I think the problem is not with counter play but that the amount of RNG is overwhelming deliberate strategies. People are expecting the game to be similar to chess, but it end up more like poker.

The drawing of accomplice is RNG. If you are going for pages distinction for example, RNG might not give you pages.

After luck give you the set of accomplice you need for the distinction, you are still subjected to the RNG of drawing of cards. If your strategy need poison preparation, the game can refuse to give you poison preparation cards. If you add more poison prep accomplice to offset this, the game can give you ONLY poison prep cards. Either way you are at the mercy of RNG.

When you are already at the mercy of RNG, the addition of more RNG like counter play can make the game start to feel unfair and unfun.

For example, I have a run where I am going for distinction of kings. First draw have no kings and I settle on Queen of Cods, keeping my options open. Second draw I am lucky enough to draw knuckles, third draw, the only selection that wouldn't ruin the composition is king of Roses.

With this composition, I have only 1 card giving poison prep and I need to draw and play it 3 times, 1st time at 100% chance, 2nd and 3rd time at 90% chance (99% chance with 2nd chance) to reach 5 poison prep and activate knuckles and Rose. Before 5 poison prep, every option I can play increases counter play.

After 10 rounds, I realize that counter play plus natural elusive progression will lose me the game consistantly at round 14-16. My poison progress is at 4-5 level at this point, with similar level of poison resistance. With how powerful knuckles is, I only need to play it twice at 7 elusiveness to win the game and I definitely would be holding both cards at this point. Thus I just need to draw the cod poison prep card 3 times before round 12.

The probability that this card is not drawn at least 3 times in 12 rounds is about 23.77% (calculated by chatgpt) which feel correct (50% to draw in initial round and 33% to draw in subsequent rounds, on average should draw ~4 times over 12 rounds). And indeed, I was at a 5 win 1 loss lead before RNG screw me hard and I lost the game at 6 win, 4 loss.

There is nothing for me to do except keep drawing cards and let RNG decide if I win or not. This is plainly unfun.