrix vs UNMI) , and then you had to pick UNMI because of the preludes and cards, and then in gen 10 or so win with 75 TR? Those can be fun times.