My OCD is trying to make me go back and test that deck out in Trainer...must resist and complete the tasks!
Task I - Arena
INCOMPLETE
Arena deck (not final) (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,29156.0.html)
Task II - Shard Competition
a) Own Shard - Shard of Mercy (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398252#msg398252)
b) Shard Reviews
i) Mormegil's Shard of Unity (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg394124#msg394124)
Love the concept, feels similar to the Magnet Tracer in the Crucible really. But this might be better for the game in terms of being accessible to anyone, not just someone with Gravity quanta. I agree with you that you should keep the creatures and Gravity permanents, instead of permanents and Gravity creatures -- creature control is (for now at least) more common among all elements, and if you could be able to choose which permanent of
any element you wanted in your deck, that would have much fewer counters -- and therefore be just a bit more OP.
As it is, the Shard of Unity could vastly boost the speed of rush decks. However there's something that I'm not clear about on your description: you said "
target creature or Gravity permanent". Does that mean you have to target a card with the Shard first? As in, the card you want has to already be on the field? If not, this would be a good way to balance the card out: you couldn't summon the card you wanted until you drew another copy naturally. In other words it would be more useful in decks that rely on multiple copies of a card for success. If this was already your intention, maybe you could add that in your post? ii) SpikeSiegel's Shard of Balance (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg394149#msg394149)
I like the idea of adding another denial card to the game, it would certainly give us all something to play around with. A semi-denial card with Dragons...taking away around 10 quanta with every card you summon. A synergy with Fractal would also be pretty fun. Also, I think this might be the first passive denial card of sorts, in that it's always "on". However, I'm worried about the balance of the card (no pun intended). Any player who doesn't pack PC would be punished, in effect, by only being able to wait until the effect's over (12 to 18 if you have all 6). This could be even more devastating for Immorushes which don't have steady quanta generation. But maybe this is what the metagame needs...and the random nature of the denial should balance it out. Right now I see it as either being devastating (to Immo or Nova rushes), or ineffective against decks with lots of pillars. Then again, SoB/EQ...
So on one hand, I would relish the chance to find new and fun denial combos, but on one hand I'm worried about whether it might be too OP. The other dilemma is I don't know which would be a good way to balance it -- changing it to 1 or 2 turns might seem good at first, but most players don't (or can't) usually play enough creatures to deny enough quanta to make a difference in that short amount of time.
For now I would say it's good as a "bonus" denial of sorts, but too situational to use as part of a main strategy. One or two in a dragon rush could be a nice way of offsetting their usual lack of control, for example. But IMO if you can find (or someone else suggests) a way to balance it a bit, you should try that out.iii) SnoWeb's Shard of Moderation (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg395472#msg395472)
This is the shard I've seen so far that IMO has the best thematic relation to the gravity element -- I see Gravity as akin to order, or the grey center between the extremes. Moderation fits with that better than it would with any other element.
As for the mechanic itself, I love it. It's another denial card, a clever one at that, and it rewards people who use those in bulk. Though you didn't include those in your examples, I assume it blocks quanta produced from creatures as well as pillars. If that's the case, card order might be involved in an interesting way. Fire Queen, for example, would only be able to generate fire quanta against 6 SoM's, since her Fireflies go before pillars and take up the four spots allowed. You might be able to lock her down in terms of
and
if you play the combo early enough. Come to think of it, would it stop Devourers as well? Because the darkness quanta they generate technically come from yours, so if that's the case the SoM could be a mini-Sanctuary of sorts.iv) ZBlader's Shard of Temperance (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg395100#msg395100)
I like the idea of this being a type of stacking shield of sorts that doesn't interfere with shield slots. I could see this having great synergy with OTK tactics like UG, Catapult, or firestalls that rely on spell damage rather than creature damage. With that in mind though, this feels like it can only be used in bulk. I understand why you gave it such high cost -- to prevent it from something used too freely -- but the cost is high enough that just one shard isn't really balanced: the benefits it provides doesn't really equal its cost, in other words. It might be Other, but you'd really only be able to use this in Monos or Duos. CCYB has a 7
Permafrost, but would 1 SoM really provide that much additional help in a rainbow? Probably not, I'd imagine, and players would more likely want to save their precious quanta for faster or more reliable cards.
This might not be a bad thing though, considering how much rainbows dominate. But considering that the competition asks that shards be usable for
all elements, I think you should consider some way to make it easier for such a card to fit in decks that use multiple elements.v) azr4el's Shard of Altruism (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg394154#msg394154)
I like the idea -- it provides a soft benefit to the Gravity element as well, since they tend to have high HP. I could see this adding another use for the BB as well. Though I'm a bit confused on the wording: you say "add its HP to your max life points" -- does that imply you just add to the max HP you can have, or does it heal you for that amount as well, like the SoD? I assumed the latter, but maybe you could make it clearer by using wording closer to SoD or Stone Skin.
The only concern I have with the mechanics is the possible use on enemy creatures as well. For 4 random quanta, it's an instant kill. Maybe you could increase the cost,
or balance it this way: have the owner of the creature be the one healed. That way players could suffer a drawback from using it as CC, instead of potentially having six instant kill cards with no drawback.vi) Kakerlake's Shard of Obedience (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg394161#msg394161)
More efficient LS/AM combo (one card instead of two). I like the idea, it would certainly make Gravity more dangerous in comparison to the other elements. I'm unsure on whether the "drain all but
quanta" is necessary, however -- more specifically, your specification that it only happen if the user doesn't have a
mark. I understand you included that because of the competition requiring you to benefit the Shard's element, but this feels like a punishment for non-Gravity players rather than anything.
If you like that enough to keep it, then I imagine this only being used in Gravity Monos, Duos, and Gravity PSNbows. It would certainly benefit the metagame since so many players use rainbow decks right now, but IMO Shards, while benefiting their native element, should still be used pretty freely among all elements. I think you could keep one or the other (high cost vs. drain all quanta).
My other concern is that this could potentially make LS/AM obsolete. Though it's true that both are useful by themselves, and LS/AM decks aren't very common to begin with...maybe this shard replacing the strategy would be a good thing, a simpler mechanic replacing the more complicated one.
Task III - Deck Help
i) baa410's Simple Charger Rush (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,29078.msg397764#msg397764)
ii) calindu221's help with my decks pls? (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,25455.msg398267#msg398267)
iii) Lupinxxx's Help For A Deck Please (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27839.msg398270#msg398270)
iv) patchx94's Discord/Black Hole Novabow (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28675.msg398277#msg398277)
v) Vineroz's Crying Elements (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27402.msg398441#msg398441)
vi) jonathancrazyj's Constructing my Entropy/Gravity deck - Help (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27633.msg398951#msg398951)
