Idea for Skellige

[Guest 4404014]

I got an idea for Skellige this patch. A Skellige player should have an option to show his hand at the beginning of a game. This is in case they didn't miss their draw - so that the opponent can safely forfeit and save time. Because at the moment Skellige cannot be beaten by any deck unless outdrawn. No further decisions matter unless you won that coin flip.

Seriously, devs, harmony wasn't even close.

 

[KeldornOfLatria]

Ignoring the irony: A mechanic like showing your hand at the start for a bonus (like: Use leader ability two times) would make a nice seasonal mode : )

 

[nehu]

Ignoring the irony: A mechanic like showing your hand at the start for a bonus (like: Use leader ability two times) would make a nice seasonal mode : )

but u know, in first round it will be easy pick...

how about in each round u will show cards, u will get bonus use

 

[KeldornOfLatria]

but u know, in first round it will be easy pick...

how about in each round u will show cards, u will get bonus use

That's even better!

 

[TokisPL]

Skellige seems utterly OP this time around, but I was wondering what made them so good after MM release. For me it's Blood Eagle and new ways to ressurrect GSs. First adds great consistency (you get what you want almost every time, as you will eventually have Deathblow opportunity) and the latter makes Greatswords come back again and again. I believe only good way is tech against it ATM, but this makes you vulnerable to other decks. Well, good thing is it will definitely get nerfed in the near future, but for now we have to suffer.

 

[Guest 4404014]

Skellige seems utterly OP this time around, but I was wondering what made them so good after MM release. For me it's Blood Eagle and new ways to ressurrect GSs. First adds great consistency (you get what you want almost every time, as you will eventually have Deathblow opportunity) and the latter makes Greatswords come back again and again. I believe only good way is tech against it ATM, but this makes you vulnerable to other decks. Well, good thing is it will definitely get nerfed in the near future, but for now we have to suffer.

Good points.

The echo tutor and the evolving card are insane. But there's also the insane value on the bronzes. SK can't have such an easy R1 against such a wide range of decks because last say in long R3 is auto-win. There's also the veteran with "dmg equal to power" - extra bullet vs. engines. The rupture dude - in case there's still tall units after Morgvark. The veiled 7pr engine is mega strong for Gs.

Gs used to have premium point swings and other things more or less average. Now they got everything premium.

As for techs, what is there, really? Desperado Xavier? Who spends this much provision against one deck only?

 

[TokisPL]

Good points.

The echo tutor and the evolving card are insane. But there's also the insane value on the bronzes. SK can't have such an easy R1 against such a wide range of decks because last say in long R3 is auto-win. There's also the veteran with "dmg equal to power" - extra bullet vs. engines. The rupture dude - in case there's still tall units after Morgvark. The veiled 7pr engine is mega strong for Gs.

Gs used to have premium point swings and other things more or less average. Now they got everything premium.

As for techs, what is there, really? Desperado Xavier? Who spends this much provision against one deck only?

I have played mostly Symbiosis since the release and the new SK Second Wind is the only deck I struggle against. So I tried non devotion ST with Squirrel, Fortune Teller and Igni/Curse of Corruption, but still it takes lot of effort too manouver around all the options SK has. Not that I expected the expansion to be fair right away, but I don't want to switch to the other decks just to be able to beat Skellige. Although, It seems inevitable for now.

 

[bojerbela]

We got in this expansion new archetypes: Fireswarm, STymbiosys, SpiesNG, etc. But not Skellige,,, this faction got another pieces to an already strong archetype: GS. That's what makes GS extremly strong now. And they can make Devotion decks easy.

 

[DRK3]

I know this is a tiny tiny nerf, might not even make a dent on how strong SK Warriors is right now, but they could start by removing Morkvarg HoT warrior tag, that way he wouldnt be tutorable by Blood Eagle.

He already is a pirate, also being a warrior doesnt make much sense.

(goes look at SK pirates) OK, so turns out he's not the only one, there are tons of pirates/warriors which actually works for their benefit, which made sense in a time SK was struggling to keep up with other factions, but not right now, they should divide these 2 tags.

 

[Barracuda88]

...

As for techs, what is there, really? Desperado Xavier? Who spends this much provision against one deck only?

I tried. Heatwave, northern wind AND Xavier. It didn't matter and it wasn't really any closer. Can't decide what's the bigger joke at the moment: SK or ST?

 

[irrrregular]

Just make GreatSword a gold card.
Theres people playing this op card three times in a game.......

 

[Guest 4404014]

I'm just looking forward to play/win rate data from this season. Second Wind is gonna have like 75% win rate and 50% play rate.

They could at least change the Skellige match intro music. Those fking fiddles... And I used to LOVE Witcher music...

Just make GreatSword a gold card.

Nay, some of the strongest SK decks now are more midrange, and they hardly use Greatswords. Everything in this deck should be nerfed by 1 and it's still gonna be strong. I mean, seriously, 8 for 4 in a faction with the strongest long round in the game? Whose idea was it? Does SK even have bronzes with less than +3 value over provision?

 

[Sj8407]

The problem is not a GS, or any other card, in any faction. Problem is playing the same very strong thing over and over again from the graveyard - it was with double scenario in NG and with cerys in last season in Skellige, it was with double WoB in ST for long time, and it is with GS now, and others in the future. So I don't agree that GS is broken or any other single card - ability to play it 2 times or more is , and that is something that should be restricted

 

[quintivarium]

I disagree. The problem is not with cards being replayed, it is with too many cards that are too powerful in the first place. That problem has been exacerbated not just by replays but by defenders and tutors as well. Dagur, Mordvaark, and wild boar should not exist, and Greatswords should cost more and not be easily tutored.

