How about giving demons a card that silences 1 opposing minion? It would be no more OP than mama bear or gentle megasaur since it would only affect 1 minion.
I agree with everything you say here. But I want to make my main focus Expeditions, and it is not possible under the current system.
We got given an Expedition token and 8,000 shards in the beta to pay for our first 3 and get to the free stuff. But the actual system going forward is play a 'Draft mode' and get mainly 'Ranked mode' rewards.
It is not possible for players to get the 12,000 shards per week, every week needed to access the 3 mandatory paid Expeditions each week. If we want to play this mode we have to pay real money pretty consistently to enter, and then we get rewards for another mode. Shame.
I totally agree with you :) Decision Making skills are way more important in LoR & MtG, but in LoR's case, you aren't forced to skip rounds because of Mana Flood/Screw.
As you said, I consider LoR as the sweet-spot between HS and MtG. So I think they will share a part of the same playerbase, outside the main HS's core, i.e. Casual-gamers.
You're trying to be sarcastic but you have to realize you're not that smarter than Blizzard. Amalgam strength really kicks in at tier 4 and 5 when you have the crazy buff options. So changing tier may just have a lesser impact than changing its stats (do you really want to buy a 2/2 at tier 2 in the first place???)
Moreover, like it or not, amalgam is the only unit that allows strats that are not just full mech or full beast. Remove it from the game and it will become all boring an repetitive.
While i agree with you, couple potential early losses due to lower stats could matter in the long run. Sometimes xou just need one more Recruit phase to get where you need to be but you have no time (=health). I guess we will see if it makes any impact. I suppose it might (only) impact heroes who already struggle in the early game tho.
Wow, make it a 2/2 and not address the obvious problem. Now instead of a 38/40 with divine shield and poisonous, it is a 36/38 with divine shield and poisonous!
I played the hell out of expeditions (musta done at least 20 runs after the initial 3 purchased ones, so 26 runs at least). Have to say I don't think I ever found Anivia to be a problem - in my opinion, if Anivia is causing issues you didn't pack enough removal. Her effect isn't even that powerful really, so long as she's not allowed to level before you can deal with her. Now, Tryndamere on the other hand - I stopped drafting Trynd after a while because it just wasn't fun anymore. A game in which Trynd hit the board was usually over (in my favour) inside two turns. People seemed to be really bad at playing against Overwhelm.
I do think Donnie's post below has some merit - the highlight of my runs was building a Poro deck which had 5x Poro Snax, 4x Iceborne Legacy, 5x the 3/3 Overwhelm Poro, and most amusingly, 4x Braum. That's right, all four of my champions were Braum. Every game was a race against the inevitable fluffy tide of monstrously growing Poro - for those unaware, when levelled up Braum summons a poro whenever he survives damage, and it's specifically the 3/3 Poro I already drafted 5 copies of with all the various deck-wide buffs.
Anyway, sorry, tangent. While Donnie's post has some merit - particularly noting that it seemed to be some champions got offered FAR more often than others, such that I only saw Yasuo offered once in 25+ runs and never saw Hecarim, yet got offered Ashe practically every run. That said, it's worth noting that LOR's card offering probably isn't complete yet. I'd expect to see Bilgewater, Shurima and the Void represented before the game hits full release (since adding Regions after-the-fact would be weird, especially given there's only a handful they could realistically add). As more Regions are added, and probably more cards are added to the current Regions too, it's reasonable to expect draft consistency to decrease accordingly.
Personally I greatly enjoyed expeditions, far more so than constructed (which was a little hit or miss for me to be honest). Looking forward to the new year when I get to play again.
I've had multiple runs with Brann, who is great, especially if you can transition into an amalgam-buff strategy with battlecries and the card Brann. If nothing else, he gives you an easy first few turns if you get a battlecry minion in your opening pool.
Elise is quite tough to use and evaluate because you still have to pay the price of a minion to make use of her discover-effect. You could think of it as a free reroll in the sense that you get to look at three new cards but you have to buy one.
I've only been offered Finley once, and Brann was the other option then. Have yet to see a Sindragosa, but I bet she's stronger than people give her credit for. I freeze quite a lot so I'm sure I'd benefit from the hero power.
I also wont miss Millificent, mainly because I thought she was boring. And frankly not even that strong in a meta where mechs were top-tier and you had to compete for literal scraps with 2-3 other players.
I'll play a tribal hero now and again but I much prefer heroes that don't tie me to one specific tribe.
Yeah, Sindragosa is how you thought, she is not perfect but great in a good player's hand. She is more like Dancin' Daryl, harder to play but rewards greatly if you know what you are doing. I liked her. I use freeze oftenly and her hero power is really useful for me.
I don't think she is as bad as someone above gave her credit for. I had won with her twice and placed on top 4 three times.
I want to make one thing clear right off the bat - I'm not a fan of draft, so take this critiscism with a pinch of salt.
