This is a long one, so bear with us folks...
I have painstakingly gone through the entire card pool and have done my best to address some of the most glaring issues. In this BIG patch overperformers are getting trimmed, underperformers are finally getting some love, and a handful of full reworks on cards that just weren't working as intended. We're making some big changes to cards that have been dominant for a while, and we're also taking some swings on cards that have never seen competitive play. Some of these will hit, some won't - and we're totally okay with that. We'd rather have an exciting and evolving meta than a stale one.
As always, we'll be watching how things shake out and won't hesitate to follow up quickly if something ends up being too strong or too weak. Drop your thoughts in Discord - we read everything.
A tough one to balance - at 0 cost with 3 charges Fox was an absolute menace, but at 1 cost he's virtually unplayable. This is most likely a temporary fix to get him back in the game while we work on a bigger rework. The goal this patch is to bring underperforming heroes up to par.
Enchanted character can only attack the rightmost enemy
Enchanted character has -2 power and can only attack the rightmost enemy.
We looked at every Rune in the game and noticed that Blind was the only one without a strong dual purpose. This rework makes it impactful as a Light Rune trigger and opens up new design space on other cards as well.
Play: Until your next turn, all 5 cost and higher enemy spells have +5 cost
Play: Until your next turn, all 5 cost and higher enemy spells and units have +3 cost
The previous rework was interesting in theory but underwhelming in practice. Adding enemy units to the condition while reducing the cost spike should make this actually worth playing.
Buffing an underperformer to hopefully make it viable outside of dedicated Ada builds.
Sunset: Add Armis Guard to your hand. This game, your Armis Guard have Lifesteal.
Death: Add Armis Guard to your hand. This game, your Armis Guard have Lifesteal.
Nerfing a longtime overperformer. Medic could easily snowball into an unanswerable value engine, so we're switching it to a Death trigger - strong, but now actually answerable.
Making this unit a bit stickier so you can actually play it on curve and have the Goblet of Armis attachment be a real threat.
Removing Armor and giving Auntie a significant health boost to compensate. As a 0-power unit she now functions as pseudo-ramp and should synergize nicely with the WIS health archetype.
Small buff to a fun but almost entirely useless 1-drop.
Slight stat nerf to a major STR overperformer.
Reducing the cost from 6 to 4 and adjusting the stats accordingly. Should now be more in line with comparable 4-drops like Steam Knight.
Summon: attach the rightmost enemy
Summon: attach the rightmost enemy Sunset: attach blind Sunrise: attach Lead
Due to the Blind rework, Bolt needed an update. Gaining 1 health makes it a more reliable Guard unit after its initial attack.
Play: Gain +1/+1 for every 5 Max Mana you have.
Play: Gain +2/+2 for every 5 Max Mana you have.
Buffing an underperformer. At 5 max mana it's now a 3/6 instead of 2/6, and at 10 mana a 5/8 instead of 3/7. A solid step up.
Slight nerf to bring this 1-drop more in line with our expectations for the cost.
Glory: Dust the enemy's top dead unit to summon Zomboid.
Glory: Summon Zomboid. Dust the highest-cost dead enemy unit
Slight rework to make the Glory effect trigger more consistently - it no longer requires an enemy unit to already be in the graveyard.
Reverting an old nerf. Shouldn't be particularly impactful but should make this card a bit more playable.
Reverting an old nerf by reducing the base cost from 10 to 7, allowing it to trigger the 7+ cost theme earlier and be a playable 5/5 at 4 mana on curve.
Summon: Gain Guard and +1 power for each damage your hero has taken this turn
Summon: gain 1 Power and 1 random keyword for each time your hero took damage this turn.
Rework to a historic underperformer - this should give it more flavor and a higher ceiling.
When the first ally unit dies each turn, draw your lowest-cost Dark card
When the first ally unit dies on YOUR turn, draw your lowest-cost Dark card
Much-needed nerf to arguably the best 3-drop in the game. It now only triggers on your turn.
