Not putting sold minions back in the pool would create a heavy 'first came first served problem' where who was offered key minions first would likely win the whole thing leaving no comeback mechanic.
Isn't this what happens now with later game cards like Mama Bear, Junkbot, and Soul Juggler? I agree maybe that when players are killed their cards should go back, but the big comeback cards are never being sold. The sold cards are buffs and early minions, and the early minions really dilute the late-game pool when they go back in.
That's exactly what happens. When a player is killed their minions are added back to the minion pool for all to draft. When a minion is sold it goes back as well. I assume upgraded units going back will break it up into three normal units.
If it wasn't first come served (more or less: you still have to find the key minions), there wouldn't be much point in rushing early tavern tiers. The benefit isn't just first pickings, it's denying your opponents those crucial high tier minions from their lineup.
Again, yes and no. Yes, rushing high tier taverns is a sound strategy to get to those minions first, since you are more likely to have them offered. And yes, buying them up in the late game, so your opponent cant have them is also a valid strategy.
That being said, the fact that minions from dead players and sold minions go back to the pool gives players in mid>late game a chance to beat the guy who got to the carries first. You shouldnt be able to win solely based on if you got lucky that you got certain minions offered first. More variables should be important in the end, and they are, which is good.
Also, technically, you can still get any minion from combining a 3-of-a-kind via the rewarded discover spell or via Shifter Zerus. Mike Donais said that this is the only way to produce grater number of a specific minion than there is in the minion pool. Not an easy thing to do, especially in the late game, but there is no 100% gurantee to lock your opponent out of any one minion. But obviously, this way it would take a lot of luck to get a specific outcome, so buying them up is still a good enough tactic to try to mitigate the probability of enemy picking up a minion you dont want them to have.
Not putting sold minions back in the pool would create a heavy 'first came first served problem' where who was offered key minions first would likely win the whole thing leaving no comeback mechanic.
Isn't this what happens now with later game cards like Mama Bear, Junkbot, and Soul Juggler? I agree maybe that when players are killed their cards should go back, but the big comeback cards are never being sold. The sold cards are buffs and early minions, and the early minions really dilute the late-game pool when they go back in.
Yes and no. Obviously Tier 6 minions are the fringe cases, but even just stuff like Hyenas, Junkbot or Amalgams count, or buff minions like Mechaltooth. Imagine once someone bought it, it would never be available again.
I mean it would be an interesting environment and im absolutely not against trying it out, but in the end, i dont think it would work very well.
Not putting sold minions back in the pool would create a heavy 'first came first served problem' where who was offered key minions first would likely win the whole thing leaving no comeback mechanic.
The issue with adding cards/units to a game like this is that it dilutes the pool, making it harder to upgrade your units. It's not an insurmountable problem, for example DotA underlords has a really clever mechanic where they stick a couple of units in "jail" every day, which means that the meta changes daily, depending on what units/combos are available. If/when they do add more cards to the game, I expect something similar to be implemented along with it to make sure players still have a reasonable chance to combine triples.
They could just make it so that when you have two same minions, your chances to get a third one are higher. There would have to be some balance beind that, to not be guaranteed to cheese it, but i there could be rather easy solution for this particular issue.
Very interesting Hero Powers. I think Brann will end up being the strongest of the four, cycling Battlecries will now buff your minions even more. Elise might be close second; or even outperform him on average, since she will have much lower skill cap, giving you a lot of early>mid game tempo. You will not sacrifice basically any tempo for upgrading your Tavern and you can even get dibs on the key minions from higher tiers very fast this way. Finley and Sindragosa will end up being good, but maybe hard to play, at least at first.
Let me start with my latest run, i had to beat the final boss three times! It was nerve wracking, but also super amazing! What are your special moments?
