Thanks for your help! I've read an article about Demon Hunter being a good class for casual players who just want to have some fun, so it looks like I can choose between Legion and Battle for Azeroth if I want to play that class. So if I got your info correctly, the easiest thing to do is get the free trial version of retail, isn't it?
Thanks a lot for making me aware of the PVE vs PVP decision, I guess that will save me lots of trouble.
I'll check out some YouTube videos now before committing to something. Thanks again for your advice, everything you've got to share is helpful!
The OP here is super long, and a lot of the content feels like filler to me. Quick summary before I begin so I can confirm my reading:
You've played a lot of CCGs in your time
You strongly dislike RNG as a major factor in winning/losing
You believe starting with the attack token is a major advantage because attacking with your champion on curve (especially when it has Quick Attack) is a huge advantage
You claim your problem is with the starting attack token, but it's pretty plainly the case that's not true. Even setting aside the question of how often you start with the attack token (probably about 50% of the time), attacking first only matters if you want to be attacking on turn 3. Despite your claim that you think there's "nothing wrong with [Quick Attack]," your issue is with the Quick Attack mechanic and your ability to answer it. Here's the set of champions you called out, organized by cost:
2 Mana: Elise
3 Mana: Zed, Miss Fortune, Draven, Katarina
4 Mana: Yasuo, Jinx
Toss Lucian in there and you've got a very even split of champions whose highly advantageous "on curve attack" will be an even or odd round. So, the problem has nothing to do with who gets the starting attack token - lots of champions are better when you attack second or fourth.
Quick Attack in the early game can be oppressive because there are so few good blocks for units with Quick Attack, and the magnitude of the tempo loss on those early game blocks is significant. But as you've pointed out, Quick Attack is offense only, so if you can kill or otherwise delay the attack, you can hit back and change the math considerably on what trades are good.
So really, this all comes down to have reasonable responses (i.e an answer that costs no more than 3 or 4) to play against these early champions. Here's what I think is a full accounting by region
SI: The Box, Chump Block + Black Spear (and to a lesser extend, Chump Block + Glimpse Beyond)
Noxus: Death's Hand, Noxian Fervor, Guile, Culling Strike, Whirling Death
Ionia: Steel Tempest, Concussive Palm, Will of Ionia, Spirit's Refuge
Freljord: Brittle Steel, Chump + Elixir of Iron, Flash Freeze, Fury of the North, Bloodsworn Pledge
Demacia: Single Combat, Prismatic Barrier, Stand Alone
Bilgewater: Riptide
When you look over the list, it's clear that several regions (Freljord, Demacia, Bilgewater, and to a lesser extend Noxus) are worse off - their answers are either temporary solutions or require having mid-sized units in play. Spending your mana on those early mid-sized units makes it hard to have enough mana left over to play your combat trick and beat these early game champions, so there's a lot that needs to go right to make that work.
But now we're really back to the fundamental problem with the balance in this game. It's not a specific mechanic like Quick Attack, and it's not who gets the starting attack token. It's whether a region can be used to meaningfully answer a given strategy, and that's where we see decks that feature P&Z, Shadow Isles, and Ionia* shining through time and time again. These regions are consistently the most popular in the meta because they have the most effective answers to the board. Add in the fact that they have many of these powerful, snowbally Quick Attack champions and you end up with several regions that are just plain better than the others.
* Thanks to some of the Rising Tides cards, Noxus is probably on this list now too, but historically it's not as consistently strong
could anyone be so kind and tell me what I got out of the starterpack? In HS I could open the packs. Are the cards automatically added without letting me know which cards I got?
I haven't really played WoW apart from Classic, but here are some of my opinions/understanding of things:
You can download and play a limited starter version of the current WoW (often referred as retail) for free. There's a level cap (used to be 20, that's how you get Liadrin portrait in Hearthstone) and a gold cap (used to be 10g), but it allows you to play "the real deal". The early storyline for human characters used to be better than all other options, not sure if they've changed it now.
