I've recently started playing Mogwai's version of the Swain+Gangplank deck and I absolutely love it. It's quite a bit different from the combo deck mentioned above, with more of a focus on Powder Kegs and spells that go well with it. Usually your Swain is levelled up in no time. He played this deck at the start of the expansion though, so it might be a bit outdated but it's definitely still fun. Here's the video highlighting the deck:
Yes, you are correct. My examples were kinda bad, i just said what came to mind on the moment. Tbh i forgot Shen was even in the game. I disagree on Tyrnda actually, before at least he was played in Warmother's Call decks and one of his strong points was the level up condition (you could use Atrocity and have him survive and get bigger or clear the board with Ruination).
Yeah you're right about Tryndamere. It's probably better to say that he is played because of his level up, but not with the purpose of actually levelling him.
I think Vi is bad, but not in the way OP said it. Vi is among the champs who their level up is secondary to their baseline versions. This is bad in my eyes, you should try to level up your champs all the time, that's one of the selling points of the game. Braum and Sejuani suffer from this as well. Their leveled up forms simply aren't worth the time and effort they require to achieve. Sure, no one will complain if Vi levels up and slowly punches the enemy nexus to death, but she's used as just a good challenger unit, not a real build around. Her whole package of drawing cards, spamming 2 cost stuff fell flat. They work better in Jinx decks! And that's the opposite of how it should be thematic wise.
I partly agree with this, because I think levelling up a champion should something that feels rewarding, but I don't think Braum and Sejuani have the same problem as Vi regarding their level ups.
Playing against a Braum, especially a buffed one, always forces you to keep his level up in mind, because he will create huge amounts of value once he reaches that point, and therefore his potential to level up is certainly impactful.
Sejuani may be really hard to level, but she also gives a huge advantage if the player manages to do it, and thereby players are still encouraged to try to level her (or prevent it when playing against her).
Vi's level up, on the other hand, isn't really in the form of "do X, then I do Y". She levels more gradually, but actually levelling her takes a lot of effort and the payoff just isn't really worth it (at least based on my experiences with her so far). Because of this and her base form already being strong enough, players are not encouraged enough to level her and instead play her as a very strong challenger unit.
I think better comparisons to Vi are Draven, Vladimir, Shen, Tryndamere, and Heimerdinger, because they are all champions that you don't play more for their base form and not because you want to level them (Although Tryndamere is a bit of an odd one regarding his level up). Draven, like Vi, is just a very solid card on his own that you don't play with the purpose of levelling him. The main difference with Vi is that he is still quite a bit easier to level and his levelled form is also much more threatening compared to his base form. Vladimir is kind of the same in that he is played for his base form effect and his levelled form just gives him a good bonus effect. The same can be said for Shen, because he is mainly played for his unique support effect. Sadly I hardly ever see Shen being played so I can't say for sure whether his level up is rewarding enough for the amount of effort it requires, but I don't think it's encouraging enough to consistently try to level him. Tryndamere, like I mentioned, is a weird one because he levels up very easily, but he is only played because he is a big dude with overwhelm that helps you finish the game, and that also happens to be difficult to deal with because he needs to be killed two times. And finally, Heimerdinger is also a champion that is almost solely played for his base effect, and his level up is just a nice bonus.
And here is where I partly disagree with the post above, because I don't think every champion should be played for the sole purpose of levelling up. However, I do think that they should at least meet one of the following requirements:
1. A unique base effect in combination with a fitting level up that is rewarding enough for the amount of effort it requires (like the examples I mentioned above)
2. A very rewarding level up that players should almost always want to achieve, which can excuse a lackluster base form (e.g. Kalista, Ezreal, Maokai, Thresh and Swain).
I think Vi certainly doesn't meet requirement 2, and I think it's debatable whether she meets requirement 1. I think I would lean more towards the opinion that her level up isn't rewarding enough for the effort it requires.
Card 1 - "Deal 1 damage to 3 random different enemies."
Card 2 - "When you cast a spell...stop all enemy spells and skills targeting me."
Apparently random = targeting. Fucking bullshit.
Yeah Make it Rain is really weird in how it interacts with other cards. When it was revealed I expected it to select its targets once the effect resolves, but instead it selects its targets immediately when its played and before the effect resolves. This makes it interact with other cards that interact with targeting effects (e.g. Ezreal and Fizz). It also gives the opponent a much better chance to respond, as they will know exactly which of their units are about to get hit.
