Questions about Malena

[Sensimilius]

Why does a card exist that completely nullifies the meaning of defenders and of any row locked cards (for opponent it disables row lock cards while for you it basically removes the row lock condition since you can freely just move them around EACH TURN if the enemy moves it to the other row)?
Why is it only 6 provision (and not like 8 or 9)??
Ploughing WHY does it also have zeal??!
Not to mention you can move cards around to set them up for row punish or save yourself from row punish AND you can move stuff around to synergize with like 10 other ST stuff that is about movement.
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

"Haha, funny man, you think purify is good against a defender? LMAO, look I just move him instantly haha!"

- Okay sure I know the simplest answer is usually the most correct one - Devs are simply not so good at balancing and can only focus on balancing 3 cards (and they had a LOT of work on the expansion, true, but still lol) per patch (and patches come monthly) and since we have many cards that are unbalanced this one was so long down the waiting line.

- You wanna tell me I just gotta use more control cards? Oh really? Well how many control cards do I ploughin' need against ST?? I gotta disable the damn Sentry, the damn Cat Witcher (both of which he can have 2 in his deck since dey be bronze), Gezras AND a defender at the least! Meanwhile they boost themselves up or put veil.

- Yes, it was rarely seen before since ST movement archeotype wasn't very popular but guess what, now it's oversaturated among ST decks.
I would say I hope for a timely rebalancing of ST movement but I know better then to have hope.
Not even Yirden saves you since 50% of their strength goes into removal (if their deck is optimal) which Yirden can't do anything against that.

 

[croloris]

Malena exists because she is the definition of an "old G" unit card. She has had the same power and ability since she was a Silver card in base set before there were provisions. All her base set peers are of two types, one set has unlimited uses, and will make your life miserable if unanswered (Ronvid, Heymaey Flamenica, Johnny, Sarah) while the other set has very high boost or reset potential in Peter and Jotunn.

The only one of these base set cards that was changed is Jotunn, when the backlash against weather led to it being removed from the game for a while to be reworked. The rest have been relatively the same, and used based on circumstances.

As for her popularity and usage you are completely off base... she shows up in Scoia'tael decks about as often as Wonder Woman shows up in Justice League stories. I cannot believe you have not seen her in the past, since she counters over 50 cards in the game and was integral in Yrden, Trap, Regis, and Mystic Echo double Ragnarok / Dragon's Dream, and other current and legacy decks.

To summarize, Malena is good because she always has been... and this movement ability is her "toned down" version. She used to be a 2 turn timer trap with Enslave 5.

 

[Six-Sided-Prism]

I agree with croloris that Malena has always been popular with Scoia'tael because of her insane utility; it's just that she's so much better in a dedicated movement deck. From the the first time I read the card around eight months ago, I thought it was too good. Ideally, there should be two different cards: one that moves allied units and another that moves enemy units. At the very least, Malena should be row locked for each effect, similar to Dol Blathanna Sentry.

 

[Sensimilius]

I complained about her since a long time ago as well lol, not like I just started hating her right now. It's just that now she's even more popular.

 

[Rammyp]

I agree with croloris completely. 6 provision cost for 4 str card with 1 move (zeal) before it can be answered is by all means not op.
You ask how many control cards do you need? How many control cards do you need against SY hidden cashe? Against all kinds of NR multiple buff engines setups? Against NG assimilate? Control cards is what counter an engine deck - so i guess the answer is quite a few.
I could partially agree that ST movement archetype needs some balancing in general (although its my favorite faction and favorite archetype) but Malena is not the most problematic card.

 

[Barracuda88]

This is pretty ridiculous honestly. Malena OP? 4 point body with no armor and only utility ability for 6p is OP now? I mean... lol.

 

[Sensimilius]

Syanna is 2 point body, no armor, only exists to set up a different card, surely it's worthy of being 5 provisions since it's a smaller body then Malena AND doesn't have zeal aaaaaaand can "only" be used once.
"only utility" LOL

(although its my favorite faction and favorite archetype)

Not to be rude, but nuff said there.

 

[quintivarium]

Have you tried actually playing Malena? I think if you do, you will find her value much less than you think. In particular, you might presently be gravitating toward decks against which she is unusually effective.

Prior to WotW, Malena was a marginal choice: as a defensive tool ( moving opponents) she was (and is) highly conditional. As an offensive tool she could be set up, but doing so was very slow and required choosing units like sentries and vrihedd brigade that were themselves valueless if Malena was destroyed or not drawn — I at least, only selected her because ST lacked good, low-cost units.

After the expansion, she came to have reliable offensive use. I have limited experience playing movement ST, but I still generally find I have better cards to play.

Movement cards like Malena are an essential part of balancing row-locked cards and defenders. My only wish is that her ability was available as a neutral card to better fill that balancing row. Even then, I doubt she would be frequently chosen by any other than ST.

