<throws grenade into hall, ducks>
<takes a breath...>
A lot of what gets said about balance in TTRPGs is nonsensical bullshit IMO.
What unites them all IME is that they are platforms for expression.
strategic. tactical. empathic. emotional. creative. mathematical.
there are a lot of ways to express yourself.
But my experience of it is that balance is only important insofar as it allows multiple valid expressions for people who play.
If we are balancing systems to create better expressions, we are spending energy in the right place.
The key thing here: "feel". What your audience believes to be true regarding expressiveness is what *is* true, effectively.
When certain cards make it so folks feel that only one or two decks are the only ones they can play, adjustments need to be made.
Strictly competitive, that shouldn't matter. But expressiveness *does* matter.
And part of how things are experienced is how things are played, and what cultures are built around a game.
What I am saying is that this is WHY systems and math matter. Systems without User empathy are more prone to being unbalanced and "broken", and also harder to fix.
I guess the TL;DR of what I'm saying is:
Balance is for people, not systems.
But the people who play your game, they care a lot!
OK I code now