Pre-Release (v1.5) Notes (06/23/16)

David [Hi-Fi] Moore
David [Hi-Fi] Moore Posts: 2,872 Site Admin
edited July 2016 in MtGPQ General Discussion
Magic: The Gathering – Puzzle Quest v1.5 Release Notes Preview

The v1.5 update includes –
    • Introducing the Oath of the Gatewatch cards with first lot of cards now available! • First Strike – The first true PVE event is now live with 16 all new encounters! • All cards from Battle for Zendikar can now be looted. • Many additional improvements and bug fixes.
New Features / Content

Oath of the Gatewatch Event (The First MTGPQ Event)

Join the defense of Zendikar in Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest's premier Event - Oath of the Gatewatch:
    • Fight 16 new encounters created with cards from Oath of the Gatewatch. • Earn Mana Crystals, Runes, BFZ Booster Packs, Oath of the Gatewatch cards, and more! • Each week, defeat Chapter 2 of the Event to win a limited-time exclusive Rare or Mythic card. • The Oath of the Gatewatch Event will run each week for 3 days, after which time the Event will reset and new rewards will be available.
Oath of the Gatewatch Cards

More than 50 new cards from Oath of the Gatewatch have been added to the game (*Note: not all available at launch). Cards are visible in the collection viewer!

Cards from Oath of the Gatewatch are of rarity from Uncommon and up.

There are multiple ways to get cards from this set:
    • Loot them in
Battle for Zendikar Boosters and Free Boosters
• Earn them in the Oath of the Gatewatch event as rewards
• Earn limited-time, exclusive Oath of the Gatewatch cards from Daily Rewards
• Earn Oath of the Gatewatch Boosters, which contain only cards from Oath of the Gatewatch
• Buy a Battle for Zendikar Fat Pack and gain a guaranteed extra Oath of the Gatewatch card
Oath of the Gatewatch Boosters are obtainable as rewards from the Oath of the Gatewatch event. For a limited time, you will also receive one Oath of the Gatewatch Booster per Battle for Zendikar Big Box you purchase.

Each Oath of the Gatewatch Booster contains 5 cards from the set, and has a guaranteed Rare in every Booster.

In addition, all cards from the Battle for Zendikar set can now be looted in Battle for Zendikar Boosters - including previously Exclusive cards.

Upcoming Events
    • Expect to see new Events as early as August 2016!
Special Offers
Obtain a selection of limited-time Exclusive cards from Special Offers starting with the General Tazri Mythic Card Offer available starting on July 8th. More exclusive card offers to come each week (Exclusive cards will be obtainable by all players in mid-August).

Balancing

Planeswalker balance changes

Koth of the Hammer:
    •
Reshape the Land is now Koth’s first ability and costs 6 (down from 15) Loyalty at every rank
    o Koth needs to be able to generate Red matches much more than other Planeswalkers, so this ability is key for him. At 6 Loyalty, he is able to use it much more often
• Rage of the Mountain is now Koth’s second ability, now costs 12 Loyalty (up from 9) at every rank, and the bonuses are now +2/0, +4/0, +6/0 and +8/0 on each rank
• Rage of the Mountain also now gives Trample to each of your creatures until the end of your turn
    o Rage of the Mountain has been buffed so it is more in line with its new cost and position as a 2nd ability
• Strength of the Mountain now costs 20 Loyalty, down from 30
    o Strength of the Mountain cost too much and was severely underused as an ability, and so it has been changed to be more usable
• Koth’s mana bonuses have changed
    o At level 1, he gets -1 to Black and Green, -2 to Blue and White, and +5 to Red o At level 60, he gets 0 to Black and Green (up from -1), -1 to Blue and White (unchanged) and +9 to Red (up from +7) o The design intent behind Koth initially was that we wanted him to have a huge Red focus to the detriment of all the other colors. This didn’t pan out as we expected - he ended up being too weak and was only playable with low-cost decks. With this change, he gains more mana per turn overall, and his Red focus has been enhanced. We love the idea of having a Planeswalker where mana considerations are different, but he wasn’t strong enough initially

Ajani Vengeant:
    •
Sundering Slash now costs 9 Loyalty (up from 6) at ranks 1 to 3 and 6 Loyalty (up from 3) at rank 4
    o Sundering Slash is very strong used in tandem with White’s Disabled removal, and this proved to be too strong. At 6 Loyalty at max rank, it is still very usable but cannot be spammed
• Lightning Helix now costs 12 Loyalty (up from 9) at all ranks
    o Lightning Helix is incredibly powerful direct creature removal and healing. At 9 Loyalty, it was proving to be too strong, and had to be dialed back a bit
• Overall, Ajani is still very powerful, but his first 2 abilities will require a bit better timing to use properly
Card balance changes

Animist’s Awakening

Animist’s Awakening is proving to be a problem in the long term, as it limits design space and makes Green Planeswalkers have too much very fast mana gain with very little investment. That said, Green is still the master of gem conversion and will keep getting gem conversion spells and abilities.
    o Now costs 5 mana (down from 10) o Now converts 5 gems to Green (down from 10), on cast when 8 or more Green gems are on the board o Now converts 5 gems to Green (down from 10), when the Activated gem is matched or expires
Avaricious Dragon
    • Now costs 15 (down from 18) • Now Destroys 3 gems from your opponent’s color whenever you draw a card (changed from giving the drawn card 3 mana)
    o Gem destruction is much more in-line with Red than straight mana gain, and this feels much better. The cost has also been adjusted to fit with its new stat line.

