[POLL] Which Cards are Overpowered? 1.30

[GG]

There is now a new section for people to post possible card nerfs: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,208.0.html  (lol, first)

I wait for the Fractal and Shard of Gratitude topics to be made since I think others can explain their OPness better than me.

Edit: making Fractal topic now...
Edit: done! Check the "Nerf this Card!" forum for the thread.

Shards are meant to be OP. They're designed as gifts for the donators.

[WhiteTigerShiro]

From that list, Only Earthquake|Quicksand concerns me.

It is playable way too early for its effect. I would like to see it changed to give the opponent a little break.

Suggestion 1 - Earthquake destroys 1/3 of the opponents towers in that stack Rounded up. This makes it better in the late game, always destroys at least one but cannot clear a stack when they have 3 pillars on the table. The opponent can still get some quanta if quite impaired. The Quake user is not losing card advantage because he can guarantee 1 destroyed pillar at least. In the late game if the targeted player has 12-15 Pillars to use for fueling triggers or Pumpspells like firebolt, the Quake can hit a massive 4-5 pillars and slow him down but unlikely to cut him to death.

Suggestion 2 - Turn Earthquake into a pumpspell. It destroys 1 pillar + 1 for every full 10 earth quanta the caster has. In the early game the caster can deny only a limited selection of pillars allowing the opponent a chance to build a counter but in the end game a total denial can still ensue.

This, right here.  Currently Earthquake destroys 3 Pillars for 3 quanta, which can be a crippling disadvantage when played within the first couple of turns because it gives the Earth player a massive Quanta advantage as the game rolls-on.  It's even worse when the Earth player draws two or three Earthquakes within the first few turns because he's able to have you locked-down to only your Mark providing you with any quanta while he's able to drop his full attack force on the field.  Then to add insult to injury, once you finally get some damage on the field he has both a damage-reduction shield AND a healing effect.  All while you're trying to operate on only a couple Quanta per turn because your Pillars keep getting steamrolled.

Also, I would like to add a card to that poll if possible:  Quantum Pillars/Towers.  Those things desperately need to be nerfed in a big way.  The problem with them becomes very evident when you go and farm some Top50 and EVERY deck that isn't a farming deck is running the exact same rainbow deck.  They vary a little from time to time, but each one runs on the same theme:  Use all of the most powerful effects from each element while being able to ignore high-cost cards because you don't need them.  In short, Quantum Towers are overpowered in that they diminish the very name of this game.  The fact that over half of Pillars/Towers that get used are Quantum should be all the evidence that's needed.

As for how to nerf them, two ideas I have are as such:  The first idea is to restrict Quantum Towers to the 6 of the same card rule.  This way you could still run them for a rainbow deck, but you'd still have to decide which elements you're going to focus on since you can't rely on always having around 10 of every quanta type.  Running a card from a color your deck isn't focused on could still be possible, but it would be more risky.  The other idea is to reduce the amount of Quanta they produce by 1.  Instead of 3 random quanta, they would only produce 2 random quanta.  This would slow-down a rainbow deck that's purely focused on Quantum Towers and would encourage actually planning a deck rather than just tossing a few of the best card from each element into the deck and calling it a day.

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Shards are meant to be OP. They're designed as gifts for the donators.

NO!!

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

You can just stop right there.  Seriously, Rule #1 of balancing a game is that difficulty/cost in acquiring something only allows for so-much power to be added to it.  Arguing that a card is balanced just because it's hard to get (which shards aren't, btw) is the most asinine thing you could ever possibly say.  Seriously, go look at Magic's early history.  That game is filled with cards from the early days that are hard (if not nigh-impossible and bank-breaking to purchase), and yet that does not stop them from being grossly overpowered cards that destroy the intended balance of the game.

You can feel free to argue that the Shards aren't overpowered if you want.  Maybe they are, maybe they aren't*, but don't argue that rarity = balance.  It smacks of elitism in the worst-case scenario, and makes you look like you don't know how balancing a game works in the best-case.  Either way, it's a highly invalid point.

