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So I ran across some notes and comments in an old notebook that I took on the TexP set while playtesting way back when. I didn't do much playtesting with TexP mainly due to a lack of time, but I would submit comments now and then.

A few notes in particular made me chuckle... (To be fair to myself, I made these comments without ever trying the cards in a playtest deck).

"Grapes of Wrath--not good enough for a dominant"

"Mayhem--just another Harvest Time for Multi-player games..."

My first thoughts on reading TGT (real thoughts):

Wow, this card needs so much extra work to do anything.

"Gates of Hell--too high of cost."

We totally didn't say that about him.... I'm pretty sure he was CBI through most of the proccess, we just expanded what his ability targeted near the end.

We totally didn't say that about him.... I'm pretty sure he was CBI through most of the proccess, we just expanded what his ability targeted near the end.

"Thad - this guy is too weak, nobody will play him, let's make it CBI."

Not sure but I think Gabe's was sarcastic but I could be wrong. This is not sarcastic BTW.

How can I sign up for playtesting?
Also, All of those are hilarious! GoW not good enough? And Mayhem basically another HT?

Thaddeus v 1.0
47.   CARD NAME: Thaddeus [Apostles]
CARD TYPE: hero
CLASS:
IDENTIFIERS: Disciple, X = the number of good disciples you have in play
STATS: 8/8
BRIGADE COLOR: Purple
SPECIAL ABILITY: Immune to evil characters with toughness (/*) less than X.  May use good N.T. enhancements regardless of brigade.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 6:13-16
FREQUENCY: A
ARTIST: same

Thaddeus v 2.0 - To counter Uzzah:
64.        CARD NAME: Thaddeus [Apostles]
CARD TYPE: hero
CLASS:
IDENTIFIERS: Disciple, X = # of your good disciples in play
STATS: 8/8
BRIGADE COLOR: Purple
SPECIAL ABILITY: Disciples, Artifacts, and Lost Souls are immune to evil characters with toughness (/*) less than X.
SCRIPTURE: And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. Luke 6:13-16
FREQUENCY:  
ARTIST: same

Thaddeus v 3.0 - after complaints that no one would use him, we added "cannot be interrupted."  Includes reference change to Matthew to match the disciple that bands to him:
64.        CARD NAME: Thaddeus [Apostles]
CARD TYPE: hero
CLASS:
IDENTIFIERS: Disciple, X = # of your good disciples in play
STATS: 8/8
BRIGADE COLOR: Purple
SPECIAL ABILITY: Protect Neutral cards, heroes, and all your cards from evil characters with toughness (/*) X or less.  Cannot be interrupted.    
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Matthew 10:2-3
FREQUENCY:  
ARTIST: same

Thaddeus v4.0 - the step too far:
64.        CARD NAME: Thaddeus [Apostles]
CARD TYPE: hero
CLASS:
IDENTIFIERS: Disciple, X = # of your good disciples in play
STATS: 8/8
BRIGADE COLOR: Purple
SPECIAL ABILITY: Protect all cards in play, set-aside area, Artifact piles, hands, and decks from Evil Characters with toughness (/*) X or less. Cannot be interrupted.    
SCRIPTURE:  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Matthew 10:2-3
FREQUENCY:  
ARTIST: new art – Georges de la Tour

I thought that at one point I'd suggested "All cards not in battle" to be protected, to shorten the ability considerably. I think it was between V3 and V4.

It's basically what it is anyway.

...insurmountable site lock,...

Which begs the question....what were you all thinking when you made cesarea Philipi?

I dont have a problem with any of the other sites, even Nazereth which attacks my beloved ANB decks.  But there are not enough counters to Cesarea philipi, and you have to play them within only a few brigades.  This really makes Site lock and a NT defense for that matter, very powerful.

I really dont like the trend of sites becoming mini fortresses.  often now people put the sites in with no intention of even using them as sites (like Golgotha) or just using them as a site for secondary reasons.  I think the SA on a site should be related to the purpose of a site which is to contain or restrict acess to LS's. 

How does CP help site lock? It hurt it, imo.... they can't just land dispute my access sites anymore. They'll have to add Benedictus or something.

Why are you playing Jacob's Dream outside of booster?

of all the di cards, Golgotha is probably the least broken now.  I rank Cesarea Philipi, Thad and Fishing boat above golgotha

Thad>HT>CP>Boat>Manny

CP would have been fine with either one of the two abilities it was given.  With both of them it's really strong.  Probably a little too strong.

I used to think that the new Sites were OP and therefore we would need to make a bunch of counters.  After playing with, and against them this year I'm convinced that the they are one of the best things to happen to the game in recent history.  They hurt many of the most common themes people have used for the past few years.  Suddenly people have to approach their deck building differently.  You can't rely on pre-block ignore, territory destruction, ANB, a timely Mayhem, or even stealing all our opponent's Sites.  Change isn't easy, but it's good.

I've started to love the sites too. Except Chorazin, nobody plays with it beings it isn't very good .

Thaddeus is by far the most broken. I've been trying everything to stop him and the most success as come from Pretension, which is somewhat sad. Fishing Boat is overrated imo: I've never gotten to draw as much as I wanted and I'd still say it is inferior to CP + 1 or two access sites. Herod's Temple is amazing too, and needed imo.

Herod's Temple is lame because of it's infinite usage.

I play Haman's Plot and rip it.
Herod's Temple. Son.
Christian Martyr.
Herod's Temple. Son.
Magic Charms.
That's not a discard. Noob.

I suggested a Dominant that could discard a Site or Fortress in play or Set-aside area, It's makes Chamber and Boat not as irritating, plus u can get rid of irritating sites as well.

I've started to love the sites too. Except Chorazin, nobody plays with it beings it isn't very good .

Thaddeus is by far the most broken. I've been trying everything to stop him and the most success as come from Pretension, which is somewhat sad. Fishing Boat is overrated imo: I've never gotten to draw as much as I wanted and I'd still say it is inferior to CP + 1 or two access sites. Herod's Temple is amazing too, and needed imo.

Once each theme/brigade has a reliable way to deal with CP-protected Sites, I think we'll have the best balance. The example I always use is Zebulun. Zebulun decks can still work because you have room for a Teal Hero and Benedictus. Meanwhile, an actual Genesis-themed deck that includes Zebulun probably doesn't have the card slots to add in Benedictus. So while the Sites helped make balanced decks competitive again, many themes are not tournament worthy right now because they have no way to deal with the Sites.

IMO, CP should protect all other N.T. sites. Protecting itself is a bit much. While occupied would have worked too...

Didn't the rules originally state that site's abilities only worked when occupied?

Watchful Servant is 10x better than Zebby, and works well with TGT.

The rules used to be that sites had to be occupied, but is no longer, hence why some say "while occupied"

Watchful Servant is 10x better than Zebby, and works well with TGT.

unless your opponent is playing a 100 card deck...

alot