Intro
With all the (deserved) hype around CSR dominating the conversation, I wanted to give a shoutout to the D.O. balance patch notes. I don't have a problem with any one of them (but I do have questions about Polyhymnia).
Buffs
Venerable Paladin – Strength increased by 1.
Change stats from 2/2 to 3/2.
Definitely a solid change. There are a lot of 3-mana 3/3 creatures with effects, and this not puts it in the same ballpark.
- 3/2 1 armor is better than 3/3
- Frontline keyword
- Transfers armor to your weakest creature is an OK benefit
I was expecting to see a change to the transfer mechanic to give the armor to the strongest creature. This buff is arguably better, as the transfer mechanic can be semi-controlled through skilled play. In addition, light has plenty of buff cards. Your weakest creature need not stay the weakest one.
Strix Conscript – Strength increased by 1.
Change stats from 3/2 to 4/2.
Another solid change. In general, there were several cards where I felt the 1 Armor keyword was overvalued - generally those cards where HP was less than Strength. Now Strix is comparable to a vanilla 3/4 for 3 mana. Strix is 4/2 1 armor, which is somewhere in between a vanilla 3/4 and a 4/3. Not bad.
Phalanx Lieutenant – Health increased by 1.
Change stats from 5/3 to 5/4.
He now has 1 extra stat compared to Guild Enforcer (which has frontline). Like Strix, he has more strength than health. The large amount of removal in Gods Unchained makes 5/4 creatures much worse than 4/5 creatures. For this reason, he is still slightly under Guild Enforcer, but he is now playable. The Olympian tag also means he's likely an auto-include in any Olympian-themed deck. I don't know of any killer Olympian decks at the moment, but Olympians have lots of buff cards:
- Shieldbearer
- Felid Janissary
- Blind Martyr
- Animated Armory (sadly doesn't boost Phalanx to 2 armor)
So there's hope for the olympian tribe now or in the future.
Pan Forgemaster – Strength increased by 1.
Change stats from 3/3 to 4/3.
Smith’s Hammer – Mana cost reduced by 1.
Change mana cost from 5 to 4.
Plate Pilferer – Mana cost reduced by 1.
Change mana cost from 4 to 3.
These cards moved in the right direction, but probably still don't see play. Pan Forgemaster is just too niche. You have be running a Nether deck and you have to already be winning on the board. Smith's Hammer is still expensive, slow, and also requires board. Maybe 4 mana if it had blitz? At least Pan gives armor the turn it's played. Plate Pilferer at least now has 6 stats for 3 mana like many other cards, but the primary effect of removing armor isn't helpful most of the time. A Hidden Rush deck that might run it would just Distract the Guild Enforcer anyway.
Generous Aid – Text changed.
Change text from “Heal one of your creatures for 2. If that fully heals it, add a Generous Aid to your hand.”
to ”Heal one of your characters for 3. If that fully heals it, add a Generous Aid to your hand.”
A good change. Healing 3 HP makes up for the fact that it isn't on-demand like the God Power. CSR also added support for healing builds (which I'm excited about):
Inquisitor Informant – Health increased by 1.
Change stats to from 2/2 to 2/3.
Solid change. Maybe enough to see him outside of order-focused decks (like Sern). The combo with Divine Judgement takes out any creature in the game.
Nerfs
Sage of Renewal
Sage of Renewal – Text Changed.
Change text from: “Regen +2. Roar: Refresh 4 mana and delve four mana worth of nature spells.”
to ”Regen +2. Roar: Refresh 2 mana and delve two mana worth of Nature spells.”
A much needed (and appropriately sized) nerf. Happy to see the dev team continuing to use their scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. You almost never wanted a 3 or 4 mana spell anyway. This change also can't be fully appreciated without considering the changes to spells (particularly Revivification).
So you'll no longer be offered Revivification. Also, due to the way Sage's mechanic works, if you don't see Compost Charm in the first offering, you can't get it in the second (it's 2 mana).
Arrow of Rage is now better if you have multiple creatures on your board, but worse if they still have a lot of small creatures on their board. On net, at least you are guaranteed to do 6 damage and kill what you hit. Previously, you might do 2 damage and accomplish nothing at all.
Guerilla Training has gotten a lot better, so might be something you consider (but unlikely). Most often, you'll either want Compost Charm or 2 1-mana spells.
Finally, remember that even without delving, you're getting a 6/6 regen 2 creature for effectively 5 mana. You can also still pull off shenanigans with Untamed Regrowth and drop (for example) a Sage and Moose on the same turn.
Grand Hall
Grand Hall – Text changed.
Change text from “Frontline. Can’t attack. Roar: Give each of your creatures leech and +1 strength.”
to ”Frontline. Can’t attack. Roar: Give each of your other creatures leech and +1 strength.”
Grand Hall has proven to be a bit too strong as a recovery tool in and of its own. With this nerf it can still potentially gain a large amount of life, and the body is still adequate for forestalling aggro strategies alone, but it won’t represent an average of 6 heal and a two-for-one on most boards.
I'm not sure about this. Playing the card myself, Death/Magic/Deception handle the card easily with spells. If played by itself against nature, it was easily cleared. It was potentially too powerful against War and Light, though, and Nature if you had a wide board. Ultimately, I trust them on the change.
Polyhymnia
Polyhymnia, Aetheric Hydra – Health decreased by 2.
Change stats from 6/12 to 6/10.
Our dear Polyhymnia will still be the best defensive 9 drop at this statline, but that 2 point health reduction does mean that it dies to quite a lot more of the other 9 drops on direct trades, and some spell combos can kill it with one less card.
I think this is the rare case when the scalpel used was too small. There are actually no other 9 drop creatures that kill Poly consistently. In Discord, Yawgmoth (Dev) mentioned Tyet with enough cards in your hand.
So Poly is still the ultimate 9 drop creature. It's also neutral, which means all gods can run it hurting deck variety. We can also look at the 7-day price action of the card to gauge what the community thinks. The card is holding steady at $20. The value of the card remains unchanged. If DO locks Poly as currently statted, I expect that price to rise (people are still worried about future nerfs).
How will we know when Poly is appropriately statted? When it can be killed by Anagreos. Anagreos should be able to kill Poly on the drop and stumble away with 1 HP. Ward blocks his roar and Frontline stops his Godblitz. He is completely shut down. At a minimum, he should clear Poly. Currently, he leaves a 6/2 creature with 4 armor on the board with ward refreshing next turn. This is why he's $5 and Poly is $20.
A 6/10 Poly with 2 armor dies to Anagreos. A 6/11 Poly with 2 armor doesn't die, but would be a lot easier for other creatures to finish off. You can see much difference 1 HP makes! I think somewhere in this range is the right spot. Most gods can finish off the remaining 12/1 Anagreos with a God Power.
Finally, when thinking about Poly vs Anagreos, remember that War has no way to ramp. Death and Ramp Magic will always get Poly down first. That means you shouldn't be thinking "50% of the time Anagreos drops first," because that's not true.
Conclusion
A great list of D.O. patch notes. Every single change either fixed the problem or moved in the right direction. Kudos once again to the dev team, and I hope we can take one more pass at this before lock.