August 31st - Balance Updates
Today's update includes three nerfs and two buffs, one of which will look very familiar to you. Let's start there!
Doctor Doom
DoctorDoom
● [Old] 6/5 - On Reveal: Add a 4-Power DoomBot to each other location.
[Change] DoomBot: 6/4 -> 6/5
In hindsight, the timing for our previous nerf to Doctor Doom wasn't ideal. While he was dominating, we had Spider-Ham coming with an elbow from the top rope and Move decks were on the rise, so his stock was already going to dip. In the weeks since, the metagame has shifted further, with Professor X becoming a lockdown favorite once again and Captain Marvel challenging locations left and right. We're confident Doom deserves at least a return to his former glory in order to compete.
Captain Marvel
● [Old] 4/5 - At the end of the game, move to a location that wins you the game. (if possible)
[Change] 4/5 -> 4/4
Moving Carol from 5/6 to 4/5 shook some things up, and the change wound up coming in a little hotter than we'd hoped for. For the last week, Captain Marvel has been one of the best-performing cards in our two best-performing decks, traditional ZabuHawk and the new Angela/Kraven-based Move deck. While we know there's movement in the metagame and a few new decks surging to combat those two, they were already strong decks! They didn't need this to shine. We're going to cool Carol off for a minute to let the metagame breathe before evaluating where her happiest home would be, if it's not 4.
Legion
● [Old] 5/8 - On Reveal: Replace each other location with this one.
[Change] 5/8 -> 5/7
Speaking of coming in hot! We were worried players might underestimate Legion, so we gave him a late internal buff from 5/7 to 5/8 for extra oomph to ensure he put on a show for everyone. Seems kind of silly now though, doesn't it? Legion has consistently appeared in a variety of strong decks and been one of our top performing cards for a few weeks. That's been fun, and he's added fresh dynamics to existing matchups that were truly unique. However, he also disrupts some of the diversity we rely upon location variance to create within the metagame, so we're going to take that extra edge off.
Rockslide
● [Old] 4/5 - On Reveal: Shuffle 2 Rocks into your opponent's deck.
[Change] 4/5 -> 3/3
Here we go again–we know, we know, Darkhawk's the star here. While he's out front signing autographs, Rockslide's loading the van with . . . Rocks. It's not a perfect metaphor, but somebody has to do the dirty work! However, this isn't just a small nerf to the Zabu-Darkhawk deck, though that is its primary purpose. We're trying to keep Power focused in Darkhawk if possible, as he's the appealing build-around element. We're curious to explore what the world looks like where we can reduce Darkhawk's reliance on Zabu, since it prevents both cards from appearing in a wider range of archetypes when the combination is so strong. Slotting Rockslide between Korg/Black Widow and Darkhawk might help that happen–it also might not. Maybe this goal is even doomed. Let's take a step toward finding out.
Lady Deathstrike
● [Old] 5/3 - On Reveal: Destroy each card here with less Power than this.
[Change] 5/3 -> 5/4
While we were willing to take a chance missing too high on Legion, the same wasn't true of Lady Deathstrike. The difference is stark–if Legion is in the best deck, games might be a little wacky, but if Lady Deathstrike is in the best deck, games might be super frustrating. However, we did want her to land on solid ground, and it's become clear that she could use a little help. We're going to try this buff on for size, and if it doesn't work out we'll evaluate a more significant change.
We know this is a bit of a "nerf week" relative to the excitement of some recent OTA patches, but these kinds of adjustments are just as necessary. September will unleash some dangerous cards and enchanting variants, so we're lowkey seeking some calm before that particular nexus event.
Too soon? It still feels too soon.
