3.3 Release Notes *Updated (4/3/19)

Brigby
Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
edited April 2019 in MtGPQ General Discussion

3.3 Release Notes

Ravnica Allegiance has arrived!

With over 200 brand new cards and tokens coming to MtGPQ, that alone will have 3.3 bringing a bunch of new content to the game! Check out the Ravnica Allegiance Card Gallery HERE.

On top of that, there will be new Planeswalkers, Abilities, Features, Card and Event Balance Changes, and Bug Fixes! Check out all the details below.

New Ability Mechanics

With the arrival of new guilds in Ravnica Allegiance, they bring with them new ability mechanics!

Adapt - Simic Mechanic
Adaptability is the key to success, and the Simic Combine shapes evolution according to their designs. The Adapt ability makes a creature grow in power and toughness during the battle by matching adapted gems on the board. Make the best of the battlefield by using the right creatures with the right matches.

Addendum - Azorious Mechanic
The best politicians are flexible in their goals and tactics, and their new ability is a reflection of that guild's way. Addendum is a new ability that allows spellcasters to better control effects of spells and give them a bonus by having them at full mana in the beginning of their turn.


Afterlife - Orzhov Mechanic
Death is not the end of a contract with the Orzhov Syndicate. Creatures under their command will continue their servitude with Afterlife by leaving Spirits on the battlefield when they are destroyed. 


Spectacle X - Rakdos Mechanic
The Rakdos believe that there is no true revelry without someone getting hurt. If that someone is your opponent, then cards with Spectacle will receive mana if you dealt damage to the enemy Planeswalker. This ability will allow players to keep the damage going by adding more and more cards for their circus, where the main presentation is the enemy Planeswalker's blood.

Riot - Gruul Mechanic
Members of the Gruul Clans rely on strength and speed to successfully raid new stomping grounds. Creatures with the Riot ability can enter the battlefield with either Haste or +1/+1. 

New Features

Favorite Deck Pop-Up
Players now have access to a designated Favorite Deck pop-up menu when selecting their deck for a match. This can be seen above scrolling list of Planeswalkers and to the left of the View All button.





Loop Prevention System
Card combos can be a fun and exciting way to win matches, but when it comes to infinite loops, it can be downright frustrating to endure. 

Please take a look at the Loop Prevention System - More Details post to learn more about it!

New Exile Icon & View
The Exile icon is getting a new look to better separate it from the graveyard! Instead of a Trash Can, it will now resemble a Black Hole. In addition to this, players are now able to view exiled cards, similar to how cards in the Graveyard can be viewed.

New Planeswalkers

Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
"The rogue duelist Kaya travels between planes making a living as a ghost assassin for a fee. Her skills attracted the attention of Bolas, who promised to..."



Check out her full details HERE

Dovin, Grand Arbiter
"Dovin Baan aspires to perfection. He became enamored of the guilds after his first trip to Ravnica, particularly the Azorius Senate, and through his talents..."



Check out his full details HERE

Domri, Chaos Bringer
"Abandoned in the remaining wilds of Ravnica, Domri was forced to fend for himself, developing his innate magical talents to summon, command and empower huge beasts. He seeks..."


Check out his full details HERE

Special Offers

Need a jump start for the decks you're planning to use with the new Planeswalkers? Maybe you just can't wait to try out the new guild abilities! There will be a brand new selection of special offers available in 3.3, so keep an eye out in the Vault, so you can snag them while you can!

New Events

Rising Tensions - Daily PvP Standard, 20 Mana Crystals Entry Cost
The 3.3 update brings with it the final 5 guilds to finish up the Rising Tensions events! Each guild's featured event will have a Support highlighting their guild's unique ability mechanic:
  • Orzhov Syndicate
    • Whenever a nontoken creature loses a reinforcement or is destroyed, its controller creates a Orzhov Spirit Token.
  • Gruul Clans
    • Whenever a player draws a creature card, that creature gains Riot.
  • Azorius Senate
    • At the beginning of your turn, if the first card in your hand has full mana, you gain 2 Loyalty.
  • The Simic Combine
    • Whenever a creature gets buffed, that creature gains "At the end of this turn, this creature gets +1/+1", until end of turn.
  • Cult of Rakdos
    • At the end of each turn, if your opponent lost life during that turn, all cards in your hand gain 2 mana.
Routes of Ravnica - PvE Standard
This is the second part of the Tour de Ravnica event. It is a weekend, Standard, PvE, non-Coalition event with 5 sequential encounters; one for each Guild represented in RNA. Each encounter features a different Guild headquarters as the enemy, and all of them play in a different style, much like the puzzle battles from the Battle of Four Tribes event.

