Balance overhaul suggestions (Scoia'Tael)

[DannyGuy]

Balance overhaul suggestions (Scoia'Tael)

This is my big balance overhaul (part 4, links to previous parts at the bottom). I'd just like to share some of my opinions and ideas with the community. Hopefully, someone will read this.

The new patch could be considered nothing more than a balance fix for the Midwinter Patch. The only thing that has seemingly changed so far is that Dwarves are gone and Impera Enforcers are back to their old state. Here are some more in-depth changes
I propose a change to Boons. make them trigger at the end of your turn, unlike Hazards.

If you want to hear the reasoning for any of the changes I made, feel free to ask me in the comments.

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Scoia'Tael

Elven Blade
Boost an ally by 6. If it's an Elf, deal 6 damage to an enemy.
Added Elf synergy in favor of being completely ineffective against elves.

Paulie Dahlberg
3 Strength. Create a Bronze dwarf.
Still has the same feel, without limiting design space, and allowing dwarf strengthening to come back to help out Mahakam Defenders.

Mahakam Defender
6 Strength. Gain Resilience. If you have 3 or more Dwarf allies on this row, Boost self by 4.
Bring back Mahakam Defenders! This card really establishes what dwarves are about. It's not about slamming points on the board, I hope.

Mahakam Guard
9 Strength. Boost an ally by 2. If it's a Dwarf, Strengthen it instead.
Synergizes with Mahakam Defenders to increase your carryover.

Milaen
3 Strength. Deal 5 damage to 2 enemies and move them to this row.
Gives the card a little movement synergy.

Ithlinne
5 Strength. Play a Bronze boon or hazard from your deck and spawn a copy of it.
Balances Ithlinne around long-term value.

Hawker Healer
5 Strength. Boost 2 allies by 2. If they were already boosted, boost them by 4 instead.
Establishes a boost archetype alongside Mahakam Marauders.

Sage
Strength increase from 2 to 4.

Filavandrel
7 Strength. Move 3 units to this row. If allied Elves, boost them by 3.
A hybrid between an Elf/ Movement leader. Much more interesting than the current create ability.

Hattori
6 Strength. Boost an ally by this unit's power.
This way, the card actually gets better with handbuffs.

Mahakam Volunteers
5 Strength 2 Armor. When you play your next Dwarf, summon a copy of this unit from your deck.
More exciting than the old version, and it promotes a specific style of play

Panther
7 Strength. Deal 2 damage. Whenever you play an ambush, or an allied ambush is revealed, repeat this ability.
More interesting. Promotes an ambush archetype

Schirrú
Make him immune to his own Epidemic.
A necessary change in my opinion. Epidemic is unplayable most of the time because he just kills himself.

Elven Archer
6 Strength. Deal 1 damage for each Elf ally, up to a maximum of 8 damage.
Added synergy makes the card more meaningful.

Vrihedd Neophyte
8 Strength. Boost 2 random loyal units in your hand by 2.
Focusing more on the boost makes this card much stronger.

Francesca Fandabair
Stop it from boosting disloyal units.​

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I'd like to thank anyone who has read this post (even those who just looked at a couple of cards). Please tell me what you think. I welcome any suggestions.
Previous posts:

1. Neutral
2. Northern Realms
3. Monsters

 

[Iuliandrei]

Elven Blade Boost an ally by 6. If it's an Elf, deal 6 damage to an enemy.

I had this idea aswell, but for a new card, an Elven Bow.

Schirrú Make him immune to his own Epidemic. A necessary change in my opinion. Epidemic is unplayable most of the time because he just kills himself.

I think he's meant to counter the something like NG slave infantry spam but most of the time there is a 1 pt create unit blocking it. I don't know why he has Epidemic in the first place, sure mechanically it mirrors Scorch but thematically it doesn't really fit. (yet they removed it from Keira)
Personally i'd like to see him with an Effort tag instead of epidemic.

 

[Theo_FP]

You should look at the cards from the other factions before making some of these suggestions.

Panther
7 Strength. Deal 3 damage. Whenever you play an ambush, or an allied ambush is revealed, repeat this ability.
More interesting. Promotes an ambush archetype

^ This card would be more powerful than Mangonels and An Craite Longships.

Ithlinne
7 Strength. Play a Bronze boon or hazard from your deck and spawn a copy of it.
Balances Ithlinne around long-term value.

^ This card is already a 20 power value card when you use Alzur's Thunder and more than 30 when you use Stammelford's Tremor is specific situations. Giving it more base power would be absurd if a player were to use it with a deck designed on buffing cards in the hand, as it could end up having 15+ Power by the end of the first round.

