Proposed Scoia'tael Changes
Right now a few key things contribute to making Scoia'tael an incredibly oppressive faction to play against:
- Inherent Card Advantage (Faction ability)
- Unparalled access to spells (Elven Mercenary)
- Incredible Reach (Spells via Elven Mercenary, Isengrim, Saskia, Aglais)
- Strong carry-over (Vrihedd Dragoon)
These points reflect the recent Gwentlemen's Article on Scoia'tael. I'm citing an excerpt from it here, though I can recommend reading the whole thing at: http://gwentlemen.com/crusade-against-scoiatael/
"Reach refers to cards which can equalize large differences in points or provide the ability to catch up quickly. Scoia’tael’s faction ability is very strong when they can take round 1, there’s no doubt about it. But when they cannot do so, it doesn’t look so hot. Instead of being a free card advantage tool, it becomes a mediocre ability which adds very little to their total power or game plan. That’s why taking round 1 is a necessity for the faction.
Earlier I mentioned that their bronze cards have relatively low power, yet they still consistently can take round 1. The reason for that is the existence of 2 particular cards: Saskia and Isengrim. In my eyes, those two cards are the culprits behind allScoia hate. Isengrim is a value generator that allows the player to equalize the strength of the Scoia’tael player’s low-power cards thanks to his ability to spawn a 3-strength Commando Neophyte for every special cast. Combined with Elven Mercenary and First Light, he becomes ridiculously strong, often generating 20+ value when drawn in round 1. Saskia, on the other hand, is a power equalizer. Because round 1 is so important for a Scoia player, they often play a long round 1, sometimes to the last card. These are the situations Saskia thrives in. The longer the round takes the stronger Saskia becomes, and creating 30 power swings is not a rarity for her.
Combining these two cards in round 1 nearly guarantees the round win, which results in the ability to punish opponent in later rounds with the faction passive and Vrihedd Dragoon’s ability"
I concur completely with the Isengrim and Saskia assessment, but I don't think they are the only culprits. Elven Mercenary, despite numerous nerfs, is still arguably the best bronze unit in the game, providing both a 4 body, thinning, spells whose values can skyrocket, and is the primary source of Isengrim synergy (and, by extension, Saskia). Moreover, as per the excerpt above, ST can reliably take round 1 without sacrificing key cards; they rarely, if ever, have to use their Dragooned keep or Aglais. They can take round 1 without any notable sacrifice compared to other deck types, where you can force out key abilities (Henselt's promote, Harald's tremors, Dagon's weather or rally to preserve a keep while trying to keep up).
This begs the question, what should be done about those cards? Right now my experience around 5.1k MMR is that 50-75% of all matches on any given evening are Scoia'tael. It was also, to a lesser extent, my experience at lower MMR. Such a predominance of a single faction is obviously not healthy for the game - something must be done. In the past, I have advocated against nerfing Scoia'tael, Monsters, Discard Skellige and the like - I believe it is better to buff other factions into comparable level. Part of Scoia'tael's current popularity is that it plays amazingly. It is fun, strong, it has answers, it has control, it has enough reach to keep the opponent guessing, it gives interesting choices to the ST player and imposes difficult choices on the opponent due to the emphasis on CA. Even as a predominantly Monster player, I have to admire the current design of ST - it's really, really strong and... it just feels good to play.
Therefore, I would rather not, despite not being one of the primary benefactors of the current state of ST, nerf ST to oblivion like Discard Skellige was. I detest the Blizzard approach of sledgehammer nerfing anything strong into oblivion. I would rather we buff other factions. Nevertheless, I would make a few tweaks to ST that provide slight nerfs while preserving the uniqueness of the problematic cards:
- Saskia from 7 to 5 strength.
- Aglais from 5 to 4 strength.
- Elven Mercenary from 4 to 3 strength.
- Vrihedd Dragoon from 5 to 6 strength, adds 3 strength to card in hand instead of 4.
- Commando Neophyte from 3 to 2 strength.
- Isengrim from 7 to 9 strength.
- Fireball Trap from 1 to 2 strength.