Each encounter features a special support, related to its guild's mechanics.
  • Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace (Rakdos) - Unleash
    • Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, if its controller has 2 or less cards in their hand, that creature gets +1/+! and Can't Block.
  • Novijen, Heart of Progress (Simic) - Evolve
    • Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, your other creatures with power lower than this creature's get +2/+2
  • Skarrg, the Rage Pits (Gruul) - Bloodrush
    • Whenever a player exiles a card from their hand or discards a card, that player's first creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
  • Prahv, Spires of Order (Azorius) - Detain
    • Whenever you cast a spell, Disable your opponent's last creature until the beginning of your next turn.
  • Orzhova, the Church of Deals (Orzhov) - Extort
    • Whenever you cast a card, drain 1 mana from your hand. Then, your opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

    Event Changes

    Event Objectives
    The team is working on adjusting all event objectives which include Summon or Cast to be revised and follow these rules:
    • Summon counts for creatures that enter the battlefield from anywhere. This also counts Tokens.
    • Cast counts only creatures that enter the battlefield from your hand.
    Rising Tensions
    All Rising Tensions events, including the 5 new events from Ravnica Allegiance, no longer have locked Nodes.

    Battle of Four Tribes: Part 1
    • The event now has a new banner
    • Changes to the Zatalpha, Primal Dawn encounter:
      • Removed: Savage Stomp
      • Added: Wakening Sun's Avatar
    Tour de Ravnica
    Certain encounters have had their mana bonuses increased.
    • Duskmantle, House of Shadows: 0 White -> +1 White
    • Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree: 0 Red -> +1 Red
    • Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion: 0 Green -> +2 Green
    • Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind: 0 Black -> +2 Black
    • Svogthos, the Restless Tomb: 0 Red -> +3 Red
    A Journey Through History: Phyrexian Compleation
    Certain encounters have had their cards, loyalty abilities, and/or mana bonuses changed.
    • Dominaria's Coalition
      • Removed: Warlord's Fury & Goblin Fodder
      • Added: Sigil of Valor & Brawler's Plate
      • Changed the Coalition Victory ability:
        • Loyalty Cost: 12 -> 9
        • Description: Create 3 Goblin Tokens... -> Create 4 Goblin Tokens...
    • The Living Legacy
      • Removed: Hanna, Ship's Navigator & Squee, the Immortal & Grasp of the Heiromancer
      • Added: Knightly Valor & Danitha Capashen, Paragon & Aryel, Knight of Windgrace
      • Changed the Bloodline Project ability:
        • Description: Create 2 White Knight Tokens... -> Create 3 white Knight Tokens...
      • Mana bonuses changed:
        • White: +3 -> +4
        • Blue: +1 -> +2
        • Red: +2 -> +3
        • Green: +2 -> +3
    Trial of the Planes
    The booster reward has been changed from Guilds of Ravnica to Ravnica Allegiance booster packs.

    Card Changes

    Amulet of Safekeeping
    • Shield Amount: 3 -> 4
    • Description: Creature tokens get -1/-0... -> Creature tokens get -3/-0...
    Apex of Power
    • Added Confirmation prompt
    Stored Mana
    Ability now shows an additional Hint message: "Cards with Store Mana can't have their mana drained or raised."

