After organizing the PTR balance changes:
@meltysquid/gods-unchained-ptr-balance-changes-20220119, and playing a bit in the PTR, I wanted to write about the cards and how these changes will shakeup the meta.
Nature is tied for getting the most nerfs on this patch. Nature is getting a moderate tune down on some of its strongest cards, Finnian Fruitbearer and Giant Pangolin, and some snowballing cards, Moonlight Charm and Sudden Bloom.
Finnian definitely needed another nerf. Finnian won games by itself if your opponent couldn't answer it, 3/4 stats the turn you play it and snowballs super hard. Even if they did have an answer immediately, you almost always played it when you could get frenzied and summon a Vibrant Fruit. The health reduction to 2 means it dies to a lot more things like Vanguard Axewoman, Magic's 2 damage spells, Light's relics, so it will never last more than a turn on board. It feels weaker but still playable, you play it, proc frenzy, summon a fruit, and eat some removal, so you net a fruit at the end which isn't the worst. Having these snowballing effects on low mana cards is dangerous, I would have preferred a 3 mana 3/3, make it come down later so it doesn't snowball too hard. Hard to find room for Finnian after the nerf, it's more of a win-more card now, terrible from behind. Nature's two mana slot is congested with canopy, faeflame, underbrush boar, and black jag.
Moonlight Charm is disgusting if you can get it off early. Turn 1 Marsh Walker, turn 2 pip charm for a 3/6 walker was nutty. The change from frenzied to ability slows down the card a lot, you no longer can trigger it the turn you play charm or use it to hit face and trigger it either. I say it is a welcome change to stop games ending on turn 2.
Giant Pangolin was another card that was too strong. 6/4 blitz, armor, confused, almost always got a 2 for 1 at a minimum, you play it and eat a creature, then your opponent needed an answer or get more cards gobbled up by pangolin. The player who pangolins first in the nature mirror usually wins since your pangolin eats something then they have to play and trade their pangolin in or get lucky with lightning strike otherwise they're going to trade their board in to kill it. The 1 armor reduction means it is a lot easier to answer. It is still a strong card to run 2x in your deck.
Sudden Bloom got a small nerf. Not sure how big the difference is between +5/+5 and +4/+4. I usually won or lost the game before I could play Sudden Bloom, so I don't know if people would still run the card.
Blazing Talisman still looks unplayable. A relic that gives burn just isn't worth running over the other relics in nature.
Inspiring Skald gives twin strike to your strongest creature now. I don't think aggro war has the room for this, they have plenty of strong 2 drops like warmonger smith, master tactician, and valka's captain.
Caged Berserker is getting a mana reduction. You need to proc frenzy twice to get a 5/5 which is the minimum you want. Might not be bad as a big creature top end.
Similar to nature, War is getting some tuning down on its strongest cards but they all still see play.
Warmonger Smith is still strong, 2/4 statline is amazing. The weakened roar doesn't change that much, aside from stopping buffed 1 strength relics to kill x/3s like turn 1 enduring shield into smith.
Oddi is easier to kill without backline. Less likely to snowball from the mana discount.
Archangel going from 3 to 2 health means it almost always dies when trading. Still great removal, just no longer hoses 2/x creatures like Wild Hog, Skeleton Heavy, and Pyramid Warden
Sole Survivor is still a strong board wipe. Not as likely to be a full board clear at +3 strength.
Enraging Talisman is junk. Giving strength and damaging creatures doesn't work in any deck. Maybe someone can theorize a self-damage armor deck.
Rolling Thunder is interesting but likely won't see play. Drawing your strongest viking and reducing its mana by 1 could draw powerful cards like 7 mana Odin or 6 mana Tyr but I don't think it is worth it over Strength in Numbers.
Ramp Magic is getting some interesting tools with the buffed and changed cards.
Clear Mind going to Foresee 2 is notable for Ramp Magic to reliably set up Frey into 2 mana Avatar of Magic combo against Control decks.
Crystal Watcher is hard to get to work. After playing with it in ptr, it doesn't fit well in the deck. You don't find a good time to play it, or it dies to removal. Against aggro, you don't need to ramp hard, it is about surviving and running your opponent out of cards. Against control, it's a target for removal since you don't play many early creatures.
