Saskia - When a junk card is reworked to be another junk card

[rrc]

Saskia was a junk card. I would have much preferred her if she stayed what she was. Because there would have been a chance that she gets reworked to something usable or good or decent. But she was recently reworked to another flavor of junk card. It is really worrying me. Why did they spend so much time in reworking a card to be another junk card. What were they thinking? Cards getting reworked itself is a very very rare thing. When doing so, why would they do it to be another junk version? For example, Ele'Yas was a horrible card and he got reworked to be an usable decent card. But Saskia rework is an absolute disaster.

There is not a single option which is worth it. Their explanation was that "She has a unique tag". Seriously? After butchering Harmony what does a unique tag even mean? Even otherwise, Seasenthesis (the immune dragon) is cheaper, and doesn't fill the row with a junk card and gives almost the same kind of value. I have seen pro streamers trying to use her, but quickly realizing that she is much overpriced and is basically useless. We all knew that the moment we saw that rework. How come CDPR design team not see this is totally useless and junk before putting efforts in that rework?

Now, I have no hope that she will ever be useful/playable because it is not going to be reworked anytime soon (as there are PLENTY of cards that are junk and need to be reworked and one card getting two reworks is nearly closely impossible). At the very least, she should be changed in provision and how/what she spawns so that she can be reasonable playable and useful in a deck

Saskia : 10P Choose one of the three Options:
1) Spawn an Elven Deadeye in the other row and damage an enemy unit by 2 (in an elves deck, a high provision dragon is USELESS. Even if someone wants to try this, the random damage puts off this option. Even a targeted damage is not going to make this option useful or make this card any worthy in a Elf based deck)
2) Spawn Two Rowdy Dwarfs in the other row (Dwarfs love to row stack. Any power play forces dwarfs to row stack and this Dragon is only going to be a nuisance in the row)
3) Spawn a Young Dryad in this row and boost it by 3. I have no idea why she has to wait for three turns to be a 10 for 11? With 3 points on board with 2 vitality, she is susceptible to be easily removed or even seized. In Symbiosis deck the only reason to add a Saskia is for the young dryad and why not give that as is and why to make it super vulnerable

What did CDPR have in their mind when they designed this rework? When they give three options and none of which is remotely useful or make this card worthy in a any deck centered around those three options. I only wish she gets some balance to make the time spent on reworking it worth it.

 

[Breli]

As a fellow Spawn Token player I can only agree. The current options don't make any sense at all and the card is completely useless. The only possible use of a rowdy dwarf is to transform it in a berserker so why on earth is that one boosted? The only engine of the three is left as a snack for amnesty and the random damage on the deadeye is equally useless ... Whoever thought about this rework didn't spent more than five minutes on it.

Why does she have to spawn tokens at all? Why not rework her in tall punish, an interesting engine, or, or or ...

This is so uninspired and sloppy. It makes me sad.

 

[Iuliandrei]

I don't really see why her new effect is "junk", might not be worth the provision cost, but this is a balance issue, not a design issue.

Seriously? After butchering Harmony what does a unique tag even mean?

So if harmony was still OP then her design wouldn't be junk?

 

[Guest 4404014]

So if harmony was still OP then her design wouldn't be junk?

If she played those tokens instead of spawning them then oh yeah. But that's not even a thing. Anyway, what would you drop for her from the old harmony? Barnabas? 12 for 10 to make room for 10 for 11? And dragon tag doesn't matter because gnome is just as unique.

 

[rrc]

I don't really see why her new effect is "junk", might not be worth the provision cost, but this is a balance issue, not a design issue.
So if harmony was still OP then her design wouldn't be junk?

