Intro

The Divine Order set is currently slated to lock on March 28th. It could get pushed again, but assuming it isn't, devs likely only get one last crack at a balance patch. That means one last try to get Polyhymnia in line with the rest of the 9 drops.

Below are all the recently released 9 drops:

Polyhymnia is clearly the best card. I'll go into more detail as to why, but for now, consider:

• Poly: $17
• Anagreos: $3.68
• Anvil: $3.23
• Monstrosity: $0.27 (LOL)

Players in the aggregate are making a clear statement about which card is best. You're going to have a hard time arguing we're all wrong.

A final point for the intro: Polyhymnia being a neutral compounds this problem and is definitely a part of the price disparity. Why bother with Anagreos when you can buy a better Poly and use it for all gods?

Sizing up Polyhymnia

• 6/10
• Frontline
• Protected
• Ward that refreshes after your turn
• Armor 4

Cards like Ransom and Ratify (using god power same turn) are the only real ways to remove Polyhymnia. These techniques are equally as effective on the other cards, with the exception of Anagreos who can potentially go face on the turn he's played.

So let's look at the head to head match ups and ask why a god might pick their own 9 drop over Poly (spoiler: they won't).

Unacceptable Monstrosity

I don't have to spend too long on this one, right? Polyhymnia is better at shutting the door to aggro decks because it can't be whittled down. A single Lightning Strike cuts Unacceptable Monstrosity in half. Poly is either unphased (if ward is up) or it takes 2 damage.

In a head-to-head match-up, which would you rather have on your team? All else equal, they trade out:

• Round 1: each pop protected
• Round 2: Poly is 6/2 and U.M. is 12/6
• Round 3: they both die

Of course, the above never happens, because other cards are being played. During the above exchange, Poly is refreshing ward to protect from spells and is impervious to any damage 4 or below (you can't ping off it's protected).

Anagreos

Honestly not a bad card. In the GU I'm hoping for, Control War would actually prefer Anagreos as a spectacular finisher. Sadly, no one does. Why not? If Ana can end the game when dropped, you'd rather him, but his rush is fairly easy to shut down. Any frontline creature with ward, protect, or more than 6 HP stops him from going face immediately.

Poly has ward, protected, AND >6 HP, AND armor 4! It completely shuts Ana down. Death and Magic both have ramp and access to Poly, which means War players must assume their 9 drop is coming down second in a control mirror. Ana charges Poly, does zero damage thanks to ward + protected, and is left with 1 HP and easily cleared with a ping.

No one should run Anagreos over Polyhymnia.

Thaeriel's Anvil

Firstly, we must imagine a time in the future where a Light deck wants to go out to 9 mana. In such a future, what would you rather run? Yes, in certain (rare) scenarios, the Anvil could generate Chains faster than Poly could clear it and effectively stall the game. Not exactly awe-inspiring.

Chains can't damage Poly, so they do not apply order to it. Meanwhile, Poly can snack on the chains (plus e.g. a ping god power) until you draw the answer to remove the Anvil.

Summarizing the Problem

There are 1 or 2 9 drops from previous sets that are better than Poly in specific decks. Hippacria's Monster is one, and it's also considered busted OP. At least it is relegated to a specific god. If locked as is, Polyhymnia will destroy control deck diversity. God's Unchained will be a better game if Control War and Control Mage provide different feels and win conditions. If they are both just running Polyhymnia, the game will be stale by comparison.

Most importantly, Poly's armor needs to come down to 2 or perhaps even 1. Armor 4 is busted, and the way armor and hp scale together compounds the problem. 10 HP with 4 Armor is - for all intents and purposes - unkillable via direct damage. At least in any reasonable period of time or for any reasonable mana cost.

Armor and protected also behave oddly together. You can't ping protected off - you must do at least 5 damage. Combine that with a ward that refreshes each turn, and you have a creature far stronger than anything else in the game.

Proposed Solution

I've listed a lot of problems, so what would it looks like if I were to balance it?

The most interesting mechanic is preserved: refreshing Ward. Protected is dropped due to the OP interaction with armor and the combined power with a refreshing ward. Armor is dropped to 2.

Let's revisit our friend Anagreos. Magic has ramped 2x and drops Poly while you are still two turns away from 9 mana. If you manage to survive until 9 mana, what happens?

• Anagreos' roar clears Poly's Ward
• His blitz for 12 damage kills (and obliterates) Poly.
• He is left with 1 HP and is killed next turn with the God Power.

Poly still remains a strong card (stronger than most). It is very much a pay-off for reaching 9 mana and will win the game against aggro or midrange decks. At the same time, it will give control decks reasons to choose other cards. Anagreos, for example, won't be strictly worse. In fact, War would likely start to prefer Anagreos given the scenario I outlined above. War can't ramp. It wants a 9 drop with Godblitz so badly! You just can't play it currently because of Poly.

Summary

With time winding down, Polyhymnia remains the biggest problem card in the Divine Order set. For play diversity and the long-term health of the game, it desperately needs a power reduction to bring it in line with other 9 drops.