As we all know, removal and other forms of control are an important part of the game, adding a strategic layer to the game, and is meant meant to snipe crucial enemy units to secure advantage.
The problem, as of last several patches (including pre-MM, but especially past 7.2), is that removal options are so numerous and so affordable that most of the time there's no way to play out a combo or put your engine to good use, because anything good that doesn't come out with big value/go wide or is an on-deploy card in the first place, basically is an elder bear. Avalable protective measures are vastly inadequate - for example, today I've had my Steel Pact-> Sigridifa's-> Steel Pact -> Sukrus chain nullified several times by some SK/NR/NG decks which is arguably fair on its own...
...what isn't, is that they STILL had enough tools to nuke 2 to 5 more pretty tall units after burning 3 hard removals...and keep putting out decent bodies, while at that. SK is the worst offender right now, but non-devotion SC is even worse in terms of how easily they generate value while simultaneously running yours into ground.
It's gotten so bad, people even remembered (my favorite card in the game) Aglais, and it's no coincidence - because she appears on board at the last second, and her setup is Thunderstorms which are effectively non-removable now, she's one of the few big plays still allowed in the game. Conversely, I see much fewer Yrdens/Gignis around - because why run an expensive and brickable tech, if you can reliably nuke most dangerous things anyway?
Point is, as of now, control only takes away from the depth of the game by making many stragegies impossible and cards non-viable. There's very little strategy in it, too - you can afford being rather careless with what you nuke, because there's more where it came from.
Any interesting non-boosting engine that needs to stick around (and isn't called Keltullis) just...can't, most of the time. In the end, most games boil down to just slamming damage-on-deploy and hoping that you still have enough value in the end.
Note that it isn't exactly a meta rant - I don't think a couple of nerfs/buffs here and there can fix this. Because merely nerfing removal would only lead to non-stop pointslam fest which isn't much fun either (but still more fun than not being able to play any fun cards outside of meme decks, IMO).
What we really need is a major overhaul for removal tools - maybe add more complex conditions, while increasing killing power as a compensation, so that they're truly strategic tools they were meant to be, and not a no-brain spam plays. I think I would be okay with six "heatwaves" in a deck - as long as they involve some kind of setup/risk of bricking. Oh, and poison has to either go away as a concept, or become something else entirely, precisely because "stack 2 of the same" is a bit too easy of a condition for too much payoff.
Discussion is welcome.
The problem, as of last several patches (including pre-MM, but especially past 7.2), is that removal options are so numerous and so affordable that most of the time there's no way to play out a combo or put your engine to good use, because anything good that doesn't come out with big value/go wide or is an on-deploy card in the first place, basically is an elder bear. Avalable protective measures are vastly inadequate - for example, today I've had my Steel Pact-> Sigridifa's-> Steel Pact -> Sukrus chain nullified several times by some SK/NR/NG decks which is arguably fair on its own...
...what isn't, is that they STILL had enough tools to nuke 2 to 5 more pretty tall units after burning 3 hard removals...and keep putting out decent bodies, while at that. SK is the worst offender right now, but non-devotion SC is even worse in terms of how easily they generate value while simultaneously running yours into ground.
It's gotten so bad, people even remembered (my favorite card in the game) Aglais, and it's no coincidence - because she appears on board at the last second, and her setup is Thunderstorms which are effectively non-removable now, she's one of the few big plays still allowed in the game. Conversely, I see much fewer Yrdens/Gignis around - because why run an expensive and brickable tech, if you can reliably nuke most dangerous things anyway?
Point is, as of now, control only takes away from the depth of the game by making many stragegies impossible and cards non-viable. There's very little strategy in it, too - you can afford being rather careless with what you nuke, because there's more where it came from.
Any interesting non-boosting engine that needs to stick around (and isn't called Keltullis) just...can't, most of the time. In the end, most games boil down to just slamming damage-on-deploy and hoping that you still have enough value in the end.
Note that it isn't exactly a meta rant - I don't think a couple of nerfs/buffs here and there can fix this. Because merely nerfing removal would only lead to non-stop pointslam fest which isn't much fun either (but still more fun than not being able to play any fun cards outside of meme decks, IMO).
What we really need is a major overhaul for removal tools - maybe add more complex conditions, while increasing killing power as a compensation, so that they're truly strategic tools they were meant to be, and not a no-brain spam plays. I think I would be okay with six "heatwaves" in a deck - as long as they involve some kind of setup/risk of bricking. Oh, and poison has to either go away as a concept, or become something else entirely, precisely because "stack 2 of the same" is a bit too easy of a condition for too much payoff.
Discussion is welcome.