The Unseen Heroes

[divinenibru]

Before we start making forums and having a conversation about nerfing or buffing specific cards, I think it's important for Wulven to first focus on the most important cards in the game, and those are the heroes.

Any card's usability is mostly limited by what kind of deck the person is running and which hero that person is using. Sabreen is a powerful card but plays very differently depending on what hero you're using and synchronizes well with some. With Victor for example, you can discard a gambit and then retrieve it with the hero's ability... the point I'm trying to make is that since the community is currently at a sort of split; there are people who think the balance is fine and others that complain that too many LL cards have been nerfed and aren't interesting to play, I think it's important that Wulven takes a look at the hero cards and thinks about changing them such that all of them are viable options in the game.

This article is solely based on what I see in QM and the ranking people are able to achieve. Furthermore, it's my opinion.

Ultimately, a lot of heroes can be used with different kinds of decks but there do exist a few that need either a buff, or a different ability, especially since previous cards these heroes relied upon have been nerfed. Although it is very possible that we as a community have not found the perfect card combination to make a certain hero viable. From what I can see, these are some of the heroes that need evaluation or modification:

Jericho Spellbane:

This hero's previous build was heavily dependent on Embers of the Just. Ever since Embers got nerfed, Jericho practically disappeared from the competitive scene. Perhaps if his ability were reduced to 3SE he'd become more competitive, however, a 3SE ability combined with lingering essence can become a little bit out of control. This can be circumvented either by changing lingering essence (let's be honest, no other priest uses this ability but Jericho, right?) or by keeping his ability at 4SE but giving it a different method of doing the same thing, ie, instead of destroying an attachment, it could be "destroy an attachment you control, return an attachment an opponent controls to your hand (This would cause him to steal attachments, wouldn't trigger lingering either) or remove negative effects.

This seems like a lot for a single hero ability, but the point is that you want the heroes to be competitive. If you have made a hero card that is not being used or utilized by people, it's dead weight. This is akin to the YUGIOH commons that never see the battlefield, it becomes filler. As a new player (which I'm not, but I can imagine) you want them to go "Oooooh, a new hero! I can start trying to collect priest cards" not "Oh it's this useless guy... whatever"



Logan Stonebreaker:

I did not play SE when Logan had a 3SE ability but I do think that his ability deserves to be a 3SE ability since it relies on a weapon AND combat damage. Heck, his ability doesn't even last till the next turn, why is it a 4SE ability? I think his ability should find a small buff or alteration to make him a viable warrior to use, especially if you want to keep his ability at 4SE.

The buff could be when he kills an ally you draw a card. That way, at least if you get a kill, you'll get a little bit more out of it, this would also synergize with killing spree, jeweler's dream and ravencrest. By introducing a slight buff in a HERO, you've tied together three cards that don't see the light of day (Logan, killing spree, ravencrest), because heroes are essentially what tie the game together.


Aramia:

Unlike Logan, I WAS playing SE when Aramia's ability was a 3SE ability, and I much preferred Aramia that way. You could maintain tempo, play a very aggressive mage and then the ability was increased to 4SE and all of the sudden, no more Aramia in QM. For a 4SE ability, I would've expected them to make it better than it was previously.

Perhaps making Aramia able to summon up to a 4CC item? This would allow him to summon the following cards in addittion to what is currently available, items with a * indicate potential use. Notice how from the total additions, only a few are actually useful:

Items with 4cc:

* Voltair's Ring: +1 electric damage. A nice addittion. Allows for an Electric-centered Aramia build.

Toll Bridge: Allies and items with cost 5 or greater cost 1 extra resource. I wouldn't use it, but someone might want to.

* Amulet of Conjuring: Sustain 1SE. Draw 3 cards, remove 1 resource etc. A nice addittion to Aramia's possible cards. Keep in mind that if you were to use her ability to retrieve it, it would break at the end of the turn. Also puts you back a resource early in the game. I think it'd be a nice addition though.

Aldamor Accelerator: 1 dmg +1 SE. Not sure if an Aramia build would use it, but what's the worst that can happen?

* Clockwork Soldier: A possible addittion. Would allow for a Supernova and a 3/3 Ally.

Distruptor Field: Aldmor have ambush and 1SE you reduce attack. Viable for controlling the battlefield.

Rejuvination Pod: Aldmor have +1 HP and you recycle aldmor.

Shadow Cannon: 4SE to deal 4 dmg. Not sure an armaia build would use it but go for it if you want.

Armor with 4cc:

Gold-laced Shield: +2 attack to an ally for 1 durability. Could help with maintain board control.

Helm of Saymeht: Return a weapon with cost 4 or less to play. Essentially useless with Aramia.

* Flameforged Gauntlets: Draw a card if you deal fire damage. A nice addittion. Allows for a Fire-centered Aramia build.

Packmaster's Helm: Friendly Wulven Allies gain +1 HP. Useless with Aramia.

Voidwalker's Gauntlet: Recycle discarded cards from your deck and damage opponents when they damage you with ability damage. Maybe viable in some really obscure Aramia build, but for the most part, useless.


Weapon with 4cc:

Staff of Disintegration: 1SE Armor/weapons lose 2 durability. Would be nice if it didn't cost SE, but since it does, you can't summon and use it. Therefore, you'd lose a turn. Not very useful.

Wand of Izikus: Same issue as the staff. Need to spend SE to make an artifact a 2/4 ally. Can't summon and use on the same turn.

* Griffoncrest Dagger: 1/4 weapon that becomes 2/4 if you have fewer than 3 cards. Could be used in an aggressive Aramia where you finish your hand quickly. Potential?

* Flame forged Scepter: For 1SE you give it extra attack and sets stuff on fire. Nice weapon but again, can't fetch it AND use it's powerup ability. Still a good weapon to be able to retrieve.


At the end of the day, these are a few heroes that are not being used and this is a potential way to fix there lack of usability. Raikka and Rothem are also questionable but I think that the former's ability is perfectly balanced for what it does and the latter's ability is also fine, just in need of better ally/card support. Most warriors that end up being used are the ones that can kill stuff or support stuff (Boris and Amber can kill, Tala and Vess Support.) Rothem does both (By increasing damage output (support) he allows stuff to kill) however warriors always struggle with early board control. Since they have no board wiping, they need to be able to clear enemies or disable them. By the time Rotehm has 5SE, if he has any allies on the board, they're not enough to turn the tide, and unlike the others, except maybe Tala, if you don't have allies, your 5SE ability has gone to waste. I think with the next batch of LL cards, if they release more class cards, Rothem will be more usable.

Furthermore, we, as a community, also need to keep in mind that the LL cards are not fully out. Some of these heroes such as Logan or Aramia might be weak now but become siginificantly more powerful in the upcoming future. I do remember a time when Sarina was not very usable in QM and now she is pretty good.

Hope you all enjoyed reading and feel free to add feedback.

[trevorJacobs]

LOL @ Jericho. He got the nerfbat, but he's hardly bottom tier. Same for Aramia. Both sad cases, but not totally hopeless.

Logan is in the bottom Tier though, as is Ter Adun (can't remember seeing him in years). Don't see much Threbin out there at the moment, and Bloodfang hasn't bounced back since the (small) buff.

The others have some valid decks / playstyles, even if some (Elementalis?) will never rule the world

[akratch]

Logan at 3SE was way OP. Better to have him useless than dominating everything, especially with the pithing spear.

[Caitlyn0]

Logan was too much in THAT meta, now he would be fine. garth is the same hero.