It's no surprise that the game has become more binary with each expansion since the devs feel that any new card introduced must be more powerful than the last. A very flawed approach but until they figure that out I'd like to propose a solution to some of the more extreme cases of binary play.
Currently the only way to counter many powerful cards is heatwave which doesn't synergize well with a lot of factions and if you don't draw it that often means you've immediately lost. The devs have now forced themselves into a corner by introducing a swarm of tutor cards to solve this problem that they created but now you can predict the outcome of most matches just from the first cards drawn.
I've always felt that the way locks are used in the game is very simplistic and forces players to utilize removal rather than disruption and that's where the game's balancing suffers. My suggestion:
Mechanic
Lock - Change to Bind
Effect
Disable the effects of a card on the opponents row for 2 turn. Increase the number of turns bind is active by the number of cards with Bind in your starting deck, up to 5 turns.
This effect would accomplish several things. Aside from removing the over reliance on heatwave it would also address the issue with scenarios. At times it feels like scenarios give too much value in a short turn but devs also don't want to make it too easy to counter which is why they've removed the other cards that could interact with them without any real alternative.
This Bind effect would apply to units as well as artifacts/scenarios on the board. It doesn't completely destroy the scenarios or finishers so players won't feel like they wasted 14 provisions because they can just wait out the Bind effect. It also means the opponent can force you to play a card you needed to activate both chapters while you wait, or play your finisher early depending on how many turns remain before the round ends.
This allows flexibility in disrupting specific chapters which again, encourage disruption vs the removal meta that we've been stuck in that limits any creativity in deck building or strategy. I think it could be worth considering a mechanic that reduces the Bind effect by a number of turns as well. Haven't thought that one out completely but it could apply to all effects, not just Bind. Not to completely remove the effect but reduce a specified number of turns to a min of 1.
Anyhow, interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
Currently the only way to counter many powerful cards is heatwave which doesn't synergize well with a lot of factions and if you don't draw it that often means you've immediately lost. The devs have now forced themselves into a corner by introducing a swarm of tutor cards to solve this problem that they created but now you can predict the outcome of most matches just from the first cards drawn.
I've always felt that the way locks are used in the game is very simplistic and forces players to utilize removal rather than disruption and that's where the game's balancing suffers. My suggestion:
Mechanic
Lock - Change to Bind
Effect
Disable the effects of a card on the opponents row for 2 turn. Increase the number of turns bind is active by the number of cards with Bind in your starting deck, up to 5 turns.
This effect would accomplish several things. Aside from removing the over reliance on heatwave it would also address the issue with scenarios. At times it feels like scenarios give too much value in a short turn but devs also don't want to make it too easy to counter which is why they've removed the other cards that could interact with them without any real alternative.
This Bind effect would apply to units as well as artifacts/scenarios on the board. It doesn't completely destroy the scenarios or finishers so players won't feel like they wasted 14 provisions because they can just wait out the Bind effect. It also means the opponent can force you to play a card you needed to activate both chapters while you wait, or play your finisher early depending on how many turns remain before the round ends.
This allows flexibility in disrupting specific chapters which again, encourage disruption vs the removal meta that we've been stuck in that limits any creativity in deck building or strategy. I think it could be worth considering a mechanic that reduces the Bind effect by a number of turns as well. Haven't thought that one out completely but it could apply to all effects, not just Bind. Not to completely remove the effect but reduce a specified number of turns to a min of 1.
Anyhow, interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
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