[Official] Shard of Focus | Shard of Focus

[Annele]

In the Dim Shield nerf this card thread, someone (I think it was Chapuz) posted a list of the counters to dim shield.
I will do the same here, though bear in mind I still think SoFo needs a nerf. I'm just chucking it out there. (BTW, I've only used the unupped names, but in most cases it works upped too)

Here are all the POSSIBLE counters to SoFo.

• Chaos Seed
  
• Mutation
  
• Fallen Elf
  
• Butterfly effect (if the opponent doesn't have )
  
• Pandemonium
  
• Otyugh
  
• Gravity pull (if played with creatures that can kill it in one turn)
  
• Acceleration
  
• Enchant Artifact (the most obvious)
  
• Basilisk Blood
  
• Earth Nymph
  
• Fire Bolt
  
• Rain of Fire
  
• Rage Potion
  
• Freeze
  
• Ice Bolt
  
• Arctic Squid
  
• Mind Flayer
  
• Sanctuary
  
• Thunderstorm
  
• Shockwave
  
• Flying Weapon
  
• Reverse Time/Eternity lock
  
• Drain Life
  
• Liquid Shadow
  
• Cloak
  
• Black Nymph
  
• Lightning
  
• Lobotomiser
  
• Silence
  
• Quanta denial
  

And yet it is still OP. I think they may need to re-think the list on the dim nerf thread.
Just throwing it out there.

[meowww]

In the Dim Shield nerf this card thread, someone (I think it was Chapuz) posted a list of the counters to dim shield.
I will do the same here, though bear in mind I still think SoFo needs a nerf. I'm just chucking it out there. (BTW, I've only used the unupped names, but in most cases it works upped too)

• Chaos Seed
  
• Mutation
  
• Fallen Elf
  
• Butterfly effect (if the opponent doesn't have )
  
• Pandemonium
  
• Otyugh
  
• Gravity pull (if played with creatures that can kill it in one turn)
  
• Acceleration
  
• Enchant Artifact (the most obvious)
  
• Basilisk Blood
  
• Earth Nymph
  
• Fire Bolt
  
• Rain of Fire
  
• Rage Potion
  
• Freeze
  
• Ice Bolt
  
• Arctic Squid
  
• Mind Flayer
  
• Sanctuary
  
• Thunderstorm
  
• Shockwave
  
• Flying Weapon
  
• Reverse Time/Eternity lock
  
• Drain Life
  
• Liquid Shadow
  
• Cloak
  
• Black Nymph
  
• Lightning
  
• Lobotomiser
  
• Silence
  
• Quanta denial
  

And yet it is still OP. I think they may need to re-think the list on the dim nerf thread.
Just throwing it out there.

Basically:
CC, CC-like, EA, EA-like, denial, denial-like.

[eaglgenes101]

In the Dim Shield nerf this card thread, someone (I think it was Chapuz) posted a list of the counters to dim shield.
I will do the same here, though bear in mind I still think SoFo needs a nerf. I'm just chucking it out there. (BTW, I've only used the unupped names, but in most cases it works upped too)

• Chaos Seed
  
• Mutation
  
• Fallen Elf
  
• Butterfly effect (if the opponent doesn't have )
  
• Pandemonium
  
• Otyugh
  
• Gravity pull (if played with creatures that can kill it in one turn)
  
• Acceleration
  
• Enchant Artifact (the most obvious)
  
• Basilisk Blood
  
• Earth Nymph
  
• Fire Bolt
  
• Rain of Fire
  
• Rage Potion
  
• Freeze
  
• Ice Bolt
  
• Arctic Squid
  
• Mind Flayer
  
• Sanctuary
  
• Thunderstorm
  
• Shockwave
  
• Flying Weapon
  
• Reverse Time/Eternity lock
  
• Drain Life
  
• Liquid Shadow
  
• Cloak
  
• Black Nymph
  
• Lightning
  
• Lobotomiser
  
• Silence
  
• Quanta denial
  

And yet it is still OP. I think they may need to re-think the list on the dim nerf thread.
Just throwing it out there.

A number of these don't work after the 1st use of SoFo.

[choongmyoung]

not cloak and sanc. destroyed by SoFo.
later lobotomizer either.
quanta denial is half because it doesnt have the skill cost.
nova*SoFo is unstoppable with quanta denial.