- Vrihedd Vanguard from 5 to 6 strength.
- Milva can only return Bronze units to hand.
It would preserve the current archetype, yet those minor tweaks would bring ST in line without compromising its identity.
First and foremost, it would limit the reach of the ST deck ever so slightly (a few points, but it'd be enough to make r1 much more contested). Furthermore, the above-stated changes accomplish several things:
- Due to changing the 2 core Vrihedd units to 6 strength, bringing them in line with Aelirenn, ST would be more vulnerable to Scorch/G:Igni.
- Changing Neophyte's to 2 strength makes them more vulnerable to Old Speartip, War Longship, Reinforced Trebuchet, Nithral, Malena, Brokvar Archers, Myrgetebrakke etc... You get the idea. Them having the chance of being removed faster can either force out an earlier Saskia, limit the impact of Saskia, and/or simply normalize the ST player's strength. The importance of removing bodies more easily, even by collateral damage such as Reinforced Trebuchet, cannot be overstated; any body removed limits the huge potential powerswing from Saskia.
These tweaks doesn't infringe upon the faction's core identities (Ambush, access to spells, inherent CA, carry-over) or the control elements that are beloved by ST players. It slightly nerfs the obnoxious reach that ST currently enjoys, without completely gutting ST's ability to really fight for round 1. It opens up additional counter play vs. ST, while presenting the ST player with more meaningful choices compared to currently, where ST is almost exclusively reactive (with many answers to any given situation). As much as I, as a non-ST player, hate these answers, I think it's good flavour that is worth preserving.
The Milva change would prevent the Roach abuse for CA, which is the only use she sees right now, and open up for her to be used in a more versatile way (as I assume she was intended to; returning a buffed Axeman, Impera Enforcer, Vran Warrior, NR buffed card). Furthermore, she can, if the ST player begins, still generate Card Advantage IF the opponent plays suboptimally (putting down Operator/a spy/a gold card after, say, the ST player has put down a Dragoon or other non-relentless bronze).
I believe these changes would have a healthy impact on the meta, but as always, feedback is appreciated.
Right now a few key things contribute to making Scoia'tael an incredibly oppressive faction to play against:
- Inherent Card Advantage (Faction ability)
- Unparalled access to spells (Elven Mercenary)
- Incredible Reach (Spells via Elven Mercenary, Isengrim, Saskia, Aglais)
- Strong carry-over (Vrihedd Dragoon)
These points reflect the recent Gwentlemen's Article on Scoia'tael. I'm citing an excerpt from it here, though I can recommend reading the whole thing at: http://gwentlemen.com/crusade-against-scoiatael/
"Reach refers to cards which can equalize large differences in points or provide the ability to catch up quickly. Scoia’tael’s faction ability is very strong when they can take round 1, there’s no doubt about it. But when they cannot do so, it doesn’t look so hot. Instead of being a free card advantage tool, it becomes a mediocre ability which adds very little to their total power or game plan. That’s why taking round 1 is a necessity for the faction.
Earlier I mentioned that their bronze cards have relatively low power, yet they still consistently can take round 1. The reason for that is the existence of 2 particular cards: Saskia and Isengrim. In my eyes, those two cards are the culprits behind allScoia hate. Isengrim is a value generator that allows the player to equalize the strength of the Scoia’tael player’s low-power cards thanks to his ability to spawn a 3-strength Commando Neophyte for every special cast. Combined with Elven Mercenary and First Light, he becomes ridiculously strong, often generating 20+ value when drawn in round 1. Saskia, on the other hand, is a power equalizer. Because round 1 is so important for a Scoia player, they often play a long round 1, sometimes to the last card. These are the situations Saskia thrives in. The longer the round takes the stronger Saskia becomes, and creating 30 power swings is not a rarity for her.
