[Official] Shard of Focus | Shard of Focus

[OdinVanguard]

Result:
It needs to be made into soft PC.
It needs to be made weak enough to be balanced for 5 .
It needs to have some reward for loyal Gravity players.

Here is my idea for revamping shard of focus. Rather than destroy permanents, it simply stuns the slot for a couple turns.

In the case of a non-stacking permanent, like a shield or weapon, it will be disabled.

For pillars and stackable permanents, instead of shutting down the whole stack, the effective stack size is instead reduced by the remaining stun duration.
Example:
Suppose accretion is used on a slot containing a stack of 10 life pillars. On the owner's next turn, only 8 quanta will be produced. The following turn, 9 quanta will get produced and on the turn after that, it will be back to full.

For bonewall (or anything like it in the future), the bonewall will only block damage if its remaining stack size is less than the stun duration. However, it will still still lose stack size as if it had blocked the attack.
E.g. if a bonewall with 3 counters were hit with accretion, it could only stop a single attack, so if 2 photons attacked, the first would get blocked and the second would get through, but the shield would still lose 2 counters.

Finally, notice that no black hole gets created anymore (there simply isn't space for that part …   ) However, it still gains hp when using its ability. Further, is tied in by causing the hp gain to be larger if the player's mark is gravity.

I think that should cover the list:
-"Soft" PC method - stun instead of destruction
-HP gain and ability now weaker so cost can be reduced to 5
-Rewards loyalty with larger HP gains on use

[Tiltias]

Result:
It needs to be made into soft PC.
It needs to be made weak enough to be balanced for 5 .
It needs to have some reward for loyal Gravity players.

How about being:

1) A permanent version of the Iridium/Vanadium Warden? Which targets PC, and delays their use (or effect?) for 1 turn.
2) Initial casting cost of 5/3 and extra ability cost of ?
3) Hummmmmmm. Yeah, Odin's idea is better.

Every time I play this game, I think "SoFo needs changing"

[pulli23]

stuns a full stack???

That would completely shut down decks even worse than now: play this card, stun pillars and no more quanta for a very long time???

[Tiltias]

It doesn't stun the pillar stack, it reduces it's effectiveness. 10 pillars would act like 9, or 8.

[OldTrees]

Result:
It needs to be made into soft PC.
It needs to be made weak enough to be balanced for 5 .
It needs to have some reward for loyal Gravity players.

-img-
Here is my idea for revamping shard of focus. Rather than destroy permanents, it simply stuns the slot for a couple turns.

For pillars and stackable permanents, instead of shutting down the whole stack, the effective stack size is instead reduced by the remaining stun duration.
-snip-

I think that should cover the list:
-"Soft" PC method - stun instead of destruction
-HP gain and ability now weaker so cost can be reduced to 5
-Rewards loyalty with larger HP gains on use

Good idea. I would have preferred an activation cost too. (Where each fraction of the cost should go is dependent on the cause of the cost.) This can be tacked on to increase the target 2 permanents over and over usage so it is closer to the price of 2 hard PC.

PS: I loved your solution for stacks.

[whatifidogetcaught?]

I have to admit, that is genius, and how you managed to fit that on one card is pretty good too. I honestly think that is the most viable suggestion I have seen.

It maintains a reward, has much softer PC, and won't completely shut down stalls!

[OdinVanguard]

I posted up a thread in design theory for general discussion about the stack delay mechanism (for those interested)

http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,43859.0.html

I can't take all the credit here, the discussion of how stunning is an issue for stacks (particularly pillars) has come up all over. The latest one I saw, which was part of the inspiration was the "Breakdown" card topic: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,43486.0.html

[choongmyoung]

Or the CC version?
Well, +0|-1 could be too small damage, but numbers part can be adjusted.

[jawdirk]

Shard of Focus 0|1
Accretion: Replace a permanent and gain +0/+15
Turn into a black hole if HP > 45

"Replace" means that the permanent is destroyed, and the owner of the permanent now owns the Shard of Focus.

[choongmyoung]

Shard of Focus 0|1
Accretion: Replace a permanent and gain +0|+15
Turn into a black hole if HP > 45

"Replace" means that the permanent is destroyed, and the owner of the permanent now owns the Shard of Focus.

So manipulating SoFo in the game?
You play SoFo, Destroy opponent's, He plays SoFo, He destroyes your perm, and infinite chain?
Worse than the current version.

[jawdirk]

Shard of Focus 0|1
Accretion: Replace a permanent and gain +0|+15
Turn into a black hole if HP > 45

"Replace" means that the permanent is destroyed, and the owner of the permanent now owns the Shard of Focus.

You play SoFo, Destroy opponent's, He plays SoFo, He destroyes your perm, and infinite chain?
Worse than the current version.

No, much better.
Player A destroys 1 permanent.
Player B can either destroy a permanent, or enjoy his 0/16 creature.
If he destroys a permanent, player A can either enjoy his 0/31 creature, or destroy a permanent and get a BH... unless the SoF is damaged in any way. Then player B might get to destroy a 2nd permanent and get the BH.

You can also destroy your own permanents and keep the SoF.

[OldTrees]

Shard of Focus 0|1
Accretion: Replace a permanent and gain +0|+15
Turn into a black hole if HP > 45

"Replace" means that the permanent is destroyed, and the owner of the permanent now owns the Shard of Focus.

You play SoFo, Destroy opponent's, He plays SoFo, He destroyes your perm, and infinite chain?
Worse than the current version.

No, much better.
Player A destroys 1 permanent.
Player B can either destroy a permanent, or enjoy his 0/16 creature.
If he destroys a permanent, player A can either enjoy his 0/31 creature, or destroy a permanent and get a BH... unless the SoF is damaged in any way. Then player B might get to destroy a 2nd permanent and get the BH.

You can also destroy your own permanents and keep the SoF.

Another valid fix although I stick with my statement that soft PC fits other better. (Soft PC would not fit your fix)