v2.1 Release Notes *Updated (5/22/17)

speakupaskanswer

Thuran said:

speakupaskanswer said:

shteev said:

Brigby said:

Why was Ornithopter buffed?
Ornithopter was given Vigilance to increase its effectiveness. As a 4/4 flyer for 4 mana, it is still one of the very most efficient creatures in the game, and being colorless means it can be used everywhere. Giving it Vigilance also brings it closer to its original intent, which is to have a cheap flying blocker.

Please, please let the dev team know that giving something vigilance is not buffing it.

If they don't know that already, the game is really in as much as trouble as a lot of us think.

But they DID mention that the buff lies in making it a cheap blocker. So it is a buff for its intended role

But it doesn't improve its status as a masterpiece.

hueyTW

Cycling is used to discard cards from your hand - if you have enough mana, you’ll discard the card, get mana drained by the amount on the keyword and you also will draw a card. There are also abilities that trigger when you cycle cards, which makes this very powerful!

Please give an example to show how cycling work

norjee

Jikes, yeah it would be good to limit to new cards only, so there is a level playing field, if i could get myself a decent deck with new cards.

But the accumulative effect of the changes these last months is that i can't (the packs have changed, less cards for my crystals, the farm thingy called qb has been removed, less crystals/packs/cards, the events have changed, less crystals/packs/cards). The reason i'm not slaughtered each time i play is i have decent cards from previous sets, when it was easier to get cards.

Not looking forward to this change, the only way for me to even be able to build a working deck would be to invest in 5 to 10 or so big packs of new cards (and we all know how little chance there is to get something with synergy from 5 to 10 big packs), the game really has turned to an unashamed pay to play money grab.

(yeah i'm the guy not in a coalition, just playing a few games when i feel like it, maybe 10 times i played for hours to get a good qb reward, never finished 1, finished the same number of events, in a pvp never won all, let alone met all objectives, played more, rarely completed them, this game is really hostile towards peeps like me, i get the message, i really do, "buy cards or don't be able to win any game", but as long as i can get myself a deck with the dead tree version of the cards for a fraction of the cost of these virtual cards, that's never going to happen. I love the mechanics of the game, the combo of match-3 and mtg, but the economics are out of this world insane, realistically making this game really not for me, but, the actual games are really fun, just sucks it's becoming pretty much inaccessible)

Ohboy

norjee said:

Jikes, yeah it would be good to limit to new cards only, so there is a level playing field, if i could get myself a decent deck with new cards.

But the accumulative effect of the changes these last months is that i can't (the packs have changed, less cards for my crystals, the farm thingy called qb has been removed, less crystals/packs/cards, the events have changed, less crystals/packs/cards). The reason i'm not slaughtered each time i play is i have decent cards from previous sets, when it was easier to get cards.

Not looking forward to this change, the only way for me to even be able to build a working deck would be to invest in 5 to 10 or so big packs of new cards (and we all know how little chance there is to get something with synergy from 5 to 10 big packs), the game really has turned to an unashamed pay to play money grab.

(yeah i'm the guy not in a coalition, just playing a few games when i feel like it, maybe 10 times i played for hours to get a good qb reward, never finished 1, finished the same number of events, in a pvp never won all, let alone met all objectives, played more, rarely completed them, this game is really hostile towards peeps like me, i get the message, i really do, "buy cards or don't be able to win any game", but as long as i can get myself a deck with the dead tree version of the cards for a fraction of the cost of these virtual cards, that's never going to happen. I love the mechanics of the game, the combo of match-3 and mtg, but the economics are out of this world insane, realistically making this game really not for me, but, the actual games are really fun, just sucks it's becoming pretty much inaccessible)

You don't need to spend cash if you don't want to. 

Remember, everyone loses the old cards. The top players lose more than you do,so you might find yourself pleasantly surprised at how competitive you might be in the new standard format. 