Magic is getting the most changed to unplayed cards.
Enchanted Chariot joins Dragonkin Caller and Eldritch Demonologist in the 3/3 that draws a creature club. Monolith of Storms is the only worthwhile structure I can think of. Might be worth it to play.
Ghostform lets you protect a creature from being attacked one turn. Not worth it.
Safeguard Incantation is not bad, protect your face and cycle. Saves around 4 health against slayer.
Lightning Talisman looks strong. 9 damage for 3 mana against creatures helps against aggro.
Magnetic Blast is playable now since it is no longer dead if there are no armor creatures.
Counterfeit is getting a big change to destroy your opponent's relic. Not sure how impactful this change is. I don't think hidden rush needs relic removal and control deception is rarely played. You can compare this to Iron-tooth Goblin, there are not that many high durability relics in the meta, most relics that see play are 3 durability or less aside from the champion relics like Neferu's Khopesh or Pallas' Wand. So destroying isn't that often different from removing 3 durability. Relics usually have blitz or godblitz and your opponent will use it the turn they play it so you're usually stealing half a relic. The question is would you take a 2/2 creature or a copy of your opponent's relic, 2/2 body is worth about 1 mana so the copied relic is most likely worth it.
Twisting Talisman is still bad, how often do you need to swap health and strength. Dionysus Drunk never sees play either. Munosian Infiltrator does the job most of the time to weaken creatures or kill 0 strength creatures.
Ring of the Siren gives +2 order now. I like this change a lot. +1 order meant that your creature could be attacked or your opponent's creature could attack. +2 order protects your creature and stops your opponent's from attacking.
Anubian Redeemer looks good but I don't know if Light wants a tall creature. It could be good if you get it out early and grow a lot.
Righteous Apparition gets better in my opinion +2 order is easier to work around since it goes away at the end of your opponent's turn.
Glaring Talisman looks like a decent stall relic, stops your opponent's creature's next attack. I don't think it is worth running over Light's other relics.
Blight Bomb hitting 2 health now is huge. It hits a lot fewer creatures now. You can check out @entrepidus ptr post for a list of some of the notable creatures that Blight Bomb no longer hits.
Just a Nibble heals less now. Helps aggro decks finish off the oppressive Board Wipe Death.
Plague Talisman goes from bad removal to bad damage. You need to stick a creature to deal damage to both gods. There are a few cards in Divine Order that play with this like Desecrated Shrine and Deathwatch Elder but self-damage Death has disappeared after the Soul Burn change.
Covetous Cutthroat might see play now. 4 mana 4/4 isn't the worse to play as a vanilla, most of the time relics will have 1 or 2 durability by the time you play this for a 5/5 or 6/6 which is pretty good. Not sure which decks would run it over relic removal, most decks don't even tech in relic removal.
Phalanx Lieutenant looks strong now. 5/3 with 2 armor is a strong statline, a big threat that is hard to kill. 5 damage at once is a lot easier to reach such as Wyrmbreath, Archangel Bruiser, and Hunting Trap, than the 6 damage compared to the 3/4 armor 2 Guild Enforcer. At least there is no frontline that you're forced to throw your creatures into. Not too sure which god what's a beefy 5 drop, nature already has overstatted creatures, magic and deception aren't creature heavy, BWD and zombies don't want a vanilla, aggro war wants to top out at 5 with buffs instead of creatures, control war likes reactive cards, light wants to go wide to capitalize on its buffs, and it doesn't fit into any control decks without frontline.
The meta will largely remain the same. None of the gods got a major change that will shake up what's played. The patch is weakening the strongest cards in the meta and changing a bunch of the unplayed cards.
Nature runs the same game plan of big creatures. Aggro war is weakened but still viable. Control war will remain at the top. Deception didn't get much, hidden rush is the same, control is still fringe although counterfeit might help. Light remains the same zoo deck. Board Wipe Death will have a harder time against aggro with the blight bomb and nibble nerfs. Tempo magic and zombies didn't get any changes.
The biggest change in the meta will be ramp magic. Lightning talisman is a big help against aggro. Clear mind helps a lot to set up the AoM Frey combo against control decks. Ramp magic is on the expensive side so it isn't likely to be played often.