*Though frankly, I think they should cost more, and this is from someone who runs shards in his deck, mind you.

[plastiqe]

Zanz has actually considered nerfing the quanta generation of Quantum Towers here (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,4093.msg44960#msg44960).

I really hope it doesn't come to that, because it would just put more emphasis on the real overpowered culprit, Supernova. 

QT's added regardless.

[Kuroaitou]

Zanz has actually considered nerfing the quanta generation of Quantum Towers here (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,4093.msg44960#msg44960).

I really hope it doesn't come to that, because it would just put more emphasis on the real overpowered culprit, Supernova. 

QT's added regardless.

Could you also change the poll options to allow people to change their vote if necessary? Just curious.

That said, there's a lot of amazing arguments people are presenting in favor of and against certain cards about whether they're OP or not.

[Mastermind79]

Shards are meant to be OP. They're designed as gifts for the donators.

nononono, you can't just do that. Rarity doesn't matter. An uber-rare card that insta-win's a game is mega-OP no matter how rare it is.

(skip to bottom to get to the point)
In this game I play, you have to donate to get more powerful limited-time items or spend ridiculous amounts of time farming to try to go competitive. This game also has uber-rares that trigger on a counter IF you are in the right place IF it is during a certain window of time, and there are likely more requirements. Even then, for game balance, these items have much-more-accessible rivals.


A card should be balanced, regardless of rarity.

[KorabanVII]

I think Ice Shield is OP. I mean you reduce the damage and almost 60 % of the time your creatures Freeze. Then your creature doesn't do a thing for three turns only to become frozen again. Dusk Mantle is worse by comparison. That shield alone brings certain decks to their knees and God forbid they don't pull out a Permafrost Shield. Nerf-paleeze!

[Puycheval]

First Hi all, this is my first post

I think the game is well balanced as long as you don't refer to FGs. I think FGs are way too powerfull and we shouldn't comment OP cards based on them as it was already said in previous posts. Problems with FGs are the devine attributes (x3 mark, ...), not the cards.

After reading nearly all this thread, I think some posters believe cards are OP because they threaten their desk(s). Your desk is ruined by EQ/Black Hole and you can't bear it ? Given the stats here (http://elementswiki.co.cc/articles/overpowered/), there are few people using them so it shouldn't be a problem. If it was so powerfull, there should have more desks using them. But, stats show that a vast majority of players is using Quantum pillar/tower and Novas so they hate BH that steals quanta and EQ that kills quantum tower stacks. That's why they both are in the poll top 5. But BH/EQ are not OP. They are easily beatten by rush desks.

For me, the beauty of Elements is that there's no "One to rule them all". Try something different next time.

By the way, I hate the new scorpion cards. OP cards ?   

[johannhowitzer]

Poison decks are indeed about to become a LOT more popular.  Poison damage itself is incredibly powerful, as there's only three ways to get around it - beat the other guy up faster, heal through and hope it doesn't stack too high, or pack a Purify.  It cannot be mitigated, can only be removed by one card, and usually requires very little quanta to apply.

[Avenger]

I think Ice Shield is OP. I mean you reduce the damage and almost 60 % of the time your creatures Freeze. Then your creature doesn't do a thing for three turns only to become frozen again. Dusk Mantle is worse by comparison. That shield alone brings certain decks to their knees and God forbid they don't pull out a Permafrost Shield. Nerf-paleeze!

There are cheap shields, and expensive shields. Invest 1 into a momentum. Or 1 into explosion. Or just steal it!

[baa410]

Honestly, I think owls eye/ eagles eye is OP. For real? Eagles eye does 5 damage a turn AND can hurt my monsters?

[Kurohami]

I think non of these are very OP now. Earthquake was quite OP before, but with the addition of a pendulum for each element, its power is reduced. Pulverizer is still somewhat OP I think, even after the cost nerf.