WoW Classic can be downloaded for free and played with monthly subscription fee, whereas retail requires to buy the latest expansion (Battle for Azeroth) AND pay the sub.
WoW Classic is a bit more grindy, I've understood. XP gain is slower (again, my understanding) and killing stuff is less trivial (if you can kill stuff one by one, do so).
Another key decision that you might now realize yet is the RP (roleplay) vs PVP (player vs player) server choice. In the latter, people of the opposite faction can (and will) kill you without asking whereas in RP that's not possible. Oh how many times I regretted choosing PVP server...those are not places for walking around and just exploring.
There's a lot more classes and races to choose from in retail, and I don't have a good enough understanding which might suit you out of those. Some of them might be behind a level cap as well. Another big difference is that retail will ask you to specialize within your class, for example Arcane/Frost/Fire Mage, whereas in Classic you will build up talent trees which essentially lead to specialization but are much more flexible.
For Classic, since you would like to play non-caster damage dealers (melee DPS) and as Horde, you are left with Druid, Rogue, Shaman, and Warrior. My understanding is that since Druid does a little bit of everything, it's not especially good at anything. The other three are quite popular. As Shaman, you might be expected to heal sometimes and as Warrior to act as a tank. I don't have any deeper analysis of them though, haven't played those classes.
First thing, in my opinion, look up every WoW expansion and read an overview of if. Classic is the base version of the game (called 'vanilla') updated to the pre-TBC expansion patch 1.13.X and probably with some extra updates now too.
You'll find lots of opinions on Vanilla. Yes, questing was a bitch. Patch 1.13 simplified it a bit (since it was pre-expansion). In other words, classic is not vanilla, and don't get fooled by that.
In my opinion TBC was the best expansion they ever did, WOTLK was good too, and Cataclysm (before the dungeon nerfs). Never played afterwards since it seemed the game went into a downward spiral of silliness and stupidity and dumbing down everything way too much.
Unfortunately, your options are a bit limited - you can either play "classic" (pre-TBC) or retail (which i don't even know how it's called now).
But if you want the TRUE vanilla experience (with most of its bugs and stupidity) I can provide a free option for you, if you contact me by PM.
Research at least these things, watch videos etc, and make an opinion for yourself before committing.
Having looked up lots of stuff on WoWpedia for the weekly card design competitions, I finally got curious enough to try out the game itself. I have practically no idea what is waiting for me, so I was hoping some of you could help me out with a few do's and don'ts.
So... first things first: I read the wikipedia article and WoW: Classic looks like a good point to start. Is that correct? I also read there's a 1 month free trial, that would be nice.
As soon as I have purchased the game, I expect having to choose a character. I guess I'm a damage dealer kind of player (sorry, not sorry) and combat suits me better than spell casting. From what I've read about the fractions, both appeal to me, but the horde is just the cooler bunch. Any tips what to have in mind when I make that choice?
From there on I'll just see where the game takes me. I get it's a very complex world and I'm looking forward to exploring it.
Any help from you would be very appreciated, especially in regards to the question which game to purchase in the first place since I can't start without an answer to that :D
I think it's actually perfectly balanced. 8 Armor equals roughly 3 mana, and the Attack reduction effect is worth 1 mana (see that Warlock Echo card, which has that effect for 2 mana because of Echo, and Echo cards usually have effects that cost 1 less than the cards themselves).
I would agree had that card been judged in a vacuum, you need to take into consideration this card is in a Classic set and all the other Armor gain cards for Warrior in the game. Just because it is balanced on its own does not mean it wouldnt be oppressive in the class when mixed in with all the other cards.
It's always a challenge to actually design a card tbh, because we do not have the luxury of a test server like Blizzard HQ has. It's always hard to say if a card will be actually playable - we can only assume so. Just look at card reveals and see how many times we got cards wrong.
