9/2 Balance Changes

It’s time for a shakeup.  By many metrics Eternal’s Throne meta-game is healthy, with a variety of cards and strategies viable at all levels of the ladder, and no single card or deck quite dominating the format. That said, several cards and archetypes have remained strong enough for long enough (based both on gameplay data and feedback from players) that we’ve decided to rock the boat. 

What follows is one of the most comprehensive sets of live balance changes in the history of Eternal. Some of the changes are nerfs, and some buffs (including several iconic cards being restored from previous nerfs). There are many of the usual reasons informing each change, but one of the key points of emphasis was not (in all cases) simply to take away the things that make some of the leading cards and strategies cool and distinct, but to create weaknesses and counter-play where possible, so that defeating them would feel satisfying.  This is anchored by an overarching goal of making Throne feel like a materially different format.

The Hour of Glass 5K Throne Open, held from September 10th-12th, will reflect these changes, as well as providing an opportunity to monitor the health of the new Throne format. We’re looking forward to see how players shape a new meta-game with a variety of new tools and tactics at their disposal.

Q&A Livestream

Due to the volume of changes, we thought this would be a great opportunity to skip the usual written explanations, and introduce a Q&A live mailbag format with Eternal game designers Patrick Sullivan and Andrew Baeckstrom. Submit your questions ahead of time, and join us next Wednesday, September 8^th at 1pm MST (19:00 UTC), live on Twitch for discussion about the balance changes.

In the meantime, head over the Dire Wolf Gaming Discord and submit your questions to the newly created #ask-the-devs channel.  We’ll see you on Wednesday!

Now, on to the good stuff:

Buffs

Voprex's Choice – Now fast spell (was spell)

Eilyn's Choice – Now costs 2JP (was 3JP)

Jadehorn – Now Corrupted 5 (was Corrupted 6)

Slay – Now fast spell (was spell)

Yeti Furflinger – Now 3PP and Ultimate: Pay 5 to transform another unit into a 2/2 Flying Squirrel. (was 3PPP 3/4 and Ultimate: Pay 6)

Edict of Grodov – Now 3T (was 4T)

Vodakhan's Staff – Now Endurance (was no battle skill)

Cirso's Choice – Now 3TP (was 4TP)

Kehanya, Skilled Caster – Now 2/5 (was 2/4)

Braun, Regal Courier – Now 6/8 (was 6/7)

Gentle Grazer – Now Summon: Play a random non-power card with cost 3 or less from your deck (was cost 2 or less)

Predatory Carnosaur – Now 6/6 (was 5/6)

Talir's Choice – Now 4FT and fast (was 5FT)

Vicious Highwayman* – Now 4-cost 4/2 (was 5-cost 5/3)

* While we consider this to be a buff, crafted copies of Vicious Highwayman will still be eligible for sellback.

Nerfs

Blazing Salvo – Now 2-cost and no longer deals damage to yourself (was 1-cost and dealt 2 damage to you)

D'Angolo Houndmaster – Now plays a 4/1 Magmahound attacking (was play a 4/4 Hellhound attacking)

Prowling Amaruq – Now gets +1 strength when you attack with exactly two units (was +2 strength)

Rime Conclave Smuggler – Now 3/1 (was 3/2)

Generator Dovid I – Now 4/3 (was 4/4)

Transpose – Now 2-cost and does not give the player Aegis (was 1-cost)

Aymar, Dark Summoner – Now 3TS (was 2TS)

Sling of the Chi** – Now 4FP (was 3FP)

Shrine to Karvet – Now 4FS (was 3FS)

Garden of Omens – Now Your spells can’t be negated or blocked by Aegis (was your spells cost 1 less)

Davia Azurebreaker – Now 6PP 5/5 with Summon: You may pay 2 to play a spell from your void. It gets Voidbound. (was 7PP 6/6 Summon: Play a spell from your void. It gets Voidbound)

D'Angolo Might – Now 6SS (was 5SS)

Krull, Xumuc Occultist – Now plays the unit from the void exhausted (was plays the unit)

Talir, Who Sees Beyond – Now Your single-faction Time units have Destiny (was Your Time units have Destiny)

** Note: As Sling of the Chi is from a campaign, players who purchased the base version of the campaign and did not receive a refund from the previous change to Sling of the Chi will receive 1,250 gold and owners of the premium campaign will receive 2,500 gold.

As always, thanks for your continued support! Let us know what you’d like to hear more about in next week’s stream, and see how the Throne metagame evolves next weekend in the The Hour of Glass 5K Open!