Hello everyone!
We hope you’ve been enjoying the summer! We were chilling out here in Iceland while a volcano was erupting.
As mentioned in the announcement on our Discord server, we are changing the cadence of the balance patches and will have them every 2 months now instead of every 1 month. It was also delayed because of the summer break. A lot of you guys have been expecting card changes for a long time. We have some good news! We are increasing the amount of balanced cards to 20 this time.
For this balance patch, we want to deal with the most troublesome problem on the meta, the notorious combo of SUPPLY SHORTAGE and CRITICAL DAMAGE, aka the 2+2 combo. As usual, some buffs for existing strategies and slight nerfs for the most over-powerful decks are included. We are also changing some of the least used cards so that they can create more values on the battlefield in KARDS.
Now we know you can’t wait to take a look at these cards. So let’s jump into them right away.
[h2]CRITICAL DAMAGE[/h2]
Old: Enemy units get: "When this unit receives damage, pin it.
New: Deal 1 damage to a unit. If it doesn’t have any adjacent units, deal 2 instead.
With the advent of SUPPLY SHORTAGE, this card suddenly became a celebrity on the battlefield. The combo of these two cards is kind of toxic and we want to break it. The new version does 1 base damage. These parachute units are very good at hunting separated units, dealing 2 damage if the target doesn’t have any adjacent units. So don’t leave your units alone on the battlefield.
[h2]SUPPLY SHORTAGE[/h2]
In addition to breaking the combo of SUPPLY SHORTAGE and CRITICAL DAMAGE, the cost of this card is increased to 3.
[h2]RAAF LIGHTNING F-4[/h2]
This fighter was used extensively as a long-range bomber escort, along with various other purposes during the war. On the KARDS battlefield, the fighter has a universally efficient ability: Retreat, which fits the escort role and will certainly remain the same in the game. To reduce its power level, the defense is reduced by 1.
[h2]MARE NOSTRUM[/h2]
Old: Give a friendly unit +1+1 and: "Combat damage dealt by this unit adds equal defense to your HQ."
New: Give a friendly unit +1+1 and: "When this unit attacks, your HQ gains defense equal to its damage."
With its previous change of increasing the cost to 2, this card was indeed slower. However, the healing amount is still very stable. With the new version, the affected unit can only heal your HQ on your own turn by initiating an attack. As compensation, the cost is reduced back to 1 for flexibility.
[h2]WELSH GUARDS[/h2]
Old: Deployment: Give any target +1 defense.
New: Deployment: Give another target +1 defense.
Besides air decks, British decks with a focus on ground units do appear on the battlefield with many variants. Sadly, none of them are working very well. We would like to make them better by changing a few more cards. The new WELSH GUARDS is one of them, with a more flexible 1 cost and the same ability.
[h2]1ST GURKHA RIFLES[/h2]
Old: Deployment: Gets +1 attack for each order you have given this turn.
New: Gets +1 attack when you give an order.
During the Second World Wars, this regiment saw much service in Asia. On the KARDS battlefield, it is kind of the opposite. With this new version, this unit card can Guard your HQ and units, with a passive ability of +1 attack whenever you play an order from hand. It is expected to make British ground units decks better.
[h2]ROYAL SCOTS[/h2]
Old: Enemy random effects always choose this unit while it is on the battlefield.
New: If in hand or on the battlefield, random effects always choose this unit.
The passive ability of this card is very interesting, making it a tech card against random effects. We would like to make it more useful by expanding its validity to friendly random effects and being in hand. Note that random effects have their own ranges by default. For example, DEATH FROM ABOVE can only randomly choose a unit on the battlefield. In other words, ROYAL SCOTS can never be chosen as a target for DEATH FROM ABOVE. This unit can not be chosen for KI-44 TOJO while in hand, as it is not a bomber, out of TOJO’s range.
[h2]1ST AIRLANDING BRIGADE[/h2]
Old: Units attacked by this unit must retreat if they survive.
New: Deployment: Retreat a unit in the frontline. If it is empty, gets Blitz.
As mentioned in our previous dev blogs, we hope to see more fierce battles fighting for the frontline. This Elite unit now can force a unit in the front line to retreat, helping you take control of it. Alternatively, It can also retreat your own unit for protection or the Blitz ability, if needed.
[h2]95TH RIFLE REGIMENT[/h2]
Old: Deployment: Deal 1 damage to your HQ.
New: Deployment: Deal 1 damage to a unit and your HQ.
We have seen some self damage Soviet decks in recent tournaments. This change is intended to make this deck even better. Dealing 1 damage on deployment can remove low defense units or make them damaged, for example TYPE 93. The 1 damage on your own HQ can be beneficial for this deck for triggering the effects you need.
[h2]I-16 ISHAK[/h2]
Since the changes of some Soviet fighters, Soviet air decks are performing a bit better than before. They still lack cheap fighters for a better curving and early game survivability. With a cheaper operation cost, this fighter might be able to fit this role. This also applies to the spawned fighter from I-15 CHAIKA.
[h2]OT-34[/h2]
Old: Deal double damage to infantry and HQ.
New: Deals double damage against infantry and HQ.
This tank is not really that useful on the battlefield except hiding in the support line by Smokescreen and then dealing a huge amount of damage with a lot of buffs. With this new version, it can still inflict very serious damage, just probably not that surprising without Smokescreen. Nevertheless, costing 3 less makes combos possible in a single turn for a much lower cost. In addition, let’s not forget it is also the cheapest T-34 tank.
[h2]P-40B TOMAHAWK[/h2]
Old: Infantry units you deploy get +1+1.
New: Infantry units you deploy or add get +1+1.
As we are getting more and more cards that can spawn units in the frontline, it is time for P-40B TOMAHAWK to get an upgrade, being capable of affecting added infantry units as well.
[h2]SU-85[/h2]
Tank destroyers are supposed to be intimidating with a very strong firepower. With a cheaper operation cost, this tank destroyer will be a threat to any enemy unit and the HQ, along with being an efficient tank killer.
[h2]M4A3R3 ZIPPO[/h2]
This new ZIPPO tank is still unlikely to be part of the meta decks, even with a decreased cost. If played exactly at turn 3, it at least can be a threat to the enemy’s HQ, with the potential of dealing 6 damage in the next turn, which can’t be always ignored.
[h2]SUPPRESSION[/h2]
Old: All enemy units in the support line have -3 attack until start of your next turn.
New: All enemy units have -3 attack this turn.
Suppressing the enemy is a very effective military tactic during a battle. Affecting units in the support line only seems to be a dramatic show on the KARDS battlefield, nothing really useful. The new SUPPRESSION affects all enemy units with a very flexible 1 cost. Keep in mind that the effect only lasts one turn, instead of two turns. It means that you need to command your own units to attack in the same turn to get a good value from this card.
[h2]STUG III-G[/h2]
We have seen the ups and downs of German tank decks in KARDS. None of those versions included this tank. As Germany's most-produced fully tracked armored fighting vehicle during World War II, STUG III-G is somehow left alone here in KARDS. It might be able to join the big family of German tanks with an extra defense.
[h2]JADE DIVISION[/h2]
Old: Gets +1+1 when you deploy a Japanese unit. Has Fury if attack is 10+.
New: Gets +1+1 when you play a Japanese card. Gets Guard if attack is 10+.
This change is expected to make this Elite unit more versatile. It can get Guard if its attack is equal to or more than 10, protecting your HQ.
[h2]MEDITERRANEAN RAID[/h2]
Old: Can only be played if you control more units than the enemy. Deal 4 damage to a unit.
New: Deal 2 damage to a unit. If you control more units than the enemy, deal 4 instead.
Some Italian cards gain or lose something, Depending on the battlefield. As mentioned in our previous dev blogs, we don’t want to see such cards stuck in hand. MEDITERRANEAN RAID is the last card that could be completely useless if you could not manage to have more units than the enemy. With this new version, it can at least cause 2 damage to a unit at the cost of 3, which is very insufficient. However, it can deal 4 damage to any unit on the battlefield if the condition is met.
[h2]CHAR B1 BIS[/h2]
Besides cheap cost Mobilize units, we also hope to see some midrange decks with a combination of control and Mobilize. As the most powerfully armed and armored tanks of its day, this heavy tank’s body is now even stronger in the game, with a lower cost but also a lower attack.
[h2]U-16[/h2]
Old: At the start of enemy’s next turn, the enemy must choose and discard a card from hand.
New: When the enemy gives an order, the enemy discards a random card.
This card has been on the list for changes for a long time, as it is the cheapest card that has the potential of draw denial. This new version is now a countermeasure and the discard ability stays.
That is all, these changes will be live in early September. Please continue giving us your feedback, which is very valuable to us. We are checking your feedback, as always.
Thanks and see you on the battlefield, commanders!
