Love the update but...

I understand that Gideon was overpowered before the update and the need to address a few issues. Yes, giving a creature +4/+4, Berserker, and Lifelink was a bit much for 18 gems or whatever it was before…but this update has gone way beyond addressing this issue and has instead nerfed Gideon to the point where he is all but unplayable.

First of all, 21 gems for Champion is too much, especially considering that you’re paying to make a creature a defender with only +4/+4. For example, say you want to add Champion to a fairly large creature to make a heavy blocker/attacker…Archangel of Tithes…which is a 7/9 for a cost of 18. That means that you end up with a 11/13 for a cost of 39 total which is in itself almost impossible to achieve without getting destroyed in the process. Even adding Champion to an average creature, say Anointer of Champions which is a 4/4 for a cost of 11, you end up with an 8/8 that you paid 30 for that won’t last more than a turn or two. Meanwhile Harbinger of Tides is a 6/6 for for only 10 mana...casting four Harbingers for 40 mana would give you an 24/24 and is just as difficult to achieve as one Archangel with Champion for 39 total and you'll end up with a 11/13 that will get destroyed almost immediately.

Secondly, Hixus Prison Warden has been made useless by giving it a counter of 1. Gideon’s decks have always been built around medium cost creatures that can be buffed up and turned to defenders but once you take that away (by forcing the cost as high as detailed above) you end up with initially weak but expensive creatures that take time to be upgraded correctly. Hixus was a way to buy some time for that to happen but by giving it a 1 counter it makes the card unworthy the 15 cost it carries. After the update I’ve played nearly a dozen games and have yet to have it last more than three turns after I play it. In nearly every case it’s lost the following turn.

Additionally other cards which are, IMHO, far more overpowered remained untouched. Specifically Thropter Spy Network which casts 4 1/1 Thropters with flying every turn as long as you have a support on the board is a hugely overpowered support that retains its 3 or 4 counter (I honestly can’t remember which) and a relatively low cost of 13. So it costs 15 for a 1 counter support to stop an attacker but only 13 for a 3-4 counter support that can create a 12/12 creature with flying in 3 turns…

Finally Knight of the White Orchid is broken completely. This is probably more of a bug than a nerf but if it doesn’t kill the opponents’ creature on the first strike, the second strike will deal no damage. For example if you attack a 4/5 creature the first strike will bring it down to a 4/1 but the second strike will result in no damage, yet Knight is killed when the opponent retaliates.