Combining these two cards in round 1 nearly guarantees the round win, which results in the ability to punish opponent in later rounds with the faction passive and Vrihedd Dragoon’s ability"
I concur completely with the Isengrim and Saskia assessment, but I don't think they are the only culprits. Elven Mercenary, despite numerous nerfs, is still arguably the best bronze unit in the game, providing both a 4 body, thinning, spells whose values can skyrocket, and is the primary source of Isengrim synergy (and, by extension, Saskia). Moreover, as per the excerpt above, ST can reliably take round 1 without sacrificing key cards; they rarely, if ever, have to use their Dragooned keep or Aglais. They can take round 1 without any notable sacrifice compared to other deck types, where you can force out key abilities (Henselt's promote, Harald's tremors, Dagon's weather or rally to preserve a keep while trying to keep up).
This begs the question, what should be done about those cards? Right now my experience around 5.1k MMR is that 50-75% of all matches on any given evening are Scoia'tael. It was also, to a lesser extent, my experience at lower MMR. Such a predominance of a single faction is obviously not healthy for the game - something must be done. In the past, I have advocated against nerfing Scoia'tael, Monsters, Discard Skellige and the like - I believe it is better to buff other factions into comparable level. Part of Scoia'tael's current popularity is that it plays amazingly. It is fun, strong, it has answers, it has control, it has enough reach to keep the opponent guessing, it gives interesting choices to the ST player and imposes difficult choices on the opponent due to the emphasis on CA. Even as a predominantly Monster player, I have to admire the current design of ST - it's really, really strong and... it just feels good to play.
Therefore, I would rather not, despite not being one of the primary benefactors of the current state of ST, nerf ST to oblivion like Discard Skellige was. I detest the Blizzard approach of sledgehammer nerfing anything strong into oblivion. I would rather we buff other factions. Nevertheless, I would make a few tweaks to ST that provide slight nerfs while preserving the uniqueness of the problematic cards:
- Saskia from 7 to 5 strength.
- Aglais from 5 to 4 strength.
- Elven Mercenary from 4 to 3 strength.
- Vrihedd Dragoon from 5 to 6 strength, adds 3 strength to card in hand instead of 4.
- Commando Neophyte from 3 to 2 strength.
- Isengrim from 7 to 9 strength.
- Fireball Trap from 1 to 2 strength.
- Vrihedd Vanguard from 5 to 6 strength.
- Milva can only return Bronze units to hand.
It would preserve the current archetype, yet those minor tweaks would bring ST in line without compromising its identity.
First and foremost, it would limit the reach of the ST deck ever so slightly (a few points, but it'd be enough to make r1 much more contested). Furthermore, the above-stated changes accomplish several things:
- Due to changing the 2 core Vrihedd units to 6 strength, bringing them in line with Aelirenn, ST would be more vulnerable to Scorch/G:Igni.
- Changing Neophyte's to 2 strength makes them more vulnerable to Old Speartip, War Longship, Reinforced Trebuchet, Nithral, Malena, Brokvar Archers, Myrgetebrakke etc... You get the idea. Them having the chance of being removed faster can either force out an earlier Saskia, limit the impact of Saskia, and/or simply normalize the ST player's strength. The importance of removing bodies more easily, even by collateral damage such as Reinforced Trebuchet, cannot be overstated; any body removed limits the huge potential powerswing from Saskia.
These tweaks doesn't infringe upon the faction's core identities (Ambush, access to spells, inherent CA, carry-over) or the control elements that are beloved by ST players. It slightly nerfs the obnoxious reach that ST currently enjoys, without completely gutting ST's ability to really fight for round 1. It opens up additional counter play vs. ST, while presenting the ST player with more meaningful choices compared to currently, where ST is almost exclusively reactive (with many answers to any given situation). As much as I, as a non-ST player, hate these answers, I think it's good flavour that is worth preserving.
The Milva change would prevent the Roach abuse for CA, which is the only use she sees right now, and open up for her to be used in a more versatile way (as I assume she was intended to; returning a buffed Axeman, Impera Enforcer, Vran Warrior, NR buffed card). Furthermore, she can, if the ST player begins, still generate Card Advantage IF the opponent plays suboptimally (putting down Operator/a spy/a gold card after, say, the ST player has put down a Dragoon or other non-relentless bronze).
I believe these changes would have a healthy impact on the meta, but as always, feedback is appreciated.
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