    Bug Fixes

    • A near-infinite loop no longer occurs when summoning Djinn of Wishes multiple times and destroying the Djinn of Wishes' Wish Support gems, while using cards that give extra matches
    • A near-infinite loop no longer occurs when the player uses multiple cards that convert gems on the board to a single color while another card that can draw cards when a Spell card was cast is on the board.
    • The game no longer soft-locks when the player had 3 Creatures on the field and used a card that took permanent control of an enemy Creature. Now the player will no longer be able to activate the card unless they have 2 or less Creatures on the field. *New Update*
    • The game no longer soft-locks when the player gains temporary control of the opponent's stack of multiple creature tokens.
    • The game no longer soft-locks when the player has more than 4 cards on the battlefield (counting Supports and Creatures) and they try to gain control of the opponent's creature
    • The game no longer occasionally freezes when selecting the X button after tapping the Avatar and Title Menu buttons in the Profile at the same time
    • Gaining permanent control of an opponent's creature will no longer count as the player Summoning a creature.
    • An infinite loop no longer occurs when Squee, the Immortal's Toughness gets reduced to 0.
    • Angrath, the Flame-Chained's Captain's Command ability now correctly moves the opponent's creature onto the player's battlefield
    • [Android] The game's animations no longer slow down after opening the Settings menu
    • A Disabled creature that's targeted by Siren's Ruse will now correctly return to the battlefield after being Exiled.
    • Malevolent Whispers now correctly gains control of the opponent's creature, if the player has 3 creatures already on the battlefield.
    • The first Spell card in hand gains mana, as opposed to the next Spell card in hand, when activating Jaya Ballard's Great Literature, Great Toast ability while the first card is a Stored Mana card and all Spell cards are non-copy Spells
    • The condensed card list viewer now correctly shows card information
    • The graveyard now correctly displays the mana being filled for cards with Jump-start
    • The Stored Mana Evergreen is no longer missing when viewing the Banefire card
    • Undergrowth Champion no longer receives -1/-1 twice, instead of once, when it takes damage from a non-combat source
    • Desecrated Tomb's effect now correctly activates when Squee, the Immortal returns to the battlefield from the graveyard by its own effect.
    • Dowsing Dagger now correctly transforms when Persistent Nightmare deals combat damage to the opponent's Planeswalker
    • The player no longer incorrectly gains the City's Blessing when passing the turn while an Ascend card with full mana is invalid to cast in their hand.
    • When the player Surveils after casting Price of Fame, the selected cards now are correctly sent to the graveyard.
    • Players now correctly gain control of the opponent's creature, when the player has 3 creatures on the battlefield, and targets an opponent's creature with a temporary control effect
    • Players now correctly draw one card, instead of zero, when selecting only one target for Electrolyze
    • Loyalty-gain animation no longer plays when making a match while the player has full Loyalty
    • When casting a card that destroys gems of the player's color, instead of zero gems, gems of a random color should now be destroyed, when the player is playing as a Colorless Planeswalker.
    • Sphinxes in the player's hand no longer remain discounted when Unesh, Criospynx Sovereign leaves the battlefield
    • Goblin Cratermarker no longer incorrectly destroys non-colorless nonland supports
    • The player's Blood Baron of Vizkopa with power less than 12 no longer gains Flying at the beginning of the turn, when the opponent controls a Blood Baron of Vizkopa with power 12 or greater
    • The Planeswalker XP bar now correctly displays immediately after buying the Planeswalker
    • Chapter 1 of Fall of the Thran now correctly activates after entering the board
    • Jump-start cards are now correctly Exiled after being cast from the graveyard
    • An infinite loop no longer occurs when casting Vivid Revival while Vivid Revival and two Rishkar's Expertise are in the player's graveyard
    • Six mana is now gained whenever the player targets a Legendary creature with Price of Fame, instead of incorrectly only when the player accepts the Surveil from Price of Fame
    • Fixed some text issues.
    «134567…11

    Comments

    • Elspeth_Tirel
      Elspeth_Tirel Posts: 17 Just Dropped In
      Just so I understand correctly: will the 25-second timer affect (for example) Imminent Doom decks? If I'm chaining spells, it sounds like the timer will just cut off my chain after 25 seconds. If so, I'm not sure that's the best solution to the problem.
    • ZW2007-
      ZW2007- Posts: 812 Critical Contributor
      Brigby said:

      Loop Prevention System
      Card combos can be a fun and exciting way to win matches, but when it comes to infinite loops, it can be downright frustrating to endure. With the Loop Prevention system, there will now be an invisible 25 second timer that starts counting down after a player makes a gem match; the timer becomes visible during the last 5 seconds.
      (If a player makes a Match-5, the timer will pause to account for additional actions the player can still make. Bringing up the Pause menu will also pause the timer.)

      Once the timer reaches 0, the infinite loop is stopped and only one additional queued action will run following that. Once that's done, the player then progresses to the next Phase of the turn.