On the other hand, I do own a fandom centered around Custom Hearthstone. It's abandoned as fuck (I created it around 2016 or 2017 (EDIT: actually 2015 based on date of my blogs)), but there's a seperate forum category to create threads that are meant to emulate a game of Hearthstone to some extent. We could go there and try out some of the new cards like the Howl. Now if only I knew how it was called... (it's Polish btw, but I could translate it to English no problem)... nvm got the link below.
The only thing I disagree with is the inclusion of Revenge. It just feels too similar to Whirlwind, already included in the evergreen set. I'd swap back Fiery War Axe for it, so Warrior can have an early game weapon, and it is another target for Upgrade!.
Decided to add Revenge to add more ways to trigger Plague of Wrath, but if needed, I can try and find a replacement - most likely in a form of a custom card.
I wonder how many people actually watch these. I know that people would be bribed to watch before with pack via twitch... but unless they offer that I do not see people sitting and watching these. Is that just me?
The two English-language YT streams have a total of 50K and 80K views, respectively.
This brawl would be nice if it actually were random but the same cards (often bad ones) appear no matter what you play. I remember a few years ago when brawls were worth waiting fo
Hi there, you can call me Glen (not my real name) but that doesn’t really matter at this point.
Anyways, I decided to make this post so hopefully Riot could see it (whether it gets to that point who knows), but I think my point is very sound and hopefully, people will agree with me and Riot will actually consider this change.
To make a header, this post is directed at one main balance problem I have about this game - the randomness of who starts with the attack token first, and how the player who does not start with it IS NOT COMPENSATED AT ALL. They are simply at a disadvantage.
First of all a bit about my background with TCGs - I’m in my 30s, and have played TCGs since I was 10. I’ve played many TCGs, and at a very skillful and high level - I have competed at National level tournaments for World of Warcraft TCG (this is before Hearthstone), Magic the Gathering, Legend at Hearthstone, Highest level online cups at Faeria, and I’ve literally dabbled in every TCG game ever made. I was even the state champion for a TCGplayer.com event for Magic the Gathering one year. Now I say all this not to yank my chain, but to make a point - I know TCGs very well, and I know how they work at the core, what is fair and what is not fair, and what eventually drove me away from playing TCGs. I am not some random uninformed person moaning about something.
Now I”ve played LOR quite a lot - I daresay go to say, it is my favorite TCG of all time. That is ssaying A LOT. That means Riot has done a lot right- it has incorporated a lot of my favorite elements from all the TCGs i’ve ever played. Hell, I didn’t think I would play TCGs anymore because I got fed up at some game-breaking RNG factors that entail a lot of them. The spell mana bank is great - it allows you to stay in the game even if you miss your 1 or 2 drop cards and you don’t have them to begin with. I like the increased CARD DRAW because it means RNG is LESS of a factor, because you simply have more options per turn (and so does your opponent). No more getting screwed bc you didn’t draw enough lands like Magic, obviously - something Hearthstone spearheaded a while ago. A LOT of things done right- and I’ve had a LOT of fun playing this game because it was so very highly dependent on player choices. Except for one big thing that is really starting to turn me away.
You see, I am the type of player that doesn’t like to lose because of RNG. I study matchups, I study cards, I know all the cards, I know all the scenarios, I typically make as many right decisions as I can. I don’t like to lose because i happened to not draw the right card or bc RNG threw me a curveball. In fact I quit a lot of the TCGs that I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on bc I got fed up at that. And I fear that, if this balance change is not addressed - it will drive some of LoR’s most passionate players away. Because this game is touted as a “played skill above all” game - it is not advertised like Hearthstone, which is known and does not even try to hide the high level of RNG present in their game. It considers RNG as part of the “fun”. Sure, it is fun if you like RNG. But I think I, and many other players who REALLY like LoR, are drawn to it because you win your games PRIMARILY on skill and when i say PRIMARILY I mean a much higher number than 75 or 80% skill and 20% luck. Yes RNG is always SOME of a factor in card games, this is unavoidable as the nature of the card game, but in this game, its supposed to be VERY minimal. Even the RNG card design is aimed at to be “not all RNG” but RNG based on player choices - take the Allegiance keyword or say “Make it Rain” etc etc as detailed in Riot’s blog post.