Oh yeah, i saw Mike's responce on reddit yesterday, we have it mentioned in our newest article. But thanks for going back to this, love the dedication! ;-
I was actually excited about Battlegrounds, but having played it for a day I must agree with other players. Here is a quote I made in another thread in response to it:
So, having played early access battlegrounds, I wanted to share my thoughts. While overall a fun mode, there isn't enough dimensions to keep most players entrained past initial week in my opinion. Already in 1 day of playing I started seeing the same end-game patterns over and over. The main end-game strategies are very repetitive (I really hope the complexity of this mode increases to keep it enjoyable long-term):
1. Go all in on beasts: Get Mama Bear and beasts that spawn more beasts (i.e. Rat Pack) and a cleaver or 2 (Cave Hydra)
2: Go all in on mechs: Get Junkbot and mechs that spawn more mechs (magnetize them) and a cleaver or 2 (Foe Reaper 4000), sound familiar?
3: Go all in on demons: Get Wrathweaver and rotate a bunch of demons between rounds to buff him, eventually get Annihilan Battlemaster with ~200 health (optionally get Malganis temporarily so Wrathweaver stops hurting you)
4: Go all in on murlocs: Try to discover poison + divine shield from Gentle Megasaur for every minion on board, or give it manually to your murlocs through other battlecries.
Oh, and of course, regardless of which of the only 4 endgame strategies you pick, buff/max out your Nightmare Amalgam, giving it a ton of health, poison, divine shield, etc. and magnetizing anything you come in contact with.
In my opinion, the Co-Op mode (2 players fighting a rogue minion, similar to some Brawls - but more variety and ability to use the entire card sample space) would have been a more interesting addition. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying the mode, but I doubt I still will a week from now.
I disagree slightly. Due to RNG in re-rolls, going all in on a specific tribe is risky. When it works (which it usually does for at least 1/8 players), it is hard to beat, which is why you usually see one of the strategies you mentioned in the finals of the round. But more often, you can't roll the pieces you need and then it fails hard. The best strategy for always having a decent (top-four) finish is to mix tribes and strategically use buffs and selling minions to create a solid board. That strategy is pretty fun, because its always a little different and requires many tough choices.
I have noticed one disturbing trend though---which is that my finishing position, no matter what strategy I use, is usually wholly dependent on how many Nightmare Amalgams I'm offered in the game. If I get offered 1 or none, I'm almost always finishing at the bottom. If I get offered 4-5, I almost always finish at the top. I've started tracking (will post results after 50 runs or so) but so far after tracking for 10 runs its worked out exactly as I thought: More amalgams always equals better finish.
If that ends up true, it reduces the mode to rolling for 1 card, which is pretty terrible design.
Yes, Amalgam is probably the overall single best minion, especially since its so low tier, you can start buffing it early and whats more, you can put Poisonous on it.
That being said, it is by no means "if i dont get amalgam, i cant win". Yes, it improves your chances, but it does not make or break the run in on itself.
Nether Portal is interesting. While it would be largely unplayable, it could allow for some strategy to rush one or two tiers on your tarvern while this would produce minions/gold for you. Tier 4 might be too late tho.
Some ppl might not like that they are "stealing" ideas from other CCGs, but i for one like to see them incorporate all the best ideas and make a great game. Woot woot!
I dont think it is, its just RNG. For example, when Dual Arena hit, i wanted to play Rogue, and i was offered Rogue only after 12th draft, and mind you that i didnt get it offered till then on 1st nor 2nd round of picks. But it was just "bad luck". Happens all the time.
I dont think it is, its just RNG. For example, when Dual Arena hit, i wanted to play Rogue, and i was offered Rogue only after 12th draft, and mind you that i didnt get it offered till then on 1st nor 2nd round of picks. But it was just "bad luck". Happens all the time.
Hm, interesting. I wonder how does it work when a player gets knocked out, do their minions free up for the ones still in the game? I think this would all be excellent questions to ask Blizzard, so we know how this works. Cause if it really works as you say, that would change how you approach the win condition quite a lot, if you knew you couldnt get a certain carry you're looking for
"Descent of Dragons Art" section in the Press Kit is what ur searching for. Im using the DW art right now. It looks sick! Might switch to the the Rafaam riding a dragon, also amazing.
Is that really how this works? I thought the pool was shared in a sense everyone pick from the selection of same minions not from whatever is left.
To be honest it doesnt even make sence it should work as you say, that would mean that whoever gets to higher tier tavern first gets first pickings and 8th player might have his options very limited. That wouldnt be a very fair or healthy model.
I havent get to play it myself yet but this is a first time i hear shared pool works like this.