The thing that felt incredibly lackluster about this mode was the lack of diversity of the card buckets. Add to that the trade option and you find yourself in a format where it's highly consistent to tailor a deck how you would want it exactly with the only caveat in comparison to constructed decks being the ability to include more than 3 copies of any card in your deck. In my 3 runs I averaged anywhere between 4 and 6 cards that were a 5 or 6 of in my deck. There are a few problems I saw with this:
Firstly, individual card power is very disproportionate in LoR. You take a card like vile feast - playable on 2 - 2 mana 1/1 ping and awakening brood - playable on 3 - 6 mana 3 2/1's and you see how it's not even a contest. Better cards will be preffered, even synergies will struggle to keep up, when individual cards' power levels will improve your win chances when you can consistently draw and play them.
This leads to my second point. Unlike draft or in this case Arena in hearthstone, expeditions seemed completely like stat checks. In hearthstone you struggle to work with what you have, and try to respond to your opponent. In runeterra you are so specific in how you made your deck, that every game will play out the same and it will come down to the simple fact how well the opponents cards match up to yours. There is very little decision making involved.
One of my expeditions' 7th match was a very clear example of this. I had a spider token spam deck with around 5 broods, 6 crawling sensations and 4 elises. My opponent had frostbite spam. I saw 6 harsh winds, 4 flash freezes, 3 ashes, 2 of the minion (I forgot it's name) that frostbites the strongest enemy at the start of the turn, and I counted 2 brittle steel. It was a complete mismatch for him, he had no chance, but obviously, if I didn't have a deck that went wide cosistently it would be completely different.
Obviously, it's an issue of the current card pool - it's just not that diverse, but in the present state, that made expeditions highly unenjoyable for me.
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
How about giving demons a card that silences 1 opposing minion? It would be no more OP than mama bear or gentle megasaur since it would only affect 1 minion.
Legends of Runeterra - Expeditions Review
I agree with everything you say here. But I want to make my main focus Expeditions, and it is not possible under the current system.
We got given an Expedition token and 8,000 shards in the beta to pay for our first 3 and get to the free stuff. But the actual system going forward is play a 'Draft mode' and get mainly 'Ranked mode' rewards.
It is not possible for players to get the 12,000 shards per week, every week needed to access the 3 mandatory paid Expeditions each week. If we want to play this mode we have to pay real money pretty consistently to enter, and then we get rewards for another mode. Shame.
New quest system
I like the new quests better since they can be done more easily if you play only one class mainly.
Runeterra Accounts Will Be Reset Before it Returns - Save Those Decks!
I totally agree with you :)
Decision Making skills are way more important in LoR & MtG, but in LoR's case, you aren't forced to skip rounds because of Mana Flood/Screw.
As you said, I consider LoR as the sweet-spot between HS and MtG. So I think they will share a part of the same playerbase, outside the main HS's core, i.e. Casual-gamers.
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
You're trying to be sarcastic but you have to realize you're not that smarter than Blizzard. Amalgam strength really kicks in at tier 4 and 5 when you have the crazy buff options. So changing tier may just have a lesser impact than changing its stats (do you really want to buy a 2/2 at tier 2 in the first place???)
Moreover, like it or not, amalgam is the only unit that allows strats that are not just full mech or full beast. Remove it from the game and it will become all boring an repetitive.
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
While i agree with you, couple potential early losses due to lower stats could matter in the long run. Sometimes xou just need one more Recruit phase to get where you need to be but you have no time (=health). I guess we will see if it makes any impact. I suppose it might (only) impact heroes who already struggle in the early game tho.
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
0 mana deal 2 damage? Too OP! They should change the cost to 1.
Kappa
EDIT: Greetings, my Huffer bro!
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
Wow, make it a 2/2 and not address the obvious problem. Now instead of a 38/40 with divine shield and poisonous, it is a 36/38 with divine shield and poisonous!
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
Hero: Lich Baz'hial
Hero Power: Only deal 2 damage to yourself.
Seems OP! Can't wait! :kappa:
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
They already answered. They playtested it as a 2/2 which might come in a future patch. And yes, now I sound like them too but that's what they said.
Legends of Runeterra - Expeditions Review
I played the hell out of expeditions (musta done at least 20 runs after the initial 3 purchased ones, so 26 runs at least). Have to say I don't think I ever found Anivia to be a problem - in my opinion, if Anivia is causing issues you didn't pack enough removal. Her effect isn't even that powerful really, so long as she's not allowed to level before you can deal with her. Now, Tryndamere on the other hand - I stopped drafting Trynd after a while because it just wasn't fun anymore. A game in which Trynd hit the board was usually over (in my favour) inside two turns. People seemed to be really bad at playing against Overwhelm.
I do think Donnie's post below has some merit - the highlight of my runs was building a Poro deck which had 5x Poro Snax, 4x Iceborne Legacy, 5x the 3/3 Overwhelm Poro, and most amusingly, 4x Braum. That's right, all four of my champions were Braum. Every game was a race against the inevitable fluffy tide of monstrously growing Poro - for those unaware, when levelled up Braum summons a poro whenever he survives damage, and it's specifically the 3/3 Poro I already drafted 5 copies of with all the various deck-wide buffs.
