On October 02 2015 01:50 WaveofShadow wrote: Were you around back then? Do you feel that people are going to hate this block as much as Kamigawa was apparently maligned? And I'll reiterate, while I think this set/block in particular was hyped a ridiculous amount and maybe people came off feeling a little let down by some of the cards/power in the set, I think the set itself is not 'bad.' 'Weak,' yes, but not bad.
I was around, but I was miffed enough by Mirrodin that I wasn't playing actively during the set, and was more indirectly following the goings-on through friends/second-hand knowledge.
And tbh, I think the hate for Kamigawa isn't just the low power level, but also that juxtaposed against the disproportionately high power level of certain constructed staples to come out of the set.
I like Kibler's point that nerfing Battle Rage would probably be a better idea than nerfing Warsong Commander.
Personally my favorite nerf to Dr. Boom would be to make the Boombots' targets entirely random. I know it would make him unplayable, but I think thematically it's better.
On October 02 2015 01:54 Numy wrote: Well from what I've read the set will only really start seeing more impact when the power houses like Khan's block rotates out.
Except when KTK/FRF rotate out if the cyclical-in-power nature of sets proves true, the next set after OTG will be a higher power one and have a larger impact on Standard than BFZ block.
Personally I feel like this set will have a higher impact than people give it credit for---a LOT of format staples were lost with Theros/M15 (4 sets at once rotating out is a LOT of cards). I don't know if you've already commented on this anywhere Numy but what specifically don't you like about BFZ? Is it the stuff that MB outlined?
I feel the themes they tried to do just landed up being lackluster. Allies are all kind of meh and what is or isn't an ally isn't even consistent. The lifegain theme with white/black seems tacked on there for no real reason other than they wanted more stuff. The Eldrazi exile theme feels ok but for the amount of effort you have to go to to enable them they just don't seem that strong. Overall feels like they tried to do a lot but didn't really focus on getting what they were trying right.
Also why the hell is Prism Array a card? Is it some kind of joke I don't get due to not playing long enough? I'd rather they not waste my money on jokes...
On October 02 2015 02:26 Numy wrote: I feel the themes they tried to do just landed up being lackluster. Allies are all kind of meh and what is or isn't an ally isn't even consistent. The lifegain theme with white/black seems tacked on there for no real reason other than they wanted more stuff. The Eldrazi exile theme feels ok but for the amount of effort you have to go to to enable them they just don't seem that strong. Overall feels like they tried to do a lot but didn't really focus on getting what they were trying right.
Also why the hell is Prism Array a card? Is it some kind of joke I don't get due to not playing long enough? I'd rather they not waste my money on jokes...
There are 'themes' created for every limited environment in literally every single set. Look at Origins. Is U/R thopters a thing anywhere outside of the set? Is W/B enchantments? I don't find the themes any more lacklustre than any other set in the past; I do think the themes are slightly less obviously fleshed out than they have been but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The exile thing specifically---everybody complains about this for some reason but you DON'T have to put in any amount of effort to enable them is what I've been saying. As far as trash cards are concerned, again, there is super trash in every set. Tainted Remedy, Jace's Sanctum.
Maybe I'm just not used to WotC and their super trash. I get printing cards that aren't great but the argument for super trash has always felt thin for me.
On the TGT topic I do think that TGT cards aren't all that bad in arena. There are way more viable cards that are great in arena decks that get almost no play in constructed. I think releasing a set that has very little impact right away is due to a small card pool overall, and when we're 3-4 more expansions in you never know what can end up being good. Hearthstone just needs more mechanics that can make currently unfavorable cards favorable.
On October 02 2015 03:11 Zdrastochye wrote: On the TGT topic I do think that TGT cards aren't all that bad in arena. There are way more viable cards that are great in arena decks that get almost no play in constructed. I think releasing a set that has very little impact right away is due to a small card pool overall, and when we're 3-4 more expansions in you never know what can end up being good. Hearthstone just needs more mechanics that can make currently unfavorable cards favorable.
That's not really what the discussion of TGT cards in arena was about at all.
On October 02 2015 00:58 phyvo wrote: I'm also kind of miffed that Blizzard has more or less stopped balancing cards. It's like, hey, let's take one of the greatest strengths of an electronic format and ignore it for the sake of trying to make the cards feel more real.
This, definitely.
I'm not itching for Blizzard to go around buffing cards, and I'm not itching for them to pull LoL-sized balance changes every few weeks, but I'd really love it if they weren't completely allergic to making alterations when it's obvious one card or another is utterly dominant.
I'm kind of sick of playing around Dr. Boom.
I'm sick of Thirsty Blades suddenly popping out for 40 damage.
Seriously, I'm not asking for big changes. Dr Boom at 8 mana, maybe do something to Boom Bots. Warsong Commander fix for minions over 3. Simple things.
Boom isn't overpowered by very much though, so I'm pretty ok with it just being a solid all around card that gets cut from lists because they have cards they need more instead of boom. I'm a little upset though that some of the more interesting parts of the card (summon 2 mechs, they can hit stealthed things, etc) are attached to the generalist thing, though.