I'm not sure if I would prefer the spell to select its targets when the effect resolves and not before, or the way it currently works. The former would give both players the same amount of knowledge to work with, but it would probably also make the card much more frustrating to play against.
I'll be sure to check this video out! I recently watched my first Mogwai video where he showcased his version of the Nautilus Deep deck and I really liked it. I have also started to watch a lot of Swim's videos lately, I really like his personality combined with his knowledge on card games (and LoR in particular). I always love watching high level players who also aren't afraid to try creative(/dumb) stuff.
It's a bug. The daily bonus amount of exp shown is wrong, but the amount you're actually getting is correct (i.e. 400 bonus exp for your first win, 200 for your second, 100 for your third).
Maybe they could make some deck recipes centered around new cards (mainly champions) and allow any player to play those for the first week(s)?
Isn't that part of what expeditions are for? At least regarding the new region. I mean, you only get 1 free token per week, so if you want to run more trials, you'll have to pay for them. But Riot purposely upped the probability of Bilgewater-based buckets to pop up for expeditions. This should give players a good chance to draft decks around the new Bilgewater champions.
Disclaimer: I haven't started an expedition on the release patch, so this is all theoretical.
Expeditions are still a very different experience than playing with a 'normal' deck. And as I already mentioned I personally just don't enjoy expeditions very much but that's my problem. Right now I would prefer being able to play prebuild decks without getting any rewards for it over playing expeditions, because the former is 1) more enjoyable for me and 2) gives me more insight into what type of deck I would like to play and which cards I would like to craft.
By the way, I'm not saying my idea is good. It's just an idea.
I know this isn't the main topic of this thread, but I think the biggest issue of not allowing/encouraging players to buy card packs when a new expansion hits is now very apparent, i.e. players who don't have many resources or who value them too much are discouraged to immediately start to play new decks. This becomes even more prevalent when combined with the fact that you need 3 copies (or at least 2) of a champion to build a deck around them. I personally have far more resources than I need to build a few new decks, but because I have no idea what I want to craft yet I am still playing pre-expansion decks or expeditions (which is not a game mode I enjoy very much). I'm not sure if many others experience it this way though.
I don't know what they could do to about this. Maybe they could make some deck recipes centered around new cards (mainly champions) and allow any player to play those for the first week(s)?
I agree, I think that they’ll keep the max though, just so that it fits in with League of Legends (since teams in that game are 6 players). However, I could definitely see them making a Game Mode in which you can play unlimited numbers of champions. (A Full Champion deck would be such a cool meme)
Would also be funny to see a whole screen covered with champion faces when you find an opponent and at the start of the game.
The change which now allows you to play units on a full board (by obliterating a unit already on it) seems HUGE. So often I would not be able to play small units for the sole reason of being unable to play more impactful units because my opponent refused to kill off my insignificant units. Now you never have to worry about not being able to play a unit which might have an effect you need to win the game. This also makes topdecking important units a lot better if you have a full board.
Story that no one will and should care about time!
In League of Legends I used to really hate the Akali rework because I kept getting destroyed by Akali mains. Then I played her in an ARAM game and I was immediately surprised by how fun and smooth her gameplay was. And after a few months of playing way too much Akali (and kinda hating myself for it because she is still Akali) I finally achieved mastery rank 7 on her this weekend. This video feels like an especially nice surprise because of that and while I highly doubt she will be the next Ionia champion, I would still love to see her being added to LoR.
I was about to say that all the champions they showcased in these videos are also the ones present on those awesome looking backgrounds in the in-game menu, and then I remembered that they showcased Braum and not Ashe... *disappointed*
I wonder if his appearance in this video means that we might see Ekko as the next P&Z champion instead of Vi or Viktor. It might also mean nothing because none of the previous Tales of Runeterra videos had anything to do with the new champion card for the respective regions, but at the same time none of them included an existing champion that isn't in LoR yet.
I think it's important to remember that levelling up Maokai doesn't only remove the opponent's deck until 4 cards are left, but it is also guaranteed to obliterate all champions in the deck. This can be gamewinning against a slow deck that is highly reliable on its champions to win, like a control Ezreal deck, and at the same time levelling up Maokai should be easiest against those types of decks.
Besides being quite sure we're going to see a particularly famous tree in card-form soon, I gotta say they (SixMoreVodka if I'm not mistaken) once again provided us with some fantastic artwork for these cards.
So I just played a game where I levelled my Heimerdinger by creating two copies of one of my turrets using Dawn and Dusk. However, I think because my Heimerdinger levelled up before triggering his effect (i.e. creating a turret in hand), he did not create a turret after the spell was resolved. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?