Junk because none of the token makes any sense for the archetype those tokens are any useful for; to add a 10 for 11 Dragon in the deck.
1) What could the use of a 11P dragon on an Elf deck to spawn on Deadeye and doing a random ping. This card can stay like this for 5 years and no one will ever spawn an Eleven Deadeye from this card.
2) What could be the use of a 11P dragon on a Dwarf deck to spawn a boosted rowdy dwarf? The only purpose a Rowdy Dwarf has is to be converted into a Berseker and when you transfor, you lose the boost. Also Dwarfs need to row stack with Dwarfs and a Dragon is only going to reduce the point potential.
3) Young Dryad is the ONLY half-ass use this card has and that too, why putting her with a Vitality? Basically playing for 8 points for a 11P card to put a weak engine on board? Which can be removed by one of the million cards or just seized. If she just boosts by 3, then this could be a potential option to use. Even otherwise Frexinet does it better. He puts it for 7 for 8 with 2 hand buff. Anyone trying Saskia for this option immediately realizes and knows that it is way more safe and better to use Frexinet than Saskia.

Your question about "What if Harmony was still OP?" my answer is, if you want a Harmony proc, you would much rather take Sasenthesis which is an 8 for 9 and immune. You can save 2P in your deck building. So, this Saskia isn't useful in a Harmony deck and she doesn't make any sense in an Elf or a Dwarf deck and is absolutely worthless in a Symbiosis deck. Even if she is 10P with the same options, she will hardly ever be played (or she would be played as much as she was before).

Whoever thought about this rework didn't spent more than five minutes on it.

Why does she have to spawn tokens at all? Why not rework her in tall punish, an interesting engine, or, or or ...

This is so uninspired and sloppy. It makes me sad.

Yes. Take the ability from Half-Elf Hunter, Dwarven Seige and Frexinet and make them 10 for 11 (and in case of Frexinet, put her at a easily removal/seizeable points). How sloppy and pathetic is that? I mean, why to rework and make her equally junk? No one was complaining about her to be reworked as there are more than 100 cards that need to be reworked to see play. But when you rework and make her equally junk, that is when you think "Do they even understand how ST works in those archetypes? If they understand it, the other question is Are they just trolling ST players?".

 

[Anciluart]

Tokens can refer to Saskia's ability as a leader, as she unites several races in Vergen.

I find no use for bronze tokens anyway, only if they drop the cost on provs and she is used it to fill rows, but we already have too much of that in ST.

I always thought it would be great if Saskia could transform into Saesenthessis in some interesting effect, but hey .........

 

[Barracuda88]

Saskia was a junk card. I would have much preferred her if she stayed what she was. Because there would have been a chance that she gets reworked to something usable or good or decent. But she was recently reworked to another flavor of junk card. It is really worrying me. Why did they spend so much time in reworking a card to be another junk card. What were they thinking? Cards getting reworked itself is a very very rare thing. When doing so, why would they do it to be another junk version? For example, Ele'Yas was a horrible card and he got reworked to be an usable decent card. But Saskia rework is an absolute disaster.

There is not a single option which is worth it. Their explanation was that "She has a unique tag". Seriously? After butchering Harmony what does a unique tag even mean? Even otherwise, Seasenthesis (the immune dragon) is cheaper, and doesn't fill the row with a junk card and gives almost the same kind of value. I have seen pro streamers trying to use her, but quickly realizing that she is much overpriced and is basically useless. We all knew that the moment we saw that rework. How come CDPR design team not see this is totally useless and junk before putting efforts in that rework?

Now, I have no hope that she will ever be useful/playable because it is not going to be reworked anytime soon (as there are PLENTY of cards that are junk and need to be reworked and one card getting two reworks is nearly closely impossible). At the very least, she should be changed in provision and how/what she spawns so that she can be reasonable playable and useful in a deck

Saskia : 10P Choose one of the three Options:
1) Spawn an Elven Deadeye in the other row and damage an enemy unit by 2 (in an elves deck, a high provision dragon is USELESS. Even if someone wants to try this, the random damage puts off this option. Even a targeted damage is not going to make this option useful or make this card any worthy in a Elf based deck)
2) Spawn Two Rowdy Dwarfs in the other row (Dwarfs love to row stack. Any power play forces dwarfs to row stack and this Dragon is only going to be a nuisance in the row)
3) Spawn a Young Dryad in this row and boost it by 3. I have no idea why she has to wait for three turns to be a 10 for 11? With 3 points on board with 2 vitality, she is susceptible to be easily removed or even seized. In Symbiosis deck the only reason to add a Saskia is for the young dryad and why not give that as is and why to make it super vulnerable

What did CDPR have in their mind when they designed this rework? When they give three options and none of which is remotely useful or make this card worthy in a any deck centered around those three options. I only wish she gets some balance to make the time spent on reworking it worth it.