Mahakam Volunteers
5 Strength 2 Armor. When you play your next Dwarf, summon a copy of this unit from your deck.
More exciting than the old version, and it promotes a specific style of play

^ This would make this specific card far more powerful than the counter-parts from other factions.

I hope you get the point that I am trying to make here. You can't change or buff a card without thinking about the affect it has on other cards. [h=1][/h]

 

[DannyGuy]

I had this idea aswell, but for a new card, an Elven Bow.

:cheers:

I think Schirrú is meant to counter something like NG slave infantry spam, but most of the time there is a 1 pt create unit blocking it. I don't know why he has Epidemic in the first place, sure mechanically it mirrors Scorch but thematically it doesn't really fit. (yet they removed it from Keira) Personally i'd like to see him with an Effort tag instead of epidemic.

I honestly really liked his old ability (Transforming a card in your hand into scorch). He could just create a special scorch called "Schirrú's Scorch" that would destroy the highest unit on the board, except for Schirrú.

 

[DannyGuy]

You should look at the cards from the other factions before making some of these suggestions.

Panther
7 Strength. Deal 3 damage. Whenever you play an ambush, or an allied ambush is revealed, repeat this ability.
More interesting. Promotes an ambush archetype

^ This card would be more powerful than Mangonels and An Craite Longships.

Ithlinne
7 Strength. Play a Bronze boon or hazard from your deck and spawn a copy of it.
Balances Ithlinne around long-term value.

^ This card is already a 20 power value card when you use Alzur's Thunder and more than 30 when you use Stammelford's Tremor is specific situations. Giving it more base power would be absurd if a player were to use it with a deck designed on buffing cards in the hand, as it could end up having 15+ Power by the end of the first round.

Mahakam Volunteers
5 Strength 2 Armor. When you play your next Dwarf, summon a copy of this unit from your deck.
More exciting than the old version, and it promotes a specific style of play

^ This would make this specific card far more powerful than the counter-parts from other factions.

I hope you get the point that I am trying to make here. You can't change or buff a card without thinking about the affect it has on other cards.

Panther
The difference between Panther and Mangonels is that you don't play 4 ambushes in a single turn, whereas you usually reveal 2 or 4 cards in one turn. On average, you could expect Panther to either gain 10 value and immediately get removed, or 13-16 value based on how many ambushes you manage to play (keep in mind that there are only 6 ambush cards in total, and you can only play 1 at a time).

Ithlinne
Not sure what you're talking about. I suggested the card be only able to play boons and hazards. Al'zur's Thunder and Stammelford's Tremors is neither of those. Handbuff is a different problem altogether. Looking back, however, I will reduce Ithlinne's power to 5.

Mahakam Volunteer
The "counterparts" in other factions are boring, and in some cases - extremely weak (Alba Pikemen and Clan Drummond Shieldmaidens, for which I will have suggestions in my Nilfgaard and Skellige posts, respectively.) This is only a 5 point play at first, then it goes to 10, and then 15. Presuming it doesn't get killed, it's 15 points over the course of 3 turns That's about +3 points above the average bronze value, and it comes at a big risk to passing and removal. (Alba Pikemen, and previously Reaver Hunters used to actually have the exact same ability, but with timers instead of specific triggers.)

I really don't mean to come off as hostile, but I'm just trying to tell you that the points you bring up don't make much sense to me.

 

[Theo_FP]

I clearly misread some the things you wrote in your original post and I am sorry for that. My original point was that, from an outside perspective looking at the ideas you've suggested, it seems like you did not take other factions into account when you came up with these ideas.

There is potential for abuse when it comes to the Volunteers, as you could use Dennis twice to buff them to 7 point cards. By buffing them to 7, you could end up with 23+ points every time you play an Agitator.

A Similar situation can be made for the panther change; 3 panthers on the board = 20+ points every time you play a Sapper. If you were to play 5 Ambush cards in one round, you'd get 45 points in total from the damage alone.

A simple solution to some of the suggestions that you've made, would just be to create new cards that has those effects instead of nerfing/buffing cards that already exist.

 

[TrompeLaMort]

To be sincere, what I feel is the problem of your changes is that, although many of the designs are interesting, the original cards don't really need to be changed. Not every card is for everything or everyone; Filavendrel, for example, I see it all the time on the ladder, I'm sure a lot of people like the card.

What I would change (based on the flaws of the current card):

Maybe Elven Blade: I personally also don't like this design that works on some kind of enemies and not on others. It seems to me to end up being too much rock-paper-scissors. But it seems to be common in other CCGs as well (like "kill a pirate" card in Hearhstone, and "kill a creature that is not a merfolk" in MTG, and etc.) Still, your design is cool, it could make for an "Elven bow" card, as someone said above.

