by argus88
Absolutely, in the end you can keep adding in extra factors or considerations endlessly, as nothing operates in a vaccum.my evaluation was for a deck already intending to run Aesop, as you said, and was maining pointing out that if you ARE running Aesop, then Armitages grant equivalent efficiency to Magnum Opus with a lower startup cost. Another way to look at it I suppose is that Aesop pays for itself just in selling off your Armitages, so if you have any further incentive for including it (Wyldside, Bank Job, Sac Constructs and Rabbit Holes, it's worth it - Which is another way of saying almost every single deck could benefit from Aesop's if they can afford the influence cost)
One point I'd disagree with you though is this
FileAccess wrote:
Armitage + Aesop's requires you to have all four cards at the right time, which certainly isn't impossible, but it's not trivial either.
I actually think that Armitage + Aesop is considerably more resilient in this regard. Not only is there a low upfront cost, but there is no need to get the cards together, for instance you can leave your first Armitage with 2 credits on it when you begin on the second, and then sell it whenever Aesop comes into play. A key point though is that every single Armitage in your deck is being used. If you want to start using Magnum Opus as soon as you could start using Armitage, that means including 3 Opuses in your deck, unless you're facing Jinteki those 2 extra cards are dead draws (And if it got trashed and you have to install a second Opus, then it's coming in WAY behind Armitage, so there's no point considering that)
Does that mean the evaluation should really include 3 draws for Magnum opus as well? Perhaps, it's not a clear-cut case, but obviously you are paying a cost when you draw your second and third Opus instead of a card that can actually further your board position. (And note that if you did factor those in, then Magnum Opus still comes out behind by a credit in your 23 click evaluation accounting for Aesop's cost)
In the end, of course MU is going to be the largest consideration in most cases, morso than any of these other points.