RAtC event feedback

majincob

*Warning, "elite" player "whining" ahead, if you just want to bash me about that move along.

I don't like this event because I don't win all the time.

I don't mind losing games to challenging opponents if doing so doesn't have large negative consequences. For instance I loved working on doing all the objectives in Story Mode because I could experiment and try new things and losses only cost me time. In QB a loss is just a speed bump reducing my average speed by a tiny bit and no big deal. On the other hand when I take a loss in node 3 I'm losing 40 or 60 possible points not just from my score, but from my coalitions score. That feels really bad when it happens more than once in an event.

People may ask "Why should you feel entitled to win all the time?". I lead the top coalition and I've never been in the bottom 1/4 of my coalition from a scoring perspective, historically I get an average of 97% of ribbons. What I like about the game is that I win almost all the time and I feel like I'm good at it. Scoring under 90% in an event, even if most players do the same, feels bad to me and makes me want to stop playing.

My problem with node 3 (and 3.3 in particular) is that the AI gets so large of an advantage that a lucky break its way is worth 2-3 times a lucky break my way. It disincentivises me from experimentation because if one deck works one time, and doesn't work another it's hard to tell whether it was a weakness of the deck or just RNG. The large number of ribbons at stake coupled with the limited number of attempts that can be made and the lack of comparable story mode challenges also have a chilling affect on my trying new decks and strategies.

AngelForge

Well, I can understand how you feel. Loosing on the third node is kind of hard and it happend twice to me so far. That I still know that speaks for itself. I also feel kind of tensed when 3.3 is the challenge ahead, because loosing really matters, especially when the final reward is not yet claimed...

Off topic: I remember when I started and Avacyn was still the event offered. I had no chance beating Avacyn and was stuck on 3.3 for the whole event. That was really frustrating. That's why I want the nodes to work differently. When you lose you eighter advance in the node (not the best solution, I think) or you start at the first challenge of that node again (My favorite at the moment).

I hope that they design it differently in the future. Something that loosing is more forgiving than it is now in the events in general.

damonsteine

I have never won against node 3.3, I always get bad breaks, or just a turn away from activating nissa 3rd ultimate for the win. but I got sram expertise from previous event, and passed on the vehicle stealer because it was **** rare. point is, you can still get the prize even if you never get past 3.3

why not tech your deck differently so you can get a winning shot instead?

wereotter

It doesn't help that Tezzeret uses known broken cards like Aetherworks Marvel and Gonti's Heart and that the token creature he **** out every turn is broken in that it pops out servos regardless of if Tezzeret overloaded or not.

While I have beaten the encounter, I still feel good about just doing that knowing that the hardest node in event is riddled with bugs to the point it's quite the feat to win, not because he's a legitimately challenging opponent without those bugs (although he still would be quite challenging without them)

hawkyh1

if someone would just correct the typo in the ability description
for the construct. I'm guessing it should read 'overload 1:
give 1/1 to this creature. at the beginning of your turn fabricate
2.'
then it's code will match it's description. it's not like there's a
way the construct must obey.

I don't like the use of gonti heart. feels like you must have access
to energy removal(preferably with support destruction) to stand a
realistic chance. unlimited turns + direct damage per turn means
no overpowered mythic is going to save you.

HH

AngelForge

hawkyh1 wrote:

if someone would just correct the typo in the ability description
for the construct. I'm guessing it should read 'overload 1:
give 1/1 to this creature. at the beginning of your turn fabricate
2.'
then it's code will match it's description. it's not like there's a
way the construct must obey.

I don't like the use of gonti heart. feels like you must have access
to energy removal(preferably with support destruction) to stand a
realistic chance. unlimited turns + direct damage per turn means
no overpowered mythic is going to save you.

HH

True. If you don't draw your energy remover in time, the game will probably be lost. You can get lucky, since the AI wants to combine your supports with higher priority, so you're not done in one turn. But if you're far from winning at that point, the game is over.

khurram

majincob wrote:

It disincentivises me from experimentation because if one deck works one time, and doesn't work another it's hard to tell whether it was a weakness of the deck or just RNG. The large number of ribbons at stake coupled with the limited number of attempts that can be made and the lack of comparable story mode challenges also have a chilling affect on my trying new decks and strategies.