Now I am primarily an Aggro player or midrange player, I do not typically enjoy playing control, though I can very well play it and actually play it very well. But aggro is my goto style. And because of that I noticed a glaring unequality in the fact who starts with the attack token first.
This inequality is really easily visible for aggro decks and for players using cards(mainly champions) who have QUICK ATTACK. See, quick attack is garbage on defense but GODLIKE on offense. Sure, nothing wrong with that. It’s the design. But hear me out (and i might be a little unclear in how I describe it) - certain champions with quick attack get a HUGE advantage, especially if theyre an aggro deck, when you get to play them RIGHT ON CURVE. And since you can’t play Allies with banked spell mana - it comes down to a complete RNG factor - did i start with the attack token this game, did I drew my bombass champion (Zed, Miss Fortune main culprits I see here), Drawn or Katarina lesser culprits, even Elise who gets to attack on curve turn 2 and get that free spider. And THERE IS NO compensation for the player who doesn’t start with the attack token, and I think there should be.
I played many Zed aggro mirror matches, and basically, the guy who goes first with the attack token - all things being equal, meaning all players making optimal decision - he will almost always win if he gets the attack token first and plays the Zed on attack turn 3. You can’t actually counter Zed easily unless you have a Mystic Shot type card and THERE AREN’T REALLY MANY CARDS OUT THERE that can do that. And you can’t block him, not on turn 3 really - very few cards capable of blocking and coming out on top. He’ll get that free 3/2 shadow and hit you in the face for 3 even if you sac one of ur guys to chump block and basically… he’s coming out WAY on top just bc he happened to start with the attack token first. I’m literally playing mirror matches with BETTER CARDS drawn than him sitting in my hand, and a Zed sitting in my hand - but because I CAN’T ATTACK on turn 3, he wins the aggro race bc you almost CANT block Zed that early. So I play my Zed turn 4 and attack but by then it’s too late - i’ve already had to sacrifice a unit to keep him from leveling up or just taking the dmg to the face and I’m WAY in the deficit. And this is all not because I got outplayed, but because he happened to start with the attack token first which is a COMPLETE RNG factor.
But not just talking about Zed, there are many champions who really benefit from having their turn line up right when they need to attack - Take Draven, or Miss Fortune, Jinx, yasuo - if your turn lines up, say T3 for Zed, Drvaen or Miss Fortune and you HAPPENED to start with the attack token - you get a BIG bonus and basically a free attack which is HUGE for aggro players. This is most prominent with Zed bc not only do they have to chump block you but even if they do, they still take some damage from the shadow. Jinx Yasuo on turn 4- free attack basically. You get the idea. It’s easier to deal with the more turns there are in the game when said champion is played but the RNG factor if you get to play these champs RIGHT on curve is just so game winning. And it would be OK, but here’s the thing - why is there no compensation for who doesn’t get to attack first? For instance, Hearthstone does this right- they give the turn 2 player “The Coin”. But in LoR, theres no such thing- the second turn player just gets to be at a clear disadvantage. Yes its not AS OBVIOUS in some deck matchups, like in control, its not as obvious but when you’re playing aggro? Or playing AGINST aggro? It makes A WORLD of difference.
Basically, I feel that the second player should be compensated somehow for not getting to attack first. The player who gets the attack token first is LITERALLY a turn ahead sometimes, just because… they get to attack one turn earlier than their opponent! And combined with certain cards and champions and keywords THIS. IS. DEVASTATING. It is not fair.
Now I haven’t thought about the specifics of how to balance this but I do know this - something should be done about this if ya’ll pride this game on being “skill above all” because I”ve lost so many games as aggro and against aggro because I was not able to be on curve with my attack lineups. For instance hearthstone has the coin for the t2 player, I’m sure something could be thought out for LoR.