Personally, I like the graveyard tactics; I like, in Greatswords, having at least one viable alternative to the rampant broad strategies (a phenomenon also largely do to a handful of excessively powered cards); I don’t like that Skellige has become so obviously OP.

Moreover, I think the narrow meta we encounter is largely due to a small handful of excessively powered cards. In every meta or near meta deck I can think of, removal of 2 critical cards would destroy the deck. And that eliminates virtually all variety.

 

[Hegemonkey]

Honestly Greatsword should either give vitality instead of boost or have a softcap at like 10 power or so where the boost swaps to vitality. There is no other bronze engine in the game that can gain 10+ power in one turn. How many times have you seen SK down like 30 points or more and swing the board in their favor in one turn? It shouldn't be something that happens that often.

 

[Guest 4404014]

The problem is not with cards being replayed, it is with too many cards that are too powerful in the first place

This. But, logically speaking, those op cards getting replayed is a part of the problem, too.

How many times have you seen SK down like 30 points or more and swing the board in their favor in one turn? It shouldn't be something that happens that often.

60 something was my record on the old Gs. But that is not the only problem. The most op SK deck - supposedly - is the midrange one. They just spam those op cards and can only lose if they don't draw them. Greatsword is just one of those cards.

I liked the old Gs very much. It had very crystallized strategy and game plan with fighting to enable the last turn point swing. But now, I'm playing this new SK and the strategy is basically "play your rightmost card and win." Something like the Gwent from W3 when you're endgame with 6-15 on every card, and you meet a NPCs with 1-2 value cards. That's not that big an exaggeration, in fact. Any other faction has 8 for 4 (Villager) or 10 for 5 (Berseker)?

Sorry to rant so much but this is really killing the game. I don't feel like playing until this gets fixed. I got back to rank 1 when SK meta was not yet publicized, and now that it is I don't feel like making the climb when it all boils down to a rigged coin flip. Yesterday, 70% games were SK. Today, I just played one and gave up.

 

[ReaperTek]

I think one of the main problems is second Wind it feels far superior to the actual GS Leader Skill reckless Flurry back in OB it could only replay Silver Units so I think giving it a provision Limit (maybe 9 provisions) for the Card it can replay would be a good Start, you would still be able to play strong Cards like GS or Gremist but double plays of insane Cards like Wild Boar, Morkvarg Hot or Harald would at least be out of out of SW range.

 

[Six-Sided-Prism]

I think one of the main problems is second Wind it feels far superior to the actual GS Leader Skill reckless Flurry back in OB it could only replay Silver Units so I think giving it a provision Limit (maybe 9 provisions) for the Card it can replay would be a good Start, you would still be able to play strong Cards like GS or Gremist but double plays of insane Cards like Wild Boar, Morkvarg Hot or Harald would at least be out of out of SW range.

I've been playing Skellige for a while now, ever since that +75% experience week, and I agree that Second Wind is a problem. The ability is just far better than the other choices. Just like with Mystic Echo, I think the ideal solution is to make the ability cap at replaying a 10-Provision card. This allows for some interesting choices, like Dagur and Dracoturtle, while limiting truly overpowered cards, mainly Harald and Wild Boar of the Sea as things currently stand. Then, if anything else proves to be problematic, like Lippy or Morkvarg, they can just increase those Units to 11 Provisions, and the problem is solved. I would also implement DRK3's suggestion to remove the Warrior tag from Units with other secondary tags, like Pirate. The combination of these two things might be all that's needed. For the most part, Skellige isn't that much more broken than any of the other factions.

 

[quintivarium]

Second wind is part of the problem, but I do very well with other leaders (although not against top competition).

 

[DRK3]

Honestly Greatsword should either give vitality instead of boost or have a softcap at like 10 power or so where the boost swaps to vitality. There is no other bronze engine in the game that can gain 10+ power in one turn. How many times have you seen SK down like 30 points or more and swing the board in their favor in one turn? It shouldn't be something that happens that often.

To be accurate, i can think of at least another bronze engine that can give 10pt+ per turn, and it works in a similar fashion to GS: Tridam infantry, which is the opposite of GS, you boost them and they damage the enemy.

But the difference resides in the cards that support them: GS has way more cards to boost them insane amounts, and also has the safety net of cheap and multiple revives in case it gets dealt with.

Just out of curiosity, here are the many ways a GS can be played:

2x directly from hand
2x from Freya's blessing revives
1x from Operator (nobody uses this, but its still possible)
1x from Triss TK into Freya's Blessing
1x from Sigdrifa's Rite (which can also revive Dagur)
1x from Harald's Evolving Card
1x from Second Wind - reviving GS directly or through Harald
1x from Necromancy (no need, with SK's cheaper revives)
1x from Renew (again, why use a super expensive revive when there's so many cheaper ones, but still a possibility)

Of course most of these give doomed to the GS, and it would require a purify to be revived again.
But my point is, there are too many revive options, so the best counter to GS is either, ideally, banish/seize, or less ideally, movement or lock.

Yesterday i won a match vs SK Warriors with my NR Kerack deck, because he only had 1 GS, i rowstacked and then moved the GS into the other row with the new Kerack guard. I still took massive damage from Hemdall but at least my engines survived and GS didnt get boosts at all as SK never has movement.