      Not even the slightest bit surprised that this was implemented so poorly. I think this might be the bad game decision that finally seals the deal for me.
    • Brigby
      Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
      Elspeth_Tirel said:
      Just so I understand correctly: will the 25-second timer affect (for example) Imminent Doom decks? If I'm chaining spells, it sounds like the timer will just cut off my chain after 25 seconds. If so, I'm not sure that's the best solution to the problem.
      ZW2007- said:
      Not even the slightest bit surprised that this was implemented so poorly. I think this might be the bad game decision that finally seals the deal for me.
      Would you two mind providing some further detail as to why exactly you believe this may not be a good solution to the problem? Thank you!
    • Mburn7
      Mburn7 Posts: 3,427 Chairperson of the Boards
      Awesome changes!  I especially love the Guild icons appearing when the abilities activate.  That's a nice touch, and I hope it gets retroactively added to other stuff.

      Also, the addition of a modular choice prompt on cast is a HUGE addition.  Nice job!  I can't wait to see what it will open up in future sets.
    • Stormcrow
      Stormcrow Posts: 462 Mover and Shaker
      edited March 2019
      Not to put words in their mouths, but 25 seconds isn't very long, there are plenty of legitimate non-infinite-loop interactions that take more than 25 seconds. Pretty much anything that summons a bunch of tokens, for instance.

      edit: or draws a bunch of cards. Honestly I'm tempted to start playing with a timer handy, I'm a bit curious if cards like Day's Undoing would ever be playable under any circumstance.

      Also curious about this:

      If a player makes a Match-5, the timer will pause to account for additional actions the player can still make.

      Shouldn't the timer reset back to 25 seconds if a player makes a match 5? Like, you get 25 seconds following the first match to cast your cards then get 25 more seconds after the next match to cast your cards?
    • Laeuftbeidir
      Laeuftbeidir Posts: 1,841 Chairperson of the Boards
      edited March 2019
      No new coalition event. What's the point of it all? This makes me sad.

      (I like most of the rest. But without a real reason to play it.. What's the point?)
    • ZW2007-
      ZW2007- Posts: 812 Critical Contributor
      Brigby said:
      Elspeth_Tirel said:
      Just so I understand correctly: will the 25-second timer affect (for example) Imminent Doom decks? If I'm chaining spells, it sounds like the timer will just cut off my chain after 25 seconds. If so, I'm not sure that's the best solution to the problem.
      ZW2007- said:
      Not even the slightest bit surprised that this was implemented so poorly. I think this might be the bad game decision that finally seals the deal for me.
      Would you two mind providing some further detail as to why exactly you believe this may not be a good solution to the problem? Thank you!
      Stormcrow said:
      Not to put words in their mouths, but 25 seconds isn't very long, there are plenty of legitimate non-infinite-loop interactions that take more than 25 seconds. Pretty much anything that summons a bunch of tokens, for instance.
      Stormcrow hit the nail on the head. Have you ever tried casting Behold the Beyond? It has to discard the cards in your hand, draw 6, then fill 6 with mana. Day's Undoing? Same thing but it also has to empty the opponent's hand and draw 5 cards for them too. If the match-5 rider doesn't count for things like Stitch in Time, then all those cards will be rendered completely useless too.
    • Avahad
      Avahad Posts: 296 Mover and Shaker
      How does using the card visual aid impact the 25 seconds? My son has just (re) started playing on an older tablet and it takes quite some time to do things.....
      will higher performance platforms get to do more actions or will the timer adjust to the speed of the device?
    • Elspeth_Tirel
      Elspeth_Tirel Posts: 17 Just Dropped In
      In the specific case of an Imminent Doom deck, I would say this: 1) the entire point of Imminent Doom is to cast tons of spells to maximize the damage it deals to your opponent, and 2) the combo really isn't infinite, as my opponent's life total provides a finite end point, except in very niche cases (if my opponent has Lich's Mastery out, for example). 

      So the 25-second timer is going to stop my combos at a point when they might very well stay alive quite a bit longer to prevent the combo from going infinite, which (except in very rare cases) it literally cannot do. At that point, why would I want to build around a card like Imminent Doom at all? 

      If nothing else, I think that steps should be taken to distinguish between combos that will and won't end on their own. For example, maybe dealing damage to your opponent could reset the timer, which means that Imminent Doom could continue to work as long as it's actually making meaningful progress. (I just made that idea up on the spot, so I'm sure it's not perfect.) If someone wants to end a combo that's going to kill them, all they need to do is quit the battle, after all. 