It's kind of a nice effort here, but tbh I don't see it playable with those fixes either. At 9p maybe?

I appreciate that CDPR keep trying to squeeze her into her Witcher lore, but maybe instead of tokens she could create and play a bronze dwarf, elf or dryad? Actually, were dryads even a thing with Saskia? Maybe just dwarf, elf or human. That would max her out at about 12, and maybe make her borderline playable in some Ghost of Harmony meme decks?

p.s. Otherwise, I suggested elsewhere (a dark place) that, being 11p and all, she should be changed to "Deploy: Turn into a Dragon and destroy a boosted unit."

 

[Iuliandrei]

Again, 11p, random pings, etc, all a matter of balance, not design and tbh in a short round, 10 str for 11p is actually decent. And yes, if you evaluate her in an elf/dwarf/dryad only deck there might be cards which can provide higher value in those particular situation but the her dragon tag is obviously intended for harmony and a disagree that an 8 for 9 is strictly better.

The fact that other cards can summon those tokens is also irrelevant, this change, her interaction with the elf/dwarf/dryad keeps the spirit of the card. Personally i favor her new design over the old one and at this point i rather see harmony changed rather than Saskia.

 

[Breli]

Again, 11p, random pings, etc, all a matter of balance, not design and tbh in a short round, 10 str for 11p is actually decent. And yes, if you evaluate her in an elf/dwarf/dryad only deck there might be cards which can provide higher value in those particular situation but the her dragon tag is obviously intended for harmony and a disagree that an 8 for 9 is strictly better.

I think there is more to a card than its mere raw point value. Just compare Saskia to her "competition" in the 11P bracket. It is pitted against the likes of Falibor, Vincent, Tyrggvi, Ruehin, Protector and Braathens if we ignore the neutrals for now. All of those are awesome cards and true staples in their respective factions. They have unique designs and are auto include in almost all decks.

Think about those cards and compare them to new Saskia:

• Protector is an awesome card! It perfectly fits in ST and just delivers. Great card, everybody agrees about that.
• How incredibly awesome is Braathens as a card? Whoever designed this really thought about the faction and how to extend it creatively. Flexibility, creativity: Braathens is a prime example for a great card design! For me, personally, it is the best thought out card in all of MM.
• How useful are Falibor or Vincent? How good and unique is Tyrggvi?

Now compare that to Saskia: Is the design unique or interesting? Does it fill a slot/function that is "vacant" in an archetype? Is it needed for a specific strategy? Does it deliver/outperform similarly priced cards? Is there any incentive to play her instead of, e.g., Protector? Did anyone ever build a deck for any other faction and thought "I wish I could play Saskia in NG/SK/NR/ ..."?

There is only one card in the 11P bracket that is equally pathetic and doesn't see play. Tipp: it is also a ST card.

This is my key issue with ST as a faction right now: There is no creativity! No interesting concepts! Admittedly, Symbiosis is a nice touch but it needs much more to be a real archetype. And if/when a card is reworked like Saskia in this case, the rework doesn't even make sense! Boost a rowdy dwarf? Please!

I tried new Saskia maybe two times and will never ever consider this card again ... In contrast to that one: I might have played Braathens in 30 games right now and I am itching to play him many more times! Such a cool concept ...

Please, please: Can the designer of Braathens (or SK as a whole) take a look at ST as a faction and suggest some improvements? I said it before: It doesn't have to be Tier 1 but it should at least make sense!

 

[Six-Sided-Prism]

It's kind of a nice effort here, but tbh I don't see it playable with those fixes either. At 9p maybe?

I appreciate that CDPR keep trying to squeeze her into her Witcher lore, but maybe instead of tokens she could create and play a bronze dwarf, elf or dryad? Actually, were dryads even a thing with Saskia? Maybe just dwarf, elf or human. That would max her out at about 12, and maybe make her borderline playable in some Ghost of Harmony meme decks?

p.s. Otherwise, I suggested elsewhere (a dark place) that, being 11p and all, she should be changed to "Deploy: Turn into a Dragon and destroy a boosted unit."

