Card costs and game balance are not really a matter of opinion because we are talking about mathematics. If someone says that in their opinion Otyugh is not overpowered, then sure it's their opinion. But his opinion does not change the fact that when compared to other (same cost) cards in the game, Otyugh is potentially much more powerful, therefore the card is overpowered.
We're talking about whether future mono cards could help only mono decks or if they would help rainbow decks as well. That's a talk about balance, about the power of a card, whether it's balanced, underpowered, or overpowered. At some point, that talk is opinion, not fact.
You just backed up my argument about that by stating that talking about overpowered cards is based on opinion.
But I would agree that at some point: a card with no unique ability compared to other cards, would be a matter of mathematics as you describe it.
Sure rainbow decks can in some cases effectively play cards with 10+ cost but they cannot play those cards early in the game and THAT is the difference because mono-deck can play them early in the game!
Hmm, really? Let's see. I have to call BS on that one.
If I have my starting hand as 5 Super Novas, 1 Quantum Tower, and a creature with a cost of 10, I could play that creature on the first turn if I was lucky with the Quantum Tower and it gave me at least 2 Entropy quanta when I played it. And that still leaves 1 free card drawn if I didn't go first. Of course the chances of that happening are rare, but it's still possible. And even without this rare situation, it's certainly possible to get that 10 cost creature out in the first few turns. That's the problem with Elements: it can be very unbalanced. But that's also what makes it interesting.
You sure about that? I personally would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever take Anubis in my rainbow deck if it cost 12 quantum. Never. I find even 8 quantums to be too much because I need that Time quantum for Hourglasses and maybe Eternity.
Yup. Why? It's the only card that can make itself other creatures immortal. Without it, we're taking chances or dooming our creatures if the opponent has ways to do damage, devour, mutate, lobotomize, or congeal them. I would still run it in my Rainbow deck because it's an end-game lock game. Once I get it down and can make it immortal, I can make anything else I play immortal (1 played creature per turn, 1 ability per turn from the Annubis). And if I run Parallel Universe in my deck with it? Easy, drop the first creature to duplicate, use Parallel Universe on it, make any of the two immortal with Annubis, then bounce the second one back with an Eternity.
20 quantum card questionable?! How about "never in a million years"?
You exaggerate... we're talking possibilities here. A Rainbow deck can play a 20 quanta card without breaking a sweat. Under ideal conditions, that card could be played in a few turns. Under more average conditions, it would be end game after 8 or more Quantum Pillars/Towers are out, along with a few Nova/Super Novas. And nothing is stopping a Rainbow deck from using Quantum Towers with other mono towers to get out expensive cards of a specific color even faster. Let's say one of your "Hero" fantasy cards that costs 20 quanta (from this thread (
http://elementstheforum.smfforfree3.com/index.php/topic,444.0.html)) were actually created in Elements. Specifically "The Clockmaker" or "The Joker". Those would be incredibly power cards for end-match in many Rainbow decks. I could picture an Entrophy mark deck with Super Novas and Quantum Towers casting "The Joker" once without having to mess around with Fallen Druids. And "The Clockmaker" could easily be used in a Time mark Rainbow deck for end-match to lock-up a game. Just add several Time Towers and an Enternity in that deck and you have a lock or extremely slowed down opponent many times over.
Right now most rainbow decks have 2-3 Otyughs simply because it's one of the most powerful cards in the game and getting one on the table early is a huge advantage.
In your example, you only took 1 Otyugh because of increased cost. You don't see the MASSIVE difference between the effectiveness of a rainbow deck if you go from 2-3 Otyughs to only one?
That ranges from 1-6, and you can't really say most had 2-3, but that's besides the point. It all depends upon your opponent. I can win against many false god decks without any Otyughs, though it's obviously not as easy. It's much more crucial in PvP. But I've also seen Rainbow Scarab decks in place of Otyughs that do pretty well.
As for 1 vs. 2-3 Otyughs if they cost more, it obviously makes a difference, but in all honest, you only need 1. Did you forget about Parallel Universe and being able to mutate creatures to have the devour ability?
Like you said "10 quanta near the end of a match isn't that big of a deal for Rainbow decks", but with Otyugh, you really need to get him to the table as soon as possible. Otherwise you have no creature control and any mono-speed deck will easily destroy you..
Agian, it depends on what you're using your Rainbow deck for. With Sun Dials and some shields, it's easy enough to lock up an opponent (AI or PvP) until you can trigger your combos. Of course that's not true against every type of deck. That can vary. But even if you have multiple Otyughs in your deck, there's always the chance of having them wind up at the bottom of your deck. And even then, it's still possible to win if you have some control.
In conclusion:
With high cost cards, mono-decks have the advantage because they can play those cards early in the game while rainbow deck cannot.
Wrong. As I've demonstrated with my 5 Super Nova, 1 Quantum Tower, and 1 high cost card, it's possible to get those out early in Rainbow decks too. The only advantage is luck of the draw here and averages. Sure, on average, a mono deck is going to be able to play expensive cards sooner. But it's not about averages, it's about possibilities, especially if that expensive mono card is powerful enough for Rainbow decks to have a strong desire to adopt (ie: some of your proposed "Hero" cards).