Paulie: Paulie needs to go, and I think your suggestion is good enough, if very bread-and-butter. (But that seems what they are going for with the card anyway.)]

Ithlene: I like your suggestion. Not sure how playable she would be, to be honest, since it would be like a 6 points play (now, or 9 in your suggestion), in a game state that is very punishing to low tempo plays (on the wrong side of the coin). (And it would have to be a bronze hazard, naturally, otherwise she would be absolutely broken.) But she does see play already in "drunk dorfs" deck, even if a bit meme, so... (Note, however, that it might be a bit cross-faction design; I would expect much more to see a card like this in monsters.)

Hattori: I'm not very pleased with how Hattori is right now, but this suggestion would make him significantly more bland. And I'm not sure it is a "silver ability", as it is the mirror to Elven swordmaster, which is bronze. (But I do concede it would have better flavor than right now, though.) Maybe give him 2 power and make him buff all friendly units by half his power?

Anyway, all other cards I feel are fine as they are.

 

[DannyGuy]

I clearly misread some the things you wrote in your original post and I am sorry for that. My original point was that, from an outside perspective looking at the ideas you've suggested, it seems like you did not take other factions into account when you came up with these ideas.

There is potential for abuse when it comes to the Volunteers, as you could use Dennis twice to buff them to 7 point cards. By buffing them to 7, you could end up with 23+ points every time you play an Agitator.

A Similar situation can be made for the panther change; 3 panthers on the board = 20+ points every time you play a Sapper. If you were to play 5 Ambush cards in one round, you'd get 45 points in total from the damage alone.

A simple solution to some of the suggestions that you've made, would just be to create new cards that has those effects instead of nerfing/buffing cards that already exist.

Mahakam Volunteers
That's just a good combo. You know that Temerian Infantrymen regularly get to 8-9 strength, becoming 24-27 point finishers? And that is achieved in one turn. Even with the examples you've presented, I think Mahakam Volunteers are fine as I suggested.

Panther
Mangonels get 2 points for each revealed card. Assuming you have 3 Mangonels and you play Morvran and Vattier, you will get 16 value per Mangonel, for a total of 48 points. But have you ever seen that happen? I haven't - because removal is a thing, and you don't always draw all your mangonels. Although what you're saying does make sense in a way. I'll reduce the damage of Panther to 2. Thanks.


I am specifically changing cards that already exist because I believe the cards in question to be either overpowered, underpowered, bland, or badly designed. Gwent needs more interesting cards and less Tuirseach Beastmasters, if you know what I'm saying?

 

[DannyGuy]

To be sincere, what I feel is the problem of your changes is that, although many of the designs are interesting, the original cards don't really need to be changed. Not every card is for everything or everyone; Filavendrel, for example, I see it all the time on the ladder, I'm sure a lot of people like the card.

What I would change (based on the flaws of the current card):

Maybe Elven Blade: I personally also don't like this design that works on some kind of enemies and not on others. It seems to me to end up being too much rock-paper-scissors. But it seems to be common in other CCGs as well (like "kill a pirate" card in Hearhstone, and "kill a creature that is not a merfolk" in MTG, and etc.) Still, your design is cool, it could make for an "Elven bow" card, as someone said above.

Paulie: Paulie needs to go, and I think your suggestion is good enough, if very bread-and-butter. (But that seems what they are going for with the card anyway.)]

Ithlene: I like your suggestion. Not sure how playable she would be, to be honest, since it would be like a 6 points play (now, or 9 in your suggestion), in a game state that is very punishing to low tempo plays (on the wrong side of the coin). (And it would have to be a bronze hazard, naturally, otherwise she would be absolutely broken.) But she does see play already in "drunk dorfs" deck, even if a bit meme, so... (Note, however, that it might be a bit cross-faction design; I would expect much more to see a card like this in monsters.)

Hattori: I'm not very pleased with how Hattori is right now, but this suggestion would make him significantly more bland. And I'm not sure it is a "silver ability", as it is the mirror to Elven swordmaster, which is bronze. (But I do concede it would have better flavor than right now, though.) Maybe give him 2 power and make him buff all friendly units by half his power?

Anyway, all other cards I feel are fine as they are.

First of all, I'd like to thank you for your feedback. You've been very constructive and explained all your thoughts in a way that I can understand.

Now, why have I chosen the cards I've chosen to change?

