Now that the new shards are released, what are your thoughts on each of the shard's balance/theme/impact on the metagame?
SoW Shard of Wisdom
SoFr Shard of Freedom
SoV Shard of Void
SoSa Shard of Sacrifice
SoI Shard of Integrity
SoSe Shard of Serendipity
SoBe Shard of Bravery
SoFo Shard of Focus
SoG Shard of Gratitude
SoD Shard of Divinity
SoR Shard of Readiness
SoP Shard of Patience
ThemeWith the exception of Shard of Focus and Shard of Sacrifice, all the shards have good thematic connections between the aligned element, effect and virtue. Focus and devouring permanents do not seem connected. Sacrifices are in a currency other than the effect produces. The Sacrifice in SoSa is more like an investment.
Shard of Wisdom requires a heavy Aether investment that is atypical for Shards. The reflection usage seems fairly balanced with its high investment cost. The evasive usage is probably slightly overpowered. The risk of it being a dead draw (the opponent has reflective shield) is not that significant and thus does not balance the evasive usage. It gives Aether another tool to evade defenses which is good for the metagame but will have little impact. The reflective defense is restricted to
so it will not be common.
Shard of Freedom is a cheaper, weaker and more versatile version of Nightfall. It probably is balanced but it has not been long enough to see how much impact it will have as an anti-stall card (bypass Shields and evade CC).
Shard of Void is a balanced nigh inevitable win condition. It will have almost no impact on the metagame other than sometimes substituting for other nigh inevitable win conditions.
Shard of Sacrifice can be countered by smart plays without changing the decklist provided it can be predicted. Even when countered, shard of sacrifice slows the opponent down. I think it still slows the opponent down too much for the cost. A quanta cost would slow down its offense as well which would be a better balance. It does do a good job of encouraging more Rush / Stall (healing) decks and discouraging pure Rush decks.
Shard of Integrity is internally well balanced (aka the combinations are balanced with each other). I have an estimate for a relation between card disadvantage and quanta costs (1:1). Shard of Integrity has a different estimate (1card:2-3quanta). I will be watching it to see if my estimate is wrong. The balance of the lower combinations will be determined quickly (1-2 months) but the maxed out versions cannot be playtested in sufficient bulk. It will be another source of randomness for the entropy players.
Shard of Serendipity might be a little bit underpowered. Due to its randomness it will not have much impact on the metagame.
Shard of Bravery seems balanced, you trade card advantage for tempo. This is beneficial for most rush decks however it speeds up the opposing deck as well. The other effect is certain deckout decks will become smaller.
Shard of Focus is still overpowered. An activation cost of 2-3
would be a sufficient fix. It will make PC much more frequent until balanced. PC will still be more frequent even after it is balanced.
As one of the older shards, Shard of Gratitude has be balanced over time. Its metagame effect of regenerating stalls is well known.
As one of the older shards, Shard of Divinity has be balanced over time. Its metagame effect in stalls is well known.
As one of the older shards, Shard of Readiness has been balanced over time. Playing multiple on the same creature in the same turn has an synergy that can be overpowered in cases like Instantosis. However this interaction could be nerfed without harming the balance of the rest of the card.
Now that Shard of Patience is a permanent it is useful for overcoming damage reduction or regeneration. It works as mass growth if enough are played at the same time (otherwise damage is lost). SoPa is useful as a counter to cards like SoSa, Hope and CC shields.