We have this season's card backs ready to reveal, and we have a little more to discuss regarding the current state of the game.
Seasonal card backs for January
The first Ranked and Pandora season of 2017 will end, as always, on the first Monday of the new month - which happens to be February 6th. Here are the card backs you can earn for January!
If you can't already tell, the Ranked card backs are on the left, Pandora are on the right. As a reminder, here's how you can earn these exclusive card backs:
You still have over a week to get there!
More on the gameplay landscape
In our last blog post, we touched heavily on some key aspects of the current state of the game such as the power of rush decks, Slam, and mobility tricks in Green. However, we wanted to make clear that this post was not meant to cover the entire scope of changes we are considering for the next balance patch.
When we draft balance patches, we consider the effects each change will have on the whole. Increasing or decreasing power levels in one area can create an issue in another area, or direct the meta into places we generally don’t want to be. It’s not enough to “Nerf Krog” and leave it at that. This can sometimes be why it takes a little extra time to deliver piping hot balance adjustments to the live server, even when we know some of our players are eager for changes.
Last week, we seemed to have touched on just about every color except for Blue. This wasn’t really intentional, we just wanted to cover the general state of where we think things stand right now, in broad strokes. One particular card we didn’t mention last week was Forbidden Library. We’d like to make it clear we’ve heard community feedback on this particular card, and are currently testing out several different options for the future of this structure. While we're happy with the general design of Library and the turn-by-turn tension it can create, we recognize the issue it can have in the early game where it can put the opposing player in a very difficult situation. Once again, we generally don't like to put players in positions where they feel helpless - and we're looking at ways to remedy this.
Speaking of structures, we’ve been thinking of ways to make them more exciting or useful in general. While we don’t want to say too much right now, there’s a good chance something really interesting may happen to them next patch.
As a general disclaimer, we should be clear that sometimes not everything we mention when discussing balance changes make it to the live server - but at the same time we think it’s important to keep our players abreast of what we’re thinking internally. As long as it isn't dirty.
Balance patch, when?
This is, of course, what everyone wants to know.
The answer is, as always: When it’s done.
That’s not to sound harsh, but we really do like to be sure the changes are as good as can be reasonably achieved before we provide them for mass consumption.
We also like to keep in mind tournaments and community events in mind as much as possible, and not put our competitive players into positions where they have very little time to practice or experiment.
Speaking of community events…
Weekend events
Monthly Cup qualifier
The second Monthly Cup qualifier takes place tomorrow, January 28th!
- Register here for Monthly Cup qualifier #2 - Saturday, 6pm CET.
- Watch them live on MetagamingTV, casted by Scream and Skorch.
Remember that after this current Monthly Cup, it will be put on hiatus until after the release of 1.0. Get in while you can!
Faeria Showdown League
Community members Crow and ItsCappuccino have put together a series of invitational showmatches that put some of the best players in Faeria against one another, every weekend!
- Check this Reddit thread for more information
- Watch it live, with commentary - Sunday, January 29th: 6pm CET
Noaphiel's King of the Hill
Last weekend, notable pirate Modgnik toppled littlenooby to become the current King of the Hill. He'll defend his title this Sunday against Imperia, a notable Frenchman.
These events are great to watch and learn how some of the highest level competitors are playing Faeria. Watching even one game can often teach you quite a bit, if you're looking to improve your game.
Have a great weekend.
-Gary(@Atmaz)