Hi all!
If you haven't been following GU lately, they released a balance patch that has caused a bit of a stir in the community. I'm going to go over the patch and give my thoughts on what I think is (on balance) a good patch.
Full patch notes:
https://blog.godsunchained.com/2023/05/17/balance-patch-may-16-2023/
We have to start with the most controversial, of course.
– Changed text from “Target opponent reveals their hand. Pull one of their cards into your hand” to ”Your opponent reveals their hand. Pull one of their cards to the bottom of their deck. Draw a card.”
People have quit over this change. People are fighting in the discord over this change. I've been snacking on my metaphorical popcorn and enjoying it all.
Here's what I know: the majority of the community hated the old Cutthroat. Just like they hated the new BOTW steal cards. I also know that I can finally safely run a single 9 drop like Poly in my budget control lists without it getting stolen from me.
Finally, this is a core card. If, in the future, there are counter plays to stealing (like changes to ward, trap cards, etc.) they can change it back. Also, the old CTI might not be quite as bad once deck lists are closed. The combination of 2x CTIs plus them getting to see exactly what cards you were playing was way too much.
Am I just happy because I hated the card? Maybe. But objectively, the majority of the community is happier, which is a good thing. Nothing "is good for the game" that makes a majority of the players unhappy.
Devouring Blade – Design changed
– Change text from “Godblitz. Afterlife: Destroy a random creature.“ to ”Blitz. Afterlife: Destroy a random creature.”
Carnage Sweep – Design changed
– Change text from “Deal 2 damage to all creatures. if you have a relic equipped, remove 3 durability and destroy all creatures instead.” to ”Deal 2 damage to each creature. If you have a relic equipped, deal damage equal to its strength instead.”
Good. If for no other reason than to shake up the meta a bit and let some other $2,000 control deck farm all of us for the next 4 months. Again, these are core cards and can be changed again. I like where DBlade is at, but I think Carnage probably needs another pass. Hat tip to Hpain with his idea to have it work like Savage Strike and deal damage twice, which makes it much better against ward/protected.
Raneko Hearthmother – Mana cost reduced, health reduced
– Reduce mana cost to 2
– Reduce health to 3
Village Vendor – Health increased
– Increase health from 2 to 3
Blood Oath Binder – Stats changed
– Change stats from 1/2 to 0/3
Wolf Recruits – Design changed
– Change text from “Draw a creature. If it’s an Olympian, draw another Olympian, and give +1/+1 to each.” to ”Draw a creature. If it’s an Olympian, draw another Olympian, and give +1/+1 to each Olympian in your hand.”
Master of the Mill – Design changed
– Change text from “Roar: Give +2 health to a friendly Olympian. Ally: Give +2 health to the summoned creature.“ to ”Roar: Give +3 health to a friendly Olympian. Ally: Give +3 health to the summoned creature.”
One of the main focuses of the BOTW set was to make midrange viable using the Olympian tribal synergies. The initial release of cards were too aggressive, though, and led to insane turn 2 and 3 board states. They were over-nerfed and basically abandoned by the player base. Releasing a new set and then nerfing all the cards into the ground (e.g. deception nethers) just felt bad. People bought cards that they then couldn't play.
It's also worth pointing out how important it is to have viable midrange decks in the meta. Control decks at the moment could design specifically for hyper aggro decks with small creatures. So board wipes. Like 6+ of them in control magic decks. Now control magic has to adjust. Shaped Blast sucks against 2-3 8/8s on the board. For those, they need transform, more frontliners, etc. This will give aggro decks a better chance of beating them.
Wolf Recruits may be too strong. Yes, the draw back is needing to run only Olymians (or nearly only olympians), but as more Olympians are printed over time, this draw back will mean less and less. What's important about this card though is it rewards keeping your creatures in reserve, which naturally leads to a midrange play style. You aren't dumping your hand and going all-out aggro. This is why I like it's current form better than (for example) boosting the creatures you draw by +2/+2. In that case, this becomes a refill card for aggro decks and doesn't promote the midrange archetype.
Blood Oath was basically fixed. 0/3 is what she should have been from the start.
