[Official] Shard of Freedom | Shard of Freedom

[Solaris]

So I'm probably just parroting what other people have said, but this card simply does too much for too little cost. On my very first try to build a deck using it I came up with a partially upgraded 5 TTW rush deck that was highly resistant to stalling and cc. That should NOT happen.

I also feel that this card completely overshadows sky blitz.

I think changing the stacking to multiplicative would be a great start.

It actually enhances Sky Blitz quite a bit, since you get 50% more damage off the 2x damage Sky Blitz provides.

[Manuel]

So I'm probably just parroting what other people have said, but this card simply does too much for too little cost. On my very first try to build a deck using it I came up with a partially upgraded 5 TTW rush deck that was highly resistant to stalling and cc. That should NOT happen.

I also feel that this card completely overshadows sky blitz.

I think changing the stacking to multiplicative would be a great start.

u need to "waste" 6 slots in your deck for having a decent chance of getting a 100% double damage (and u need 4 shards simultaneously) and evasion (that doesn't protect u against rain of fire, that is used in almost every  deck stall).

also the evasion is only for  creatures, i think is a totally balanced card

[Ginyu]

@Manuel You forgot about the shield evasion part.

This card is a mass buff, anti-CC buff and anti-shield-PC in one card, for 2|1. It has strong in-element-synergies with Wyrm and Sky Blitz. Its rushing capabilities get much greater with the in-element Damselfly. The only real counters are mass-CC (not too common, and the Chaos Power-version will prepare for that pretty well) and SoSac. PC can get you somewhere, but Deflag is not even more expensive than the shard, but you will also need to pack a lot, which you likely won't unless you predict a perm-heavy deck. Its consistency is great, the chance to get a faildraw aren't as high as with other decks. Last but not least, Fog Shield brings another strong card to ensure your rush will be faster (unless you face an Immorush, which on the other hand has lower consistency), and if PC is used against it, it can't be used on shards.

Unupped SoFree decks aren't so overpowered because of the lower Wyrm's attack and that Dragonfly has a casting cost and lower attack. In upped, this is one of the strongest decks of all, and it is most about the shard.

Btw: Rain of Fire isn't used very often in Fire Stalls, at least not in the most popular Sanc-Firestall.

[Sera]

I think changing the stacking to multiplicative would be a great start.

Sounds like a good suggestion. When 3-4 hit the field, it really becomes a big problem and this addresses that. Also reduces the incentive of bringing 6 of them, which is part of the reason why PC is somewhat ineffective at countering this.

PC as a counter to this card is almost like using Heal to counter a Dragon.

[ratcharmer]

It actually enhances Sky Blitz quite a bit, since you get 50% more damage off the 2x damage Sky Blitz provides.

I initially thought this would be the case, but what I've found in practice is that by the time I'm ready for the blitz a halfway decent skyshard deck has already killed the opponent. After a dozen games or so of never using blitz I took it out.'

u need to "waste" 6 slots in your deck for having a decent chance of getting a 100% double damage (and u need 4 shards simultaneously) and evasion (that doesn't protect u against rain of fire, that is used in almost every  deck stall).

The fact that a counter exists does NOT make a card balanced.

Imagine if a new card was put into the game called "Shield of Awesome" it reduces incoming damage by 7 points, reflects spells and only costs 1 quanta, but it's not indestructible so it can be easily countered by permanent control. "Shield of Awesome" would still be obviously OP because it does more than the cost of the card justifies.

You do not "need" 6 copies of the shard in your deck--you still benefit even if there's only one of them. Most people put 6 copies in deck simply because the card is so powerful.

[joebob555]

I would change the card to read:

Airborne creatures gain a 25% chance to deal +50% damage, deal spell damage, and evade targeting if 

Adding two counters isn't a whole lot, but if you cannot remove the SoFree, that counter will hit back hard, making the card risky to use.

[Manuel]

It actually enhances Sky Blitz quite a bit, since you get 50% more damage off the 2x damage Sky Blitz provides.

I initially thought this would be the case, but what I've found in practice is that by the time I'm ready for the blitz a halfway decent skyshard deck has already killed the opponent. After a dozen games or so of never using blitz I took it out.'

u need to "waste" 6 slots in your deck for having a decent chance of getting a 100% double damage (and u need 4 shards simultaneously) and evasion (that doesn't protect u against rain of fire, that is used in almost every  deck stall).

The fact that a counter exists does NOT make a card balanced.

Imagine if a new card was put into the game called "Shield of Awesome" it reduces incoming damage by 7 points, reflects spells and only costs 1 quanta, but it's not indestructible so it can be easily countered by permanent control. "Shield of Awesome" would still be obviously OP because it does more than the cost of the card justifies.