Szamsziel

 Old players benefited from soi/bfz cards already - winning mythic from kld when it was possible.  As so they are better prepared from the change. Then with lesser chance to get cards from events, those players will be winning pvp events and the effect cumulative.
(so  you need to buy a lot of packs to get to the meta or be always in dark place where is no sunshine)

Ohboy

Szamsziel said:

 Old players benefited from soi/bfz cards already - winning mythic from kld when it was possible.  As so they are better prepared from the change. Then with lesser chance to get cards from events, those players will be winning pvp events and the effect cumulative.
(so  you need to buy a lot of packs to get to the meta or be always in dark place where is no sunshine)

Can't really avoid this unless we quickly switch to a non game play reward system like the suggested foils or other cosmetic rewards. Even then, it'll take a few expansions to slowly dilute the power. 

But a journey of a thousand steps begins with the first one. 

shteev

Ohboy said:

Szamsziel said:

 Old players benefited from soi/bfz cards already - winning mythic from kld when it was possible.  As so they are better prepared from the change. Then with lesser chance to get cards from events, those players will be winning pvp events and the effect cumulative.
(so  you need to buy a lot of packs to get to the meta or be always in dark place where is no sunshine)

Can't really avoid this unless we quickly switch to a non game play reward system like the suggested foils or other cosmetic rewards. Even then, it'll take a few expansions to slowly dilute the power.

They'll probably have to stop selling Barals, as well.

gruntface

There can never be a truly level playing field and those who have been playing for longer and spent more will still have an advantage. However, by removing whole blocks of cards from PVP this will remove some of the more powerful combinations from the game and that will impact the top end more at least initially.

They will still be better able to adjust their decks and will have deeper reserves to draw from, but a lot of the truly nasty decks will be cut down and level things out a bit. There will still be haves and have nots but time will tell what the new PVP meta looks like.

The big win for D3H is that buying powerful cards will be even more productive because of the removal of many of the more effective counters. This will speed up P2W further as new players can 'catch up' a little better to those who have a rich inventory of cards.

They won't be able to fully bridge the gap and will still need to learn the game but there is arguably more bang for the buck in standard at the time that the money is spent (and for a good while after).

I'm looking forward to having to re-tool my decks significantly, it's breathing some fresh life into the game. But I already miss what I've worked hard to build even if it made me somewhat lazy.

octal9

@Hibernum_JC @Lakestone @Brigby After the card preview goes live, can someone at Hibernum contact me? I'd like to get the support shield values published without crowdsourcing after the fact, if possible.

Sorin81

That would be extremely helpful. It would be nice if that info was on the cards themselves.

octal9

Yeah, ideally it would go into the same area where the P/T is on creatures.

otherwise this would also suffice:

andrewvanmarle

So to reiterate:

if you want to play ANY coalition events, half of your collection is now worthless. including  planeswalkers!

If you like PVE events, you are a n00b and will only get Runes. Oh and boosters that will also give you cards from blocks that are not "legal" anymore.

If you -are- a new player, dont expect to grow into the competition any time soon, since you'll'get runes and 5 card boosters as rewards, getting you nowhere soon. The divide between new and compettitive will grow more and more

If you spent money on planeswalkers like Arlinn Kord that rely on certain creatures/mechanics, just bury them, they won't' do you good in the new "standard" play

Oh and just to make sure your footing isn't solid, the origins cards can (and will) be nerfed to fit the current standard block.


Whoop-dee-doo im so happy with this prospect.......


By the way dear devs: you do understand that I'm'not gonna spend another penny on the game do you: any and all cards or boosters that I buy will be worthless within the span of a year or less (we got the SOI block presented to us in August, so expect the block beyond Amonkhet to land somewhere around that time too, goodbye kaladesh cards)

We will rotate out two to three blocks per year.  me spending money? not.another.dime

babar3355

So, I am a proponent of the standard block format.  I genuinely hope @andrewvanmarle's cynicism around reward distribution is over stated.  We need something to play for.  We also need prizes that make us competitive as newer players. 

