Nudging the tiller - balance

If you really want to compare to Garth, add “you may sacrifice a soldier, if you do draw” to lawful search :stuck_out_tongue:

Or you could take a leaf(!) out of Calamandra’s book, and make it “Choose one: draw a card; or get a 1/1 soldier”. Maybe even with Boost $2 to get both effects.

3 Likes

I actually really like the machanic of look at opponents hand (or discard, but no one does that), then make a choice. Feels very BLUE. I don’t know about boost, you’d have to boost it before looking, but that would probably be fine.

4 Likes

Earlier I was thinking about if Lawful Search had three effects, but you choose two. The three effects being: look at your opponent’s hand/discard, draw a card, and make a 1/1 soldier token.

2 Likes

Give Nether Drain to Orpal and give Carrion Curse to Garth

2 Likes

Theming needs work to make that “make sense” but mechanics wise, that seems worth exploring at face value.

One or more of the following would diminish Necro, and make it less of an all-around good choice, which should decrease it’s prevalence, and provide some additional counterplay.

  1. Lich’s Bargain deals 6 damage to your base
  2. Lich’s Bargain costs 3
  3. Bone Collector is a 2/3
  4. Garth Maxband fetches cost 4 or less
  5. Garth Midband gains “limit once per turn”
  6. Nether Drain only grants levels to the casting hero

If done, something in his Tech 2 should get a buff to compensate. I think dumping the “Hero killer” ghoul and replacing it with a unit that has Arrives: Create a Skeleton would be ideal. Something like:
1 cost - Apprentice Necromancer (2/2)
Arrives or Dies: Create a Skeleton

2 Likes

More ways to get skeletons at tech 2 would be great

1 Like

I think Bone Collector at 2/2 and gaining arrives or attacks: create 1 skeleton would be more acceptable than 2/3.

The apprentice necromancer sounds pretty good as a replacement for hero killer, but it is almost too similar to Bone Collector. Maybe a tap ability to create skeletons? Tap and pay 1: create 2 skeletons?

3 Likes

1 cost - Apprentice Necromancer (2/2)

At the end of your turn, create a 1/1 Skeleton token for each unit in your discard pile.

Problem with this is that how does your opponent know how many units are in your discard pile? Could do number of cards, but specifics can’t be done unless you reveal your discard pile.

3 Likes

Round 2:

1 cost - Apprentice Necromancer (2/2)
At the end of your turn, create a 1/1 Skeleton token for each unit in your Graveyard.

1 Like

Anybody else think Pirate Gunship just shouldn’t have obliterate? It pretty obviously needs a nerf, plus I find that obliterate is thematically wrong for Red: they don’t get easy kills, they need to hit or shoot things until they die.

2 Likes

Well, there are exactly six things with obliterate.

Zarramonde, the Obliterator
Trojan Duck
Terras Q, the shackled
Guargum, Eternal Sentinel
Lawbringer Gryphon

I think the biggest problem with removing obliterate from Pirate Gunship is that suddenly measly bird’s nest can stand in the way of a tech 3. Obliterate is meant to overcome low tech swarms. I do wonder what would happen if it was obliterate 1.

If we just removed haste from Gunship would it suddenly be ok? I don’t know what other discussions have gone on before but that seems like the most obnoxious part of it to me. It’s also what makes it a clear outlier among units with Obliterate.

3 Likes

As I see it, the problem with Gunship is that it can both break a tech building and kill something, all by itself, on the turn it arrives. That lets you lock the opponent out of their own tech 3, while advancing your board position. No other tech 3 can do that.

As for being stopped by Birds’ Nest, that also holds for Nebula, except that it also works when played a turn later. But I see zhavier’s point. I would be fine with obliterate 1, or giving it overpower instead.

Removing haste would make Gunship one of the weaker tech 3 units IMO, since it would no longer have any immediate effect when played.

Removing haste would weaken it, but it would still be one of the cheapest and most impactful tech threes. It becomes “you get one turn to answer this or lose” instead of “lose immediately”.

Now normally that makes a tech three bad, but remember gunship is flying. You can’t just attack and kill it most of the time.

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Yeah, the low cost might make it still playable. It’s kinda funny that the two cheapest tech 3’s (Hero’s Monument aside) are the only ones that have haste.

1 Like

Something about this statement puzzled me so I double checked.
“Two cheapest (Hero’s Monument aside)”
There are four Tech 3s that cost 6.

But you’re still right.

2 Likes

I think if you removed Haste and made Gunship cost 5, it would still be B-Tier among tech 3, and given that Anarchy tech 2 and Zane are already pretty strong on their own, that would be an acceptable nerf.

Ditching obliterate for overpower + ditching resist would also help marginally, but I think increasing the cost should accompany a smaller nerf like that

3 Likes