Similar to the Crystalceratops change, reducing the base cost from 10 to 8.
Sunrise: Gain 1 power, lifesteal, and wither
Sunrise: Gain 1 power and wither
Small buff and cleanup to a seemingly forgotten 1-drop.
Summon: If your hand has a 7c or higher card, gain Dash and add Etherwail to your hand
Summon: If your hand has a 7c or higher card, gain Dash and add Ether Call to your hand
Small change but it matters - Etherwail is mostly unplayable and clogs your hand, so swapping it for Ether Call should be a solid boost.
Minor buff to a tricky card to balance - adding Shield while reducing the health by 1.
Sunset: Dust the top unit of both graves to gain +2 health
Sunset: Dust the top 2 units of your opponent's graveyard to gain +2 health.
Gives STR a bit more play against HRT decks that rely on graveyard interactions.
Small nerf to an extremely strong card.
Death: Give ally units +1/+1/ Add Doom Shroom to your deck.
Death: Give ally units +1/+1/ Add Doom Shroom to your hand.
Nice little buff - instead of clogging your deck with Doom Shrooms, it now adds them directly to your hand.
While Geod is a great counter to spell and combo decks, Armor is a fundamentally powerful trait that can make this unit nearly unanswerable. Adding Lead to compensate.
Small nerf to an overstatted AGY unit.
Play: Dust target unit. Death: Summon a copy of the dusted unit for its player.
Play: Dust target unit. Death: Summon a copy of the dusted unit with silence for its player.
Small buff to an underperformer - gives WIS another tool against HRT. Probably not a game-changer, but every bit counts.
After your hero attacks an enemy unit, this attacks that unit
After your hero attacks an enemy, this unit attacks that enemy
Small text change to clarify that Grifter can now also attack the enemy hero when your hero does.
Minor nerf targeting Mai specifically - reducing the Barrier benefit from Vile Vials.
Minor buff so this guy isn't completely useless if you're forced to play him early.
Sunset: Replay your bottom dead 1 cost or higher spell, target enemies if possible.
Sunset: Replay your bottom 2 dead 1 cost or higher spells, target enemies if possible.
Reducing the cost from 9 to 8 and doubling the replay effect. Hoping this gives INT some exciting high-end options.
Slay: Do 2 damage to your hero and add hexfection to your hand
Slay: Add hexfection to your hand
Minor change to an awkward unit. We've never been a fan of the self-damage mechanic on units like this, so we're reworking it out.
Reducing the cost significantly on a unit with a strong but previously unplayable effect. We'll keep a close eye on this one.
Summon: Draw and attach your lowest-cost fire spell to this unit. If your hand has a fire card, ready this unit
Summon: If your hand has a fire card, ready this unit. Draw your lowest-cost fire spell.
Slight rework to a previously solid card - the new ordering means it can be played on curve and tutored via On the Hunt without overwriting the attached spell.
Death: Dust non-fire cards in your hand. Draw that many fire cards
Death: Discard non-fire cards in your hand. Draw that many fire cards
Switching from Dust to Discard to re-enable some graveyard synergies.
Adding Wither - better flavor and a bit more playability.
Sunrise: Give another random ally unit +1 power and attach Fury to it
Sunset: Give another random ally unit +1 power and attach Fury to it
Changing from Sunrise to Sunset so the buff triggers even if the unit dies that turn.
Play: Gain +1/+1 for each unit in your graveyard
Summon: Gain +1/+1 for each unit in your graveyard
Changing Play to Summon so this unit can be cheated in from the graveyard.
Sunset: if you played a spell this turn, do 1 damage to a random enemy. Repeat 5 more times
Sunset: do 1 damage to a random enemy. Repeat 5 more times
Removing the spell restriction to make this card more impactful and less conditional.
Sunset: If you summoned another metal unit this turn, attach mana crystal to your hero
Sunset: If you summoned another metal unit this turn, add mana crystal to your hand
Minor buff - the effect no longer interferes with cards like Defend the Cause or Steelsmithing.