Anyway, sorry, tangent. While Donnie's post has some merit - particularly noting that it seemed to be some champions got offered FAR more often than others, such that I only saw Yasuo offered once in 25+ runs and never saw Hecarim, yet got offered Ashe practically every run. That said, it's worth noting that LOR's card offering probably isn't complete yet. I'd expect to see Bilgewater, Shurima and the Void represented before the game hits full release (since adding Regions after-the-fact would be weird, especially given there's only a handful they could realistically add). As more Regions are added, and probably more cards are added to the current Regions too, it's reasonable to expect draft consistency to decrease accordingly.
Personally I greatly enjoyed expeditions, far more so than constructed (which was a little hit or miss for me to be honest). Looking forward to the new year when I get to play again.
Mike Donais Talks Battlegrounds - Lich Baz'hial, MMR, Blog Coming this Week
I like how the avoided the question about nerfing amalgam which is totally in the right tavern tier atm.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Update - New Heroes, Tavern Tier Touch-Ups and Future Plans
I think with what we have currently, you have to buy packs to get benefits, e.g. choosing from 3 instead of two heroes, every expansion.
New quest system
I managed to complete 3x60g quests in one go. They all included druid, so 3 quick silly games and 180g, thanks!
Battlegrounds new heroes!
Yeah, Sindragosa is how you thought, she is not perfect but great in a good player's hand. She is more like Dancin' Daryl, harder to play but rewards greatly if you know what you are doing. I liked her. I use freeze oftenly and her hero power is really useful for me.
I don't think she is as bad as someone above gave her credit for. I had won with her twice and placed on top 4 three times.
Quest Trading - Play A Friend!
Battletag: Astro#2719
Region: EU
Trade Only?: Yes, you go first
Out of Cards Reviews - Descent of Dragons Initial Reveal #4
"It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere" - Paladin Scrywalker
Best flavour text ever.
Fan Community Spotlight - Shatterstar1998's Astromancer Class
Nice one!
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Update - New Heroes, Tavern Tier Touch-Ups and Future Plans
I'm really wondering what economic model are they gonna use for the game
Pay to Play Heroes maybe?
Descent of Dragons
Just go for it.
Descent of Dragons
Oh my god yeah, there was an expansion named TGT. Almost forgot. Still the worst expansion to date.
Mike Donais Invites You to Design a New Battlegrounds Hero
Yeah, they should replace dead players' portraits with Lich Baz'hial, who's actually dead (for now) after they added the four new heroes :P
Plus, no one knows who he is, at least compared to Kel'Thuzad.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Update - New Heroes, Tavern Tier Touch-Ups and Future Plans
Perhaps Blizzard will try to address this with King Bagurgle (who, I suppose, could be something other than a Murloc, but that seems unlikely).
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Update - New Heroes, Tavern Tier Touch-Ups and Future Plans
Everyone talks crap bout Millhouse till he opens a can of whoop-ass.
Legends of Runeterra - Expeditions Review
I want to make one thing clear right off the bat - I'm not a fan of draft, so take this critiscism with a pinch of salt.
The thing that felt incredibly lackluster about this mode was the lack of diversity of the card buckets. Add to that the trade option and you find yourself in a format where it's highly consistent to tailor a deck how you would want it exactly with the only caveat in comparison to constructed decks being the ability to include more than 3 copies of any card in your deck. In my 3 runs I averaged anywhere between 4 and 6 cards that were a 5 or 6 of in my deck. There are a few problems I saw with this:
Firstly, individual card power is very disproportionate in LoR. You take a card like vile feast - playable on 2 - 2 mana 1/1 ping and awakening brood - playable on 3 - 6 mana 3 2/1's and you see how it's not even a contest. Better cards will be preffered, even synergies will struggle to keep up, when individual cards' power levels will improve your win chances when you can consistently draw and play them.
This leads to my second point. Unlike draft or in this case Arena in hearthstone, expeditions seemed completely like stat checks. In hearthstone you struggle to work with what you have, and try to respond to your opponent. In runeterra you are so specific in how you made your deck, that every game will play out the same and it will come down to the simple fact how well the opponents cards match up to yours. There is very little decision making involved.
One of my expeditions' 7th match was a very clear example of this. I had a spider token spam deck with around 5 broods, 6 crawling sensations and 4 elises. My opponent had frostbite spam. I saw 6 harsh winds, 4 flash freezes, 3 ashes, 2 of the minion (I forgot it's name) that frostbites the strongest enemy at the start of the turn, and I counted 2 brittle steel. It was a complete mismatch for him, he had no chance, but obviously, if I didn't have a deck that went wide cosistently it would be completely different.
Obviously, it's an issue of the current card pool - it's just not that diverse, but in the present state, that made expeditions highly unenjoyable for me.