Chandra’s Ignition
    • Now costs 14 (down from 19).
    o Chandra’s Ignition was overcosted, especially considering other damage sources that deal similar damage for a similar cost. It now has the same cost as Serpentine Spike, but trades higher potential damage with automatic targeting.

Day’s Undoing
    • Now costs 10 mana (up from 6).
    o Day’s Undoing is a very strong Mythic card for Blue, and with its previous cost you would end up with 9 extra mana. At 10 cost, this is reduced to a more reasonable 5.

Disciple of the Ring
    • Now has 3 activated gems (down from 5).
    o Disciple of the Ring was very undercosted for what it did. It is now more in line with the new distribution.

Dreadwaters
    • Now drains 6 mana per Trapped gem activation and gives its owner 3 mana per Trapped gem activation.
    o Dreadwaters did not fit, theme-wise, with Blue’s focus. We redesigned it so it fits better and is a more valuable card, with both mana drain and mana gains.

Evolutionary Leap
    • Now costs 15 mana (down from 21). • Now spawns 2 activated gems (up from 1).
    o Evolutionary Leap was lacking in power as it was both very difficult to activate and cost too much. At 15 mana, it is much more reasonable, and also with 2 Activated gems will provide you many more opportunities to match.

Gaea’s Revenge
    • Now has 16 Power (up from 9). • Now has 9 Toughness (up from 6).
    o Gaea’s Revenge was overcosted for what it did. We like the idea of Green having large, powerful creatures, so we left the cost at the same value - but its power and toughness have greatly increased. It should now be much more desirable to play.

Hixus, Prison Warden
    • Now costs 6 mana (down from 15).
    o Hixus, Prison Warden is incredibly powerful. Raising its shield value is a difficult proposition because even at 2 it is too strong - should it spawn in an unreachable location, it becomes impossible to win. At 6 mana, however, it is now cheap enough that it should be usable and worth the mana, as it will be easily reinforced yet still remain destructible.

Infinite Obliteration
    • Now costs 6 (down from 12). • Now Discards the first and last cards in your opponent’s hand (changed from Creatures only).
    o Infinite Obliteration cost too much and was too situational. With this new cost and text, it should be much more valuable.

Molten Vortex
    • Now costs 10 (down from 21).
    o Molten Vortex was severely overcosted - its new cost is much more in line with the new direction.

Nissa’s Revelation
    • Now costs 13 (down from 19).
    o Nissa’s Revelation cost way too much, especially compared to Nissa’s Renewal, which was much stronger. Its mana cost should make it more appealing.

Skaab Goliath
    • This creature has been fully redesigned. • Its Power is now 1 • Its Toughness is now 3 • Its card text now reads “When this creature enters the battlefield, destroy each other creature you control. This creature gains +6/+6 for each creature destroyed this way.”
    o Skaab Goliath’s initial design was not successful. With this redesign it still has the intended effect (it’s essentially a giant zombie that is built through other creatures) but it is much more workable than it used to be. The +6/+6 also ensures that you will most likely get value out of it, instead of just plainly losing a lot of mana’s worth of creatures.

Tragic Arrogance
    • Now costs 10 (down from 18).
    o Tragic Arrogance was overcosted and this puts it more in line with the power level of Mythic cards

Woodland Bellower
    • Now costs 16 (down from 20).
    o The card was overcosted and this puts it more in line with the power level of Mythic cards

Abbot of Keral Keep
    • Now costs 13 (down from 15). • Removed mana gain on the Fetched card. • Now destroys a 5x5 block of gems (up from 3x3).
    o Straight Mana Gain doesn’t fit with the Red theme, and thus was reworked into extra gem destruction. We adjusted its mana cost to compensate.

Dark Petition
    • Fixed a bug where Dark Petition could not be cast when the player already has 3 Creatures on the battlefield.
Flameshadow Conjuring
    • Now costs 10 (down from 15).
    o Flameshadow Conjuring was overcosted and was readjusted to be more efficient.

Gideon’s Phalanx
    • Now costs 18 (down from 21).
    o We reduced the cost on Gideon’s Phalanx so it is more efficient.

Hallowed Moonlight
    • Now costs 8 (down from 12).
    o Hallowed Moonlight is a very potent wipe against tokens but was costing too much.

Priest of the Blood Rite
    • Now costs 9 (down from 15).
    o Priest of the Blood Rite cost too much for its drawback. It has thus been readjusted.

Relic Seeker
    • Now costs 15 (up from 12).
    o Relic Seeker was undercosted for its power. It has been readjusted.

Rogue’s Passage
    • Now costs 8 (down from 12).
    o Rogue’s Passage is very good, but cost too much for its intended effect.