However, I do think that his unwillingness to spend $40 on a Herald of Anguish is justified if you cant use it in most PvP events in 3 months time.  Why would he?  I think D3 should take a long look at their pricing model and consider making this game more in line with other F2P collection games like Hearthstone.  If the herald was $10 I would have a hard time sticking by my Not.Another.Dime philosophy.  $40 isn't even tempting... and I have a solid income.  (For me I remember buying NES games for like $35... and you want me to buy a single card that's going to now rotate out for $40?  Give me a break!)  Its easy for players to spend $10, then another $10... then $20.. etc.  Much less easy to get the train rolling at a $50 price point.

Also, I think the intention is.. but I genuinely hope its true, that events will continue to roll that allow or even isolate older blocks (IE BFZ/SOI) or (SOI/KLD) in the future.  And not like Oath of the Gatewatch.. where no one cares and its not competitive.. but legitimate events with decent prizes.

LakeStone

octal9 said:

@Hibernum_JC @Lakestone @Brigby After the card preview goes live, can someone at Hibernum contact me? I'd like to get the support shield values published without crowdsourcing after the fact, if possible.

@octal9 - It will likely be tomorrow that we will have the card gallery up and ready to go.  Please email us at community@d3go.com with everything you need and someone from the team can work with you once the gallery is published.  Thanks!

PersonMan

In my opinion, placing certain blocks of cards in a ghetto where the can't be used for all events is a terrible change.  

In paper Magic its necessary because the cards are printed on physical paper which can't be edited.  But this is a video game.  If particular cards need to be changed for some reason, they can be updated with a patch.  And you can make such changes iteratively as needed.   

Event decks have already made the game experience mord monotonous and boring.  If I want to have a chance at winning the best rewards, I need to re-use the same small set of Kaladedh Rares and two Mythics I own with the same 3 Kaladesh Planeswalkers I own over and over and over and over again with very little cariation.  And since the decks I play against do the same, I end up playing against strikingly similar decks repetatively as welll.  Limiting the pool of available cards for certain events will make this worse.  

Players who purchased cards that they can't use in some or most events will feel rightfully cheated.  

Block specific Planeswalkers like Liliana2 and Arlinn are rendered basically unplayable.  And if this continues, the Kaladesh Planeswalkers will also eventually be unplayable. Players who spent money on these Planeswalkers will be pissed.  

In short, I oppose this change.  

Also, and far less important, giving a relatively fragile creature like Ornithopter Vigilance makes it worse.  I sugguest removing it and giving it the Vehicle subtype (while keeping Constuct as well) plus Crew 2 and Haste or Embalm.  

madwren

Everyone, please stop using Liliana2 as an example of obsolescence. Zombies are in every set.  If you're going to make a point, use Arlinn and Gideon2. Thanks. 

shteev

madwren said:

Everyone, please stop using Liliana2 as an example of obsolescence. Zombies are in every set.  If you're going to make a point, use Arlinn and Gideon2. Thanks. 

Zombies were pretty well designed as a unit in SOI tho, weren't they. I'm not sure we'll get them working together as a team like that on a regular basis. I mean, Origins zombies all suck.

madwren

shteev said:

madwren said:

Everyone, please stop using Liliana2 as an example of obsolescence. Zombies are in every set.  If you're going to make a point, use Arlinn and Gideon2. Thanks. 

Zombies were pretty well designed as a unit in SOI tho, weren't they. I'm not sure we'll get them working together as a team like that on a regular basis. I mean, Origins zombies all suck.

You just haven't seen my Skaab Goliath-Fleshbag-Embalm deck yet. 

EDHdad

Now that we know a 4/4 with vigilance is a masterpiece-level card, I think we should re-evaluate Gideon II's 1st ability.

THEMAGICkMAN

Rarity doesn't always equal power. Look at the paper masterpieces, they're not all OP, just well known and community favourites.