I believe the blocking image doesn't show up in front of a unit with overwhelm, because the overwhelm unit will deal full damage to the nexus anyway so it would serve no purpose to show a "blocking" image.
I think Swain is very likely to be in the next expansion, because a lot of cards come with quotes by a certain Jericho Swain. I think he's a very cool champion in LoL so I'm pretty excited to see what they will do with him in LoR. I'm looking forward to see Nocturne and Viktor as well if they are also included in the upcoming expansion.
Scout is... worrisome. Maybe they have a small number of units so it won't be a problem, but I hope they add some way of summoning a unit to your opponent's side during battle to one of the regions, to counter it.
Doesn't seem that worrisome to me. It looks like mainly understatted 3+ mana units have the keyword, so it can't really be abused in the early turns and the opponent can just block scouting units with their large units so that they survive and can block again afterwards. Although scout can of course be used to bait out some reactive spells.
I've recently started playing Mogwai's version of the Swain+Gangplank deck and I absolutely love it. It's quite a bit different from the combo deck mentioned above, with more of a focus on Powder Kegs and spells that go well with it. Usually your Swain is levelled up in no time. He played this deck at the start of the expansion though, so it might be a bit outdated but it's definitely still fun. Here's the video highlighting the deck:
Yeah you're right about Tryndamere. It's probably better to say that he is played because of his level up, but not with the purpose of actually levelling him.
I partly agree with this, because I think levelling up a champion should something that feels rewarding, but I don't think Braum and Sejuani have the same problem as Vi regarding their level ups.
Playing against a Braum, especially a buffed one, always forces you to keep his level up in mind, because he will create huge amounts of value once he reaches that point, and therefore his potential to level up is certainly impactful.
Sejuani may be really hard to level, but she also gives a huge advantage if the player manages to do it, and thereby players are still encouraged to try to level her (or prevent it when playing against her).
Vi's level up, on the other hand, isn't really in the form of "do X, then I do Y". She levels more gradually, but actually levelling her takes a lot of effort and the payoff just isn't really worth it (at least based on my experiences with her so far). Because of this and her base form already being strong enough, players are not encouraged enough to level her and instead play her as a very strong challenger unit.
I think better comparisons to Vi are Draven, Vladimir, Shen, Tryndamere, and Heimerdinger, because they are all champions that you don't play more for their base form and not because you want to level them (Although Tryndamere is a bit of an odd one regarding his level up). Draven, like Vi, is just a very solid card on his own that you don't play with the purpose of levelling him. The main difference with Vi is that he is still quite a bit easier to level and his levelled form is also much more threatening compared to his base form. Vladimir is kind of the same in that he is played for his base form effect and his levelled form just gives him a good bonus effect. The same can be said for Shen, because he is mainly played for his unique support effect. Sadly I hardly ever see Shen being played so I can't say for sure whether his level up is rewarding enough for the amount of effort it requires, but I don't think it's encouraging enough to consistently try to level him. Tryndamere, like I mentioned, is a weird one because he levels up very easily, but he is only played because he is a big dude with overwhelm that helps you finish the game, and that also happens to be difficult to deal with because he needs to be killed two times. And finally, Heimerdinger is also a champion that is almost solely played for his base effect, and his level up is just a nice bonus.
And here is where I partly disagree with the post above, because I don't think every champion should be played for the sole purpose of levelling up. However, I do think that they should at least meet one of the following requirements:
1. A unique base effect in combination with a fitting level up that is rewarding enough for the amount of effort it requires (like the examples I mentioned above)
2. A very rewarding level up that players should almost always want to achieve, which can excuse a lackluster base form (e.g. Kalista, Ezreal, Maokai, Thresh and Swain).
I think Vi certainly doesn't meet requirement 2, and I think it's debatable whether she meets requirement 1. I think I would lean more towards the opinion that her level up isn't rewarding enough for the effort it requires.
Yeah Make it Rain is really weird in how it interacts with other cards. When it was revealed I expected it to select its targets once the effect resolves, but instead it selects its targets immediately when its played and before the effect resolves. This makes it interact with other cards that interact with targeting effects (e.g. Ezreal and Fizz). It also gives the opponent a much better chance to respond, as they will know exactly which of their units are about to get hit.
I'm not sure if I would prefer the spell to select its targets when the effect resolves and not before, or the way it currently works. The former would give both players the same amount of knowledge to work with, but it would probably also make the card much more frustrating to play against.