      (Because tone is difficult to gauge in writing, I want to make clear that I'm just trying to provide constructive feedback. I understand that this feature is well-intended and that the developers are doing their best to make a good game. I just think that this concept could use some work. I also appreciate you taking the time to hear us out, Brigby.)
    • Brigby
      Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
      Just for additional info (which I will also add to the Pre-Release Notes), here is the list of occurrences that will cause the timer to pause for their durations:
      • Waiting on player decision (such as target selection and hand management)
      • Card Visualization
      • Extra Swap
      In addition, it would appear that an extra swap will add extra time to the timer, not just pause it. I will have to ask the team if that also applies to cards like Stitch in Time or Chance for Glory
    • mrixl2520
      mrixl2520 Posts: 240 Tile Toppler
      edited March 2019
      WOOOOOOOW! THANK YOU @Brigby !! You went above and beyond with the video clips. I for one and very pleased with the amount of info, it was worth the wait.

      I absolutely love the implementation of the Guild Symbols with abilities! I hope you guys plan to work the GoR symbols in too. New mechanics look cool, I quite like how Riot was implemented.

      I think New Dovan and Domri look great. I want to like Kaya as a new B/W walker, but I have some reservations.

      Thanks again for the post!


    • Gabrosin
      Gabrosin Posts: 259 Mover and Shaker
      I'm not gonna grab up the pitchforks over the timer concept like I suspect some here will.  But I'd like to highlight it as exactly the sort of game-altering change that should have been proposed to the community for discussion before being selected for implementation.

      Consider that by creating a timer rather than an action counter, players are going to wind up feeling frustrated that the game didn't perform its actions faster.  It's harder to guess how much is going to be performable inside that time window than it is with something that simply limits the total number of things you can do in a turn.

      Beyond that, there's lots of good and interesting stuff in here, but I share the frustrations of @Laeuftbeidir that there's no new coalition event here.  The Dragon War is still the most recent coalition event that's been produced, that was half a year ago and we've only played it like three times.  We're all pretty tired of smacking around Bolas and Avacyn and Azor.  The next set is likely to make for an ideal PvE setup (Bolas again!)... please prioritize this.

      I also see nothing related the XP or matchmaking system.  We'd appreciate a view into the dev team's discussions on how to fix its current imbalances.


    • OmegaLolrus
      OmegaLolrus Posts: 253 Mover and Shaker
      Any chance of getting a gander at the cards themselves?
    • Brigby
      Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
      mrixl2520 said:
      WOOOOOOOW! THANK YOU Brigby !! You went above and beyond with the video clips. I for one and very pleased with the amount of info, it was worth the wait.

      I absolutely love the implementation of the Guild Symbols with abilities! I hope you guys plan to work the GoR symbols in too. New mechanics look cool, I quite like how Riot was implemented.

      I think New Dovan and Domri look great. I want to like Kaya as a new B/W walker, but I have some reservations.

      Thanks again for the post!
      All credit for the video clips goes to Oktagon, as they proactively thought to provide those alongside the ability mechanics. Glad you like the update!

      madwren said:
      Graphics look pretty. Seeing cards in exile is great. Abilities seem well implemented and I'm intrigued. Overall, this mostly looks great.
      The 25-second timer, however, seems pretty unnecessarily short, considering the number of non-looping interactions that take forever to resolve, such as token generation and hand recycling.  Plus, there are some cards specifically designed to loop and benefit from loops, such as the aforementioned Imminent Doom.
      Heck, sometimes, players may make a match, then set their phone down for a second because their three-year-old needs them to put on the next episode of Paw Patrol and the remote fell between the cracks of the seat and they forget to pause the game because pausing it sometimes freezes the game so they've been trained not to do that.
      Thankfully if the game is waiting on a player decision to progress the game, then the timer will automatically pause itself, so don't worry! Paw Patrol won't cause you to somehow lose out on your turn :)
    • OmegaLolrus
      OmegaLolrus Posts: 253 Mover and Shaker
      OmegaLolrus said:
      Any chance of getting a gander at the cards themselves?


      Sigh... reading is fundamental... I'd change the post, but it won't let me edit the dang thing.

      But hey, excited to see cards tomorrow!

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