June 27th - Balance Updates

June 27th - Balance Updates Our last OTA provided a huge shake-up to the metagame, and since then we've been thrilled to see a diverse range of decks contesting the top of the metagame. One card in particular has been too successful, however, so we're taking it down a notch and improving a handful of others in the hopes they find firmer footing. 

• Angela
  • [Old] 2/0 - After you play a card here, +2 Power.
  • [New] 2/3 - After you play a card here, +1 Power.

 Once more, we've seen Angela decks rise to claim a huge share of the metagame. On some weeks, Angela decks managed to exceed 20% of all games played while being the best deck, which is well above our threshold for health. If the decks were dissimilar that would be one thing, but over time these decks have largely homogenized to use the same core of cards with a handful of differences and the occasional small combo, like Annihilus/Sentry or Darkhawk and the rest. We're trying a more generous nerf than last time, since we do like these decks existing but not at this level, and Angela is the biggest culprit in pushing them to share similar cards like Kitty, Jeff, and Nocturne. 

• Hercules
  • [Old] 4/7 - The first time another card moves here each turn, move it to another location.
  • [Change] 4/7 -> 3/4

 The change we made to how move resolves a few weeks ago didn't have as dramatic an effect on Move decks as we expected–even Phoenix Force had some very good performances. However, a handful of cards did get meaningfully worse as a result of the change, and we're going to improve some of them this week. Hercules was the biggest negative change, so we've decided to go ahead and give the 3-Cost version a chance to compensate. Players seemed enthusiastic about this idea when Hercules first released, so we hope you enjoy trying it out. 

• Kingpin
  • [Old] 2/3 - When an enemy card moves here, afflict it with -2 Power.
  • [Change] 2/3 -> 1/2

 Kingpin also took a big hit with the change to move, so we're going to see if a more efficient Cost will improve this card's performance. Landing earlier should make it easier to slide Kingpin into curves for decks trying to play a lot of 3 and 5-Cost cards that move enemy cards. 

• Miles Morales
  • [Old] 4/5 - If a card moved last turn, this costs 1.
  • [Change] 4/5 -> 4/6

 The last of our move buffs goes to Miles Morales. Nothing too fancy here–it just seems like there's room to add a Power to the card. This does disrupt a movement-based Cerebro-5 deck we've seen from time to time, but that deck hasn't been very popular and we'd like to see if Miles could find more homes than that. 

• High Evolutionary
  • [Old] 4/4 - At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities.
  • [Change] 4/4 -> 4/6

 High Evolutionary decks have slid from their once-prominent peak. We don't expect this buff to fix that, but it's a place we're happy to add some Power given there's room to do so and the deck could use a little help. We're also looking at other changes that will positively impact this archetype, so stay tuned. 

• Nick Fury
  • [Old] 4/5 - On Reveal: Add 3 random 6-Cost cards to your hand.
  • [Change] 4/5 -> 4/6

 Nick has been an underplayed card for a while, and has room to gain Power without being disruptive. Plus, 6 Power for 6-Costs is elegant. Long-term, we're optimistic about finding a few more reasons to consider Nick over the current default options for filling one's hands with cards. 

• Alioth
  • [Old] 6/8 - On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.
  • [Change] 6/8 -> 6/10

 Last but not least, Alioth is getting a Power buff to improve its performance. We were conservative with the last adjustment to this card because we knew players would rather see no Alioth than too much at the time, but we liked 6/10 as the healthier number long-term. With some Odin-based strategies showing up again, the time feels ripe to help Alioth be a versatile 6-Cost answer to endgame threats. — That's all for this week. Until next time, happy snapping!