You do not "need" 6 copies of the shard in your deck--you still benefit even if there's only one of them. Most people put 6 copies in deck simply because the card is so powerful.

lol the shield of awesone, soooo funny, really

this is the only card in elements that require 4 copies at the same time in the field for x effect, if u have 5 or 6 on the field on the field, only 4 has effect, the other 2 are dead cards (most of times) or can replace the destroyed shards (and this mean that for a turn u didn't have the 100%) 

at the same time, in the field, u need a decent number of creature, or shards are useless, so the optimal thing is probably 3 shards and 3 creature (at least one wyrm?)

those are a lot of requirements, i think, to explain why this card is somewhat balanced. is a support card lol, alone doesn't do anything, is totally different from a stand alone (or from your really funny joke shield of awesome!!!) card that does something (sundial)or a combo of two cards (dis + bhole).

where this card is played:

fake gods: they don't use shards
pvp1: unupped wyrms are so underpowered, any other cheap airborne creature doesn't have the evasion
pvp2: i don't play pvp2, so idk
pvp1/2 tournaments: shards are banned from most of them
bronze: lol shards
silver: if u find the guy with upped wyrms can be scary,  but i think is really rare a silver player with a decent number of shards and upped wyrms
gold: in gold a good 40% of players still don't know what they are doing, in the top 50 there are 5 air decks (10%), i think u will find something like 8% air deck in all the gold league?
platinum: here u have no no excuses, is the last league in the game, with poison dials is an autowin, swallow gets outrushed (swallow gets outrushed in general)


so i think the problem is in gold and platinum?

i didn't farm gold so much (i actually start doing it with a sofree deck that has a decent winrate against other sofree!!!!), but removing the 40% of players that buid terrible decks, removing every other elements, if your deck has a decent winrate all decks, i don't think is a problem if u lose a 10% of the battles because your deck can't handle it, which in a tcg with a lot of variety is totally normal?

the plat arena has a compilation of even better combos, so what is the point of trying (or simply talking) to nerf a single card that is pseudo balanced?

[ddevans96]

...or can replace the destroyed shards (and this mean that for a turn u didn't have the 100%) 

No, because in such a situation, you would replace the shard immediately, returning the percentage to 100% before any attacks.

pvp2: i don't play pvp2, so idk
...
so i think the problem is in gold and platinum?

Most of the problem is in upgraded PvP, the area of play you didn't cover. While shards are banned in most tournaments, many other PvP environments allow shards, and in those metagames it tends to range from simply powerful to borderline broken.

Even ignoring that, looking at effect/cost, even after considering cost in terms of quanta, time, and card advantage, SoFr would appear to be really strong compared to other cards that overlap parts of it's effect.

[AD TienzuStorm]

at the same time, in the field, u need a decent number of creature, or shards are useless, so the optimal thing is probably 3 shards and 3 creature (at least one wyrm?)

those are a lot of requirements, i think, to explain why this card is somewhat balanced. is a support card lol, alone doesn't do anything, is totally different from a stand alone (or from your really funny joke shield of awesome!!!) card that does something (sundial)or a combo of two cards (dis + bhole).

Are you trying to say that cards like Sky Blitz and Fractal are weak and underpowered just because they rely on creatures? A card that has the assumption that you have creatures on the field is not a weak one.

Also, SoFr is not expensive at all. You can easily make a rush with Damsels, Elite Wyrms, and SoFr and have much more than just 3 shards and 3 creatures (where did you get those numbers anyways?). Besides, 3 SoFr is not optimal use.

[Espithel]

Can anyone name a deck that has an extremely high chance of beating SouFflé decks?

I mean, Immortal follows this same principle; It's REALLY hard to kill an immortal, more so than SouFflé, I'd argue.
But we don't complain about immortal for a number of reasons, those being that's it's slow, easy to outrush, and blockable with shields/dials.

What's slow, easy to outrush, and blockable about SouFflé? Immortal trades speed for resilience. What does SouFfflé trade? It's not like they would play anything in place of those 5-6 SouFflés.

And before you go on about SoW, yeah, guess how many people think immortal SoW isn't an issue, either.

[Manuel]

Are you trying to say that cards like Sky Blitz and Fractal are weak and underpowered just because they rely on creatures? A card that has the assumption that you have creatures on the field is not a weak one.

rofl

i don't see the sense of calling sky blitz or fractal, they are totally different cards

Also, SoFr is not expensive at all. You can easily make a rush with Damsels, Elite Wyrms, and SoFr and have much more than just 3 shards and 3 creatures (where did you get those numbers anyways?). Besides, 3 SoFr is not optimal use.

uhm no, i wasn't talking about that, i was talking about having a decent/suboptimal board where SoFs and wyrms can make the difference, i am not talking about using 3 wyrms and 3 SoFs in a deck, english is not my first language

[serprex]

With 2 Damsels and 2 Wyrms on the field, a SoFr is worth 3 damage. This is more efficient than a Giant Frog, and does not include an evaluation of shield bypass or evasion. It's impossible to outscale SoFr by playing "something else". You need to hard counter it (Dials, SoSa, repeatable PC, mass CC)