This patch we're adding 15 new cards and introducing a large amount of reworks and balance changes.
The patch will be live on January 26th in the following interval:
- 10 AM - 10:30 AM CET
- 1 AM - 1:30 AM PST
- 4 AM - 4:30 AM EST
- 5 PM - 5:30 PM China Standard Time
We also wanted to introduce a daily & weekly quest system, but it was unfortunately not ready on time. We will do a separate patch next week to add it.
We did not intend this patch to have this many balance changes, but as we started getting into the details one thing led to another, and we decided to move forward with everything. Almost all players have gotten changes, tough for many it's just attribute tuning. We will not be listing small changes (eg: Player X get +3 to defense) in these patch notes, but focus on the more significant changes related to skills and passives.
Still, because we modified so many cards, we're making most of the cards in the game disenchantable for full cost until our next patch. The exception to this is the newly added cards, and basic cards, which are not disenchatable by default.
New Cards
Developer Comments: Dja is designed to be part of the block archetype. He's intended to fill in the weakness of that deck: scoring points. His two traits make him a stats monster, and his high stamina allows him to spend almost the entire match on the board. He can also fit in a movement deck, due to his two movement skills. Tireless grants 20 DEF & OFF. Challenger grants 20 OFF, DEF, REB, PMK & 3PC, 7 BLK & STL
Developer Comments: Dezmond is a new addition to the movement archetype. He serves as a generally strong momentum scorer.
Developer Comments: Brandom is intended to be an anti debuff scorer. He is generally speaking an utility player, that becomes a strong scorer against debuff decks.
Developer Comments: Dilion brings bit of everything to the table. He can fit in a movement deck, prevents shot generation, and becomes a powerful defender in the 4th quarter due to Clutch Blocker. He also has great shooting skills, and can counteract strong defenders with Counter Attack.
Developer Comments: Jarem is one of the strongest defensive players in the WILL archetype, and one of the best blockers in the game due to the combination of Teamwork and self buff on foul.
Developer Comments: Stevie is an excellent rebounder that also comes with the benefit of giving the opponent Boxed Out. The draw backs of being a STR player are also largely negated by having Setplay: Pure Clear Iso, which allows him to get a large Turn Meter boost to another player.
Balance Changes
Our main goals with this patch was to reduce the power of the buffing and debuffing archetypes, prevent substitute in abuse, and generally bring some of the over performing cards back in line to where we think they should be. To achieve this, we made the following changes.
All passives that had percentage bases proc chances have been reworked to now trigger deterministically. Here is an example:
Team Buff: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS SHOT has become Team Buff 4: Get +2 BONUS SHOTS
What does this mean? Every 4th debuff placed on the opposing team now grants 2 Bonus Shots. This makes the passive more consistent, while also keeping the same average proc chance as before.
Substitute In & Exhausted passives are now once per match effects.
A big problem with the buff/debuff archetypes was the ability to constantly sub in mass buff/debuff players. This is no longer possible, and comes with the benefit of also fixing a few other sub in abuse strats.
Team based effects that generated a direct shot or pass now generate a Bonus Shot or Bonus Pass instead. This is a quality of life change that also serves as a nerf to engine type decks like rebounding.
Having shots/passes trigger one at a time extended the duration of the game, without adding any value. Furthermore, engine decks like rebounding were getting triggers that allowed them to keep generating shots/passes continuously during a single activation, which when combined with various players generating turn meter cause two problems:
- Turns were taking a long amount of time. When your opponents did this it felt like you were barely playing the game. Even if the activation count was even, turns for one of the players were taking much longer and gave the feeling that they were playing more than you.
- The shot/pass engine type gameplay combined with Turn Meter generation allow multiple consecutive activations for some players. This was actually making them play more. Activations during a match are a limited resources. Having one player get significantly more than the other will often give them an insurmountable advantage.
