During today's dev stream, Rhino Games announced that it will be giving away the Core Set for free! That's 421 unique cards, 99 of them Mythic. Here's how it'll work:

  • The free Core Set fun begins next week.
  • Each faction will be unlocked by a unique code.
  • The codes will be given out by different news outlets.
  • We will have all the codes available on Out of Cards so you don't have to look around the internet for them.
  • We do not know if or when these codes expire, so activate them ASAP!

During the stream, there were also more details about the competitive scene. You can find out more in our dedicated live recap article.

Today's Patch Notes

Shortly before the stream began, the devs also patched the game. 

First up, we have a full view of how the Valentine's Day event works:

  • Players begin play with a Doki-Doki-Momo brand, which can be used to purchase gifts (a set of six unique items created especially for this event) for their partner
  • Complete all six Valentine’s Day quests to get 5 exclusive card materials and a trim
  • Runs until March 1st, 2021

Speaking of which, we also got two new cards revealed for it:

The patch also brings the balance changes we covered a few days ago, disables unmaking cards while the free giveaway happens, adds some new cosmetics to the shop, and fixes a number of bugs.

Quote From Rhino Games

The winners are in!! [simply ignore the fact that the poll did not officially end, this is fine] Very excited to be showcasing Roman and Jules for you all. They're just the cutest! Tomorrow we have 2 more cards to reveal before Valentine's Day. Lots of exciting things happening!

Quote From Rhino Games

Patch 0.20.0.8 brings with it the Valentine’s Day event, a new Chillie Saunders card back, some minor balance tweaks, completed Winter War menu backgrounds, and a decent number of bug fixes to boot.

Features & Bug Fixes

  • Valentine’s Day 2v2 event

    • Players begin play with a Doki-Doki-Momo brand, which can be used to purchase gifts (a set of six unique items created especially for this event) for their partner

    • Complete all six Valentine’s Day quests to get 5 exclusive card materials and a trim

    • Runs until March 1st, 2021

  • New Candy Hearts board

  • Chillie Saunders limited edition card material

    • Available until April 1st 2021

  • All six Winter War faction menu backgrounds are now in game

  • We are temporarily turning off unmaking cards below the deck rarity limit while the Core Set giveaway promotion is running (see our Feb 12 blog!)

  • Fixed tournament invites sticking around after declining them

  • Fixed a bug where the PvP games could get into a bad state when hit by an initial burst of lag

  • Fixed a bug that cause the client to disconnect when attempting to save a deck with a non-English name

  • Fixed a bug which could prevent some games from reloading or being replayed or spectated

  • Fixed a bug which could prevent specials from being updated properly

  • Fixed AI getting stuck during a Hand of Sa’d demise

  • Browsing Vendomomo no longer blocks your ally from playing in 2v2

  • Fixed Arctic Pyre not granting its forged buff when played under existing minions

  • The AI should grant Fragile to its minions less from Arctic Pyre

  • Fixed Valr Smith forcing you to pick a minion to buff

  • Fixed Death Maidens Eye not triggering the turn after it just triggered a minion

  • Fixed tooltip incorrect stats for Tree of Life in tooltip for Turn of Seasons

  • Fixed purchasing items in Vendomomo and picking cards from Xerxian Agitator, Xerxian Insurrectionist, Khyber Qomandan triggering The Stretcher

  • Fixed Elemental Fortification buff not falling off if the minion moves off the enchantment

  • Fixed a bug with Backalley Ronin not getting its bonus in cases where Overrun damage is offset by opponent Lifetap

  • Fixed a bug with Whitemoon Arena and Nazca Memorial bonuses being doubled when the occupying minion is transformed

Known Issues

  • Guilds are NYI

  • Alliance Command Center can load while having a missing texture.

Cards/Tuning

Bol’shoy Constructor, Grit Instructor, Magpyre Commando, and Thunderbird Egg made between Jan 25th, 2021 and this patch release can be unmade at full price.

Triforge Trooper (created by Alliance Command Center)

  • 2/1 → 1/2

Alliance Command Center was a clearly dominant path in terms of winrate, and was often a preference for aggro decks. Toning down the trooper a bit should help here.

Bol’shoy Constructor

  • Durability 8 → 6

Just a slight touch to head off a potential issue we foresee with this card. The lessened durability should give opponents a bit more opportunity to respond to the impending ramp.

Grit Instructor

  • 1/4 → 1/3

Grit Instructor emerged as a very potent early drop in the Winter War environment. Lowering its health a tad should make it a bit more healthy.

Head of the Family

  • 2/8 → 3/8

There’s no clear Outlaw deck as such given the lack of support in the existing card set, so a top-end card in that tribe doesn’t have much of a place. We don’t expect this slight buff to Head of the Family to change that, but at least decks that experiment will be ever so slightly less disadvantaged.

Lady in the Water

  • Gets +1/+1 when another Serpent is created or destroyed. → +2/+2

Like Head of the Family, Lady in the Water was clearly not a strong card, and there’s a distinct lack of Serpent support anyway.

Magpyre Commando

  • Focused 1

Aztlan aggro emerged from the Winter War a fair bit stronger than before. Rolling back the buff we gave this card prior to the new expansion should slightly decrease the early damage potential this cheap minion presents.

Mimir Reborn

  • 2/6 → +3/+6

  • 2(e) You are branded with…  → 1(e)

This really interesting card from the Winter War set had a criminally low winrate. The big change here is letting you use its 2nd activated ability more frequently.

More than Protest

  • Persist 3 → 4

This slight buff will almost certainly not push this card into constructed viability, but should make it ever so slightly less forgettable than it was before.

Saltwater Empousa

  • 3/3 → 3/5

Like Mimir Reborn, Saltwater Empousa is one of the most unique cards from the Winter War set, and we’d like to have it see some play. Its lack of survivability is the obvious first thing to address when buffing it.

Thunderbird Ascendant (created by Thunderbird Egg)

  • Awaken…: Deal 4 damage to the minion in the opposite lane and 3 damage to your opponent → Deal 3 damage / and 2 damage

Thunderbird Ascendant was one of the key components to a very strong Aztlan aggro shell after the Winter War release, and toning down its damage potential is clearly warranted.

War Documentarian

  • 1/3 → 1/4

  • 1(e) → 2(e)

We wanted to push this card into seeing more play. The double-buff is probably a bit overdone, but we’ll see how it goes.