I'm not sure Village Vendor needed a buff. You only play her as a combo with other cards anyway.
Master of the Mill seems OK. Maybe even playable now. Certain will be a fun combo with Raneko and Argus.
Top players with Lysander's Spear and HBKs should still run their normal aggro light lists, however, budget players may find Olympian Light good enough to replace their aggro lists. The designers were successful in creating midrange archetypes for both gods that don't make aggro decks oppressive. Nicely done.
Shrike Moonlighter – Design Changed
– Cost changed to 3
– Changed text from “Ally: Pull the top card of your opponents deck to your hand” to ”Ally: Pull the top card of your opponent’s void to your hand.”
Spore-Light Lantern – Design changed
– Change text from “Ability: Pull a friendly Nether with mana cost 5 or less from the board to your hand. If you do, pull the top card of your opponent’s deck to your hand. Remove 1 durability from this relic.“ to ”Ability: Pull a friendly Nether with mana cost 5 or less from the board to your hand. If you do, pull the top card of your opponent’s void to your hand. Remove 1 durability from this relic.”
I'm really happy with these changes. Again, don't release a new set full of cards no one can play. At the same time, card steal just feels terrible to play against and makes everyone sad. These cards interacting with the void is much more satisfying and opens up more strategic play. Let's say you have to sacrifice a powerful creature or use a strong spell. Now you'll have to consider playing a weak spell just to cover it up in the void. This allows counterplay while still giving deception nethers a unique feel.
Blighted Scion – Health reduced
– Change health from 2 to 1
Balthazar, Blood Magus – Design changed
– Change text from “Roar: increase by 1 the cost of spells in your opponent’s hand for one turn.“ to ”Roar: Increase by 2 the cost of spells in your opponent’s hand for one turn.”
Carrion Eater – Design changed
– Reduce health from 2 to 1
– Changed text from “after this creature attacks, obliterate the top two cards of your opponent’s void. If any creatures are obliterated this way, gain +1 health” to “After this creature attacks & Roar: Obliterate the top two cards of your opponent’s void. Gain +1 health for each creature obliterated this way.”
Bitter Endings – Text changed
– Change text from “If your god has 15 health or less, add a 6 or 7 mana legendary Death creature to your hand, and set its cost to 0. If you do, at the end of your next turn take 15 damage.“ to ”If your god has 15 health or less, add a 6 or 7 mana legendary Death creature to your hand and set its cost to 0. If you do, at the end of your next turn take 15 damage.”
Yea, Scion was definitely over-statted at 3/2. With his afterlife, he was 4/3 of stats for 2 mana. He was neutral, so was finding himself in all kinds of aggro decks. After playing the new 3/1 scion for a few games, I don't think this was the right change. I think he should have kept the same stats but been Nature only. Compare him to:
Barksworn is 2 mana worth of stats (3/2) for 1 mana. Blighted Scion was 3 mana worth of stats (4/3) for 2 mana. Amazon needed love, and Scion provided it. However, by making it neutral, War got the love. Light got the love. etc. For now, I've left Scion in my list. But so many games he's just wasted mana that I think I need to find a replacement. Deception/Death/Magic can just GP him. Yes, the mana is the same, but they gain card advantage.
Balthazar is an interesting change. I'm glad they are thinking about Combo hate. He also might fit in aggro decks where you just know that a board wipe is coming next turn.
Carrion-Eater is an odd card. I'm happy they buffed him. For aggro decks running Pyramid Wardens, he might make sense. He also provides another void hate option for decks, but in general it just seems worse than Gleamweaver for that purpose. He is a great Martyr counter, though.
Bitter endings lost a comma! However, balance devs have made it clear that BE is going to be changed (nerfed) in some way before getting locked. That's good news.
I think the main goal of this set was to make midrange a thing, and I think they've succeeded with the latest round of balance changes. I'm happy with the CTI nerf. The Control War nerfs are fine. I'll just be getting farmed by some other stall-happy control deck, though, but maybe it's slightly less effective.
Most importantly, the last round of balance changes wound up going too far. It was hard to see immediately, but after a week or two of play, it was clear. And it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth who bought cards or packs. This does a lot to make up for it.
