I have found something that is really frustrating the heck out of me in this homecoming version. It seems like no matter what deck I craft, the opponent, in ranked, that I am matched with always has the counters in his deck for my deck. I was so frustrated I did what I hate doing, went to the net and created a net deck that is supposed to be so powerful. Started a match and the opponent had every counter they needed. I created a different faction deck and the same thing. Tried this with every faction and then rotated through them only to have no matter what deck/faction my opponent could counter me (and the counters were unique). So I thought, maybe it is the netdeck that everyone is building to counter so I created my own crazy deck and sure enough, counter after counter. I swear it really seems like they match people based on what is in their deck and the cards they have and not just randomly by rank.
I can only think of two variables to why you're struggling so much. One being you're between Rank 1 and 5 with a crazy amount of MMR, and you keep getting outmatched; somehow I find that completely unlikely, but a seemly explanation. Second option is you need to work on your critical thinking skills. You need to examine what your opponents are playing and think hard on what each opponent brings to the table. Look at what is similar, not what is different. I've noticed almost everyone that I play that wins the first round, hands off the second round to draw more cards hoping with more information, their opponent will give up the hand advantage they gave them during the first round. My solution to this was to play more bombs, and less utility. I focused on forcing my opponent to commit more to the first round, and having additional strategy so I could play back to back rounds aggressively as most players in my MMR aren't accustom to playing to the board back to back it seemed.
Another issue I had was heavy ping. It was my bane as I started to play, and is still an extremely hard matchup. I've only been playing three days, and I have an NG list that splits resources between spies, and reveal giving me two engines to play through several rounds consistently. The original list did great for a while, but as soon as I started getting match with Cripple players, I got slaughtered, and it only got worse if they play a Sihil. I crafted a bomb thrower, added in a few lock abilities, and what do you know. I started beating those Cripple players. If you're going to play ranked, you have to learn how to read the meta, and plan your decks accordingly. I've struggled with ranked in games in the past, and I don't usually get to high ranks, but this trial and error lead me to learning the nature of what playing in a meta means.
It bothers me a bit when people say "well at least Homecoming has a good foundation". Like we had more than just a good foundation before, we had the framework and the drywall up lol. Foundation is a step backwards. Having to wait forever for expansions to get the complexity we had in Beta isn't something to really be optimistic about.
I've only been playing for three days. Don't have the experience of beta to spoil me, so from my perspective, the game is fantastic. I've played Magic, Yugioh, Duelyst, and Shadowverse all on a relatively competitive level with the physical games I went so far as to travel to different states to play in large events. From what I can tell, this is a mostly polished game with a few caveats that I'd personally suggest. The biggest thing that I can tell is that there isn't a single card in the game that costs less than 4 "bread(?)". This I'm assuming is so that it's hard to pack tons of neutral "good stuff" in your deck, but I think this has created an adverse effect as I'm slowly seeing certain neutrals that are in basically everyone's deck. (The witcher trio, and Roach as a perfect example).
The second is I'd make 0'd out units remain targetable by effects in play until said effects are completed. It might seem like I'm picking on the Cripple in the post, but hear me out. Cripple's order states that it deals 8
RANDOM damage. If 0'd units are excluded from that 8 damage, then we can consistently count on 8 damage being removed from our opponent, and the random element is null and void as we play to overpower our opponent with ping. This is a fairly major change to how randomized damage works, and I think would be a proper nerf to the faction, but I think it would open up design space as a keyword, and respects the definition of the word itself.
Now, on to my thoughts that mostly counter what everyone else says.
I'd say this change is a decision to protect the longevity of the game. You got to experience a treat to know what the game will likely come to be in the future. After two or so expansions, the game will likely re-explore that complexity, and hopefully re-interest you. If they kept everything how it was, the only answer is powercreep. I can't imagine they thought of it in those terms, but I personally think managing powercreep in any card game is the key to keeping a game healthy.
I understand that I'm a voice of positivity in a sea of negativity, but if the current version of the game is considered boring then I personally look forward to the future because I love the game so far. I think the complexity mostly relies on your own critical thinking skills atm rather than convoluted effects, which is a great space for the game to be in. If things are more simple, and people are complaining it's HARDER to win, then I think as developer's they did their job.
