Dev Blog - September Balance Patch

Hello friends!

The meta is perfect. Said no one ever. To be fair, the meta is in a decent place. Yes, there are a few cards and archetypes that are causing issues and we will be addressing them in this patch, slated to launch alongside the Ring of Fire mini-set on September 10th. While a few decks are basking in the limelight at this current moment, they are not overwhelmingly more powerful than the next tier of good decks, like has sometimes been the case in the past. This means that a few tweaks and fiddles should help the meta a lot by bringing many solid decks currently in the shade into the post-patch sunlight (our pattern-recognizing tool tells us it is always sunny post-patches).

While this patch covers a lot of ground, the biggest focus is on weather. It has several issues (bugs notwithstanding), but the biggest one is the consistency of Storm as a removal option. Currently, 8 of the 9 storm options are removal oriented, we are changing two of them to have non-removal effects, so 6 of 9 will be removal options post-patch. But let’s not get bogged down in the mud, let’s look at what is changing, start with the nerfs per usual:

Nerfs

METEOR

The meteoric rise of the Meteor has polarised the community on the impact it has had on the meta. There are variants of the deck that are hyper-focused on cycling the Meteor early and often, but those are mostly at meme level. The archetype that has most benefited from it is good ol’ British Control, which employs it as an end-game boss. The main issue we have with the card is that it encourages dragging matches out, which is not a playstyle we want to encourage too heavily and it is for that reason mainly that we are swinging the nerf-hammer harder than is strictly necessary just from performance alone.

It is keeping its powerful ability, meaning it can still win long games, but with higher cost and less defense there is now a much greater chance of it being too slow or too fragile. It likely is still good enough to run in British Control, but cannot be relied upon to the same extent as before.

38th INDEPENDENT

The SKD (self-kredit denial) is one of the decks that is not at the top of the meta, but is good enough to perform well overall. Its novel playstyle is enjoyed by many and on the whole it is a fun and interesting archetype. The 38th Independent is not even the key player in the archetype. But it is the one card that can lead to the biggest high-roll experience when the stars align, which can be very frustrating to face. Reducing its attack means that when the stars do align they are not as big of a threat, while still keeping the core of the SKD deck intact.

COASTWATCHERS

We now come to the first of several anti-weather strikes. Coastwatchers are one of those cards that may look innocuous to many, but are the real deal. They get the Forecast ball rolling early and help churn the weathers out faster. And even their body can be put to good use with cards like Chain Home or HMS Formidable. Increasing its cost to 3k to slow the whole weather package down was an easy decision to make.

RAAF WALRUS

The second nerf to a Forecast card. This one is a lot less severe, but it still matters a lot for the board state whether you are left with a 2/4 fighter or a 1/4 fighter after Forecasting. We could have gone for something harsher, but our intention is not to kill weather completely, just bring it down a notch, and for that purpose we think a -1 to attack is enough.

Z SPECIAL UNIT

Anzac as a whole is a very popular ally, even outside Forecast shenanigans. That is due to the high quality of many of their cards, Z Special Unit being a prime example. Bringing down its damage weakens it significantly, but not enough to make it unplayable. +5 to HQ defense is a hefty buff and a good reason to keep using the card.

THUNDERSTORM

Now we come to the first of four nerfs to weather cards (there are a couple of buffs as well later on). This is one of the cards that we are changing to a non-removal effect. The new effect can be a nice tempo tool in the right situation, but the whole idea of course is to make Storm as a whole less consistent as a removal provider. The removal of the mass retreat option also aids some archetypes that heavily rely on specific units, like tokens and legions.

TROPICAL STORM

Reducing the power level of Storm should cover more bases than just how many removals it has - we also want to address some of the more powerful options. This one gave a lot of flexibility in the fight for board control, up to and including bouncing your own unit for benefits. Making both effects now random means players can no longer control the outcome like before, severely decreasing its effectiveness.

CYCLONE

The final nerf to Storm and the second changing a removal effect to non-removal effect. A draw option can be very useful in refilling a depleted hand or when digging for specific answers, so this card still offers good value, but it is not directly killing enemy units, which is the important factor. Again, removing an area-of-effect option will help ‘going wide’ strategies that have been heavily kept in check by the popularity of weather decks in recent weeks.

SCORCHING SUN

The final nerf of the patch. While Sunny as a whole has struggled a bit (more on this later), this option is one of the stronger weather effects in the game. We want to keep it as a powerful high-end use for aggressive strategies, but give the opponent a bit better chance to survive and deal with the onslaught.

Buffs

STIRLING Mk III

The venerable Stirling bomber has not had a sterling career so far, but a bump in its attack might just be the thing to stir it into more action. Blitz bombers are always a threat and a 5/5 body can deal with a lot of threats and then provide a decent clock to see out the game.

102. GRENADIER

The definition of a veteran is their staying power in battle, which has not been the case for the 102. Grenadiers so far. So we are massaging their stats a bit to better live up to their veteran status. Let’s hope these changes give the 102. Grenadiers the tools they need to make an explosive entrance onto the meta scene.

DETAILED RECON

Detailed analysis has revealed that the amount of hoops needed to get this card rolling is too high for the pot of gold awaiting at the end. So we are juicing the pot up to make the hoop-jumping worth it. Note the rewording of the first sentence - it functions exactly the same as before, i.e. every time you spend a kredit operating with this card in hand, it gets cheaper by the same amount paid. Then the card you draw with Detailed Recon will get the same discount (so up to 4). This discount on the drawn card is permanent.

1081st SMOLENSK

The 1081st Smolensk (formerly known as 1081th Smolensk) has had such a blast Blasting away that it is coming out of the trenches to get up close with the enemy. The result is that they are now slightly more vulnerable (read: -1 defense), but Blasting with them in play is now twice as effective.

P-40 WARHAWK

An old warhorse is getting a facelift to sit alongside its facepaint. This change has no impact on its ability to compete for board control, but the Warhawk is now a much bigger threat in closing out games. This may not affect things much outside the starting areas, but who knows what might happen if US air got some support?

JUNGLE FEVER

The final two changes are a couple of buffs to Sunny weather cards. Sunny suffers from being a bit too much all over the place and inconsistent in power level. We are making it slightly more focused on aggressive buffs to make it a more consistent choice for such strategies. The change to Jungle Fever here gives a temporary attack buff, but pins units at end of turn if they did not attack. Note that this does apply to units you deploy in the turn.

SCORCHING SUN

The other change is to a card that already gives an attack buff, just not consistently good enough. The new effect is a lot stronger as a finisher for air decks.

That is all for now. Our hope is that these changes reduce the dominance of weather strategies, bringing other strategies that are simmering just beneath the surface to rise. Still, we anticipate weather to continue to be a big player in the meta, as it offers something for both aggressive and more controlling archetypes. Make sure to keep an eye out for the full patch notes for all the details on changes and fixes coming with the Ring of Fire release, enjoy the spoiler season for the new cards it will deliver and until then, see you on the battlefield, commander!