Scab-Clan Berserker
    • Now costs 16 (down from 19).
Shadows of the Past
    • Now costs 12 (down from 14). • Now Traps 4 gems (up from 2).
    o Shadows of the Past was underwhelming, as you could often go an entire game without its ability activating. With 4 Trap gems, it should activate much more.

Skysnare Spider
    • Cost increased to 16 (up from 12).
    o Skysnare Spider was undercosted and much too powerful for its cost.

Complete Disregard
    • Now costs 4 (down from 12).
    o Complete Disregard was massively overcosted. It has been revised to be in line with other cards.

Grip of Desolation
    • Now costs 5 (down from 11).
    o Grip of Desolation’s cost has been adjusted to be more in line with Black’s Creature destruction spells

Languish
    • Now gives -6/-6 to all creatures (up from -4/-4).
    o Languish at -4/-4 was good, but just wasn’t up to par against similar-rarity creatures. At -6/-6, this should work much better.

Eldrazi Scions
    • When an Eldrazi Scion dies, it now grants mana to its controller (equal to its power times 3).
    o This change should make Eldrazi Scions much more interesting as they are a great mana source for each and every color.

Crumble to Dust
    • Now costs 6 (down from 12).
    o Crumble to Dust’s main utility is to do a massive Ingest against Blue or White enemies, but its cost was too high.

Oblivion Sower
    • Now costs 14 (down from 22).
    o Oblivion Sower cost too much for its effect, and had to be drastically reduced in casting cost.

Smothering Abomination
    • Now costs 16 (down from 23).
    o While an excellent card, it was too situational for its cost. At 16 mana, it should make for a much more efficient and annoying Creature for Black.

Undergrowth Champion
    • Now costs 16 (up from 12).
    o Undergrowth Champion is an incredibly potent creature for Green. It cost too little for what it does, and had to be increased.

From Beyond
    • Now costs 9 mana (down from 19).
    o From Beyond was much too costly for what it did. It is now more in line with other Rares.

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
    • Now costs 18 (up from 15).
    o Noyan Dar is incredibly powerful in most Blue decks, and while we love the card, its mana cost had to be increased a bit to fit the power level of other cards.

Scatter to the Winds
    • Now costs 3 (down from 15).
    o Scatter to the Winds was massively overcosted. It is now in line with other Rare cards.

Veteran Warleader
    • Now costs 15 (up from 11).
    o Veteran Warleader is incredibly powerful in Ally decks, and he was coming out too quickly. We increased his cost to make him a bit slower.

Roil Spout
    • Now costs 10 (down from 14).
    o Roil Spout cost too much and was improved.

Cost changes to Ingest, Process and Devoid

We have changed the card budget on Ingest, Process and Devoid keywords. This results in the following common and uncommon cards having a lower casting cost:

Common cards:
    • Benthic Infiltrator - Now costs 8 (down from 12). • Blisterpod - Now costs 11 (down from 13). • Call the Scions - Now costs 10 (down from 12). • Culling Drone - Now costs 6 (down from 10). • Dominator Drone - Now costs 9 (down from 13). • Eldrazi Skyspawner - Now costs 11 (down from 13). • Eyeless Watcher - Now costs 13 (down from 15). • Grave Birthing - Now costs 7 (down from 11). • Incubator Drone - Now costs 7 (down from 9). • Kozilek’s Sentinel - Now costs 6 (down from 8). • Mind Raker - Now costs 7 (down from 10). • Mist Intruder - Now costs 5 (down from 9). • Nettle Drone - Now costs 8 (down from 10). • Ruin Processor - Now costs 17 (down from 19). • Salvage Drone - Now costs 6 (down from 10). • Silent Skimmer - Now costs 10 (down from 12). • Sludge Crawler - Now costs 4 (down from 8). • Spell Shrivel - Now costs 5 (down from 9). • Tide Drifter - Now costs 6 (down from 11). • Touch of the Void - Now costs 6 (down from 10).
Uncommon cards:
    • Adverse Conditions - Now costs (6 down from 7). • Brood Monitor - Now costs 14 (down from 15). • Catacomb Sifter - Now costs 13 (down from 15). • Cryptic Cruiser - Now costs 10 (down from 11). • Forerunner of Slaughter - Now costs 11 (down from 13). • Grip of Desolation - Now costs 5 (down from 11). • Herald of Kozilek - Now costs 12 (down from 13). • Horribly Awry - Now costs 6 (down from 9). • Molten Nursery - Now costs 7 (down from 8). • Oracle of Dust - Now costs 6 (down from 8). • Processor Assault - Now costs 1 (down from 3). • Ruination Guide - Now costs 10 (down from 13). • Skitterskin - Now costs 11 (down from 12). • Slab Hammer - Now costs 8 (down from 9). • Transgress the Mind - Now costs 3 (down from 5). • Turn Against - Now costs 2 (down from 3). • Ulamog’s Despoiler - Now costs 14 (down from 17). • Ulamog’s Nullifier - Now costs 11 (down from 15). • Ulamog’s Reclaimer - Now costs 11 (down from 15). • Vestige of Emrakul - Now costs 10 (down from 11). • Vile Aggregate - Now costs 10 (down from 14). • Void Attendant - Now costs 6 (down from 9).
Cost changes to Awaken