Thank you for listening to me, and I’d love to hear your opinions on what ya’ll think - if you support me, or disagree - and if you disagree, how do you think making it completely random who attacks first with no compensation for the T2 player balanced?
WoW noob needs help
Thanks for your help! I've read an article about Demon Hunter being a good class for casual players who just want to have some fun, so it looks like I can choose between Legion and Battle for Azeroth if I want to play that class. So if I got your info correctly, the easiest thing to do is get the free trial version of retail, isn't it?
Thanks a lot for making me aware of the PVE vs PVP decision, I guess that will save me lots of trouble.
I'll check out some YouTube videos now before committing to something. Thanks again for your advice, everything you've got to share is helpful!
Message to Riot Devs about core game balance - The starting Attack token
The OP here is super long, and a lot of the content feels like filler to me. Quick summary before I begin so I can confirm my reading:
You claim your problem is with the starting attack token, but it's pretty plainly the case that's not true. Even setting aside the question of how often you start with the attack token (probably about 50% of the time), attacking first only matters if you want to be attacking on turn 3. Despite your claim that you think there's "nothing wrong with [Quick Attack]," your issue is with the Quick Attack mechanic and your ability to answer it. Here's the set of champions you called out, organized by cost:
Toss Lucian in there and you've got a very even split of champions whose highly advantageous "on curve attack" will be an even or odd round. So, the problem has nothing to do with who gets the starting attack token - lots of champions are better when you attack second or fourth.
Quick Attack in the early game can be oppressive because there are so few good blocks for units with Quick Attack, and the magnitude of the tempo loss on those early game blocks is significant. But as you've pointed out, Quick Attack is offense only, so if you can kill or otherwise delay the attack, you can hit back and change the math considerably on what trades are good.
So really, this all comes down to have reasonable responses (i.e an answer that costs no more than 3 or 4) to play against these early champions. Here's what I think is a full accounting by region
When you look over the list, it's clear that several regions (Freljord, Demacia, Bilgewater, and to a lesser extend Noxus) are worse off - their answers are either temporary solutions or require having mid-sized units in play. Spending your mana on those early mid-sized units makes it hard to have enough mana left over to play your combat trick and beat these early game champions, so there's a lot that needs to go right to make that work.
But now we're really back to the fundamental problem with the balance in this game. It's not a specific mechanic like Quick Attack, and it's not who gets the starting attack token. It's whether a region can be used to meaningfully answer a given strategy, and that's where we see decks that feature P&Z, Shadow Isles, and Ionia* shining through time and time again. These regions are consistently the most popular in the meta because they have the most effective answers to the board. Add in the fact that they have many of these powerful, snowbally Quick Attack champions and you end up with several regions that are just plain better than the others.
* Thanks to some of the Rising Tides cards, Noxus is probably on this list now too, but historically it's not as consistently strong
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Next : Legendary minion from mean streats of gadgetzan
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Next: a warrior card
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
This is probably busted:
Next: Boomsday legendary
bigcums (... you for real with that name?), don't forget to reload the page.
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Not again ! Sorry , I need to learn to refresh my browser. Here is my idea for the art.
My request is 1 post above .
The Legends of Runeterra Starter Bundle - What Do You Get For $5?
Hi guys,
could anyone be so kind and tell me what I got out of the starterpack? In HS I could open the packs. Are the cards automatically added without letting me know which cards I got?
WoW noob needs help
I haven't really played WoW apart from Classic, but here are some of my opinions/understanding of things:
There's a lot more classes and races to choose from in retail, and I don't have a good enough understanding which might suit you out of those. Some of them might be behind a level cap as well. Another big difference is that retail will ask you to specialize within your class, for example Arcane/Frost/Fire Mage, whereas in Classic you will build up talent trees which essentially lead to specialization but are much more flexible.
For Classic, since you would like to play non-caster damage dealers (melee DPS) and as Horde, you are left with Druid, Rogue, Shaman, and Warrior. My understanding is that since Druid does a little bit of everything, it's not especially good at anything. The other three are quite popular. As Shaman, you might be expected to heal sometimes and as Warrior to act as a tank. I don't have any deeper analysis of them though, haven't played those classes.