[Tiltias]

I would split the counter list.
First turn counters .. are practically all CC. I wouldn't use mutations unless desperate, since there is a very good chance something will appear that has better stats than 0|16. SoFo is fairly easy to counter on its first turn. But after that it is very difficult.

Counters that can be played at anytime to remove SoFo's influence from the board with (almost) no positive side effects? Basilisk Blood. Lobotomise. A mind flayer needs one turn to activate, and a lobotomiser gets one chance before it is destroyed. Acceleration gives it lots of attack, so the only stonewall lobo effect is Liquid Shadow.
So there are just two cards which are hard, direct counters to SoFo. Mind flayer is certainly strong enough to be considered.

But this is definitly a key contributor to the Shard's OP status.

The others listed.. only delayed. Mutation is risky. Countering an active SoFo with permanents is a non-starter.

Using Acceleration/Rage pots/GPull are all improvements and not counters. Most CC cannot hit past the 15 or 30 hp wall. Anything that doesn't kill the shard will give it more charges.

Reverse time just resets the charges and if you have nothing else that can kill on 1st turn, you are screwed.

[Paniko]

Nerf this card is absurd ... like other fragments that ruin the game ...

[OdinVanguard]

I would split the counter list.
First turn counters .. are practically all CC. I wouldn't use mutations unless desperate, since there is a very good chance something will appear that has better stats than 0|16. SoFo is fairly easy to counter on its first turn. But after that it is very difficult.

Counters that can be played at anytime to remove SoFo's influence from the board with (almost) no positive side effects? Basilisk Blood. Lobotomise. A mind flayer needs one turn to activate, and a lobotomiser gets one chance before it is destroyed. Acceleration gives it lots of attack, so the only stonewall lobo effect is Liquid Shadow.
So there are just two cards which are hard, direct counters to SoFo. Mind flayer is certainly strong enough to be considered.

But this is definitly a key contributor to the Shard's OP status.

The others listed.. only delayed. Mutation is risky. Countering an active SoFo with permanents is a non-starter.

Using Acceleration/Rage pots/GPull are all improvements and not counters. Most CC cannot hit past the 15 or 30 hp wall. Anything that doesn't kill the shard will give it more charges.

Reverse time just resets the charges and if you have nothing else that can kill on 1st turn, you are screwed.

There are two you missed
-Butterfly Effect (if they don't have , its essentially just like liquid shadow )
-Freeze Effect (freeze, squid, ice bolt) + shockwave combo, which is an instant kill no matter how tough it is.

Though these still aren't enough to make a huge impact on its power since
1)BE is fairly uncommon and
2) The freeze-wave combo takes a 2 card duo (which often needs a deck built around it) to deal with a card that can be easily put into almost any deck.

[choongmyoung]

how about lowering the cost(maybe 3) and destroy 1 perm when destroyed but not BH?
Seems petty balanced for me.

[Elite arbiter]

Before I begin, let me define how I am using the word 'counter'. I mean counter to mean something like "Purify counters Deadly Poison, because Purify nullifies the 4 deadly poisons you put onto the field, giving you both quanta and card advantage". Not something such as "Liquid Shadow counters Ray of Light, because it kills the creature and only heals them for 1". Because you invested more into your 'counter' than they did their RoL


The problem with Shard of Focus isn't what it does, it is how effectively it does this job and just how hard it is to stop from doing this job. It is also the fact that it is almost literally impossible to come out on the worse end of a turn 1-2 SoFo play.

Unlike what you may think, SoFo does not have the job of selective permanent destruction. SoFo is in the business of immense card advantage. Similar to SoSe, but a lot more powerful. Thinking about this in terms of card advantage, a first turn SoFo has almost literally no way of being taken out cost effectively. All the CCs in the world also take up a card to vanquish the shard, so you have to fall to repeatable card destruction or nerfing, like Owls Eye, or Mind Flayer. However, these take time to get onto the field, and if you go second, and your opponent goes first and gets a SoFo out, you have literally no cost effective way to deal with it.


I point this out because there is almost no way for SoFo to not at least break even. And if allowed any say in the matter it will balloon up to 3 explosions + Gravity pull target / Black Hole. There are literally NO first turn counters, because all of the 'first turn counters' required you to spend a card to stop it, and probably more quanta after considering SoFo is  costed.

What SoFo needs is a counter, something that actually can stop it on the first turn that it is played while maintaining card advantage. The whole prospect of having 4 cards in 1 (explosion x3 + black hole) is a separate issue, but I feel like the bigger issue is the sheer inability to be countered effectively. Especially early game.