Again, yes and no. Yes, rushing high tier taverns is a sound strategy to get to those minions first, since you are more likely to have them offered. And yes, buying them up in the late game, so your opponent cant have them is also a valid strategy.
That being said, the fact that minions from dead players and sold minions go back to the pool gives players in mid>late game a chance to beat the guy who got to the carries first. You shouldnt be able to win solely based on if you got lucky that you got certain minions offered first. More variables should be important in the end, and they are, which is good.
Also, technically, you can still get any minion from combining a 3-of-a-kind via the rewarded discover spell or via Shifter Zerus. Mike Donais said that this is the only way to produce grater number of a specific minion than there is in the minion pool. Not an easy thing to do, especially in the late game, but there is no 100% gurantee to lock your opponent out of any one minion. But obviously, this way it would take a lot of luck to get a specific outcome, so buying them up is still a good enough tactic to try to mitigate the probability of enemy picking up a minion you dont want them to have.
bbcodes for Runeterra decks working now! :)
I lol'ed hard :D You got me this time :D
Yes and no. Obviously Tier 6 minions are the fringe cases, but even just stuff like Hyenas, Junkbot or Amalgams count, or buff minions like Mechaltooth. Imagine once someone bought it, it would never be available again.
I mean it would be an interesting environment and im absolutely not against trying it out, but in the end, i dont think it would work very well.
Not putting sold minions back in the pool would create a heavy 'first came first served problem' where who was offered key minions first would likely win the whole thing leaving no comeback mechanic.
They could just make it so that when you have two same minions, your chances to get a third one are higher. There would have to be some balance beind that, to not be guaranteed to cheese it, but i there could be rather easy solution for this particular issue.
Very interesting Hero Powers. I think Brann will end up being the strongest of the four, cycling Battlecries will now buff your minions even more. Elise might be close second; or even outperform him on average, since she will have much lower skill cap, giving you a lot of early>mid game tempo. You will not sacrifice basically any tempo for upgrading your Tavern and you can even get dibs on the key minions from higher tiers very fast this way. Finley and Sindragosa will end up being good, but maybe hard to play, at least at first.
Let me start with my latest run, i had to beat the final boss three times! It was nerve wracking, but also super amazing! What are your special moments?
I didnt expect to like it, but i did!
Oh yeah, i saw Mike's responce on reddit yesterday, we have it mentioned in our newest article. But thanks for going back to this, love the dedication! ;-
Yes, Amalgam is probably the overall single best minion, especially since its so low tier, you can start buffing it early and whats more, you can put Poisonous on it.
That being said, it is by no means "if i dont get amalgam, i cant win". Yes, it improves your chances, but it does not make or break the run in on itself.
Slamma Jamma needs to be like Tier 7 :D
Nether Portal is interesting. While it would be largely unplayable, it could allow for some strategy to rush one or two tiers on your tarvern while this would produce minions/gold for you. Tier 4 might be too late tho.
Some ppl might not like that they are "stealing" ideas from other CCGs, but i for one like to see them incorporate all the best ideas and make a great game. Woot woot!
Testing.
Yup.
I dont think it is, its just RNG. For example, when Dual Arena hit, i wanted to play Rogue, and i was offered Rogue only after 12th draft, and mind you that i didnt get it offered till then on 1st nor 2nd round of picks. But it was just "bad luck". Happens all the time.
Hm, interesting. I wonder how does it work when a player gets knocked out, do their minions free up for the ones still in the game? I think this would all be excellent questions to ask Blizzard, so we know how this works. Cause if it really works as you say, that would change how you approach the win condition quite a lot, if you knew you couldnt get a certain carry you're looking for
"Descent of Dragons Art" section in the Press Kit is what ur searching for. Im using the DW art right now. It looks sick! Might switch to the the Rafaam riding a dragon, also amazing.
Is that really how this works? I thought the pool was shared in a sense everyone pick from the selection of same minions not from whatever is left.
To be honest it doesnt even make sence it should work as you say, that would mean that whoever gets to higher tier tavern first gets first pickings and 8th player might have his options very limited. That wouldnt be a very fair or healthy model.
I havent get to play it myself yet but this is a first time i hear shared pool works like this.
Cant wait to play it!