The addition of more Bonus Shots/Passes to the game has an extra indirect benefit, as it also buffs skills that remove the two, since they are now more common than before.
Lastly, we generally reduced offense and/or increased defense for most players. Until now we treated offense and defense as symmetrical opposites, but offense is actually much stronger than defense because it generates points, while defense does not remove points. Furthermore, defense doesn't even completely negate a shot since it can still be rebounded offensively. After this change offense is still stronger, but by a significantly lower margin.
Passives
Opponents Block: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS is now:
Opponents Block: Get +1 BONUS PASS
Affects the following players: Brando Imgram, Torry Greg, Marshon Bouchamp, Justinian Jacksun, TayTay Washintun
Developer Comments: A buff to the anti block passive to help keep the blocking archetype in check.
Opponent Move: Get 1 Tier 2 Buff buff for 2 turns, and Shoot 1
Changed to Opponent Move: Shoot 1
Affects the following players: Jalen Brawn, PJ Washinton
Team Buff: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS SHOT is now:
Team Buff 4: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Kristian Brawn, Jo Herris, Jaylen Grinn
Team Buff: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS. This passive now has two variants:
Team Buff 4: Get +2 BONUS PASSES. Affects players: Kylle Laoury
Team Buff 4: Get +1 BONUS PASS. Affects players: Dedrick Roze, Malcom Bragdon
Exploit: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS SHOT. This passive now has two variants:
Exploit 4: Get +2 BONUS SHOTS. Affects players: Kevyn Dureant
Exploit 4: Get +1 BONUS SHOT. Affects players: Boggdan Boggdanovic, Arjay Bartett, Bonez Hylanb
Exploit: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS
This passive now has two variants as follows:
Exploit 4: Get +2 BONUS PASSES. Affects players: Kairi Irwing
Exploit 4: Get +1 BONUS PASS. Affects players: Chriz Paull
Miss 3: Get +7 TURN METER is now:
Miss 3: Get +20 TURN METER.
Affects players: Russel Westbruk, Kelliy Oubrre, Tijay Warden, Ceejay Maccolum, Tray Morphy
Make: Get +7 TURN METER is now:
Make 3: Get +20 TURN METER.
Affects players: Kevyn Dureant, Tiler Hero, Jorrdan Pool, Danillo Gallinnari, Jonaz Valaciunas
Make: 50% chance to get 1 Tier 1 Buff for 2 turns is now:
Make 2: Get 1 Tier 1 Buff for 2 turns.
Affects players: LaMello Boll
Substitute In: Get +40 TURN METER is now:
Substitute In: Get FULL TURN METER (once per match).
Affects players: Tiler Hero, Landree Shemet, Steth Curi, Jakson Hays
Substitute In: Give two teammates OFFENSE UP I for 2 turns is now:
Substitute In: Give adjacent teammates and self OFFENSE UP I for 2 turns (once per match).
Affects players: Kevan Luney, Nicola Iovik, Dedrick Roze, Emanuel Quigley
Substitute In: Give two teammates DEFENSE UP I for 2 turns is now:
Substitute In: Give adjacent teammates and self DEFENSE UP I for 2 turns (once per match).
Affects players: Kendrik Nomm, Damyon Li, Emond Summer
Substitute In: Give two opponents OFFENSE DOWN I for 2 turns is now:
Substitute In: Give opponent and adjacent players OFFENSE DOWN I for 2 turns (once per match).
Affects players: Deron Right, Roys Oniale, Pat Beverly
Substitute In: Give two opponents DEFENSE DOWN I for 2 turns is now:
Substitute In: Give opponent and adjacent players DEFENSE DOWN I for 2 turns (once per match).
Affects players: Tiler Hero, Codie Martn, Grand Williamz, Mondu Kabegele
Rebound: 50% chance to get 1 Tier 1 Buff for 2 turns is now:
Rebound 2: Get 1 Tier 1 Buff for 2 turns.
Affects players: Markeeff Morriz, Jack Lamdale
Defensive Rebound: 50% chance to Pass 1 is now:
Defensive Rebound 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Daryo Searic, Osman Garuda, Willi Hermangomes
Steal: Pass 2 is now:
Steal: Pass 1 and get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Marccus Smarrt, Roberto Convicton, Herbal Jonez, Joze Alvarado, Draymond Grinn
Steal: Shoot 2 is now:
Steal: Shoot 1 and get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Mikael Bridgez, Khawai Lenard, Nicholas Batoom, Derik Whide
Team Steal: 50% chance to Shoot 1 is now:
Team Steal 2: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Roberto Convicton, Dan Grin, Dejonte Murrei, Kylle Laoury, Nicholas Claxtom, Kevvin Portr
Receive Pass: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS is now:
Receive Pass 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Nicola Jokeric
Team Mismatch: 50% chance to Pass 1 is now:
Team Mismatch 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Lebrom Jamez, Jeorge Heell, Reggi Jakson, Ceejay Maccolum
Team Mismatch: 50% chance to Shoot 1 is now:
Team Mismatch 2: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Qoentin Grimez, Gariston Matews
Team Mismatch: 25% chance to get +1 FREE THROW & give opponent +1 FOUL is now:
Make 4: Get +1 FREE THROW & give opponent +1 FOUL.
Affects players: Lommie Walkr, Jaylen Grinn
Team Defensive Rebound: 50% chance to Pass 1 is now:
Team Defensive Rebound 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Benn Simonz
Team Defensive Rebound: 50% chance to Shoot 1 is now:
Team Defensive Rebound 2: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Brandom Clark, Tare Easton, LaMello Boll
Opponents Buff: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS is now:
Opponents Buff 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: De'Andre Hunter
Team Movement: Get +15 TURN METER is now:
Team Movement 2: Get +25 TURN METER.
Affects players: Jash Christofer, Dezmond Bein, Ban Adebaio
Team Block: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS SHOT is now:
Team Block 2: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Jalen Brawn, Milez Bridgez, Deron Right, Tijay Warden, Derik Whide
Team Block: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS is now:
Team Block 2: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Dejounte Murray
Team Debuff: 50% chance to get +1 BONUS PASS is now:
Team Debuff 4: Get +2 BONUS PASS.
Affects players: Khawai Lenard, Jeff Grinn, Brandom Clark, Herbal Jonez
Team Movement: 50% chance to Shoot 1 is now:
Team Movement 2: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Jabarey Smits, Clay Tompson
Make: 25% chance to get +1 BONUS SHOT is now:
Make 3: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Affects players: Sion Willimsun
Activate: 50% change to Pass 1 is now:
Activate 2: Pass 1.
Affects players: All SPEED type players
Players
Devon Bookr
Salary increased from 34 to 35.
Replaced passive Exploit 4: Get +2 BONUS SHOTS with Opponent Debuff: Get +1 BONUS SHOT.
Developer Comments: We wanted to differentiate Devon from Kevyn Dureant. We gave him a new debuff passive that is highly synergistic with his skills.
John Wall
Replaced passive Exploit 4: Get +2 BONUS PASSES with Opponent Debuff: Get +1 BONUS PASS.
Kenny Slothton
Replaced passive Trait: Contact Finisher, get fouled instead of blocked, with Trait: Crafty Shooter, cannot be blocked.
Jaeson Taetum
Replaced passive Anticipation: Shoot 1 and Pass 1 with Get 1 Tier 3 Defensive Buff.
Defense increased from 69 to 73.
Developer Comments: Jaeson's anticipation passive was too oppressive against movement decks. He was a one man counter to an entire archetype. It's good to have counters, but this one was too much.
Malcom Bragdon
Salary increased from 14 to 15.
Increased cooldown for the Setplay: Fist up 2 Backdoor skill from 0 to 1. This was a bug and never intended to be 0.
Paull Jeorge
Salary decreased from 34 to 33.
Changed passive Aura: WILL teammates have Obnoxious Defender to Aura: Teammates have Obnoxious Defender.
Obnoxious Defender reduced from +25 defense to +20 Defense.
Developer Comments: Paull Jeorge is a great defensive player, but the WILL limitation on his aura made him a niche legendary. With this change we hope to increase his appeal, and see him be part of more decks. The nerf to Obnouxios Defender was warranted now that it applies to everyone.
Iulius Randl
Reduced the effect of Aura: STRENGTH teammates have Special. Special effect reduced from +30 Rebounding, +30 Playmaking to +30 Rebounding, +10 Playmaking.
Reduced number of shots on the Quantity over Quality skill from 8 to 7.
Offense reduced from 76 to 72.
Developer Comments: We went overboard with the Playmaking on Iulius's aura and shot count. He was a must have in any STRENGTH deck. This nerf will bring him back in line with other STR players.
Caramelo Anthonny
Type changed from STRENGTH to SKILL. Type passive changed accordingly.
Arjay Bartett
Rarity increased from Rare to Epic.
Isayah Hartandstein
Block reduced from 15 to 9.
Offense reduced from 54 to 51.
Hasan Whideside
Block reduced from 12 to 9.
Willy Couly-Steyn
Block reduced from 12 to 9.
Developer Comments: We kept buffing block and adding block focused players lately. We're also doing it this patch with the addition of Dja Morand & Jarem Jacksun Jr. All in all, it's starting to get a bit out of hand and we felt the need to nerf a few of the cheap block focused players. Block is not overpowered in itself, but when combined with Teamwork. There is a good chance we will either change the way Teamwork works in the future, or greatly reduce the number of players who have it as a trait.
Kentt Basemore
Steal increased from 9 to 12.
Defense increased from 50 to 54.
Seckou Doumbouyah
Steal increased from 3 to 9.
Defense increased from 38 to 43.
Ban Adebaio
Salary decreased from 32 to 31.
Chriz Paull
Salary decreased from 30 to 28.
Iannis Adetokounpo
Salary decreased from 47 to 45.
Added new passive Trait: Buff Duration Up
Developer Comments: Iannis was under performing relative to his cost. His ultimate was also a bit underwhelming since the buffs actually only lasted one turn (1 turn of the buff duration passed on the current activation), so we gave him another trait to compensate. It fits in nicely with the "unstoppable freak" fantasy.
Kevyn Dureant
Salary increased from 42 to 43.
Lebrom Jamez
Salary decreased from 38 to 36.
Nicola Jokeric
Salary increased from 44 to 45.
Gordan Heywardz
Salary decreased from 12 to 11.
Kylle Laoury
Reduced shot count on Advanced Long Shots skill from 4 to 3.
Maikael Porrter
Salary increased from 13 to 14.
Jo Herris
Salary decreased from 16 to 15.
Offense decreased from 70 to 62.
Terri Rosier
Salary decreased from 15 to 14.
Offense decreased from 60 to 55.
Tiler Hero
Salary increased from 12 to 13.
Daryo Searic
Offense decreased from 65 to 57.
Replaced Volume Shooting skill with Volume Slashing
Jeorge Heell
Offense decreased from 58 to 50.
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Greyson Alen
Replaced third skill with Play Bullyball: Give opponent AGGRESSIVE I for 2 turns. Shoot.
Kendrik Nomm
Salary increased from 6 to 7.
Offense decreased from 70 to 58.
Pat Conaughton
Replaced third skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Serj Ibacka
Offense decreased from 71 to 63.
Jordn Nowora
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Luek Kennart
Replaced second skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Paiton Prichard
Defense decreased from 36 to 46.
Salary increased from 5 to 6.
Jamez Buknight
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Replaced third skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Mozes Muudy
Salary decreased from 4 to 3.