I agree. 9 Provisions for the current effect would at least make me try adding Saskia back into my deck. Both of your other ideas would also be better than what we've been given.

 

[Sailears]

Yeah the token spawning play is a bit.. dull tbh - whether deadeyes, dryads or the rowdy dwarfs.

 

[Hegemonkey]

If she was a 10 provision card for 10 with upside she might be a little more reasonable anyways. It's a cool idea to have flexible options for different payoff cards

 

[Jamborinio]

10 provision maybe.

But it's the rowdy dwarf one that is really irksome. Why boost it? It would be much better to spawn more than 1 so that the 2 big dwarfs and Munro Bruys in particular could get some value from it.

 

[Guest 4404014]

• Protector is an awesome (...)
• awesome is Braathens (...)

In theory Saskia should also be awesome with this multiple choice. The problem is those tokens do nothing. You're playing a dragon instead of elf/dwarf so you're not really putting extra tags on the board. As for the dryad, it's at 3 at turn end so not much of a protection upgrade from Eithne. And only one symbiosis instead of 3. And 5 body instead of 6.

Saskia would be really great for 9 provisions. Everyone would praise her just like they do Protector and Bratheens. And boost not vitality for the dryad would be nice, while we're at it...

 

[Markus_Wirth]

Yes, Saskia is just complety overpriced for what she offers. Totaly valueless after the harmony nerv.

In Symbiosis deck: Saskia: (5 body +2 young dryad + maybe 3 if vitality gets through) is in best case and 10 for 11. Freixenet also offering a young dryad can be easily a 9 for 8 ( 5 body + 2 young dryad + 2 improve dryad in hand) in a no-neutral deck.
And why the hell would you need an overpriced dragon in Dwarfen or Elven decks, where you can get additional value if you have many elven or dwarfish units?

The old Saskia, however, was doing great in harmony decks as she had the dragon mark and additional benefited from harmony because of decreased cool down. But harmony is not a dominant strategy after the latest nerv.

 

[Barracuda88]

...

The old Saskia, however, was doing great in harmony decks as she had the dragon mark and additional benefited from harmony because of decreased cool down. But harmony is not a dominant strategy after the latest nerv.

No, the old Saskia wasn't doing that great, because of the really counter-intuitive restrictions of having the cards in hand. She could have been playable without this latest rework, if they simply changed her restrictions to "in starting deck" instead of "in hand." That would have made her a slightly different, maybe more Harmony-friendly version of Pavko. But simple and CDPR rarely go hand in hand. Just look at the Harmony "fix."

 

[Markus_Wirth]

No, the old Saskia wasn't doing that great, because of the really counter-intuitive restrictions of having the cards in hand. She could have been playable without this latest rework, if they simply changed her restrictions to "in starting deck" instead of "in hand." That would have made her a slightly different, maybe more Harmony-friendly version of Pavko. But simple and CDPR rarely go hand in hand. Just look at the Harmony "fix."

Yes there was the tradeoff to play her early and boost maybe only Parcival´s Harmony to benefit more from the cooldown or later to trigger more harmony. To my mind this was ok for her value provision. Actually it was a kind of nice mechanics.

 

[Barracuda88]

Yes there was the tradeoff to play her early and boost maybe only Parcival´s Harmony to benefit more from the cooldown or later to trigger more harmony. To my mind this was ok for her value provision. Actually it was a kind of nice mechanics.

Well, there is a reason no one played her, and you pretty much just described it. Harmony works off of unique tags, which you have to keep in hand if you want her to have a reasonable cooldown. It didn't make sense. Why bother if Pavko exists?

 

[DC9V]

might not be worth the provision cost, but this is a balance issue, not a design issue.

If a redesign causes a bad balancing, it is in fact a bad design.
if you cut off a chair's leg, and try to sell the same chair for twice the money, it still is a bad chair, wether or not it's because you can't sit on it, or because it's too expensive.

 

[Iuliandrei]

If a redesign causes a bad balancing, it is in fact a bad design.
if you cut off a chair's leg

Yeah you clearly missed the point and you're only embarrassing yourself right now.