If there is a balance problem with ST, it is in other cards. Sentries now have consistent value — they did not need the armor buff to be played. Cat Witcher’s should not have their adrenaline boost. And Gezras simply should not exist.

 

[Barracuda88]

Syanna is 2 point body, no armor, only exists to set up a different card, surely it's worthy of being 5 provisions since it's a smaller body then Malena AND doesn't have zeal aaaaaaand can "only" be used once.
"only utility" LOL

Not to be rude, but nuff said there.

Whoa, not to be rude, but that's a terrible analogy. Agreed on the enuff said, though.

 

[Rammyp]

Syanna is 2 point body, no armor, only exists to set up a different card, surely it's worthy of being 5 provisions since it's a smaller body then Malena AND doesn't have zeal aaaaaaand can "only" be used once.

If not answered Syanna can easily bring couple dozens points on the next turn with the correct setup, Malena can probably bring you similar value in 6-8 turns if left untouched. Please don't tell me you don't see any difference in creating 20-40 points in 2 turns and in 6-8 turns.

When quoting me you missed out the part that i agree that the movement archetype needs some balancing even though its my favorite one. Not to be rude but no need for cherrypicking.

 

[Lokiat0r]

And Gezras simply should not exist.

Depending on who you ask, the same sentiment applies to Viy, Kolgrim, Arnaghad, and Idarran.

This expansion introduced a lot of legendary cards that can be used in VERY powerful combinations which I don't think the developers anticipated.

 

[Six-Sided-Prism]

Depending on who you ask, the same sentiment applies to Viy, Kolgrim, Arnaghad, and Idarran.

This expansion introduced a lot of legendary cards that can be used in VERY powerful combinations which I don't think the developers anticipated.

With the exception of Viy, almost every one of those other cards was very predictably broken. Within a couple minutes after each of the cards was revealed, me and many other people on these forums would have been able to say that Arnaghad's removal is broken when combined with Sukrus, that Gezras could easily play for more than 20 or 30 points without even needing a ton of setup, and that Idarran was just straight broken (having no limits on his effect and being outside of removal range for only 8 Provisions). Technically, Kolgrim's probably fine; if anything, they would just lower his Adrenaline condition by 1.

 

[Messyr]

Nah, nothing is OP about her. I mean really, I gladly jump into discussions about those "broken" cards anytime, but this one cannot be listed as such, no matter how hard I try to bring an argument. She is a perfectly balanced card I'd say.

And to address the returning (somewhat silly) question of "...how many more removals do I have to...":
- this meta requires removals, unless you bring an extremely greedy, point heavy deck (Viy, Assimilate, etc).
- the minimum I'd say is: 1 Heatwave (for every occasion) and 2 ~5points removal for small engines.
- an extra move/lock/hard removal is useful to have

 

[fil_faniki]

It's a 4 power unit, kill it mate

 

[skaleras]

Why does a card exist that completely nullifies the meaning of defenders and of any row locked cards (for opponent it disables row lock cards while for you it basically removes the row lock condition since you can freely just move them around EACH TURN if the enemy moves it to the other row)?
Why is it only 6 provision (and not like 8 or 9)??
Ploughing WHY does it also have zeal??!
Not to mention you can move cards around to set them up for row punish or save yourself from row punish AND you can move stuff around to synergize with like 10 other ST stuff that is about movement.
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

"Haha, funny man, you think purify is good against a defender? LMAO, look I just move him instantly haha!"

- Okay sure I know the simplest answer is usually the most correct one - Devs are simply not so good at balancing and can only focus on balancing 3 cards (and they had a LOT of work on the expansion, true, but still lol) per patch (and patches come monthly) and since we have many cards that are unbalanced this one was so long down the waiting line.

- You wanna tell me I just gotta use more control cards? Oh really? Well how many control cards do I ploughin' need against ST?? I gotta disable the damn Sentry, the damn Cat Witcher (both of which he can have 2 in his deck since dey be bronze), Gezras AND a defender at the least! Meanwhile they boost themselves up or put veil.

- Yes, it was rarely seen before since ST movement archeotype wasn't very popular but guess what, now it's oversaturated among ST decks.
I would say I hope for a timely rebalancing of ST movement but I know better then to have hope.
Not even Yirden saves you since 50% of their strength goes into removal (if their deck is optimal) which Yirden can't do anything against that.

Keep three removals ready, two for the sentries and one for malena and you are golden. You can also lock her and most of the time they wont run purify themselves. If you ask me, locking or removing her is more important than Gezra since she is THE setup.

 

[Sensimilius]

The VERY least thing they could do (that I forgot to mention before) is what someone already mentioned here, that being to limit her to either move friendly (ranged row) or opponent's (front) units.

 

[LouisLaLoupe]

Perhaps if every faction had a 4p purify as well as a 7p one similar to Gremist as they should, you wouldn't think it a problem.