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Legends of Runeterra | Posted by | 6 years, 1 month ago
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More unclear wording

I've been running a couple of copies of Unstable Voltician in my Lux/Heimerdinger deck, and he has an unintuitive interaction with 6+ cost spells. Specifically, while his text implies he is granted bonuses at the moment he is summoned, the reality is that he is granted an aura that activates whenever you cast your first 6+ cost spell. 

Obviously this makes him a better card (play him on 5, play a 6 drop spell on 6 to buff him), so I can't really complain. However, just based on the wording, the behavior seems wrong, and the existing behavior would be entirely described by just dropping "when I'm summoned" bit.

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  • I've been running a couple of copies of Unstable Voltician in my Lux/Heimerdinger deck, and he has an unintuitive interaction with 6+ cost spells. Specifically, while his text implies he is granted bonuses at the moment he is summoned, the reality is that he is granted an aura that activates whenever you cast your first 6+ cost spell. 

    Obviously this makes him a better card (play him on 5, play a 6 drop spell on 6 to buff him), so I can't really complain. However, just based on the wording, the behavior seems wrong, and the existing behavior would be entirely described by just dropping "when I'm summoned" bit.

  • I actually think this is more likely to be a bug than wrong wording, but if this is true then something is definitely not right.

  • Yeah, if that is happening, it's definitely a bug because that is not at all what's written on the card.

    If he's working as intended, the wording is absolutely wrong, not just unclear.

  • I'm 99% sure I played him at least once in an Expedition and he entered the board with the buff intact. So at the very least, it's not like his printed card effect doesn't work. However, I guess his effect may also trigger the way meisterz described, which clearly looks like a bug.

    • Quote From BlueSpark

      I'm 99% sure I played him at least once in an Expedition and he entered the board with the buff intact. So at the very least, it's not like his printed card effect doesn't work. However, I guess his effect may also trigger the way meisterz described, which clearly looks like a bug.

      Yeah, sorry, I wasn't clear. It works fine if you've already met the "cast a 6+ cost spell" condition, it just also works if you cast the spell later in the game after he's already in play

  • Yeah, definitely a bug.

    Staff

  • Honestly: I actually like him if he intentionally is "whenever" instead of "only if before summoned".  With the latter, he feels nonviable (how often do you play a 6+ spell before Round 5?), but with the former I could see playing him early and hoping for an opportunity to enable him later.

  • I'm with Sanns: The card seems pretty underwhelming with its printed text. Letting Unstable Voltician trigger his effect after being summoned should make him more viable.

  • I completely agree - this card is far more viable with its current behavior (as opposed to its stated behavior). But I can imagine a case for why they wanted him as printed. Basically this:

    • His base stats are about average for a 5-drop follower in LoR
    • Once buffed, his stats are close to the average stats for a 7-drop, and he gains quick attack (making his the biggest quick attack follower before buffs)

    So, you could imagine that they wanted to balance Unstable Voltician such that he's playable early and strong in the late game.

    The best corollary in LoR is Enlightened cards - they're bland but playable before the trigger goes off, and then they get much better later in the game. But those notably gain their bonus while in play as well, so perhaps that comparison doesn't help clarify the intention behind this interaction.