The Awaken ability that summons tokens has had its ability budget revised. As such, the following cards’ Awaken cost has been changed:
    • Clutch of Currents - Now costs 9 (down from 12). • Coastal Discovery - Now costs 8 (down from 12). • Earthen Arms - Now costs 12 (down from 16). • Encircling Fissure - Now costs 4 (down from 6). • Mire’s Malice - Now costs 9 (down from 12). • Ondu Rising - Now costs 8 (down from 12). • Rising Miasma - Now costs 6 (down from 9). • Roil Spout - Now costs 8 (down from 12). • Ruinous Path - Now costs 9 (down from 12). • Rush of Ice - Now costs 9 (down from 12). • Scatter to the Winds - Now costs 9 (down from 12). • Sheer Drop - Now costs 9 (down from 12).
Bug Fixes
    • Fixed display & SFX issues when Smothering Abomination is on the battlefield with Deathless Behemoth and Erebos's Titan. • Fixed multiple issues that occurred when Greenwarden of Murasa Returns a creature to the battlefield. • Player no longer fails to draw cards from Support gems when making a Landfall match without a creature on the opponent's battlefield. • The opponent no longer targets its own creature when casting multiple spells. • Deathless Behemoth no longer returns to the battlefield when destroyed while creatures with prevent damage are on the battlefield. • The opponent no longer fails to Fetch another card when casting the Anticipate spell card. • Fixed multiple cases where "Network Error" message erroneously displayed. • The app should no longer become unresponsive when viewing the Vault. • The Level Difference should not exceed 5 when searching for a match during a Quick Battle in the Quick Battle Menu. • Fixed multiple text localization issues. • Buttons are no longer unresponsive after selecting the Clear Deck button. • The cards no longer fail to be added when using the Quick Improvement feature.
Additional Bug Fixes are also being addressed but are not listed here in the notes.
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Comments

  • David [Hi-Fi] Moore
    David [Hi-Fi] Moore Posts: 2,872 Site Admin
    Hi folks,

    We're shooting for June 28th as the launch date for the 1.5 update. We'll keep you posted if those plans need to change. As of now, we're looking good for next week.
  • Morphis
    Morphis Posts: 975 Critical Contributor
    WOW!
    Did not expect some of the card buffs you got there...
    For instance I was thinking about evolutionary leap fitting more into my nissa deck than pyromancer googles...

    If only it had at least 2 gem activators.... And now it has(+mana reduction that's really good now).

    Also I totally dispatched Koth from my pwalker "I want" list.
    But with these changes his strength skyrockets(also trample on he berserker skill really makes a lot of sense). He could even be totally OP now, we will see.

    One question: is it going to happen again (in any form) that we will be unable to get some of the new card for some time or will all be available this time?
    Hope you realized that move(beside the lack of advertise) was a bad one. That at least in my opinion, that honestly is kinda spread.
  • Rootbreaker
    Rootbreaker Posts: 396
    I was also pretty happy with a lot of the balance changes. Need to try lots of new cards again though.
    Morphis wrote:
    One question: is it going to happen again (in any form) that we will be unable to get some of the new card for some time or will all be available this time?
    Hope you realized that move(beside the lack of advertise) was a bad one. That at least in my opinion, that honestly is kinda spread.
    Did you see this?

    Oath of the Gatewatch Cards

    More than 50 new cards from Oath of the Gatewatch have been added to the game (*Note: not all available at launch). Cards are visible in the collection viewer!
  • Morphis
    Morphis Posts: 975 Critical Contributor
    Rootbreaker wrote:
    I was also pretty happy with a lot of the balance changes. Need to try lots of new cards again though.
    Morphis wrote:
    One question: is it going to happen again (in any form) that we will be unable to get some of the new card for some time or will all be available this time?
    Hope you realized that move(beside the lack of advertise) was a bad one. That at least in my opinion, that honestly is kinda spread.
    Did you see this?

    Oath of the Gatewatch Cards

    More than 50 new cards from Oath of the Gatewatch have been added to the game (*Note: not all available at launch). Cards are visible in the collection viewer!
    I read on the fly so missed that...
    Damn why they keep doing it?
    I'd do not want to stack packs again to open 1-2 months later....

    I think they should actually "pre-release" stuff in the shop-QB rewards and after release the full collection from the very beginning...
    Same achievement(spenders get cards earlier than others) but much more reasonable....

