Theory Exercise #7

[thenightsshadow]

Which faction deck, if any, would you consider these Events to be a part of, and what would you change to make it balanced? Or would you just scrap it?

Energy Drain - Event (x2)
- You may place 1 Wound on your Summoner. If you do, then place 1 Wound Marker on all Summoners on the Battlefield.

Last Stand - Event (x1)
- Until the beginning of your next turn, if a Champion Unit would be destroyed, instead remove enough Wound Markers to leave them with 1 life and leave them on the Battlefield.

[glenn3e]

Well, I would scrap both lol. The first is just unfair to say Ret-Talus. The second would encourage Champion play, in an era which we want to improve Common play. IMHO.

[Moon_Knight]

I feel like the energy drain would be scraped
however i would not mind playing Last stand in VG instead of A hero or intervention

[Ryujin]

Would energy drain give your summoner two wounds? (one for the first sentence, one for the second.)

[thenightsshadow]

Yes, it would.

[DrGonzo456]

Energy Drain - Event (x2)
- You may place 1 Wound on your Summoner. If you do, then place 1 Wound Marker on all Summoners on the Battlefield.

Last Stand - Event (x1)
- Until the beginning of your next turn, if a Champion Unit would be destroyed, instead remove enough Wound Markers to leave them with 1 life and leave them on the Battlefield.

I can't really see ever wanting to use Energy Drain. I don't think any event that can directly harm a summoner from anywhere on the board is a good idea. Not to mention that it's either going to put your own summoner at risk, or create a very poor ending to a match. Plus, it creates the giant problems of creating ties in the game.

I do like the flavor of Last Stand though. I think it would fit nicely into the FK or MV, though I think it would be better if it could be used right when a Champion Unit was destroyed (as opposed to during your event phase), otherwise the enemy is just going to avoid attacking them until next tern.

[Renard]

I agree that Energy Drain should be scrapped, Ret-Talus really doesn't deserve that. Nor do Elien, actually, there should be no way to unavoidably put your enemy summoner at half-life...

Last Stand could be interesting with the MV. Also agree about it in the FK, though you'd probably want to change its name then.


I think it would be better if it could be used right when a Champion Unit was destroyed (as opposed to during your event phase), otherwise the enemy is just going to avoid attacking them until next tern.

Well making the enemy not attack your champions for one turn is already an awesome effect for an event. Cloak of Shadows, Goblin Invincibility and Vine Guard all help to direct/avoid your opponents attacks too.

[DrGonzo456]

Well making the enemy not attack your champions for one turn is already an awesome effect for an event. Cloak of Shadows, Goblin Invincibility and Vine Guard all help to direct/avoid your opponents attacks too.

I understand your point, but the event feels more along the lines of The Filth's "Shield of the Hopeful" then anything else. Goblin Invincibility and Vince Guard have to be played during an event phase simply because they cover all units. The choice really falls too "Is it more like Cloak of Shadows, or Shield of the Hopeful?" Too me it feels more like SotH because it's more of a A-HA moment when you deprive your opponent of a kill, as opposed to CoS which lets them decide if they want to put the gamble on their attack.

[airdroppers]

Everyone is hating on Energy Drain, but I think it would be very interesting as a JE event.

[TheOne]

Energy Drain on Shi would be a thought, indeed. You'd be down to 60% or 20% fast, but JE doesn't take crowding and swarming well atm. With Shi alone on your field, he'll bleed out fast but it's an interesting decision.

[papalorax]

The only time you would play energy drain would be on the turn you expected to win. As such...it seems like a boring card and one that people would find really awful to play against. To answer your question, it seems very FK.

Last stand is missing some huge flavor. Because it's "last two stands" really. For it to be last stand, the unit needs to automatically die at the end of your next turn. You could word it that way easily. Not sure which faction that feels most like, could be Vans or SG...depends really on how it's flavored. Is this massive protection, healing...or is it charging in sacrificing yourself.

[Phoenixio]

Those look so much like your designs, tns. One is even a straight copy of something we had discussed long ago.

I think you often try to overcompensate and overbalance your stuff. For example, two wounds on your summoner plus a wasted card for one wound on the other summoner is an atrocious deal, and very few people will use it. This kind of card is so deep into the subtle department that even pro players will have trouble using it to their advantage. You could erase most of the drawbacks and give it a cost, or make it free but conditional, much like regular catch-ups. If it's difficult to play, but playable, people will push their strategies towards that condition and that'll give the deck some flavour.

For the bodyguard part, you could just copy Cloak of Shadow and grant immortality for a turn to a champion. Or you could go like Shield of the Hopeful. You could even grant a temporary immortality, saying in your wording that the wounds keep accumulating, but aren't effective until a certain time. Something like: "Until the end of your next turn, this Champion Unit can't be destroyed by Wound Markers. At the end of your next turn, if this Champion Unit is to be destroyed by Wound Markers, place it on top of your opponent's Magic Pile."

So yeah, as they are, I wouldn't use your events much, either because of the too high challenge, or because of the wording (which we had discussed a lot). But I think you can keep the general idea behind those mechanics, simplify them, copy existing formats, and you could have good cards.

[Joseph]

I don't feel like either is good. we want to improve common play, and that event encourages champ play. Now i like the idea of a last stand, try it with commons. how bout:
Last stand
Play this card when a common unit you control is destroyed. put enough wounds on it so that it has 1 life left, and do the same to the next common you control that would be destroyed.
I would love this event in the vargath. It would be pretty effective. and, it would be good thematically. The vargath are all about staying in your opponents face, and shrugging off the killing blow to better the goals of your race is very vargath-y. energy drain is super unfair, ret can't play both his forced summons. And elien, no matter how wimpy he is, doesn't deserve that.