If you are reading this, the OTA has not been delayed. The developers delayed last week's scheduled OTA to gain their +4 Power buff to come back stronger this week with a new set of balance changes. Hopefully, these changes use pathokinesis to make the player base happy!
Summary
Red Hulk
- [Old] 6/11 - When your opponent ends a turn with unspent Energy, +4 Power. (if in hand or in play)
- [Change] 6/11 -> 6/9
Developer Notes
Red Hulk has been the best 6-Cost in the game since release, and even created upticks in a handful of other options that effectively countered one big play, like Leader and Spectrum. Elements of the strength and its counters were intentional, given the mechanic revealing Red Hulk to your opponent was a novel bit of mechanical space we rarely explore. We expected that to mean Red Hulk's cube gain rate would be much lower when compared to similarly winning cards, due to it being very difficult to get the final double, so part of the card's baseline strength was compensation for that downside. However, Red Hulk's cube gain rate has also been quite strong, leading to today's nerf to level the playing field. In fact, some of us have wondered how many 8-cube games Red Hulk was stealing by "tricking" opponents into countering the big guy, only to lose to a combination of smaller cards!
*What a run Red Hulk had! Since the big red guy's release, he has been in the top five most-seen cards, has over a 61% win rate when played, and has a 56.01% win rate just by being in the deck. Did he deserve a nerf? Probably. My heart goes out to everyone who utilized spotlight caches or collector tokens to get him, though. Does this nerf make him completely unplayable? No. I just go back to when they gave him a +1 power buff and really want to know what transpired for them to make that decision? Why nerf him by 2 power points instead of trying him out as a 10-powered card first?*
U.S. Agent
- [Old] 2/3 - Ongoing: 4, 5, and 6-Cost cards here have -3 Power.
- [New] Ongoing: 4, 5, and 6-Cost cards here have -4 Power.
Developer Notes
On the flip side, U.S. Agent released a bit on the weak side. The change to Zabu reducing the number of 4-Cost cards in play combined with the resurgence of Angela-based swarm decks probably reduced the potential impact of U.S. Agent. However, the data doesn't indicate that this card is too far off the mark, so we're just improving the effect a little.
*US Agent has been relatively underwhelming, sporting a below 50% win rate when drawn and in the deck. The card still has fundamental issues, such as the opponent's ability to play around US Agent if he was played early unless you force your opponent to play in one specific lane until it's filled. Yes, I am foreshadowing the next section.*
Jean Grey
- [Old] 3/3 - Ongoing: Players must play their first card here each turn. (if possible)
- [Change] 3/3 -> 3/4
Developer Notes
No, this isn't just because we're all loving X-Men '97–although that's definitely true! Jean has stood on the edge of a balancing knife for some time now, with an effect that can be frustratingly strong. However, with the metagame seeing a major uptick in big combos like Annihilus and Hela, along with Angela-based decks easily evading the effect's downsides, now seems like a good time to explore pushing a bit more Power into one of the strongest X-Men. Jean's Ongoing can uniquely hurt specific opponents alongside tech cards like Cosmo and Echo, offering players who enjoy a more controlling strategy a new way to play.
*Is this going to send ripples through the meta? Probably not, but it will get people to revisit the card. She hasn't quite had her time in the sun, but this is a nice power buff that warrants players to at least try to crack the code that is Jean Grey.*
Stature
- [Old] 5/6 - Costs 1 if your opponent discarded a card this game.
- [Change] 5/6 -> 5/7
Developer Notes
Similarly, Stature has proven that one more Power is within reach. This has been an unusual card to monitor, as every now and then we'll see Stature temporarily vault into our Top 10 cards on internal metrics, but never make a prolonged stay. After seeing the cycle often enough, we've chalked it up to the cyclical presence of Mobius M. Mobius in various decks. With Pixie decks that always play Mobius performing well lately, it's fair game to give Stature a small buff in compensation for that vulnerability.
*Welcome back to the 7-power club Stature. C7 anybody? As a Silver Samurai enjoyer, I felt she needed this spark. I don't think it will have a grasp on the meta like she did the last time she was at 7-power because of the release of Mobius M Mobius, but she will give the decklists she is in a little bit of a jolt.*
Mantis
- [Old] 2/2 - On Reveal: If your opponent played any cards here this turn, copy one of them into your hand.
- [Change] 2/2 -> 1/2
Developer Notes
Admittedly, we were quite conservative on the previous functional change to Mantis, going with 2/2 out of concern for the card becoming annoying against enemy Venoms and the like. Since those fears proved unfounded, we're restoring Mantis to 1.
*Oh, Mantis. Destroy players were supposed to be trembling in fear of Mantis? More specifically, Venom? I am sorry, what? Costing one for her ability makes much more sense. This will be more helpful for players who have not reached Series 3 more than players across that point. Good change for the new player experience. Her viability later in the player experience is something to wait to see.*
Jane Foster
- [Old] 5/8 - On Reveal: Draw all cards that Cost 0 from your deck.
- [Change] 5/8 -> 5/9
Developer Notes
Last but not least, the Mighty Thor! It's no secret that we think the Asgard-themed deck built around finding and slamming various hammers is a lot of fun, and players seem to agree. It's an archetype that flirts with competitive play fairly often–as this is being written, Beta Ray Bill is on the rise–but struggles to maintain such performance. In fact, we're chalking part of that up to the new Sandman punishing turn 5 Jane especially well. Adding a bit of Power for those games where you have to prove your Worth the hard way makes sense.
*I agree that the Asgard-themed decks are sleepers in this meta. To add to this buff's defense, Jane Jaw caught a stray with the change to Lockjaw. Although the main issue around Jane Foster is that she is pigeonholed into being played on turn 5 to extract the most value from her, she has almost a 60% win rate when she is played. That win rate, when played, is nothing to scoff at, and this change will potentially make that statistic even better. This will firmly plant the Asgard-themed decks for success moving forward, and I am here for it.*
That's all for the changes this week! Let me know which changes you're excited to try out first and what decks you're planning on using them in.