    Anyways after dinner I give a better look at the whole thing.
  • Rootbreaker
    Rootbreaker Posts: 396
    It sounds like a lot of the cards that aren't in packs are going to be available through the events. If you earn the card through an event, you don't want to open it in a booster too.
  • Barrelrolla
    Barrelrolla Posts: 289
    Am I the only one disappointed to see so many changes and the addition of Oath of the Gatewatch, but Devoid still not being Colorless? icon_e_sad.gif
  • Plastic
    Plastic Posts: 762 Critical Contributor
    So the patch is going to be tomorrow, right? RIGHT?!
  • Plastic
    Plastic Posts: 762 Critical Contributor
    "David wrote:
    Moore"]
    Dreadwaters
      • Now drains 6 mana per Trapped gem activation and gives its owner 3 mana per Trapped gem activation.
      o Dreadwaters did not fit, theme-wise, with Blue’s focus. We redesigned it so it fits better and is a more valuable card, with both mana drain and mana gains.

    Do both effects trigger only when opponents match the trap?
  • span_argoman
    span_argoman Posts: 751 Critical Contributor
    Immediate thoughts are that there are many good changes although some seem questionable.

    Not sure if Ajani really needed the cost increase for the second ability. Sure the first ability was undercosted but that was probably also the reason why it made the second ability look undercosted too. The first ability being so cheap meant that players wouldn't need to worry about setting aside loyalty for disabling. And comparatively Chandra's second ability deals 4 damage to all opponent creatures for 9 loyalty whereas Ajani deals 6 to one creature. Sure the life gain is sweet, but most times it's more for taking out an enemy creature and 12 loyalty is kinda overcosted for that. I guess I'll just see how things work out.

    Avaricious Dragon and Abbot of Keral Keep have become much less useful. I guess this plays to the theme of Red destroying the board and hopefully getting cascades but imo Abbot needs to be 2 mana cheaper to be comparable with Volcanic Rambler which is only an uncommon. Otherwise you're paying 5 mana for +1/+2, draw & increased board destruction which may or may not gain you anything.
    *edit*
    The comments for these two changes are that straight mana gain is not for Red. But you just previewed Goblin Dark-Dwellers from Oath of the Gatewatch which does the same thing. Guess you have to patch that one soon too?

    The nerf to Skysnare was unnecessary. Versus Dwynen it will now be 2 mana more for +1/+0 and with no Activate ability that can boost your creatures and gain life which makes it more or less inferior. If anything the stats collected on green creature costs were probably distorted by Animist's Awakening.

    Grip of Desolation costing 5 is a little mind-boggling. So an uncommon card now has the same effect as two rare Black cards (Unholy Hunger & Ruinous Path) for essentially cheaper? It's 3 mana cheaper than Unholy Hunger, and has no worry about overflowing mana being lost on the Awaken mana sink like Ruinous Path does. And it has Ingest 2 to boot.

    The nerf to Undergrowth Champion's summoning cost did nothing. It's not strong cause it's cheap to summon. It's strong cause it gets like +5/+5 boosts from supports on the board and a continuing stream of +X/+X from landfalls and whatnot. And these boosts take >10 attacks/damage spells/removal spells to finally whittle down (if you are even able to), during which your board is completely wiped out. Increasing the cost by 4 mana really only delays the whole spectacle by maybe one turn.

    Aside from those though the rest of the changes look promising, especially for Koth and Eldrazi Scions. Many other goods changes too so great job on the update!
  • knthrak
    knthrak Posts: 39
    I like most of the changes in this patch. I'm not sure I've folly processed (har har) all the cost reductions yet. Still, here's some of my commentary...

    Good:
      Yay! Fewer completely terrible cards. Yay! Some well deserved nerfs (Animist's Awakening, Ajani, Noyan Dar, Veteran Warleader, Day's Undoing) Eldrazi Scions aren't terrible now!

    Sideways:
      Koth got better, which is great. Net +3 to net +7. I'm not sure I like how high the variance on this guy is though. The MtG:PQ mana system already has a ton of variance, and magnifying the variance seems frustrating. Buffs of cards I'm already playing (Avaricious Dragon, Woodland Bellower, Abbot of Keral Keep, Priest of the Blood Rite) Nerf of some cards that I don't think needed it (Skysnare Spider, Disciple of the Ring, Relic Seeker)

    Sad:
      Embermaw Hellion needed a nerf. With two other creatures on the board, it gets in 6 "haste" damage on the first turn. On later turns, it acts like a 14 power (5 + 3*3) creature, all for 16 mana. Undergrowth Champion should have been nerfed in a different way. Either reduce it's P/T to 3/3 (so a full team can kill him on the first turn), or let destroy effects kill it. At a higher cost, it will still be very frustrating to play against.
  • Jazzpha
    Jazzpha Posts: 101 Tile Toppler
    span_argoman wrote:
    Immediate thoughts are that there are many good changes although some seem questionable.

    Not sure if Ajani really needed the cost increase for the second ability. Sure the first ability was undercosted but that was probably also the reason why it made the second ability look undercosted too. The first ability being so cheap meant that players wouldn't need to worry about setting aside loyalty for disabling. And comparatively Chandra's second ability deals 4 damage to all opponent creatures for 9 loyalty whereas Ajani deals 6 to one creature. Sure the life gain is sweet, but most times it's more for taking out an enemy creature and 12 loyalty is kinda overcosted for that. I guess I'll just see how things work out.

