Ask the Idea Guru

[waterzx]

I think I need your thoughts on this card.

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

[OldTrees]

I think I need your thoughts on this card.

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

Concerns:
Heavy Armor Bolts
Fractal Bolts

1) Bolt OTK decks are restricted by generating the stock quanta and drawing enough bolts. At the cost of a duo, the restriction drops.
Mono Fire
5 of 6  cards in a 30 card deck with 69 stock 
Fractal Bolt
3 of 12 cards in a 30 card deck with 52 stock 
This is a significant buff to these decks. I think it is evident that this great of a buff would result in Reflective Shield being a required card.

2) Bolts are like Spark in that they usually only hit once per card. Spark has the potential for more if its hp is buffed. However the cost of hp buffs does not scale with the attack of the mega spark. Thus any mega sparks would already have to have paid the cost.

3) This card has a huge impact with the first bolt spell alone. Why let it affect the later such spells?

My suggestion would be to nerf the effect instead (or more likely along with) raising the cost. I would then compare the Energy Rein OTKs vs competitive OTKs. Similar cost for similar effect.

[Zaealix]

Hrm..New idea for ya Old Trees-
A creature that derives it's stats from your current life. I figure the conversion rate might be something along the lines of Catapult, but not sure.

[EmeraldTiger]

Hrm..New idea for ya Old Trees-
A creature that derives it's stats from your current life. I figure the conversion rate might be something along the lines of Catapult, but not sure.

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,26801.0.html

[OldTrees]

Hrm..New idea for ya Old Trees-
A creature that derives it's stats from your current life. I figure the conversion rate might be something along the lines of Catapult, but not sure.

So it starts with 50 attack?
100 x hp / ( 100 + hp )
100hp: 50 attack
75hp: 43 attack
50hp: 33 attack
25hp: 20 attack
10hp: 9 attack

See ET's card for more possible equations.

In general a card has a cost around its average attack over the course of a game.

[waterzx]

I think I need your thoughts on this card.

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

My suggestion would be to nerf the effect instead (or more likely along with) raising the cost. I would then compare the Energy Rein OTKs vs competitive OTKs. Similar cost for similar effect.

Is this a viable fix ?

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

[OldTrees]

I think I need your thoughts on this card.

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

My suggestion would be to nerf the effect instead (or more likely along with) raising the cost. I would then compare the Energy Rein OTKs vs competitive OTKs. Similar cost for similar effect.

Is this a viable fix ?

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,40881.0.html

Hp buff
The "all" -> "next"
It is also slowed 1 turn
Finally it is vulnerable to interference.
5 + 30|20 stock +1 |1 +3 cards for 12|3. This is probably close to balanced if not already balanced.

Fractal OTK
The Silence makes it vulnerable to interference.
15 + 52 stock + 3 cards of 12 in 30 for TTK is probably still to low. However it is not as clearcut as it was before.

Anti CC
Anti CC needs to cost less than the amount of CC it prevents.
Perhaps have you gain the spark regardless of who cast the spell.

[furballdn]

This topic came up during chat.

Suppose Bone dragon got an ability that if it were RT'd, it would instead become a random dragon instead. Is this a buff or nerf to the dragon?

Why or why not should this be implemented?

[OldTrees]

This topic came up during chat.

Suppose Bone dragon got an ability that if it were RT'd, it would instead become a random dragon instead. Is this a buff or nerf to the dragon?

Why or why not should this be implemented?

Bone Dragon is a fairly good dragon from a cost / benefit view. However many dragons have equal or better stats. Reverse Time would give it a minor stat boost. rather than returning it to the hand. 2 Reverse Times would "kill" the dragon and deny a draw. (Compared to 2x "kill" or deny) In total this would be a rather insignificant buff. Similar to giving Colossal Dragon +10hp. It would not make an observable difference to the balance.

Dragons are intended to be vanilla creatures. The only exception (phase dragon) was the result of a nerf.  Yes. I said nerf. PU Dragons was too powerful mono back before the nerf so the stats were lowered and immaterial was added.

Bone Dragon does seem undead. 2 undead creatures have interactions with Reverse Time.

Summary: No balance reason to implement it. To equal and opposed thematic reasons. It would not be worth the coding and testing time.

[waterzx]

Hp buff
The "all" -> "next"
It is also slowed 1 turn
Finally it is vulnerable to interference.
5 + 30|20 stock +1 |1 +3 cards for 12|3. This is probably close to balanced if not already balanced.

Fractal OTK
The Silence makes it vulnerable to interference.
15 + 52 stock + 3 cards of 12 in 30 for TTK is probably still to low. However it is not as clearcut as it was before.

Is it impossible to balance both functions of the card just based on cost adjustment ?

If it is impossible, how do you think about this fix ?

Silence yourself this turn, the next damage spell targeted on you becomes creature of N | 0.
N = spell damage.

[OldTrees]

Hp buff
The "all" -> "next"
It is also slowed 1 turn
Finally it is vulnerable to interference.
5 + 30|20 stock +1 |1 +3 cards for 12|3. This is probably close to balanced if not already balanced.

Fractal OTK
The Silence makes it vulnerable to interference.
15 + 52 stock + 3 cards of 12 in 30 for TTK is probably still to low. However it is not as clearcut as it was before.

Is it impossible to balance both functions of the card just based on cost adjustment ?

If it is impossible, how do you think about this fix ?

Silence yourself this turn, the next damage spell targeted on you becomes creature of N | 0.
N = spell damage.

The new fix does not hamper either aggressive strategy and does remove the weak anti CC usage.

Any cost increase would hinder the OTK more than the Megaspark. (the speed of produced would drop) So it is theoretically possible to balance those two relative to each other. Although I do not think theory alone is precise enough to determine that cost. (aka contact Emerald Tiger or ZBlader about a playtest)

The main problem is how to buff the anti CC usage along with the aggressive usages. The ideal way would be to weaken the aggressive versions.

Fractal Bolts gains its strength from Fractal returning the spell card. What if fractal returned a creature card instead (see fractal Shard Golem rather than fractal Shard of Integrity)?

Megaspark gains its strength from receiving the full power of bolt spells. (Lightning and Shockwave are not problems) Perhaps the spark has a fraction of the extra damage?

With sufficiently weakened aggressive versions, you could return it from "next" to "all" thus buffing the anti-CC usage.

[Rutarete]

Name: ?
Element: ?
Cost: somewhere between 3 and 5, inclusive
Spell
Text: Your Hp is now equal to the total Hp of all creatures on your field. If it is higher than your max, your max is raised.
Upgraded change: Your Hp is now equal to the total Hp of all creatures on the field. If it is higher than your max, your max is raised.

What do you think of this and what's the best to compare it to?