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Here you go !
Next up : Cheap warlock spell that deals damage (<2 mana)
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
I find it challenging to fit most artworks inside the weapon template...
Next: The creepy lady must be the main focus of the card. It can either be a minion or a spell.
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Looks like someone beat me to it
use the next art from my last post :)
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Next: A card from the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion
Random on Random on Random - This Week's Tavern Brawl is A Chance Encounter!
I wish they would at least update it, you can't even have any post-witchwood cards in your deck
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
THE 4 MANA 7/7
Next up: Neutral legendary minion from Knights of the frozen throne that acts like Kronx Dragonhoof.
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
It seems all the tips are referring to the gangs of Gadgetzan.
Think of a place,
whose drinks make eyes droop - Kabal potions
then, a container,
filled with worms or maybe soup - Smuggler's Crate, aka the Goons
third, a way of speech,
so curt it’s almost rude - Jade Lotus (the last tip fits better, but it's out of the sequence)
lastly, a kind of movement,
continuous and smooth - something about the card itself
This would mean it's probably neutral. Red Mana Wyrm?
WoW noob needs help
First thing, in my opinion, look up every WoW expansion and read an overview of if. Classic is the base version of the game (called 'vanilla') updated to the pre-TBC expansion patch 1.13.X and probably with some extra updates now too.
You'll find lots of opinions on Vanilla. Yes, questing was a bitch. Patch 1.13 simplified it a bit (since it was pre-expansion). In other words, classic is not vanilla, and don't get fooled by that.
In my opinion TBC was the best expansion they ever did, WOTLK was good too, and Cataclysm (before the dungeon nerfs). Never played afterwards since it seemed the game went into a downward spiral of silliness and stupidity and dumbing down everything way too much.
Unfortunately, your options are a bit limited - you can either play "classic" (pre-TBC) or retail (which i don't even know how it's called now).
But if you want the TRUE vanilla experience (with most of its bugs and stupidity) I can provide a free option for you, if you contact me by PM.
Research at least these things, watch videos etc, and make an opinion for yourself before committing.
WoW noob needs help
Having looked up lots of stuff on WoWpedia for the weekly card design competitions, I finally got curious enough to try out the game itself. I have practically no idea what is waiting for me, so I was hoping some of you could help me out with a few do's and don'ts.
So... first things first: I read the wikipedia article and WoW: Classic looks like a good point to start. Is that correct? I also read there's a 1 month free trial, that would be nice.
As soon as I have purchased the game, I expect having to choose a character. I guess I'm a damage dealer kind of player (sorry, not sorry) and combat suits me better than spell casting. From what I've read about the fractions, both appeal to me, but the horde is just the cooler bunch. Any tips what to have in mind when I make that choice?
From there on I'll just see where the game takes me. I get it's a very complex world and I'm looking forward to exploring it.
Any help from you would be very appreciated, especially in regards to the question which game to purchase in the first place since I can't start without an answer to that :D
Classically Trained - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Simplified and more balanced version.
Neoguli's Custom Warrior Core Set Changes
It's always a challenge to actually design a card tbh, because we do not have the luxury of a test server like Blizzard HQ has. It's always hard to say if a card will be actually playable - we can only assume so. Just look at card reveals and see how many times we got cards wrong.
On the other hand, I do own a fandom centered around Custom Hearthstone. It's abandoned as fuck (I created it around 2016 or 2017 (EDIT: actually 2015 based on date of my blogs)), but there's a seperate forum category to create threads that are meant to emulate a game of Hearthstone to some extent. We could go there and try out some of the new cards like the Howl. Now if only I knew how it was called... (it's Polish btw, but I could translate it to English no problem)... nvm got the link below.
https://hearthstone-fanon.fandom.com/pl/wiki/Angrathar_-_Brama_Gniewu
Decided to add Revenge to add more ways to trigger Plague of Wrath, but if needed, I can try and find a replacement - most likely in a form of a custom card.
