Greetings, Rangers!
It’s a pretty big week for Shardbound in the world of card content - the Packrunner forces are receiving their major overhaul this week, and will be the focus of this Dev Update.
Changes are expected to come with our typical Tuesday patch!
Rework Goals
After collecting a lot of player feedback and play data, our Packrunner Overhaul is ready for wider testing. Here are some of the goals of our changes:
- Introducing more interesting choices and deck variety through the Bond keyword
- Making Primal minions more consistently themed (and less the focus of the entire faction)
- Increase moment to moment choices both playing as and against Yellow
- Increase overall effectiveness, while removing frustrating win conditions
To these ends, cards have been removed, replaced, and reworked. Like with previous overhauls, you’ll still own the same amount of cards after the patch. In the case of card reworks, your cards will simply change. In the case of full removals, you’ll receive free copies of cards that have been created in their stead. Please check the Patch Notes tomorrow for the specifics.
Here are some of the major themes you’ll notice when the Patch drops:
Bond Units
The Packrunner motto “Side by Side” references their philosophy of bonding with their allies to strengthen each other on the battlefield. Now, this is brought to life in the game with the “Bond” keyword -- units with “Bond” select a friendly minion when they come into play, bestowing a bonus to the targeted unit AND ALSO to themselves. For example:
When the Toka Warrior comes into play (assuming it can target a friendly minion), the targeted minion will receive a +2 Attack buff, and the Toka Warrior itself will drop onto the board as a huge 5/4. Killing EITHER target will cause the bond to break, and the surviving unit will lose their buff.
Minions can be under the influence of multiple bonds at once, creating a web of buffs that will make your opponent have to make some smart choices to gain back advantage. A Tip: mousing over the tile of a bonded unit will show you the units they’re connected to!
On it’s own, Strength of Bonds is a slightly worse Steelsinger Overdrive. On a Bonded unit, it’s slightly superior. On one of the aforementioned Bond webs, it can be a huge buff to turn the tides!
Primals Love Injured Enemies
Previously, Primals lacked a strong gameplay identity of their own, and were most typically just added to decks for their Tribal Keyword, independent of their card text. Now, Primals thematically revolve around injured enemy minions and related unique effects. For example, this highly mobile new friend:
And to help you injure those enemy minions more easily, we’ve added the Spearmaiden:
Launch a spear at that enemy Katelle and swing into it with the Grand Wyrm. Throw in a Strict Packmaster (Give a friendly Primal uncounterable this turn) for some incredible primal value!
Swarm Tactics
The final theme you can expect to see more support for is the idea of the Packrunner board swarm. In addition to utilizing strong, cheap minions with some efficient card draw, you’ll find more ways to take advantage of a strong board presence. After using Swift Strike and Ancient Caller to litter the board Spirit Primals, follow up with this potential bomb:
Now, it’s much easier for Juro to drop a monster threat in the midgame. The Exalt is a basic card, so be sure to jump in and see what you think!
We’re Ready for Feedback!
Packrunners will likely need some followup tweaks, tuning, and changes - so please jump onto the Subreddit, Discord, or Forums to leave us your thoughts. There's are a bunch more cards that what's listed here!
We’re excited for all of the new ways to build decks for Juro, and we’re excited to see what you come up with!
Your friends,
The Spiritwalk Crew