In the past, many suggestions have been made to make rows matter. It's time to look at why these suggestions exist in the first place. The easiest answer is that, at the moment, rows lack identity. However, most, if not all, of those suggestions required reworking a lot of cards or adding more (complex) mechanics to the game. Can't we implement something (relatively) simple which creates a whole new way to play the game? Yes, we can.
My suggestion is that both rows receive a permanent row-effect. All units played on the melee row get +1 strength and all units played in the ranged row get +2 armor. The rationale is that the melee row is for point slam and the ranged row for engines (or other units you want to protect). This would give rows a distinct identity and it would actually matter where you play your units. For example, versus a removal heavy deck, you may be inclined to play more units on the ranged row.
PS. This suggestion does mean that there needs to be a one time rebalancing. Fortunately, this can be done on a large scale, instead of needing to tweak all cards individually.
My suggestion is that both rows receive a permanent row-effect. All units played on the melee row get +1 strength and all units played in the ranged row get +2 armor. The rationale is that the melee row is for point slam and the ranged row for engines (or other units you want to protect). This would give rows a distinct identity and it would actually matter where you play your units. For example, versus a removal heavy deck, you may be inclined to play more units on the ranged row.
PS. This suggestion does mean that there needs to be a one time rebalancing. Fortunately, this can be done on a large scale, instead of needing to tweak all cards individually.