Hearthstone Grandmasters 2020 Season 1 Continues With Week 4
The two English-language YT streams have a total of 50K and 80K views, respectively.
Lich King and Arfus generated 5 DK cards 4 were frostmournes
This brawl would be nice if it actually were random but the same cards (often bad ones) appear no matter what you play. I remember a few years ago when brawls were worth waiting fo
Message to Riot Devs about core game balance - The starting Attack token
Hi there, you can call me Glen (not my real name) but that doesn’t really matter at this point.
Anyways, I decided to make this post so hopefully Riot could see it (whether it gets to that point who knows), but I think my point is very sound and hopefully, people will agree with me and Riot will actually consider this change.
To make a header, this post is directed at one main balance problem I have about this game - the randomness of who starts with the attack token first, and how the player who does not start with it IS NOT COMPENSATED AT ALL. They are simply at a disadvantage.
First of all a bit about my background with TCGs - I’m in my 30s, and have played TCGs since I was 10. I’ve played many TCGs, and at a very skillful and high level - I have competed at National level tournaments for World of Warcraft TCG (this is before Hearthstone), Magic the Gathering, Legend at Hearthstone, Highest level online cups at Faeria, and I’ve literally dabbled in every TCG game ever made. I was even the state champion for a TCGplayer.com event for Magic the Gathering one year. Now I say all this not to yank my chain, but to make a point - I know TCGs very well, and I know how they work at the core, what is fair and what is not fair, and what eventually drove me away from playing TCGs. I am not some random uninformed person moaning about something.
Now I”ve played LOR quite a lot - I daresay go to say, it is my favorite TCG of all time. That is ssaying A LOT. That means Riot has done a lot right- it has incorporated a lot of my favorite elements from all the TCGs i’ve ever played. Hell, I didn’t think I would play TCGs anymore because I got fed up at some game-breaking RNG factors that entail a lot of them. The spell mana bank is great - it allows you to stay in the game even if you miss your 1 or 2 drop cards and you don’t have them to begin with. I like the increased CARD DRAW because it means RNG is LESS of a factor, because you simply have more options per turn (and so does your opponent). No more getting screwed bc you didn’t draw enough lands like Magic, obviously - something Hearthstone spearheaded a while ago. A LOT of things done right- and I’ve had a LOT of fun playing this game because it was so very highly dependent on player choices. Except for one big thing that is really starting to turn me away.
You see, I am the type of player that doesn’t like to lose because of RNG. I study matchups, I study cards, I know all the cards, I know all the scenarios, I typically make as many right decisions as I can. I don’t like to lose because i happened to not draw the right card or bc RNG threw me a curveball. In fact I quit a lot of the TCGs that I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on bc I got fed up at that. And I fear that, if this balance change is not addressed - it will drive some of LoR’s most passionate players away. Because this game is touted as a “played skill above all” game - it is not advertised like Hearthstone, which is known and does not even try to hide the high level of RNG present in their game. It considers RNG as part of the “fun”. Sure, it is fun if you like RNG. But I think I, and many other players who REALLY like LoR, are drawn to it because you win your games PRIMARILY on skill and when i say PRIMARILY I mean a much higher number than 75 or 80% skill and 20% luck. Yes RNG is always SOME of a factor in card games, this is unavoidable as the nature of the card game, but in this game, its supposed to be VERY minimal. Even the RNG card design is aimed at to be “not all RNG” but RNG based on player choices - take the Allegiance keyword or say “Make it Rain” etc etc as detailed in Riot’s blog post.
Now I am primarily an Aggro player or midrange player, I do not typically enjoy playing control, though I can very well play it and actually play it very well. But aggro is my goto style. And because of that I noticed a glaring unequality in the fact who starts with the attack token first.