(aka, the vast majority of the cards on that list are not counters to SoFo, merely ways to stop it from snowballing out of control. Breaking even should not be considered a counter.)

[kimham8a]

Before I begin, let me define how I am using the word 'counter'. I mean counter to mean something like "Purify counters Deadly Poison, because Purify nullifies the 4 deadly poisons you put onto the field, giving you both quanta and card advantage". Not something such as "Liquid Shadow counters Ray of Light, because it kills the creature and only heals them for 1". Because you invested more into your 'counter' than they did their RoL


The problem with Shard of Focus isn't what it does, it is how effectively it does this job and just how hard it is to stop from doing this job. It is also the fact that it is almost literally impossible to come out on the worse end of a turn 1-2 SoFo play.

Unlike what you may think, SoFo does not have the job of selective permanent destruction. SoFo is in the business of immense card advantage. Similar to SoSe, but a lot more powerful. Thinking about this in terms of card advantage, a first turn SoFo has almost literally no way of being taken out cost effectively. All the CCs in the world also take up a card to vanquish the shard, so you have to fall to repeatable card destruction or nerfing, like Owls Eye, or Mind Flayer. However, these take time to get onto the field, and if you go second, and your opponent goes first and gets a SoFo out, you have literally no cost effective way to deal with it.


I point this out because there is almost no way for SoFo to not at least break even. And if allowed any say in the matter it will balloon up to 3 explosions + Gravity pull target / Black Hole. There are literally NO first turn counters, because all of the 'first turn counters' required you to spend a card to stop it, and probably more quanta after considering SoFo is  costed.

What SoFo needs is a counter, something that actually can stop it on the first turn that it is played while maintaining card advantage. The whole prospect of having 4 cards in 1 (explosion x3 + black hole) is a separate issue, but I feel like the bigger issue is the sheer inability to be countered effectively. Especially early game.

(aka, the vast majority of the cards on that list are not counters to SoFo, merely ways to stop it from snowballing out of control. Breaking even should not be considered a counter.)

That's a really good point! But with this insight, do you have any suggestions for what to do about it?

[OldTrees]

Before I begin, let me define how I am using the word 'counter'.

-snip-

(aka, the vast majority of the cards on that list are not counters to SoFo, merely ways to stop it from snowballing out of control. Breaking even should not be considered a counter.)

I completely agree especially with the part that counters should be designed to be more efficient than what they counter.

I usually use the term "efficient counter" (in contrast to inefficient counter) to highlight the cards that are worth considering as counters rather than the larger set of cards that could be considered as counters if they were buffed (cheaper/faster/more certain).

[Elite arbiter]

That's a really good point! But with this insight, do you have any suggestions for what to do about it?

I completely agree especially with the part that counters should be designed to be more efficient than what they counter.

I usually use the term "efficient counter" (in contrast to inefficient counter) to highlight the cards that are worth considering as counters rather than the larger set of cards that could be considered as counters if they were buffed (cheaper/faster/more certain).

SoFo has a low cost and a very powerful snowballing effect. This is countered by having a very vulnerable first turn on the field. The problem is, having 1 HP only for 1 turn isn't currently a weakness, as there are very few things that separate that from having 3 HP. All of these are either too slow to play (unupped oty), need a second turn to work (poison), rely on attacking (Fire shield) or only break even (Drain Life, Thunderstorm).


Thus what we need is a ultra cheap and cost efficient way to deal 1 damage very fast. An example of a true counter card would be a 1  cost card that deals 1 damage to target creature or player, that also returns to your hand after playing. Playing against a first turn SoFo would look like a trade of...

1 Card + 6 
for
0 Cards + 1 

Which would allow for an actual cost efficient trade, while having this card not overshadow other cards of similar style in other cases like thunderbolt because 5 burst damage is worth more than 1 per turn for an upkeep. This keeps the card balanced in other regards, and would solve all instances of SoFo except a first turn nova+SoFo un all unupped play, where even having 1  isn't expected until your second turn.


Obviously other solutions would be possible since the key to any solution to SoFo is a early and quanta cheap (1-2nd turn ideally, and ideally 2 or less quanta) way to deal 1 damage without spending a card, or the ability to have that card do other things (Ex: Making thunderstorm deal 1 damage to the opponents field 2 or 3 times over the course of 2-3 turns). This is only the simplest way of going about it. Of course, considering that we're talking about a 2 quanta, 0 card cost card, the options are very limited.