Sunset: If your hero didnt attack this turn, gain Lifesteal and Armor, until the end of your next turn
Sunset: gain Lifesteal and Armor, until the end of your next turn
Removing the 'don't attack' restriction to give this underperformer some life. At minimum he's now a 2-point health swing if you can connect with the enemy hero.
Play: Gain +1/+1 for each element in your grave.
Summon: Gain +1/+1 for each element in your grave. Costs 1 less for each element in your grave
Rework and cost increase from 7 to 9 - finally giving WIS a legitimate 9-cost target. The new scaling cost reduction should make this feel incredible to set up.
Play: Attach vapors to target ally unit
Play: Attach vapors to target ally
Allowing you to attach Vapors to your hero opens up some new plays on an otherwise unimpactful card.
After you draw a unit, give it +1/+1
After you draw a unit, give it +1/+2
One part of a broader effort to revive the handbuff archetype - probably not enough on its own, but it's a start.
Summon: Dust 10 spells from your deck. Give your hero +1 health for each dusted
Summon: Dust 15 spells from your deck. Give your hero +1 health for each dusted
We wanted to revive the spirit of old Naka-Mask decks while keeping things in check. Capping at 15 spells makes it slightly less consistent but hopefully still very playable.
Summon: Draw and attach a 4 cost spell to this unit
Summon: Draw a 4 cost spell and attach a copy of it to this unit
Fun adjustment to an underperformer - part of a wider push to give INT more ways to copy spells.
Sunset: Attach Moonbeam
Summon and Sunset: Attach Moonbeam
Minor buff to an underperformer. Maybe this is the WIS unit that finally makes a Titus Will build work - or maybe it just becomes a solid value piece. Either way, worth trying.
This used to be a strong card but has fallen off lately. Hoping a small power bump makes a difference.
Another small nerf to an Ada overperformer. 11 points of stats with Lead and a good ability at 4 mana is a bit much.
Sunset: Draw cards until you have 3 cards in hand
Summon: Mulligan your hand. Sunset: Draw until you have 3 cards.
Mostly thematic, but we wanted to bring this card back to its former glory as an AGY staple.
A 2-drop shouldn't be outputting 8+ damage with Wither just to remove it. Small but necessary nerf.
After your hero takes damage during your turn, gain +1 power
After your hero takes damage, gain +1 power
Removing the restriction that damage had to be taken on your turn. Given that this unit starts at 0 power, it needed more opportunities to grow.
After this unit gains power for the first time each turn, give another random ally unit that much power
Whenever another unit gains Power, this unit gains +1 Power.
Finally nerfing the most broken 1-drop in the game. Need we say more?
Sunset: If your hero's health is higher than it was at this turn's start, draw a card. If its lower, summon Zomboid
Sunset: If your hero's lost life this turn, draw a card. If your hero gained life this turn, summon Zomboid
Rework to an awkward unit that sat idle too often. It now rewards both taking and gaining life, giving it a much higher ceiling.
After another unit is summoned, attach silence to it
After an enemy unit is summoned, attach silence to it
This card has always had potential but was unplayable because it silenced your own units too. Should be quite strong now that's fixed.
Reworking the stats from 3/2 to 4/1 to lean into the repeated-attack fantasy - more damage potential, but more fragile.
Trying to restore a formerly good card to relevance. This minor stat bump should be all it needs.
Small cost reduction to an over-nerfed former boogeyman. Maybe 20 still isn't enough - we'll monitor.
Summon: Add yellowjack with fate to your deck for each air card in your hand
Summon: Add yellowjack with fate to your deck. Repeat for each air card in your hand
One of our favorite cards, but you were too dependent on already holding air cards for it to fire. Adding a Yellowjack by default is a decent base-level boost, and we'll revisit if it's still not enough.
The glory effects of ally units trigger twice.
