Empire of Glass Balance Changes

Empire of Glass Balance Changes

The next Eternal® set, Empire of Glass, is days away, releasing December 14th. We’ve been carefully monitoring the Throne environment in the wake of our 2020 World Championship. We’re announcing one nerf today targeted at that format.

Nerfs:

With the nerf to Blightmoth, one of the strongest safety measures for reining in Skycrag Aggro took a major hit and Skycrag Aggro has definitely risen to the occasion. To that end, we’re reducing the strength of one of their lowest opportunity cost Aegis threats

For our other formats, a major set release means our Expedition and draft refresh. The new draft format will be:

Empire of Glass / Eternal Draft Pack / Eternal Draft Pack / Empire of Glass

The Eternal Draft Pack will be updated for this new format and will now include every card from the previous major set, Argent Depths.

For Expedition, another new set release means a refresh to this format focused on our most recent sets. In the new Expedition, Empire of Glass will be joined by the Eternal Draft Pack as well as all cards released since Argent Depths. This means promo cards like Tayana, the Mender and Celebration. As well as our recent campaigns like Bastion Rising and Awakening. For more details on what’s in the new Expedition and draft formats, look for an update to this page when the new set drops and the Draft Pack updates with it.

Buffs:

We have a few buffs to announce aimed at the upcoming Empire of Glass draft formats.

  • Frostbite Chrysalis – Now “When you play an attachment, stun an enemy unit.” (was “When you play a relic, stun an enemy unit.”)
  • Wind Cloak – Now “Pay 4 to give a unit Flying this turn.” (was Pay 4 to give one of your units Flying this turn.)
  • Mighty Strikes – Now Amplify 2 (was Amplify 3)
  • Mask Maker – Now 3-cost (was 4-cost)

The Inner Fire cycle from The Dusk Road are essentially Amplify cards but were made before the mechanic’s debut. With the mechanic’s return as a major mechanic in Empire of Glass, we’re updating this cycle to use the Amplify UI and a few are getting a buff to their costs as well.

  • Inner Fire – Now “Amplify 1: Exhaust a Grenadin to play an additional Infernus.” (was “For each of your Grenadin, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to play another Infernus.”
  • Stirring Sand – Now “Amplify 2: Exhaust an Explorer to play an additional Sentinel from your void exhausted.” (was “For each of your Explorers, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to play an additional Sentinel from your void exhausted.”)
  • Curfew Enforcement – Now 1-cost (was 2-cost) also now “Amplify 1: Exhaust a Valkyrie to give enemy units an additional -1 strength.” (was “For each of your Valkyrie, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to give enemy units an additional -1 strength.”)
  • Snow Pelting – Now “Amplify 2: Exhaust a Yeti to deal 2 damage to an additional enemy.” (was “For each of your Yeti, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to deal 2 damage to an additional enemy.”)
  • Deadly Confrontation – Now “Amplify 1: Exhaust an Unseen to kill an additional enemy unit.” (was “For each of your Unseen, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to kill an additional enemy unit.”)

Unit Type Updates:

Finally, we are also going to be updating a handful of older units to have new unit types.

The following units will change type:

Name

Updated Unit Type

Aamri, Dragonbane
Minotaur Soldier
Albon Roa of the Order
Soldier
Albon, Fallen
Soldier
Alhed Ascending
Soldier Dinosaur
Alhed, Mount Breaker
Soldier Scorpion
Ancient Machinist
Explorer Soldier
Arcanum Elite
Mystic Soldier
Auric Official
Minotaur Soldier
Auric Record Keeper
Minotaur Soldier
Auric Sentry
Minotaur Soldier
Bazaar Trickster
Mage Rogue
Bouldergate Guard
Bird Soldier
Champion of Progress
Minotaur Soldier
Copperhall Elite
Minotaur Soldier
Copperhall Recruit
Minotaur Soldier
Courier Albatross
Bird Soldier
Emerald Maw
Now creates a Justice Sentinel (Used to create an Illusion)
Court Mage
Mage Soldier
Frontline Volunteer
Soldier
Gate Guardian
Bear Soldier
Gear Master
Explorer Soldier
Greenstretch Empath
Druid Soldier
Guardian of Spring
Mandrake
Harga, Armory Warden
Minotaur Soldier
Iceberg Shineefinder
Yeti Explorer
Kosul Brigade
Exile Soldier
Leyline Tracer
Mage Soldier
Maveloft Huntress
Elf Soldier
Minotaur Ambassador
Minotaur Soldier
Minotaur Grunt
Minotaur Soldier
Minotaur Platemaker
Minotaur Soldier
Mischief Yeti
Yeti Rogue
Overlook Spotter
Elf Explorer
Seasoned Drillmaster
Minotaur Soldier
Shield of the Line
Minotaur Soldier
Sirocco Elementalist
Mage Soldier
Slope Sergeant
Yeti Soldier
Svetya’s Faithful
Soldier
Titan (Created by Call the Ancients)
Mandrake
Towertop Patrol
Mystic Soldier
Treasury Guard
Minotaur Soldier
Venom Rider
Soldier Scorpion
Wren, Traditionalist
Mage Soldier
Yetipult
Yeti Soldier

We’re excitedly looking forward to a big shake-up to Throne and a brand-new Expedition format with the release of Empire of Glass.

Pre-orders are available for a few more days, so don’t miss out!

Finally, here’s one of the new soldiers you can get from it to add to your army when Empire of Glass releases next week: