Oct 1 OTA - With Decks!
The two biggest decks got nerfed! Good news, right? Well, wait and see exactly how they were changed before you decide... Plus, three Destroy buffs among the five total from this OTA. This is sure to be a controversial one, so let's dive in!
Special shoutout to notmydance for the images in this article! Be sure to check him out on YouTube!
The Changes
Thanos Fractured Frontier: No longer pre-loads an Infinity Shot at Game Start.
Blink: 5/7 ⇨ 5/8 AND now Swaps a cared that costs the same or more.
Jane Foster Fractured Frontier: 3/4 ⇨ 3/3
Tao Mandala (from The Ancient One): 2-Cost ⇨ 3-Cost
Domino: 2/4 ⇨ 2/3
Kluh: 5/10 ⇨ 5/11
Zombie Captain Marvel: 4/5 ⇨ 4/6
Winter Soldier (from Bucky Barnes): 2/7 ⇨ 2/8
Tombstone: 2/4 ⇨ 2/5
Basic Arrow (from Kate Bishop): +3 Power ⇨ +4 Power
There are also a variety of slight changes to Draft mode, including some rarity tweaking and removal of some "nonbos."
Card by Card Analysis and Decks
Thanos needed a change, and he got one. I agree that this is an insufficient nerf, but don't underestimate how much of a nerf losing the initail shot is. It really is a substantial nerf to the card's output. However, my issue with this approach is that it does nothing to undo the damage Thanos does in narrowing the metagame with the Soul Shot, and, since he's mostly used as a generic, flexible, mid-range engine, this won't reduce his play rate much. I'd have loved to see a change to the orange shot, but, barring that, at least the guy could have lost a point of Power or two! This is the kind of Thanos FF nerft the community would have been happy with last time, but now Thanos has built enough ill-will, this is unlikely to satisfy the mob calling for his head.
Oh, you were hoping for a Scorpion nerf? This is it. It seems Second Dinner's position is that Scorpion is fine, full-combo Scorpion is not. I can see the argument that Blink represents a design constraint given her problematic history with the types of decks she enables, but it still a bitter pill to swallow to see this (recently gifted for free) card changed twice in the last two OTAs because of Scorpion.
Finally, the first change that I have no real issues with. THe card was just too strong. However, I think if this is being proposed as a nerf to Thanos FF himself, the devs are misguided. She was strong enough on her own as the new de facto 3 drop to deserve a nerf and she was a great thing to copy with Thanos, but he'll survive just fine without her.
From a welcome change to... this. I geniunely hate this change. This card is being changed because it finally found a single use-case with Scorpion BND. This card is unplayable at 3-Cost and will return to obscurity. Why in the world would you change this rather than changing something about how Scorpion's ability stacks?
You have to admit, it's pretty hilarious to call out that Quicksilver/Domino isn't the strongest way to play Thanos FF and then nerf Domino anyway. Is the idea just to push more casual players off the deck? Inspire some creativity? It's been interesting seeing Quicksilver and Domino, once among the very worst cards in the game, become powerful meta-presences, but I'm not heartbroken that this card is going back down a point, despite not really feeling like it was deserved.
The problem with Kluh wasn't that he was one point of Power too weak. It's that he's terrible in a meta that includes Thanos Fractured Frontier. I still think this card is decent and worth some experimentation, but the devs really missed an opportunity to open up space for this card (and MANY others) by giving Thanos FF a more proper slap.
This is definitely a card that I've wanted to love since release, but has just never anywhere near powerful enough. I like the mechanic and the point of Power is going to get me to experiment with her more.
Nimrod Destroy decks have been doing pretty well in the face of Thanos FF, but classic Destroy hasn't gained much traction. Is this a subtle hint from the devs to use Bucky Destroy decks as a counter to Thanos' overbearing Soul Stone? Maybe? I think the meta does look pretty friendly to Destroy at the moment, so maybe it's time to return to a classic. If nothng else, this will have a real impact on Draft mode.
Yet another Destroy buff! Again, I don't think this card was terrrible. Targeted Destroy in two lanes is strong! Now at 2/5 this is one of the better Destroy enablers in the game. Could he start to see play in Nimrod decks?
Kate Bishop is one of the many cards in the category of "once among the best cards in the game, but not anymore." I don't think this buff is enough to return one of my favorite cards to prominence, but I'm glad to see she's on the team's radar. I used to play her for free value in V. Hand decks, and there could be a place for her in a Collector or WWBN centered deck.
Grading the OTA
This OTA is disappointing on a number of levels. First, while I don't actually fall in with the crowd that wants Thanos Fractured Frontier Murdered, I think the card is strong enough to have taken the nerf they gave it plus a knock to 5/7 pretty easily. Plus, I really do think the orange Soul Stone is a design constraint that will be more obvious when people try to play October Horde decks. He inhibits the value of low-Cost scalers in a really meta-warping way. But Thanos isn't the only disappointment here. The path they've taken with Scorpion BND is disappointing. I think it could be argued that Blink was problematic either way, but Tao Mandala was a pretty interesting card that has been banished back to the ether. The Destroy buffs are nice, but they're not likely to make that into a Tier 1 deck and neither of the other buffs move the needle much. If you already loved the meta, get ready for more of the same!
Below the paywall, subscribers will find deck ideas to hit the ground running in the post-OTA meta! It's going to be similar, but there are some wrinkles here we can exploit!