This inequality is really easily visible for aggro decks and for players using cards(mainly champions) who have QUICK ATTACK. See, quick attack is garbage on defense but GODLIKE on offense. Sure, nothing wrong with that. It’s the design. But hear me out (and i might be a little unclear in how I describe it) - certain champions with quick attack get a HUGE advantage, especially if theyre an aggro deck, when you get to play them RIGHT ON CURVE. And since you can’t play Allies with banked spell mana - it comes down to a complete RNG factor - did i start with the attack token this game, did I drew my bombass champion (Zed, Miss Fortune main culprits I see here), Drawn or Katarina lesser culprits, even Elise who gets to attack on curve turn 2 and get that free spider. And THERE IS NO compensation for the player who doesn’t start with the attack token, and I think there should be.
I played many Zed aggro mirror matches, and basically, the guy who goes first with the attack token - all things being equal, meaning all players making optimal decision - he will almost always win if he gets the attack token first and plays the Zed on attack turn 3. You can’t actually counter Zed easily unless you have a Mystic Shot type card and THERE AREN’T REALLY MANY CARDS OUT THERE that can do that. And you can’t block him, not on turn 3 really - very few cards capable of blocking and coming out on top. He’ll get that free 3/2 shadow and hit you in the face for 3 even if you sac one of ur guys to chump block and basically… he’s coming out WAY on top just bc he happened to start with the attack token first. I’m literally playing mirror matches with BETTER CARDS drawn than him sitting in my hand, and a Zed sitting in my hand - but because I CAN’T ATTACK on turn 3, he wins the aggro race bc you almost CANT block Zed that early. So I play my Zed turn 4 and attack but by then it’s too late - i’ve already had to sacrifice a unit to keep him from leveling up or just taking the dmg to the face and I’m WAY in the deficit. And this is all not because I got outplayed, but because he happened to start with the attack token first which is a COMPLETE RNG factor.
But not just talking about Zed, there are many champions who really benefit from having their turn line up right when they need to attack - Take Draven, or Miss Fortune, Jinx, yasuo - if your turn lines up, say T3 for Zed, Drvaen or Miss Fortune and you HAPPENED to start with the attack token - you get a BIG bonus and basically a free attack which is HUGE for aggro players. This is most prominent with Zed bc not only do they have to chump block you but even if they do, they still take some damage from the shadow. Jinx Yasuo on turn 4- free attack basically. You get the idea. It’s easier to deal with the more turns there are in the game when said champion is played but the RNG factor if you get to play these champs RIGHT on curve is just so game winning. And it would be OK, but here’s the thing - why is there no compensation for who doesn’t get to attack first? For instance, Hearthstone does this right- they give the turn 2 player “The Coin”. But in LoR, theres no such thing- the second turn player just gets to be at a clear disadvantage. Yes its not AS OBVIOUS in some deck matchups, like in control, its not as obvious but when you’re playing aggro? Or playing AGINST aggro? It makes A WORLD of difference.
Basically, I feel that the second player should be compensated somehow for not getting to attack first. The player who gets the attack token first is LITERALLY a turn ahead sometimes, just because… they get to attack one turn earlier than their opponent! And combined with certain cards and champions and keywords THIS. IS. DEVASTATING. It is not fair.
Now I haven’t thought about the specifics of how to balance this but I do know this - something should be done about this if ya’ll pride this game on being “skill above all” because I”ve lost so many games as aggro and against aggro because I was not able to be on curve with my attack lineups. For instance hearthstone has the coin for the t2 player, I’m sure something could be thought out for LoR.
Thank you for listening to me, and I’d love to hear your opinions on what ya’ll think - if you support me, or disagree - and if you disagree, how do you think making it completely random who attacks first with no compensation for the T2 player balanced?
Egg Warrior - 59% WR HSReplay
they haven't updated risky skippers text on the site yet. he's supposed to be a pirate.
Here's some art, make a card! [Legacy Game]
Next up, a minion with Enrage (or 'has X while damaged' for the noobs).
[Game] Card Treasure Hunt (The Resurrection Attempt)
Nobody is going to be able to guess that one
Forbidden Words?