    Yeah, exactly. I only ever use Ability 2 for removal with Ajani-- 6 life gain in the grand scheme of things is usually trivial. If it costs 12 loyalty now, I don't think I'll ever use it unless I haven't needed to disable anything for about 4 straight rounds. And if that's the case, I've probably already won the game.
  • Morphis
    Morphis Posts: 975 Critical Contributor
    span_argoman wrote:
    Immediate thoughts are that there are many good changes although some seem questionable.

    Not sure if Ajani really needed the cost increase for the second ability. Sure the first ability was undercosted but that was probably also the reason why it made the second ability look undercosted too. The first ability being so cheap meant that players wouldn't need to worry about setting aside loyalty for disabling. And comparatively Chandra's second ability deals 4 damage to all opponent creatures for 9 loyalty whereas Ajani deals 6 to one creature. Sure the life gain is sweet, but most times it's more for taking out an enemy creature and 12 loyalty is kinda overcosted for that. I guess I'll just see how things work out.

    Avaricious Dragon and Abbot of Keral Keep have become much less useful. I guess this plays to the theme of Red destroying the board and hopefully getting cascades but imo Abbot needs to be 2 mana cheaper to be comparable with Volcanic Rambler which is only an uncommon. Otherwise you're paying 5 mana for +1/+2, draw & increased board destruction which may or may not gain you anything.
    *edit*
    The comments for these two changes are that straight mana gain is not for Red. But you just previewed Goblin Dark-Dwellers from Oath of the Gatewatch which does the same thing. Guess you have to patch that one soon too?

    The nerf to Skysnare was unnecessary. Versus Dwynen it will now be 2 mana more for +1/+0 and with no Activate ability that can boost your creatures and gain life which makes it more or less inferior. If anything the stats collected on green creature costs were probably distorted by Animist's Awakening.

    Grip of Desolation costing 5 is a little mind-boggling. So an uncommon card now has the same effect as two rare Black cards (Unholy Hunger & Ruinous Path) for essentially cheaper? It's 3 mana cheaper than Unholy Hunger, and has no worry about overflowing mana being lost on the Awaken mana sink like Ruinous Path does. And it has Ingest 2 to boot.

    The nerf to Undergrowth Champion's summoning cost did nothing. It's not strong cause it's cheap to summon. It's strong cause it gets like +5/+5 boosts from supports on the board and a continuing stream of +X/+X from landfalls and whatnot. And these boosts take >10 attacks/damage spells/removal spells to finally whittle down (if you are even able to), during which your board is completely wiped out. Increasing the cost by 4 mana really only delays the whole spectacle by maybe one turn.

    Aside from those though the rest of the changes look promising, especially for Koth and Eldrazi Scions. Many other goods changes too so great job on the update!
    Damn I wrote a huge wall of text on the iPad and it got lost cause session expired icon_e_sad.gif
    Basically most of the things you wrote were there.
    Ruinous path anyways was good before and will be even better so I would not compare it with grip of desolation.

    Anyways is really short here:
    Creature changes mostly ok for all but skysnare (as you wrote) and gaea's revenge(16 attack on a hexproof haste is too much)
    Supports good the Evo leap, hexus too low mana cost.
    Spells mostly ok

    Awaken costs should have been like
    Rare 2 mana each elemental
    Uncommon 2.5
    Common 3

    Oh and devoid process ingest reduction... Ok but what about devoid creatures not being colorless? That was a needed change.
  • WINGSPANTT
    WINGSPANTT Posts: 6
    There are a lot of changes here though I agree with and a lot that I do not agree with and a lot like the devoid oversight I'm sure a lot of other people want. But I just need to say that I'd like to congratulate the Developers for taking a serious and long look at the state of the game and making a very honest effort at fixing it and improving it. Most mobile games do not get this kind of attention and I think everyone should commend the development team for seriously working overtime to get a lot of these issues addressed. I think it bodes extremely well for the future of this game.
  • rulerhumankind
    rulerhumankind Posts: 47
    I like this patch, and what it is going to do for the game. They are nerfing my favorite PW, who I just got to 60, but buffed my useless mythics (seriously, I have Chandra's Ignition, Infinite Obliteration, Tragic Arrogance, and Crumble to Dust out of my 8 total mythics). Eldrazi are finally playable without needing a deck of pretty much all rares and mythics, making them much more viable. Koth is finally a good planeswalker, so I can build a deck for him now with an acceptable win-rate. There are some downsides and weird changes, as well as some cards dodging the nerf hammer, but if they continue to fix broken cards (overpowered or useless) then I am not to worried about what comes next.
  • ShawnP1
    ShawnP1 Posts: 128 Tile Toppler
    I agree quite heartily with the improvements, but I have one question: are they including the "Oath of ....." cards?
  • ThatRandomGuy
    ThatRandomGuy Posts: 13
    Hey JC, given your tone in that feedback comment, I just want to say don't let people like that bring you guys down. For every armchair perfectionist out there, I'm sure there are tons more people like myself who are super excited and grateful for what you guys are delivering, and how much effort you guys put in to making this game great. I'm super pumped for a lot of these changes.

