Changes the new cards and gamemode will need
Though a few of the new cards are interesting, quite a lot of them seem either incredibly problematic or over or undertuned. The following are my thoughts about what should be done to some of the new cards and the new gamemode to make them less problematic and more playable.
Arena: Gold and Silver Limit
Gold, silver and bronze cards should be given in fixed amounts, such as 6 golds, 8 silvers and 12 bronzes. The current card distribution is silly as it gives nearly no bronzes, which represent the core of most decks and makes players feel bad about getting unlucky and only getting 8 golds compared to their opponent who drew 12 for some reason. If we had fixed ratios we could keep the interesting increase in the power level of arena decks, while still giving players more control over the quality of their deck.
Arena: Leaders show first or after 15 cards
Leaders being shown at the end of the deck creation is silly, it makes players want to pick simple, boring proactive cards rather than taking risks with cards like mangonel because they don't expect to be able to consistently get their reveal leader. This just gives players even less control over their deck as they will always build decks which favor leaders like Jan Calveit and Fransesca who can kind of work in any deck because of how little synergy they need. If we could see our leader at the very start we could attempt to make unusual picks because we know which leader we have rather than needing to hope that we randomly get the correct one at the end of the draft. Or we could also make it be shown after drafting between 10 and 15 cards, so that we already know what potential synergies half of our deck consists of and can use that to determine how and with what leader we want to construct the rest of our deck.
Roche: Merciless
New Effect: 8 Point. Destroy a bronze or silver unit that is outnumbered.
Outnumbered would be a new mechanic which means if the unit is on a row with fewer units than there are on the opposing row. If this mechanic would be explored cards could be created in northern realms which make positioning more important for both players.
The current version they want to implement for Roche: Merciless is a binary card which is unarguably worse than the old cyprian wiley. If they want an ambush counter to be introduced again they should simply give the second ability back to Cyprian Wiley, particularly since tech effects should be printed on neutral silvers rather than faction specific golds.The ability I'm suggesting for Roche would be more appropriate for the swarmy playstyle of northern realms.
Geralt: Professional
New Effect: 7 Point. Duel an enemy, if the enemy is gold boost self by 3.
Again, binary cards aren't healthy for the game, and though Geralt Professional isn't strong we could already see in some arena videos (such as from rs_merchant) that this card is worth either 11 or 20 points depending solely on the faction he plays against. Its a boring card design which doesn't feel interesting to play with or against, therefore I'd suggest a change like this which would keep the feel of Geralt being an expert at dealing with powerful creatures, but would make it more versatile and more interesting to play with or against.
Dandelion: Vainglory
Buff from 9 to 11 points.
This card is a more interesting version of Ciri: Nova which forces you to change your gold package to include a powerful gold card. The only problem I have with it is that it is at most an 18 point gold, which is average, and if you consider that it forces you to weaken your gold package it is rather underwhelming. I like the idea of the card, I just think it needs to be a bit stronger to see any play.
Morenn: Forest Child
Gold to Silver. 6 to 4 points.
I love the effect of the card, but the problem is that it is the type of effect which belongs to a silver card and not a gold one. Gold cards are powerful effects which you want to alter your deck to supports, whereas Morenn: Forest Child is a tech card which can be used to obtain significant value when used intelligently. This is something which more closely resembles scorch or the old Morenn, which can provide you with incredible value when used intelligently in their favored matchups.
These are most of my suggestions, however I do also think that Yennefer: Necromancer will need a change but I don't know how to rework her. And I'm not sure if Dandelion: Poet will be a problem since he has been nerfed to 5 points which will make him less of an auto include than he appeared to be at 6 points.
Though a few of the new cards are interesting, quite a lot of them seem either incredibly problematic or over or undertuned. The following are my thoughts about what should be done to some of the new cards and the new gamemode to make them less problematic and more playable.
Arena: Gold and Silver Limit
Gold, silver and bronze cards should be given in fixed amounts, such as 6 golds, 8 silvers and 12 bronzes. The current card distribution is silly as it gives nearly no bronzes, which represent the core of most decks and makes players feel bad about getting unlucky and only getting 8 golds compared to their opponent who drew 12 for some reason. If we had fixed ratios we could keep the interesting increase in the power level of arena decks, while still giving players more control over the quality of their deck.
Arena: Leaders show first or after 15 cards
Leaders being shown at the end of the deck creation is silly, it makes players want to pick simple, boring proactive cards rather than taking risks with cards like mangonel because they don't expect to be able to consistently get their reveal leader. This just gives players even less control over their deck as they will always build decks which favor leaders like Jan Calveit and Fransesca who can kind of work in any deck because of how little synergy they need. If we could see our leader at the very start we could attempt to make unusual picks because we know which leader we have rather than needing to hope that we randomly get the correct one at the end of the draft. Or we could also make it be shown after drafting between 10 and 15 cards, so that we already know what potential synergies half of our deck consists of and can use that to determine how and with what leader we want to construct the rest of our deck.
Roche: Merciless
New Effect: 8 Point. Destroy a bronze or silver unit that is outnumbered.
Outnumbered would be a new mechanic which means if the unit is on a row with fewer units than there are on the opposing row. If this mechanic would be explored cards could be created in northern realms which make positioning more important for both players.
The current version they want to implement for Roche: Merciless is a binary card which is unarguably worse than the old cyprian wiley. If they want an ambush counter to be introduced again they should simply give the second ability back to Cyprian Wiley, particularly since tech effects should be printed on neutral silvers rather than faction specific golds.The ability I'm suggesting for Roche would be more appropriate for the swarmy playstyle of northern realms.
Geralt: Professional
New Effect: 7 Point. Duel an enemy, if the enemy is gold boost self by 3.
Again, binary cards aren't healthy for the game, and though Geralt Professional isn't strong we could already see in some arena videos (such as from rs_merchant) that this card is worth either 11 or 20 points depending solely on the faction he plays against. Its a boring card design which doesn't feel interesting to play with or against, therefore I'd suggest a change like this which would keep the feel of Geralt being an expert at dealing with powerful creatures, but would make it more versatile and more interesting to play with or against.
Dandelion: Vainglory
Buff from 9 to 11 points.
This card is a more interesting version of Ciri: Nova which forces you to change your gold package to include a powerful gold card. The only problem I have with it is that it is at most an 18 point gold, which is average, and if you consider that it forces you to weaken your gold package it is rather underwhelming. I like the idea of the card, I just think it needs to be a bit stronger to see any play.
Morenn: Forest Child
Gold to Silver. 6 to 4 points.
I love the effect of the card, but the problem is that it is the type of effect which belongs to a silver card and not a gold one. Gold cards are powerful effects which you want to alter your deck to supports, whereas Morenn: Forest Child is a tech card which can be used to obtain significant value when used intelligently. This is something which more closely resembles scorch or the old Morenn, which can provide you with incredible value when used intelligently in their favored matchups.
These are most of my suggestions, however I do also think that Yennefer: Necromancer will need a change but I don't know how to rework her. And I'm not sure if Dandelion: Poet will be a problem since he has been nerfed to 5 points which will make him less of an auto include than he appeared to be at 6 points.