The glory effects of ally units trigger twice. Summon: attach fury to an ally unit
Losing 2 health but gaining a Fury attachment on summon - the ability to potentially draw 2 cards and buff a unit in the same turn is a serious upgrade.
Stealth made this unit too dangerous and hard to answer. Swapping it for Banner keeps the aggressive identity while making it easier to interact with.
Cold Snap was too slow and awkward - spending 3 mana to play the unit and cast a spell with a downside rarely felt good. Icy Touch gives WIS a better tool against large, Armored threats.
Play: Give the highest-cost spell in your hand -1 cost
Summon: Give the highest-cost spell in your hand -1 cost
We've long wanted this card to be good - stealing an opponent's spell is such a satisfying effect. It just never had the survivability to compete. Hoping this gets it there.
After your hero attacks, attach Flames to it
Summon: Attach flames to your hero
The conditional downside was too punishing, so we've reworked it to attach Flames on Summon. Power reduced by 1 accordingly.
The enemy hero cant gain health.
The enemy hero cant gain health. Death: Dust the top unit of the enemy's graveyard
Small buff to an underperformer, and part of a broader effort to give the game more tools to interact with graveyard-based strategies.
Inspire Spell: Dust that spell to do 2 damage to a random enemy
Inspire Spell: Dust that spell to do 3 damage to a random enemy
Once the centerpiece of the most feared combo deck in the game, Zam has since fallen by the wayside. INT's spell archetype could use more punch, so Zam gets a 1 damage buff for now.
Due to the Blind rework this card becomes considerably stronger, so we're bumping it to 4 cost. Will reevaluate later if needed.
Do 5 damamge to target unit. Has -1 cost for each time your hero attacked this turn.
Do 6 damamge to target unit. Has -1 cost for each time your hero attacked this turn.
Small buff to an underperformer with real potential - raising the base damage from 5 to 6.
Do 3 damage to all units
Do 3 damage to enemy units.
Solid buff to an unplayable card - cost reduction and drawback removed. Should be quite a bit stronger.
Give ally units +3/+3
Give ally units +3/+1
Finally giving one of the strongest cards in the game a much-needed nerf. May revisit entirely in the future, but let's see if this is enough.
Do 2 damage to enemy units. Give ally units +1 power
Do 3 damage to enemy units. Give ally units +1 power
Increasing the cost and damage. 3 damage is a more relevant breakpoint in the current game, and it felt undercosted for what it does.
Possibly strong but too inconsequential at 4 cost. Dropping it to 3 to give it a shot.
Draw two mind card. Give them +1 cost
Draw a mind card and add a copy of it to your hand. Give the copy +1 cost
Powerful rework to a forever unplayable card to support our new "copy spells" archetype for INT.
Draw and summon a unit. Do damage equal to its power to all enemy units
Summon the highest power unit from hand and give it dash
Reverting this card to its former glory. The previous rework turned a mediocre card into completely unplayable garbage - consider this a repair job.
Give target ally unit +3/+3. Add a copy of each blade spell in your graveyard to your hand
Give target ally unit +3/+2 and attach barrier
Major rework to get rid of the awkward graveyard effect and bring it more in line with the other blades.
Never seen play despite being potentially scary. Dropping the cost to see what happens.
Do 3 damage to a target unit and all units of its element
Choose a unit. Deal 3 damage to all units that don't share the chosen unit's element
Rework to a previously unplayable card. Targeting all units that don't share the chosen unit's element should make this a real removal option for elemental INT decks.
Do 3 damage to the lowest-health enemy unit. Repeat for each time you hero attacked this turn
Deal 1 damage to all enemy units and attach flames to them
Rework to a card that was too situational. Spreading 1 damage with Flames across all enemies is a more consistent and interesting effect.
Previous devs gave this an embarrassingly bad cost nerf. We're reverting it.
Not sure why this was ever 3 cost given how low-impact the effect is. Trying it at 2 before considering a full rework.
Glizzy and Glizzbot are such fun enablers across a wide range of decks, and we'd love to see that dynamic revived. Monitoring closely.
