Lifting the embargo: Promo cards available now
Hello friends!
Rejoice! On Sep 19, we have lifted the embargo on the recently introduced time-exclusive promo cards and open them up to everyone! Additionally, we are updated KARDS with bug fixes and small, but important balance changes.
The five promo cards were given out last month as special First Win of the Day rewards. During the previous month, these cards have been exclusive to those that acquired them then.
With the update tomorrow, you will be able to craft all the promo cards you’re missing.
We’re doing a balance update on six cards this time around. We’re continuing our overhaul of removal, including removal effects on units. Three cards fall into this category this time around:
Despite the cost increase, this is a boost for Annihilation, as it can now go for many more important targets. There are a couple of reasons for this change, one is to widen the net of potential targets, the other is to break up the cluster of cost-6 removal orders and units in the game. Speaking of a cost-6 removal unit...
A 5/5 tank is a formidable threat, so any kind of a removal tacked on is always going to be super strong. The Panzer IV F2 is stable in the environment for a reason and it makes us slightly sad to have to nerf it, but we feel it is best for the good of the game.
Removing the destroy clause makes it much weaker against aggressive decks, but the retreat ability can still be a huge tempo-swing against mid-range and control decks, so we expect this card to continue to see plenty of play.
Naval Bombardment is a cheap answer to a myriad of threats, but in its current incarnation it is a bit too narrow against a diverse field. The US already have conditional frontline removal in Awoken Giant and Torpedo Attack, Naval Bombardment being in the same boat seemed a bit too much.
After the change, Naval Bombardment will retain its former ability, but you can now spend 4 to bounce a unit from anywhere. You can even spend 2 to bounce from the support line with the enemy controlling the frontline, if you so choose, making this card much more versatile than previously. Bouncing units with strong deployment effects is not much fun, but bouncing units with adverse effects, like a certain Soviet tank, is so much fun.
Speaking of the devil, here it is in all its glory. It actually surprised us how long it took the SU-76M to grab the limelight, as it is such a strong unit.
The fall of Sudden Strike and the rise of Encirclement finally allowed the SU-76M to shine. We’ve analyzed the data on SU-76M decks a lot and while it is putting up decent numbers (and is much more popular now than a couple of months ago), it is still not dominating the format. This leads us to believe that to some extent a new type of a deck in a metagame that was becoming slightly stale created a little bit of a Flavor of the Month phenomena.
Still, facing a 5/5 tank on turn 1 and losing quickly with a hand full of answers can be frustrating. With that in mind, and representing the historical performance of the unit better, we feel reducing the defense is the right way to go.
We did consider several other adjustments, but feel this is the best one as it keeps the unit as a dangerous threat, which is exactly what we want to keep this deck archetype alive and kicking. We’ll continue to monitor the performance of the Into the North + SU-76M + Encirclement decks, in all their varied versions, to see if further actions are required in the future.
The SU 152 is feeling a bit jealous of all the success of it’s little brother and petitioned for a face lift or all hell would break loose. We felt obliged to agree, as 4/4 in fury is a sight to behold and not something we wanted to face. So the new cost is 5. Perhaps you will face it more often now.
The Lancaster B.III is an excellent finisher for control decks, but it can be a bit oppressive with its ability, effectively shutting people out of the game. It is still a dangerous unit, but now people can hope for a bit more counterplay.
One thing to mention is that we’ve edited the text on a bunch of cards, making the wording more consistent and streamlined over the line. Note that there is no functional change here, just cleaning up some texts that were unclear or grammatically incorrect.
Feel free to point out any errors you find in these or other cards.
As a reminder: if you encounter bugs in KARDS, please report them either directly in the #bug_reports channel on Discord or even better, send a bug report to KARDS support.
That’s it for now. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the patch notes for the full details of all changes coming tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Rejoice! On Sep 19, we have lifted the embargo on the recently introduced time-exclusive promo cards and open them up to everyone! Additionally, we are updated KARDS with bug fixes and small, but important balance changes.
The five promo cards were given out last month as special First Win of the Day rewards. During the previous month, these cards have been exclusive to those that acquired them then.
With the update tomorrow, you will be able to craft all the promo cards you’re missing.
Card balance changes
We’re doing a balance update on six cards this time around. We’re continuing our overhaul of removal, including removal effects on units. Three cards fall into this category this time around:
Despite the cost increase, this is a boost for Annihilation, as it can now go for many more important targets. There are a couple of reasons for this change, one is to widen the net of potential targets, the other is to break up the cluster of cost-6 removal orders and units in the game. Speaking of a cost-6 removal unit...
A 5/5 tank is a formidable threat, so any kind of a removal tacked on is always going to be super strong. The Panzer IV F2 is stable in the environment for a reason and it makes us slightly sad to have to nerf it, but we feel it is best for the good of the game.
Removing the destroy clause makes it much weaker against aggressive decks, but the retreat ability can still be a huge tempo-swing against mid-range and control decks, so we expect this card to continue to see plenty of play.
Naval Bombardment is a cheap answer to a myriad of threats, but in its current incarnation it is a bit too narrow against a diverse field. The US already have conditional frontline removal in Awoken Giant and Torpedo Attack, Naval Bombardment being in the same boat seemed a bit too much.After the change, Naval Bombardment will retain its former ability, but you can now spend 4 to bounce a unit from anywhere. You can even spend 2 to bounce from the support line with the enemy controlling the frontline, if you so choose, making this card much more versatile than previously. Bouncing units with strong deployment effects is not much fun, but bouncing units with adverse effects, like a certain Soviet tank, is so much fun.
Speaking of the devil, here it is in all its glory. It actually surprised us how long it took the SU-76M to grab the limelight, as it is such a strong unit.
The fall of Sudden Strike and the rise of Encirclement finally allowed the SU-76M to shine. We’ve analyzed the data on SU-76M decks a lot and while it is putting up decent numbers (and is much more popular now than a couple of months ago), it is still not dominating the format. This leads us to believe that to some extent a new type of a deck in a metagame that was becoming slightly stale created a little bit of a Flavor of the Month phenomena.
Still, facing a 5/5 tank on turn 1 and losing quickly with a hand full of answers can be frustrating. With that in mind, and representing the historical performance of the unit better, we feel reducing the defense is the right way to go.
We did consider several other adjustments, but feel this is the best one as it keeps the unit as a dangerous threat, which is exactly what we want to keep this deck archetype alive and kicking. We’ll continue to monitor the performance of the Into the North + SU-76M + Encirclement decks, in all their varied versions, to see if further actions are required in the future.
The SU 152 is feeling a bit jealous of all the success of it’s little brother and petitioned for a face lift or all hell would break loose. We felt obliged to agree, as 4/4 in fury is a sight to behold and not something we wanted to face. So the new cost is 5. Perhaps you will face it more often now.
The Lancaster B.III is an excellent finisher for control decks, but it can be a bit oppressive with its ability, effectively shutting people out of the game. It is still a dangerous unit, but now people can hope for a bit more counterplay.
Card text adjustments
One thing to mention is that we’ve edited the text on a bunch of cards, making the wording more consistent and streamlined over the line. Note that there is no functional change here, just cleaning up some texts that were unclear or grammatically incorrect.
Feel free to point out any errors you find in these or other cards.
As a reminder: if you encounter bugs in KARDS, please report them either directly in the #bug_reports channel on Discord or even better, send a bug report to KARDS support.
That’s it for now. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the patch notes for the full details of all changes coming tomorrow.
Have a great day!