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kirkwb

Establishing Cost to Power ratios: Burn Spells

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Same basic principals as my blog on Vanilla Allies, but even simpler. Vanilla Burn deals damage to just one target, so you only need a ladder with cost to damage to one target info.

Let's Start with Fireball as the standard:

3 Cost: does 4 damage to target opponent.

Very useful removal as this burn can be used both to remove threatening allies from the board early game and used to finish off the opposing hero late game. A bit powerful becuase of the double duty, so you will have to measure all ally removal/neutralizing spells against it. Fireball can remove most 1-4 cost allies permanently along with most 5 and some 6 cost ones.

If another removal spell that costs 3 is compared to it, it's going to have to be very good. Webs costs three, but has been nerfed to be temporary and it doesn't shut off the Ally's text power (If it does that still needs to be clarified!)

So the ladder for basic burn (any target like fireball) could look like this:

1 cost = 2 damage.
2 cost = 3 damage.
3 cost = 4 damage.
4 cost = 5 damage.
5 cost = 6 damage.
etc.

Lower cost burn should be more common and have more variants than higher cost burn.

If you nerf it a little and make it only target the Opposing hero, you can up the damage dealt:

1 cost = 3 damage.
2 cost = 4 damage.
3 cost = 5 damage.
4 cost = 6 damage.

Same goes with burn that targets only 1 opposing Ally.

Now if you start to switch it up a little bit like allowing Multiple targets you need to adjust the cost. A card that I think is overpoered even at the new Beta 1.02 cost is Lightning Strike.

4 Cost = 3 damage to 2 target opponents.

Under the rules for the wording, this allows you to target the same opponent twice. 6 Damage to one target hero OR ally for 4 is way outside the power level of burn established by Fireball. Not only does it do double duty like Fireball as ally removal and hero finisher, you get the option to hit two targets. Any time you can take out two cards with one is decent card advantage and you should have to pay for it.

Not to mention that hitting one Ally for 6 gives you a removal spell that can take out a fattie ally that cost up to 6, maybe 7 for 4 resources.

Either restrict it to to only target 2 different opponents or up its cost according to the ladder and also up its cost again to account for the additional power to target the same opponent twice.

I'm flying to Indy for Gen Con in the morning (as I'm sure many Beta testers are, many also playing in major TCG tournaments) so I won't be back until Monday.

But I still have Monday off and I plan on playing much more and sharing all my thoughts

I have many thoughts...

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  1. kirkwb's Avatar
    I do want to add that rare cards should bump up a little in power level compared to the vanilla ladders, but still need to be tempered and not too powerful. Lightning strike, even at epic would be an auto include in any mage deck. It's an amazing control card and an amazing weenie rush or burn spell. Even at rare or epic it needs to be a little higher costed if it keeps its cuttent power.
  2. Craig Volpe's Avatar
    Nice analysis. Lightning bolt has been changed to not allow targeting the same target twice, but I think it's still too powerful. With all creatures having first strike, the game becomes very dependent on board control and having allies down before your opponent does (Portal circumvents this which is why it's so broken). This mechanic makes DD more powerful than compared to Magic.
    Personally I think the best thing that could happen to Shadow Era is dropping the whole First Strike mechanic, but I doubt that will happen...