    Some quick early thoughts:

    The Koth changes are fantastic. He got everything I thought he needed (+1 to Black and Green, swap ability 1 & 2) and more! Super excited to give him a try now.

    Some people seem upset by the fact some cards aren't immediately available again, but I like the sound of earning them through missions, rather than simply being artificially withheld like currently. I'm willing to give it a try at least before I decry it.

    Animist's Awakening
    This card has always been a bit too good, so I'm happy to see it toned down. I'm a little sad I'll never get to play with the busted version, but I still think it's good enough for dedicated green-conversion decks.

    Gaea's Revenge
    This change is terrifying. 16 Haste power is massive, and without a giant wall up it'll crush anything in it's path. It also still has it's immunity to remove spells. This could be a headache to deal with that leaves you little time to answer it. I'm interested to see where this lands - it might be too good now.

    Hixus, Prison Warden
    Not entirely sure this buff was warranted. Hixus could already decide games randomly based off where it spawned. Now it's just easier to reinforce if it lands in a desirable location.

    Molten Vortex
    I'm actually super pumped about this change. This could allow for a new style of Red deck to emerge.

    Flameshadow Conjurering
    This new mana cost is aggressively pushed. Will become great as the game gets more playable Berserkers.

    Priest of the Blood Rite
    NINE? Holy ****, this is a new staple for Black in my opinion. (And I don't have it...)

    Relic Seeker
    A much deserved nerf. It's probably still good though.

    Skysnare Spider
    Dwynen now emerges as the clear winner between these two, in my opinion.

    Complete Disregard
    While this card likely still isn't good enough due to how reinforcement works in this game, I'm still super happy that this no longer is a complete embarassment put next to Scour. Speaking of which, that card likely should have been bumped a bit.

    Grip of Desolation
    I would go so far as to call this better then Unholy Hunger now, and that surprises me. (I hope I finally pull this in the BFZ packs I've hoarded...)

    Eldrazi Scions
    This change seems crazy good. Consider Drowner of Hope now. The 4 scions it produces now refund 12 of the 17 mana it costs, effectively making the 8/8 and mass disable cost 5. That seems crazy. Drowner might need to be adjusted to 3 scions. Not sure what other cards might need reconsidering.

    Undergrowth Champion
    Still insane despite this nerf. Hopefully the destroy bug is fixed.

    From Beyond
    Excited for this buff. Gonna re-add to my Kiora build because the wombo combo with Drowner is that much better.

    Scatter to the Winds
    3 mana, nuke all the mana from their first card seems really powerful against any expensive monsters. Just make one match and shove it to the back of your hand. One to keep an eye on.

    Culling Drone & Sludge Crawler
    I want to call attention to these buffs, as Black now has two cheap Ingest enablers (both cast off a Black match-3). Not entirely sure the payoffs are there (Mind Raker and Ulamog's Nullifier are the only two that come to mind - and Nullifier is certainly better with it's buff), but definitely worth exploring, especially with the Grip buff.

    Touch of the Void
    The new casting cost of 6 combines nicely with the new release of Goblin Dark-Dwellers.

    Adverse Conditions
    Similiarly, this now casts off a Talent of the Telepath, which is worth noting.


    Super excited to re-explore all the cards now. icon_e_smile.gif
  • Theros
    Theros Posts: 490 Mover and Shaker
    Ajani second ability did not need nerf, and now overcosted.
  • Hibernum_JC
    Hibernum_JC Posts: 318 Mover and Shaker
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Hey JC, given your tone in that feedback comment, I just want to say don't let people like that bring you guys down. For every armchair perfectionist out there, I'm sure there are tons more people like myself who are super excited and grateful for what you guys are delivering, and how much effort you guys put in to making this game great. I'm super pumped for a lot of these changes.

    The tone wasn't meant to be anything bad - I always said I prefer negative feedback than no feedback. At least with the negative one I can see someone cares!

    Some quick early thoughts:
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    The Koth changes are fantastic. He got everything I thought he needed (+1 to Black and Green, swap ability 1 & 2) and more! Super excited to give him a try now.

    As I was taking a long and hard look at Koth, I tried a lot of different ways to fix him. The main problem was that he worked well, but only with 2 specific types of decks (either very low-cost or filled with as many gem changers as you could), which was not conducive to interesting gameplay. At least with these changes, he should be much, much more playable and explosive.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Some people seem upset by the fact some cards aren't immediately available again, but I like the sound of earning them through missions, rather than simply being artificially withheld like currently. I'm willing to give it a try at least before I decry it.

    Here's the thing - if we give out rewards you've already gotten, it feels bad. If you get a reward and loot it right after, it feels bad. We would rather these situations not happen than just create these annoying situations where you open up a pack, loot a Mythic, get all excited, and then it's a duplicate of one you worked hard for.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Animist's Awakening
    This card has always been a bit too good, so I'm happy to see it toned down. I'm a little sad I'll never get to play with the busted version, but I still think it's good enough for dedicated green-conversion decks.

