Crossout Designator is finally out in the TCG. One of the cards that have completely warped the metagame over at the OCG. Will it have as much impact on the format and deckbuilding itself? Let's talk about it.
Designated Price to Pay
One thing to note about Crossout, before anything else, is price. We're not in the OCG where there's an abundance of different rarities. We only get ONE printing - and it's pretty tough to get.
Crossout has released in the 2021 Tin of Ancient Battles as an Ultra Rare. We get two Ultras in one Mega-Pack, which there's 3 of in each tin. I won't get into all the math, but basically, it's not as easy to come by as one would like. As of writing, the current ratio is sitting at around 1.5 per case (12 tins). Needless to say, that drives the price of the card up dramatically.
Crossout is usually a 3-of in a deck, which means that the demand, in tandem with the literal rarity to get, makes it yet another expensive staple. As of writing, it's sitting at around $100 PER COPY. That in itself is going to play a part in the number of players that are going to have access to it. Not everyone's willing to dump $300 for a playset of cardboard. This already is a huge indication of a difference with the OCG, where cheap copies are available for everyone. Yes, the upper echelon of TCG players, especially in the competitive scene, will most probably all have it. But that widens the gap between rogue and competitive players. Will that be a good thing? Well, that's a subjective topic that I'll leave to you to answer in the comments below.
Crossout Targets
Here's another stark difference between the OCG and the TCG - the banlist.
The first thing that comes to mind is obviously Maxx "C". It's such a meta-warping card due to its sheer strength. Maxx "C" is one of the reasons almost all of the decks in the OCG run Crossout. It's almost 100% certain that their opponent is going to be running Maxx "C", so having Crossout to prevent it ending their turn is already big merit towards playing the card.
TCG, on the other hand, does NOT have Maxx "C". Instead we fear things such as Ash Blossom, PSY-Framegear Gamma, Impermanence, Effect Veiler, Ghost Belle, etc. These are the common hand traps found in the main deck. What does this mean? There's not a couple of hand traps that are more than likely going to be present in the opponents' decks. Ash Blossom is one, but everything else is practically a question mark.
That being said, a ton of decks will still run Crossout. Why? Well, because it can still deal with hard-counters to several decks! If your deck hard loses to, let's say, Lancea, Droll & Lock Bird, Token Collector, and so on, then you definitely will have to play Crossout! Will they play it in the main? That's the thing - they might not, since the cards they want to hit are probably in the side deck.
Essentially the question is - will Crossout be main-decked in the TCG as much as in the OCG? While we don't have a definitive answer, it is not ridiculous at all to predict that it won't.
Conclusion
The TCG and OCG are two completely different formats. Aside from the banlist, the way decks are built and played are also drastically different. Some decks (such as Virtual World) might even play Triple Tactics Talent over Crossout!
Don't get me wrong, it's still a ridiculous card. It will alter the way we play the game, especially mirror matches. It's going to warp the format to a certain extent. What that extent is, is what we're all waiting to see. But it's most definitely not a reach to say that it might not live up to as much hype as it's getting.
