July 18th - Balance Updates

Welcome back to another OTA! Arishem’s release was a huge shake-up to the meta, and we’ve been excited to see all the hype around the card! While his play rate has been unprecedented, his overall win rate hasn’t been out of line. Moreover, playing against Arishem decks creates much more varied experiences game-to-game due to the inherent randomness he injects into decks. Cassandra Nova releasing soon should also give players another great tool against Arishem decks, so for now we’re instead pulling back on some of his most impactful synergy pieces in an attempt to broaden the diversity of Arishem strategies.

• Blob
  • [Old] 6/0 - On Reveal: Merge cards from your deck into this until it gains 15 or more Power. Ongoing: Can’t be moved.
  • [New] 6/0 - On Reveal: Merge cards from your deck into this until it gains 15 or more Power.

While Blob not moving hasn’t been a large part of his strength, having an Ongoing ability has been. Unlike other decks, Arishem lists have enough cards to fuel two Blobs, and we’ve seen Mystique take full advantage of this by copying Blob’s text as an Ongoing card.. We’ve been looking to simplify this card since its last change, so this seemed like the perfect time to do so.

• Mockingbird
  • [Old] 5/9 - Costs 1 less for each of your cards in play that didn’t start in your deck.
  • [Change] 5/9 -> 6/10

Mockingbird has been hovering around the top of the meta ever since her release, and the combination of Arishem both providing cards that didn’t start in your deck and encouraging the use of Agent Coulson and friends has pushed her over the line. We still expect Mockingbird to play a big role with these new numbers, but to require a more substantial investment to use.

• Hydra Bob
  • [Old] 1/4 - After each turn, this moves if a player Snapped.
  • [Change] 1/4 -> 1/5

Hydra Bob, on the other hand, hasn’t made much of a splash. He’s been doing alright in games where he’s played, but his risky play style hasn’t been very popular. We think he has room to be a bit more decisive in the high stakes games he encourages, so we’re adding a Power here to help his final location matter more and ensure he’s a solid addition to players’ collections.

• Ravonna Renslayer
  • [Old] 2/3 - Ongoing: Your cards with 1 or less Power cost 1 less. (minimum 1)
  • [Change] 2/3 -> 2/2

Time and again Ravonna has been a strong piece of decks that incidentally want some low-base Power cards. Her ubiquity has also made it difficult to balance cards as she can turn reducing their Power into a buff. We’re dinging her in an attempt to make building around Ravonna a little bit more of a commitment.

• Viper
  • [Old] 3/5 - On Reveal: One of your other cards here switches sides.
  • [New] 3/5 - On Reveal: One of your other cards here with the lowest Power switches sides.

Viper demands a more specific game state to do her thing than other cards that junk up the opponent’s board, so we’re making this quality-of-life change to help her more consistently hit her intended target later in the game and against opposing junk strategies.

• Sauron
  • [Old] 3/3 - On Reveal: Remove the abilities from all Ongoing cards in your hand and deck.
  • [Change] 3/3 -> 3/4

While Sauron decks utilizing Shuri and Red Skull have continued to have some success since their dominance in the game’s early days, they haven’t gained many new options while other decks have diversified their game plans. In order to keep this deck an accessible and viable option for players who are still building up to larger collections, we figured this (not so) friendly green dinosaur could use a small boost.

• Werewolf By Night
  • [Old] 3/1 - After you play a card, move there to gain +2 Power if it has an On Reveal.
  • [Change] 3/1 -> 3/2

After his former dominance, we played it safe when we reduced Werewolf By Night’s Cost from 4 to 3 because it provides more opportunities to scale up his Power. He hasn’t performed very well since that change though, so we’re giving him a bit more Power to help him out.

• Hit-Monkey
  • [Old] 3/2 - On Reveal: Gain +2 Power for each other card you played this turn.
  • [Change] 3/2 -> 3/3

Hit-Monkey has been struggling for a bit now. We’ve been conservative with this card because his playstyle is difficult to interact with, but we’re taking another shot at hitting the sweet spot.

• Lockjaw
  • [Old] 4/5 - After you play a card here, swap it with a card in your deck. (once per turn)
  • [New] 4/4 - After you play a card here, swap it with a card in your deck.

Lastly, Lockjaw has had trouble keeping a spot in decks since his move to 4-Cost, and his previous home in Jane Foster decks full of hammers hasn’t seen much play as of late. Given all that, we’re excited to try bringing back Lockjaw’s ability to swap out a flurry of cards at the same time, and see whether we can return the classic combo in a good spot.

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That's all for this week. Until next time, happy snapping!