by Dearlove
I'm pretty sure I played a heavy FREE Pillar deck with E&I before anyone else (I did have the advantage of the game not having been published at that point) and IIRC you can get the ratio above 16/45. But while I think it is fun (especially when upu get to make an opening play of six cards and straight into double dragon territory) and strong, all decent E&I decks are strong. I've certainly lost with it against a Khind deck, and probably others.It worth asking why the deck is strong in order to consider how to beat it. Basically it can put down big power levels, and some of that is in tje form of supports, the gift that keeps on giving. So the obvious counters are either ways of building up your own big strength (which most decks can do with some help) or s shield (possibly a mutant). The big total puts tje problem back on the Pillar, who have to do the same again, but is hard. The shield is just a one-term stay of execution (and makes it more likely to go into double-dragon territory). And the FREE supports means the problem gets worse. So some support removal is a definite. But then it's no good just reacting, you need to mess with the deck. Khind and Pillar cards are good for that, plus some leadership and interference cards. And you need your own Hyla.
Will that make an easy win? No. That Pillar deck (well, I've not studied that particular version, but I assume it's good) is tough. But unbeatable? I don't think so.
But that's all hot air. How about some facts. Tje German fans used to run E&I constructed deck tournaments. And from what I heard most of the peoples produced competitive decks. I don't know for a fact that high-FREE Pillsr wad one tried. But I'd be amazed if it wasn't.