    As I mentioned in the patch notes, it was too strong, and it was actually limiting the design of Green moving forward. I know a lot of people will most likely be upset at this change, but it's still potent, just not as much as before.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Gaea's Revenge
    This change is terrifying. 16 Haste power is massive, and without a giant wall up it'll crush anything in it's path. It also still has it's immunity to remove spells. This could be a headache to deal with that leaves you little time to answer it. I'm interested to see where this lands - it might be too good now.

    Gaea's Revenge was always meant to be a finisher (that can be stopped with Defenders) but the problem was it's stats were so low for a Mythic with such a high cost that it just wasn't worth it. As mentioned, we really love the idea of having a huge Green finisher, so instead of rebalancing it by lowering it's mana cost, I just decided to rebalance it's stats. It's much more interesting now, in my opinion.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Hixus, Prison Warden
    Not entirely sure this buff was warranted. Hixus could already decide games randomly based off where it spawned. Now it's just easier to reinforce if it lands in a desirable location.

    Hixus was just overcosted. For a Mythic that did what it does, costing what it cost was much too high.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Molten Vortex
    I'm actually super pumped about this change. This could allow for a new style of Red deck to emerge.

    So am I. I know people were actually liked the effect, just not the cost, so with this it should make a lot more sense.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Flameshadow Conjurering
    This new mana cost is aggressively pushed. Will become great as the game gets more playable Berserkers.

    Again, after reviewing a lot of comments and looking at my own internal data, it became obvious that it cost way too much. It arrived too late and was too slow to make any sort of impact. By the time it was out, it was already too late.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Priest of the Blood Rite
    NINE? Holy ****, this is a new staple for Black in my opinion. (And I don't have it...)

    Black saw the low end of the stick for a long time, and it was way overdue for them to get much better cards.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Relic Seeker
    A much deserved nerf. It's probably still good though.

    White's theme is efficient creatures, so it fits the bill. It just was too strong.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Skysnare Spider
    Dwynen now emerges as the clear winner between these two, in my opinion.

    It does, and that's okay.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Complete Disregard
    While this card likely still isn't good enough due to how reinforcement works in this game, I'm still super happy that this no longer is a complete embarassment put next to Scour. Speaking of which, that card likely should have been bumped a bit.

    Scour needs to stay at it's price due to the huge creatures in BFZ. I think having a universal tool to deal with a lot of situations is important, and it might get some redesign, but at the moment it's fine.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Grip of Desolation
    I would go so far as to call this better then Unholy Hunger now, and that surprises me. (I hope I finally pull this in the BFZ packs I've hoarded...)

    It is quite good, and possibly better. The idea is that having more tools like this for Black is a good thing.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Eldrazi Scions
    This change seems crazy good. Consider Drowner of Hope now. The 4 scions it produces now refund 12 of the 17 mana it costs, effectively making the 8/8 and mass disable cost 5. That seems crazy. Drowner might need to be adjusted to 3 scions. Not sure what other cards might need reconsidering.

    That's the point. The idea being the Scions change is that they were pretty much useless since their ability to gain mana didn't stack. Reinforcing them was pretty much useless, but now you actually have a reason to use all the Scions cards.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Undergrowth Champion
    Still insane despite this nerf. Hopefully the destroy bug is fixed.

    I'll have to check (won't happen today as it's a holiday here in Quebec so I'm doing this out of my own time!) but I think it is.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    From Beyond
    Excited for this buff. Gonna re-add to my Kiora build because the wombo combo with Drowner is that much better.

    That's the point icon_e_smile.gif
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Scatter to the Winds
    3 mana, nuke all the mana from their first card seems really powerful against any expensive monsters. Just make one match and shove it to the back of your hand. One to keep an eye on.

    Scatter's initial mana cost was actually a bug and it should always have cost 3!
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Culling Drone & Sludge Crawler
    I want to call attention to these buffs, as Black now has two cheap Ingest enablers (both cast off a Black match-3). Not entirely sure the payoffs are there (Mind Raker and Ulamog's Nullifier are the only two that come to mind - and Nullifier is certainly better with it's buff), but definitely worth exploring, especially with the Grip buff.

    The hope is that Ingest decks will become viable.
    ThatRandomGuy wrote:
    Touch of the Void
    The new casting cost of 6 combines nicely with the new release of Goblin Dark-Dwellers.

    That is the point also icon_e_smile.gif

    Overall I'm happy people seem to like the changes - we worked super hard to look over Origins and BFZ and rebalance what was necessary.
  • Sinslayer5
    Sinslayer5 Posts: 45
    Hibernum_JC wrote:
    Overall I'm happy people seem to like the changes - we worked super hard to look over Origins and BFZ and rebalance what was necessary.
    Every good card game needs a responsive alpha - I think most of us can agree that your dedication to that end is apparent, and appreciated.
  • ThatRandomGuy
    ThatRandomGuy Posts: 13
    Thanks for the insight JC! Like I said, those where just some initial thoughts off the top of my head to spark discussion - I'm sure I'll find out lots more once I have the in-game experience you already have. And really, that's the point isn't it? Exploration and discovery is exciting.

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