" close the gap between Tier-1 and Tier-2 decks, to the point where this distinction has become largely meaningless"
Not sure I agree. While player skill can certainly create confusion on this issue (e.g. Whiteblade with Zahya) the vast majority of players are going to do a lot better in a tournament with Arissana, Esa, and Sable than with Tao, Sebastiao and Zahya (and let's not consider Tier 3 IDs like Akiko*, Gnat and Los). In fact, the worse you are at runner side (like yours truly), the more important is is to pick an ID that just does the work for you. Nothing like being bad at Netrunner but then Esa triggers puts all their agendas in the bin. The Spark/Kit deck does so much of the hard work for you a large percentage of the time: Spark->Lobisomem, there now you can run anywhere until they double ice.
And on the Corp side, due to the pressure the best runner decks are able to mount, bringing a Tier 2 deck is potentially disastrous unless you have a billion reps with it.
*The "Girls" deck is fun, and not bad, but certainly far from the most busted thing you can be doing in the Green faction right now.
I think it's useful to talk about "power level" in terms of floor and ceiling. I think the Spark Kit deck has a high floor and a fairly high ceiling. Meanwhile, something like Zahya or Esa might have a high ceiling, but also a low floor: if you don't understand it and haven't practiced matchups, you're at a disadvantage. I would say that most of the high tier decks right now have a high floor. Even something that has become slightly off-meta like Ashnikko, will just give you wins if you manage your clicks halfway decently and play your cards. Arissana has an insanely high ceiling but also a low floor.
I would suggest that there might be a slightly different use of terms when we talk about Tier 1 and Tier 2 decks.
Tier 1 - WT Ari, Control Lat, Esa
Tier 2 - Bankhar Steve, Hoshiko, Most Shaper
Tier 3 - Zahya, Spark Kit
....
Tier 12 - Los, Gnat, etc
imo there isn't a big gap between tier 1 and tier 2 but there is a big gap between those decks and stuff further down the ladder
" close the gap between Tier-1 and Tier-2 decks, to the point where this distinction has become largely meaningless"
Not sure I agree. While player skill can certainly create confusion on this issue (e.g. Whiteblade with Zahya) the vast majority of players are going to do a lot better in a tournament with Arissana, Esa, and Sable than with Tao, Sebastiao and Zahya (and let's not consider Tier 3 IDs like Akiko*, Gnat and Los). In fact, the worse you are at runner side (like yours truly), the more important is is to pick an ID that just does the work for you. Nothing like being bad at Netrunner but then Esa triggers puts all their agendas in the bin. The Spark/Kit deck does so much of the hard work for you a large percentage of the time: Spark->Lobisomem, there now you can run anywhere until they double ice.
And on the Corp side, due to the pressure the best runner decks are able to mount, bringing a Tier 2 deck is potentially disastrous unless you have a billion reps with it.
*The "Girls" deck is fun, and not bad, but certainly far from the most busted thing you can be doing in the Green faction right now.
I don't expect everyone to agree with my comment about power level, but I do want to pick you up on one point.
Your description of runner decks that "do the hard work for you" I think confuses "difficulty curve" with "power level".
Yes, Spark/Kit is probably easier to play than the other decks that I describe, but it is not obvious that she is any more or less powerful.
I think it's useful to talk about "power level" in terms of floor and ceiling. I think the Spark Kit deck has a high floor and a fairly high ceiling. Meanwhile, something like Zahya or Esa might have a high ceiling, but also a low floor: if you don't understand it and haven't practiced matchups, you're at a disadvantage. I would say that most of the high tier decks right now have a high floor. Even something that has become slightly off-meta like Ashnikko, will just give you wins if you manage your clicks halfway decently and play your cards. Arissana has an insanely high ceiling but also a low floor.
lamao girls wins
Yeah, I'm processing that information now.