I just lost to 3.3 twice in a row for the first time using the deck that had always won for me.

bk1234

I was a 98-100% player in AM and FS -- I've had 4 losses in just this RAtC.

It doesn't bother me. It makes me better.

This is a game. Stop being lazy and start being strategic. As the leader of the #1 coalition in the universe, this shouldn't be a problem.

killwind

Wow, whining because the AI is getting the better of you. I wish I had something witty or funny to add here, but really, your complaining about the AI beating you? that's just funny!

Alve

@bken: Please don't call other players 'lazy' when they express their views, no matter how strongly you disagree with them. Being in a top coalition doesn't mean that they can't be frustrated or complain - if you'd like to offer a different perspective, do so in a polite and respectful manner.

@killwind: Players aren't 'whining' in this forum, they're 'offering negative feedback' and we're grateful for that. If you disagree with their views, you're more than welcome to offer positive feedback and tell us why you enjoy playing RAC. Thanks!

@majincob: Personally I like the event, I've liked it since the beginning (as far as PvE goes it's not horrible) and I feel that Tezz is the easiest PvE boss we've ever had - aside from an occasional cascade that steamrolls me on turn 2 (which has always been a thing in final PvE encounters), he has no responses to most things that I throw at him (I mostly throw big creatures). I'm not sure if that's a good thing tbh, but hey, I'm not complaining. Does anyone remember how Avacyn could just loop Anguished Unmaking and make you pray to RNGeesus that you pull Demolish before she wrecks your face? Or how oppressive her skill was to less experienced players who didn't have the cards/strategies to deal with it?

I don't think that your % score is very important, as long as you're doing well when compared to other players. If other players at the same level consistently do better then you, maybe consider asking them for advice? I mean, the upper 3/4 of GP from RAC had to get there somehow?

It's true that coalition events in general discourage us from experimenting though. It'd be great if old PvE was put in Story Mode so that we could test that sick new deck against Persistent Nightmare - it's been said plenty of times before.

Now, I could understand that new/casual players can get quite frustrated playing against 3.3, but that's a different issue and solutions to it (tiering encounters, scaling progression differently, skipping encounters after losing to them once or twice etc.) have already been proposed.

PastrySpider

My objection to Tezz isn't that he's powerful, its that he's powerful in a really boring way. He has tons of hp, high mana, big critters and one combo of supports which it shares with two other decks. That's it. Apart from heart, bridge, tower, he's got no combos. No spells, his creatures don't interact interestingly. Hell, he has Baral and no spells. His ability is vaguely interesting but again, doesn't combo.

I'd like to see more PvE decks showing off the games combos. Heart of Kiran and Marionette master, Saheeli mastery and lightning runner, a deck where energy is used for something other that planar gate and aether heart.

madwren

Everyone's so classy these days. It's really a great step forward for the community.

I like RatC now that the speed objectives have been adjusted to something more reasonable. My only loss this event came from accidentally taking the wrong deck into a node because I apparently tapped my phone too many times--though that was interesting, because I actually got to see the combination of Aethergeode Miner, Gonti's Heart, and Aetherwind Basker take me from full life to 0 in a single turn. I'd completely disregarded Basker before that little bit of magic.

I think that a lot of these decks have hidden synergies. We just don't often get to see them, but that doesn't mean there aren't clever bits of deck design in there that the AI is unable to show us, whether because of its algorithms or our own powerful decks.

However, it does seem that this set in particular is OVERLY reliant on a specific locus of supports, which makes most of the decks feel very similar to each other, with only their pw abilities differentiating them. It'd be awesome if Dynavolt, Heart, Bridge, and Marvel weren't in basically everything from 2.3 to 3.3 in some combination or another.

Avacyn's Madness, which is still my favorite event, wasn't like that. Now, certainly nostalgia colors things a bit, and when it comes to memories we all stack the deck, but my perception is that it had a lot more deck variety (as well as more nodes, of course). Aside from a lot of Harness the Storm each node felt more unique and really showed off the depth and breadth of the set.