Give ally units summoned this turn +1/+1
Give ally units summoned this turn +1 power
Costing 2 really kills this card since it requires other units on board to get value. Dropping to 1 - watching it carefully.
Give target ally unit guard. Do damage equal to its power to enemy units
Give target ally guard. Do damage equal to its power to all units
Necessary nerf and reversion. This was borderline broken as a removal spell.
Draw a unit with a summon effect. Attach Fury to units in your hand
Draw a unit with a summon effect. Attach Fury to units in your hand without an attachment
This one always annoyed us by overwriting units with attached spells. Fixed.
Has -1 cost for each spell in your grave. Give your hero armor
Has -1 cost for each spell in your grave, or -20 cost if your deck is empty. Give your hero armor and banner
Another return to form - this time with multiple ways to unlock its potential, so it's not locked into a single archetype.
Return your top two dead spells to hand. Dust this spell
Return your top two dead spells to hand
Back in the day there were some fun loops with this card, and that was great. Our philosophy is to make the game exciting and sometimes a little chaotic - so let's see what you cook with this one.
Has always been just a touch short of playable. Reducing the cost by 1 should put it firmly in contention.
Play 6 scorch, targeting random eney units. Add any extra scorch to your hand
Play 6 scorch, targeting random eney units. Dust any extras.
Small nerf to a very strong card. With no units on board this could effectively become 12 direct hero damage - that wasn't the intent, so we're closing that off.
Reducing the cost to 4. Watch this space.
All enemy units have -2 power until your next turn. Reveal the enemy hand
All enemy units have -3 power until your next turn. Reveal the enemy hand
Small buff to an underperformer. 3 power is a more relevant damage breakpoint and should make this card far more useful in its intended role.
Draw and summon a unit with cost equal to your highest cost dead unit. Give the summoned unit guard and attach shield
Draw and summon 2 units with cost equal to your highest cost dead unit minus 2
Buffing an unplayable card to support the gravedigger archetype, which has been largely replaced by midrange strategies lately.
Summon a base copy of a 1 cost unit from the enemy deck. Give it dash
Summon a base copy of a 1 cost unit from the enemy deck; if you can't, conjure one and give it dash.
Formerly a great tech card against Hax and Mechshroom decks, but stealing could sometimes be too punishing. This now conjures a unit from the opponent's prisms when no valid target exists - fairer, and still interesting.
Give ally units dash.
Give ally units dash. Draw a card.
Stapling on a draw effect to make this card a lot less bad.
Replay you top two dead spells. Target enemies if possible. Dust those spells and this spell
Replay you top two dead 1 cost or higher spells. Target enemies if possible. Dust those spells and this spell
Small but noticeable tweak. Previously this could hit 0-cost cards like Zap and Spear Shot, which wasn't the intent. Adding the 1c+ restriction.
Return the enemy's right-most card in hand to deck. Draw a card
Return the enemy's right-most card in hand to deck.
Reverting to a previous form to re-enable the fun and surprisingly powerful Ponderous + Gato + Tome Golem combo. We'll watch this closely.
Do 2 damage to target unit, or 5 damage if it has Armor or Guard
Remove armor and guard from target enemy. If it's a unit, deal 3 damage
Our attempt to make Sunder great again.
Dust your top dead 1 cost or higher spell to summon tentacle with power and health equal to its cost. Repeat until your board is full.
Dust your top dead 1 cost or higher spell to summon tentacle with guard with power and health equal to its cost. Repeat until your board is full.
Finally giving this card the push it needs. Hopefully this makes the INT spells archetype viable.
No reason for this card to cost 3. Not much else to say.
Do 2 damage to target ally. Add two Vile Vial with banner to your hand. Slay: Add three instead
Do 2 damage to target ally. Add two Vile Vial with banner to your hand.
Removing the Slay condition to evaluate the card's base power level. This is a strong enabler for graveyard strategies and we're curious to see what people do with it.
Have thoughts on the changes? Join the discussion.
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