Mahakam Defender
Unplayable card in its current state. It used to define the dwarf archetype, but now it's just a meme. I honestly really like the card. Currently, it's only playable through the likes of Elven Scout.

Mahakam Guard
Extremely bland card with no synergy or flavor whatsoever.

Milaen
The card is hard to set up. When moving units, you always move them to the right side of the row, but there is no way to control what is on your opponent's left side of the row (Other than Yaevinn, I guess).

Hawker Healer
Bland card. I personally like the idea of a Scoia'Tael boost deck.

Sage*
Completely inferior to Elven Mercenaries, even though it's 1 extra point, because you only get to choose stuff from your graveyard.

Filavandrel
A neutral card as a leader (Aguara: True Form). The range of cards this can choose from is so large, that you can really feel the randomness. Eithné is much more interesting, because she has a unique ability. Create should never be on leader cards. Leader Cards should be consistent, and have some sort of expected result.

Makakam Volunteers
Another bland card. Just used with Agitators to thin your deck....

Panther*
Again - quite a bland card (and a bit underpowered). Besides, 7 damage rarely kills anything valuable these days.

Elven Archer*
This card is included in Shupe Decks or deck that try to set up scorch. That's fine and all, but the card just lacks so much flavor in my opinion, and it could be so much more.

Cards marked with * are ones which I don't care about too much, but I'd be happy if they were changed.

Your idea with Hattori seems quite good. I like it. I shall change the suggestion in my post to yours.

 

[Sailears]

Agreed with Vrihedd Neophytes - they still boost Yaevinn which is annoying.

 

[partci]

And why exactly do you want to remove the Elven Archers Scorch synergy?

I would change Scirmischers: base 6 STR, deal 1 DMG on a Unit on Deploy, repeat till the unit is death. Enough with this 12 point slam spam, please.

 

[DannyGuy]

And why exactly do you want to remove the Elven Archers Scorch synergy?

I would change Scirmischers: base 6 STR, deal 1 DMG on a Unit on Deploy, repeat till the unit is death. Enough with this 12 point slam spam, please.

Do you mean "Dwarven Skirmisher?" That is definitely not a card I would change. It's simple, yet interesting. Dealing damage to a unit until it dies makes no sense for Scoia'Tael, there is no axemen synergy. Besides, a 6 point bronze that kills any unit? Please god please no

Oh and 6 plus 8 isn't 12.
I just wanted to promote elven synergy that goes with the already established archetype (swarm). It's anything but a point slam card, as it requires at least other 5 elves on the board to generate base bronze value.

 

[partci]

Do you mean "Dwarven Skirmisher?" That is definitely not a card I would change. It's simple, yet interesting. Dealing damage to a unit until it dies makes no sense for Scoia'Tael, there is no axemen synergy. Besides, a 6 point bronze that kills any unit? Please god please no ...

You are missing the point - it will stay there as an engine, and not just 12 points in one turn card as it is now. Interactions are what we need here.

Archers are used to line your scorches now, you'll make them less viable, just like Myrgtabrakke had become after the 2+2+2 nerf.

 

[DannyGuy]

You are missing the point - it will stay there as an engine, and not just 12 points in one turn card as it is now. Interactions are what we need here.

Archers are used to line your scorches now, you'll make them less viable, just like Myrgtabrakke had become after the 2+2+2 nerf.

Sorry, it's hard to understand your english. I ask again, what card do you intend to change? List the full name and ability please, to prevent misunderstandings.

 

[partci]

Sorry, it's hard to understand your english. I ask again, what card do you intend to change?...

I am saying you don't need to change Elven (Dol Blathanna) Archers.

 

[DannyGuy]

I am saying you don't need to change Elven (Dol Blathanna) Archers.

Yeah, I understood that, but you mentioned you wanted to change a card you called a ""Scirmischer." What did you mean by that?

 

[partci]

Yeah, I understood that, but you mentioned you wanted to change a card you called a ""Scirmischer." What did you mean by that?

I obviously meant the Dwarven Skirmisher.

 

[DannyGuy]

I obviously meant the Dwarven Skirmisher.

I don't see why you'd want to change that card. It is a nice simple card with clear synergies and good utility. It helps you play around many cards as well. It's a great design imo.

 

[overcold_ice]

Since I'm sure this is the place to post this, I'll place it here.

Aglais 13-power
Resurrect a Bronze or Silver special card from your opponent's graveyard, then banish it and weaken self by 8.

Aglais at static 8 is quite a problem in my opinion. While indeed it can be dead, but I think it's too powerful when it goes off at 8. I prefer the old Aglais that weaken self when it resurrects something. That 3 points difference is a lot.

 

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