I'll be sure to check this video out! I recently watched my first Mogwai video where he showcased his version of the Nautilus Deep deck and I really liked it. I have also started to watch a lot of Swim's videos lately, I really like his personality combined with his knowledge on card games (and LoR in particular). I always love watching high level players who also aren't afraid to try creative(/dumb) stuff.
It's a bug. The daily bonus amount of exp shown is wrong, but the amount you're actually getting is correct (i.e. 400 bonus exp for your first win, 200 for your second, 100 for your third).
Expeditions are still a very different experience than playing with a 'normal' deck. And as I already mentioned I personally just don't enjoy expeditions very much but that's my problem. Right now I would prefer being able to play prebuild decks without getting any rewards for it over playing expeditions, because the former is 1) more enjoyable for me and 2) gives me more insight into what type of deck I would like to play and which cards I would like to craft.
By the way, I'm not saying my idea is good. It's just an idea.
I know this isn't the main topic of this thread, but I think the biggest issue of not allowing/encouraging players to buy card packs when a new expansion hits is now very apparent, i.e. players who don't have many resources or who value them too much are discouraged to immediately start to play new decks. This becomes even more prevalent when combined with the fact that you need 3 copies (or at least 2) of a champion to build a deck around them. I personally have far more resources than I need to build a few new decks, but because I have no idea what I want to craft yet I am still playing pre-expansion decks or expeditions (which is not a game mode I enjoy very much). I'm not sure if many others experience it this way though.
I don't know what they could do to about this. Maybe they could make some deck recipes centered around new cards (mainly champions) and allow any player to play those for the first week(s)?
Would also be funny to see a whole screen covered with champion faces when you find an opponent and at the start of the game.
The change which now allows you to play units on a full board (by obliterating a unit already on it) seems HUGE. So often I would not be able to play small units for the sole reason of being unable to play more impactful units because my opponent refused to kill off my insignificant units. Now you never have to worry about not being able to play a unit which might have an effect you need to win the game. This also makes topdecking important units a lot better if you have a full board.
I love how in his levelled up art, instead of being surrounded by his crew he is surrounded by barrels. Obviously one is superior to the other.
Story that no one will and should care about time!
In League of Legends I used to really hate the Akali rework because I kept getting destroyed by Akali mains. Then I played her in an ARAM game and I was immediately surprised by how fun and smooth her gameplay was. And after a few months of playing way too much Akali (and kinda hating myself for it because she is still Akali) I finally achieved mastery rank 7 on her this weekend. This video feels like an especially nice surprise because of that and while I highly doubt she will be the next Ionia champion, I would still love to see her being added to LoR.
I was about to say that all the champions they showcased in these videos are also the ones present on those awesome looking backgrounds in the in-game menu, and then I remembered that they showcased Braum and not Ashe... *disappointed*
I wonder if his appearance in this video means that we might see Ekko as the next P&Z champion instead of Vi or Viktor. It might also mean nothing because none of the previous Tales of Runeterra videos had anything to do with the new champion card for the respective regions, but at the same time none of them included an existing champion that isn't in LoR yet.
I think it's important to remember that levelling up Maokai doesn't only remove the opponent's deck until 4 cards are left, but it is also guaranteed to obliterate all champions in the deck. This can be gamewinning against a slow deck that is highly reliable on its champions to win, like a control Ezreal deck, and at the same time levelling up Maokai should be easiest against those types of decks.
Besides being quite sure we're going to see a particularly famous tree in card-form soon, I gotta say they (SixMoreVodka if I'm not mistaken) once again provided us with some fantastic artwork for these cards.
So I just played a game where I levelled my Heimerdinger by creating two copies of one of my turrets using Dawn and Dusk. However, I think because my Heimerdinger levelled up before triggering his effect (i.e. creating a turret in hand), he did not create a turret after the spell was resolved. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?
I believe the blocking image doesn't show up in front of a unit with overwhelm, because the overwhelm unit will deal full damage to the nexus anyway so it would serve no purpose to show a "blocking" image.
I think Swain is very likely to be in the next expansion, because a lot of cards come with quotes by a certain Jericho Swain. I think he's a very cool champion in LoL so I'm pretty excited to see what they will do with him in LoR. I'm looking forward to see Nocturne and Viktor as well if they are also included in the upcoming expansion.
Doesn't seem that worrisome to me. It looks like mainly understatted 3+ mana units have the keyword, so it can't really be abused in the early turns and the opponent can just block scouting units with their large units so that they survive and can block again afterwards. Although scout can of course be used to bait out some reactive spells.