Ask the Idea Guru

[Jenkar]

Now that the new shards are released, what are your thoughts on each of the shard's balance/theme/impact on the metagame?

[OldTrees]

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
Theme
With 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.

[Mithcairion]

Does the passive skill "airborne" add to the cost of creatures at all?  I admit to not scouring every resource and my overriding laziness at this moment in time.

[OldTrees]

Does the passive skill "airborne" add to the cost of creatures at all?  I admit to not scouring every resource and my overriding laziness at this moment in time.

The value of Airborne will increase as more cards are added. Currently it adds somewhere between 0 and 1. However costs are then rounded down. Multiple abilities worth between 0 and 1 each would accumulate a cost (Airborne + Poisonous = +1 cost).

[waterzx]

Would you comment on this card ?

  Moondial | Nightdial
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,38993.0.html

And, what is your thoughts on introducing a card that affect airborne creatures negatively ?

[OldTrees]

Would you comment on this card ?

  Moondial | Nightdial
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,38993.0.html

And, what is your thoughts on introducing a card that affect airborne creatures negatively ?

Last 3 turns. When expires, all creatures receive damage equal to their maximum health minus 1
Notes:
1) Does not target
2) Does anywhere between 0 and 498 damage to each creature
3) The effect is delayed 3 turns
4) The opponent will not play creatures for 3 turns

This does a fair amount of damage per creature on average.
See creature hp distribution here -> http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,20857.0.html
The delay and preventing creatures from being played roughly cancel each other out.
With Thunderstorm (or played twice) it will kill all creatures.

I would consider it worth about as much as Firestorm


PS: The web ability affects airborne creatures negatively. It is fair game for cards.

[waterzx]

I would consider it worth about as much as Firestorm

Does the cost include the delay turns ? Or you are suggesting a playing cost of 5  ? (for upped version, I guess ? )

Moondial can be countered by various strategy (either rush faster or stall for 3 turns) and various PC, besides you always need at least one more card to kill creatures, do these help lower the cost ?

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By negative effect on Airborne, I mean something like airborne creatures delay one turn or take damage. Will such kind  of cards affect the game in a harmful way ?

[OldTrees]

I would consider it worth about as much as Firestorm

Does the cost include the delay turns ? Or you are suggesting a playing cost of 5  ? (for upped version, I guess ? )

Moondial can be countered by various strategy (either rush faster or stall for 3 turns) and various PC, besides you always need at least one more card to kill creatures, do these help lower the cost ?

=====

By negative effect on Airborne, I mean something like airborne creatures delay one turn or take damage. Will such kind  of cards affect the game in a harmful way ?

7 |5 is a good starting estimate. However you should double check by calculating the average damage per creature and comparing it to Firestorm. I made the 7|5 estimate with the assumption (crude estimate) that the average damage was around 4.5.

====

I do not think that cards that have an increased negative effect on airborne creatures would be harmful (aka not useless against decks full of walkers). Be careful that you don't buff Wings too much though.

[waterzx]

7 |5 is a good starting estimate. However you should double check by calculating the average damage per creature and comparing it to Firestorm. I made the 7|5 estimate with the assumption (crude estimate) that the average damage was around 4.5.

Then assume the average damage is 4.5, is that extra 1.5 damage really worth the cost of 3 turns delay + prone to PC ?

[Arum]

Spoiler for Hidden:

table]

NAME: Leech ELEMENT: Darkness COST: 4 TYPE: Creature ATK|HP: 1 | 3 TEXT: Drains opponent's max HP and adds it to this creature's HP; If killed, inflict 3 poison counters on the opponent.	NAME: Leech ELEMENT: Darkness COST: 3 TYPE: Creature ATK|HP: 1 | 3 TEXT: Drains opponent's max HP and adds it to this creature's HP; If killed, inflict 3 poison counters on the opponent.

ART: Arun IDEA: Arum NOTES: If this isn't at all really that clear to you, then here is an explanation. It attacks the Opponents max HP and drains 1(4, 6, 90, whatever it's attack is) HP. That drained HP goes to the leech. If the leech is killed, inflict 3 poison counters to your opponent. SERIES:

Can you check this idea and give feedback before I paste it into the forums? Please?

[OldTrees]

7 |5 is a good starting estimate. However you should double check by calculating the average damage per creature and comparing it to Firestorm. I made the 7|5 estimate with the assumption (crude estimate) that the average damage was around 4.5.

Then assume the average damage is 4.5, is that extra 1.5 damage really worth the cost of 3 turns delay + prone to PC ?

The extra damage + The 3 turns when creatures will not be played is probably worth around the cost of 3 turns delay + prone to PC (assuming SoF is fixed). Based on my estimates that is treating the additional cost as if the additional cost were greater than 4.5 quanta.

Spoiler for Hidden:

table]

NAME: Leech ELEMENT: Darkness COST: 4 TYPE: Creature ATK|HP: 1 | 3 TEXT: Drains opponent's max HP and adds it to this creature's HP; If killed, inflict 3 poison counters on the opponent.	NAME: Leech ELEMENT: Darkness COST: 3 TYPE: Creature ATK|HP: 1 | 3 TEXT: Drains opponent's max HP and adds it to this creature's HP; If killed, inflict 3 poison counters on the opponent.

ART: Arun IDEA: Arum NOTES: If this isn't at all really that clear to you, then here is an explanation. It attacks the Opponents max HP and drains 1(4, 6, 90, whatever it's attack is) HP. That drained HP goes to the leech. If the leech is killed, inflict 3 poison counters to your opponent. SERIES:

Can you check this idea and give feedback before I paste it into the forums? Please?

SoV attacks the max hp. Damaging the max hp does not damage the current hp unless their current hp exceeds their max hp. SoV reduces the max by 2-3 each turn for 5 |3 .
Sea Crab (Armory level card) also attacks the max hp. Sea Crab reduces the max and the current by 3 each turn for 3 . Sea Crab also is remarkable similar to your card idea. We only allow ideas to go through the polls once.

The 2nd effect acts like a deterrent against CC. Deterrents are balanced when the opponent does not know whether to play through or avoid the deterrent. Hence the creature should be worth slightly more than the value of the spell effect created.

Finally, the hp gain is not very useful. However it is not the core of the card and thus does not have to be very useful.

Summary: The creature stats were too weak for the casting cost. The deterrent matched the casting cost. The deterrent did not synergize with the creature ability (fighting 2 different battles). A similar card idea was tried already.

[mega plini]

How long does it usualy take for a card to get from the Crucible to the relinquary? Because I can see all thes realy cool cards in there but none of them ever is added to the game.
Is there a way to speed up this proces?