Also, removing patron warrior completely is simple, you just nerf patron to 4 attack. But I don't think blizzard or most players want to remove the archetype completely, but you need to nerf it's other pieces without nerfing other warrior archetypes (control, dragon, I swear mechwarrior is a thing, etc). Battle rage sounds like a really good place to start and I've agree with that.
edit: also yes them stopping to balance cards at all is very weird to me
On October 02 2015 02:23 Lord Tolkien wrote: I am glad to see I was correct on Varian and Savage Combatant not being things.
\-0.0-/
Savage Combatant sees some play, though it isn't common.
Also totally getting in on this TGT review later when time etc.
On October 02 2015 03:11 Zdrastochye wrote: On the TGT topic I do think that TGT cards aren't all that bad in arena. There are way more viable cards that are great in arena decks that get almost no play in constructed. I think releasing a set that has very little impact right away is due to a small card pool overall, and when we're 3-4 more expansions in you never know what can end up being good. Hearthstone just needs more mechanics that can make currently unfavorable cards favorable.
That's not really what the discussion of TGT cards in arena was about at all.
It's a discussion if I mention it, isn't it? Am I allowed to stray from the initial topic? I realize nobody said TGT cards are bad in arena, but can I make the assertion that TGT was a more arena-impacting expansion rather than a constructed expansion?
He's still overpowered (even if not immensely so), and I fundamentally find him boring to play against. He's not like Sylvanas or Ragnaros or Cairne where you have different angles of attack you can take. It's basically "do I have a removal" + "how bad is my boom bot luck".
Which is sad because he crowded out a lot of those interesting cards.
On October 01 2015 21:58 jcarlsoniv wrote: Bought my Viper last night. Even with 1M CR I didn't have enough to fully outfit it comfortably, so I had to make some concessions in places. But I'm starting to figure out how it all works now. Got interdicted by a Federal Dropship and did not win that fight - I opted to buy important system stability things over weapons, so my fire power is kinda low right now.
I killed a dude and used MY FIGHT MONAYYYUU to give sidewinder missile launchers.
I have no idea if missile launchers are any good, although I do know that since they're physical ammo, you need to refill them regularly.
I got some beam lasers which tear through shield so fast, but the gimballed machine guns I got seemed to be giving me issues when fighting the Federal Dropship last night - not sure if I was doing something wrong or if the Dropship used something that prevented me from firing.
edit - actually, as I'm thinking about it more, it could be because of where the machine guns are located on my ship. This wasn't something I had to think about with the Sidewinder.
Soniv: Mostly correct. Multicannons take a moment to spin up to speed and start firing and due to the placement requires some angling. The Cobra has it worse in that regard but it's something you get used to. I'm assuming an NPC dropship and if that's the case you can always outrun the thing and get back into supercruise. The Dropship isn't a great ship but it's got a lot of guns and a hull thats as tough as it is ugly.
Ghandi: Missiles are sadly terrible. Back in beta it's my understanding missiles where super strong but currently they do next to no dmg on shield and work best against small ships whose shields are down. Admittedly they look cool and if I've got spare hardpoints I always try to fit the Pack hound missle rack for maximum macross missile style. Torpedo's also fall in this area however if you get enough of them on a shieldless ship it goes boom.
Help desk stream tonight/ also bounty giving.
Hearthstone: I think people are undervaluing the usefulness of kodorider. Then again I like cards that tend to force a response. I like a lot of the inspire cards so I guess I'm the odd man out in that regard. Fuck Dr. Boom.
On October 01 2015 21:58 jcarlsoniv wrote: Bought my Viper last night. Even with 1M CR I didn't have enough to fully outfit it comfortably, so I had to make some concessions in places. But I'm starting to figure out how it all works now. Got interdicted by a Federal Dropship and did not win that fight - I opted to buy important system stability things over weapons, so my fire power is kinda low right now.
I killed a dude and used MY FIGHT MONAYYYUU to give sidewinder missile launchers.
I have no idea if missile launchers are any good, although I do know that since they're physical ammo, you need to refill them regularly.
I got some beam lasers which tear through shield so fast, but the gimballed machine guns I got seemed to be giving me issues when fighting the Federal Dropship last night - not sure if I was doing something wrong or if the Dropship used something that prevented me from firing.
edit - actually, as I'm thinking about it more, it could be because of where the machine guns are located on my ship. This wasn't something I had to think about with the Sidewinder.
Soniv: Mostly correct. Multicannons take a moment to spin up to speed and start firing and due to the placement requires some angling. The Cobra has it worse in that regard but it's something you get used to. I'm assuming an NPC dropship and if that's the case you can always outrun the thing and get back into supercruise. The Dropship isn't a great ship but it's got a lot of guns and a hull thats as tough as it is ugly.
Yeah it was an NPC dropship from an enemy power. I did manage to escape it, but I hadn't ever fought a dropship and it was my first encounter with my Viper, so I wanted to see what I could do.
I tried Mukla's champion in totem shaman... but apart from the stickiness of the buff if my board has totem that don't get smashed, I'd simply rather play Stormwind Champion (also note that a deck running Stormwind Champion is probably bad, so bleh; or I could put a second Thunderbluff Valiant instead, now that I've opened one).