Thanisis Adetokounpo
Replaced third skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Khawai Lenard
Salary reduced from 41 to 40.
Opportunistic: Get +25 TURN METER changed to Opportunistic: Get +20 TURN METER.
De'Andrre Huntr
Salary reduced from 16 to 15.
Marcuz Morriz
Salary increased from 14 to 15.
Offense reduced from 72 to 65.
Defense increased from 39 to 43.
Jon Woall
Salary reduced from 19 to 17.
Replaced third skill with Drive & Kick Outside: Shoot & Pass to a Wing teammate.
Erric Gordn
Replaced third skill with Drive & Kick Outside: Shoot & Pass to a Wing teammate.
Jorrdan Pool
Salary increased from 14 to 15.
Offense reduced from 65 to 53.
Alpren Sengoon
Replaced third skill with Play Bullyball: Give opponent AGGRESSIVE I for 2 turns. Shoot.
KJ Martn
Replaced second skill with Play Bullyball: Give opponent AGGRESSIVE I for 2 turns. Shoot.
Jay'Sean Taete
Salary reduced from 4 to 3.
Jaylen Grinn
Salary increased from 15 to 17.
Offense reduced from 66 to 60.
Defense reduced from 38 to 32.
Reggi Jakson
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Jeff Grinn
Offense reduced from 62 to 52.
Aron Hodiday
Offense reduced from 55 to 50.
Replaced Volume Shooting skill with Volume Slashing
Steth Curi
Salary increased from 14 to 15.
Offense reduced from 81 to 77.
Tijay Warden
Salary increased from 7 to 8.
Offense reduced from 66 to 62.
Replaced Volume Shooting skill with Volume Slashing
Bonez Hylanb
Salary reduced from 12 to 11.
Offense reduced from 67 to 64.
Pat McCau
Salary reduced from 4 to 3.
Replaced second skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Brawno Cubloco
Defense increased from 42 to 59.
Dwayne Wajhington
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Replaced third skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Tai Jerume
Salary reduced from 5 to 4.
Offense reduced from 60 to 55.
Tare Easton
Salary increased from 8 to 9.
Osman Garuda
Replaced second skill with Outside Pass: Pass to a Wing teammate.
Lindel Widginton
Replaced Volume Shooting skill with Volume Slashing
Sion Willimsun
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Jonaz Valaciunas
Offense reduced from 84 to 79.
Block reduced from 9 to 7.
Stamina reduced from 62 to 55.
Davonte Grapham
Salary reduced from 13 to 12.
Gareth Tenple
Replaced second skill with Full Contact Drive: Give opponent -10 STAMINA and Shoot.
Brice MacGrowens
Salary reduced from 3 to 2.
Replaced Volume Shooting skill with Volume Slashing
Dejonte Murrei
Salary increased from 29 to 30.
Camm Redish
Replaced second skill with Play Bullyball: Give opponent AGGRESSIVE I for 2 turns. Shoot.
Mychael Robinzon
Offense decreased from 80 to 74.
Replace passive Trait: Speed Blocker with Trait: Will Blocker.
Emanuel Quigley
Salary increased from 7 to 8.
Obbi Tobbin
Replaced third skill with Use Multiple Screens: Switch with a teammate. Get OFFENSE UP I and 3P CHANCE UP I for 2 turns.
Skills
Challenge The Lane
Switch with a teammate. Get +20 STAMINA and COUNTER ATTACK for 2 turns. is now Switch with teammate and get +20 STAMINA
Affects the following players: Willy Couly-Steyn, Alonzo McKinney.
Bug Fixes & Other Changes
- Added Chinese, Japanese & Korean fonts. Player names that contain characters from those languages will now be correctly displayed.
- Added additional logging for debugging live issues.
- Fixed an issue where the player progression would reset, and allowed multiple claims of the Discord reward.
- Fixed all know typos
Thank you and good luck!