The whole post has been inspired by a recent talk to . He told me he wanted to write about the upcoming patch. And I didn't want. But the dramatic update changed my mind.
I was playing when it happened; my Shrike Moonlighters - I had fused two shadows recently 😢 - they just died after the update, right in my arms... like beloved puppies who have caught the distemper... and... below, this is what I think about the balance patch. 😡
Shrike Moonlighter
Mana cost increased, design changed
– Increase mana cost from 3 to 4
– Change text from “Hidden for 1 turn. Ally: Pull the top card of your opponent’s deck to your hand.” to “Ally: Pull the top card of your opponent’s deck to your hand.”
I sold both shadow Moonlighters immediately after the update - happily, I was playing at the time - 0.0002 ETH each to a bot. I think the price of meteorite Moonligther will drop to a 3-4 cents eventually.
Damn it, they could at least make it 3-mana 2/2 hidden!! But they have chosen to kill the creature!
Choose which is better:
I choose Vault Vagabound. A 2-cent card which nobody plays.
My last stealing HRD deck:
R.I.P.
Insane... They not only nerfed Moonlighter - they did it hard and, thus, buried the whole Nether Stealing Deception archetype.
The Spore-Light Lantern is slow even for a control deck, it steals random! cards while you need to pull your own cards from the board. Ridiculous.
When there was a hidden 3-mana Moonlighter, there was some synergy with Spore-Light Lantern which gave hope to this relic. Now, when Moonlighter buried, The Spore-Light Lantern has become a lonesome tail of a once-existed crunchy fried piglet.
As the result, Deception gets nothing too good from BW except Gama, the Lord of Berries - happily, these GU freaks haven't touched it.
Vulpine Shadowshifter, Dark Deliverance can be potentially useful... Probably, in other game in another Universe.
Raneko Hearthmother
– Mana cost changed, stats changed, design changed.
– Increase mana cost from 2 to 3
– Change stats from 2/3 to 2/4
– Change text from “Ally: Set a creature’s strength equal to its health.” to “Ally: Set a friendly Olympian’s strength equal to its health.”
This is how things can be nerfed - more mana cost, only Olympians but more health. A common card that is extremely powerful - much more powerful than deceased 3-mana Shrike Moonlighter.
Assassin’s Aim???
– Design change
– Change text from “Give +3/-1 to a friendly creature. At the end of the turn, give it hidden.” to “Give +3/-1 to a friendly creature. At the end of the turn, give it hidden for 1 turn.”
Why?? Nerfing a key card of an archetype with winrate 50% during last months? An archetype that lost Shrike Moonlighter and a chance to get aggro stealing?
I think they intentionally bury aggro Deception to make people buy other domains' cards - GU domain cycling in action. They just stimulate sales in this way.
Happily, I have a zombie collection as well as some Amazons.
Wolf's Amazons. I Am Buying!
The BW set will end soon... Is this the time for last buys before prices rise?
Great Eye's Blessing - can't say for sure but the card might be useful for Amazons today or one day in the future... Let's say you have two or three 1-mana Amazons on the board. Copy them with Great Eye's Blessing, refresh mana for each and play them on the same turn. Amazons tend to starve in the late game. Great Eye's Blessing can help... Just 2 GODS for a card, I bought two, don't want to wait until they cost 10 times more.
(But DYOR please!)
I am not an expert on Amazons, have played not much... But I collect them little by little to have something else except aggro Deception and zombies.
I had also bought 2 Fae Thornblade and Divya when the prices for them were on the bottom. Content with this.
Bitter Endings
– Mana cost increased
– Increase mana cost from 3 to 4
It looks like a soft nerf. I have't played it but encountered decks that are built around the card. Powerful! (Or OP?)
I guess not much will change to Bitter-Endings-centered sub-archetype. I want to buy the second one.
Spiritspeaker Chime
– Design change
– Change text from “After your god takes damage on your turn, gain +1 durability. Ability: If this relic has at least 6 durability, summon four 3/3 Rancorous Spirits and remove 6 durability.” to “After your god takes damage on your turn, gain +1 durability. Ability: If this relic has at least 4 durability, summon four 3/3 Rancorous Spirits and remove 4 durability.”
So good I bought 2 in advance before the update! The price has surged. This relic, Raneko Revenant, Perseverance are a chance for "Both-Side-Damage" Death archetype to become Meta. Watch the video at the end of the post!
My deck, enriched with the mentioned cards and Chira ❤️, of course:
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Just tried it a couple of times in Casual. And I say: it's even more fun than it was before BW! 😀
Spiritspeaker Chime's CRAZY Synergy with Raneko Revenant and Perseverance
And, at last, the promised video of the promising combos of three cards:
This was a game in Solo Mode, against AI just to check the thing. So don't be surprised I didn't kill "the opponent" sooner 😀
This was my reaction to the balance patch. Probably, some thoughts were hasty but I shared what I thought and felt, and and I hope this stimulates discussion and finding answers. 🙂