OTA Changes March 26
The Latest OTA is a big one, full of interesting buffs alongside nerfs to the most complained about cards. This will probably be a very warmly received OTA, but I do have a few quibbles. We'll get into all that, plus deck lists and more in this week's OTA review!
The Changes
- Star-Lord, Master of the Sun: 4/3 ⇨ 5/8
- Cannonball: 5/6 ⇨ 5/5
- Frigga: 3/4 ⇨ 3/3
- Gambit Horseman of Death: Play 5 total Cost of created cards ⇨ Play 6 total Cost of created cards
- Gorr The God Butcher: 6/-1 ⇨ 6/1
- Mjolnir: Give Thor +6 Power ⇨ Give Thor +7 Power.
- Stormbreaker: 0/3 ⇨ 0/4
- Strange Supreme: 2/1 ⇨ 2/2
- Caiera: 3/4 ⇨ 3/5
- Weapon X: 2/2 ⇨ 2/3
- Viv Vision: 3/3 ⇨ 3/4
High Voltage: Overdrive Banlist Changes
- Fin Fang Foom and Horseman Gambit added
- Mysterio removed
Star-Lord, Master of the Sun
The key aspect of this change is that it's now much more difficult to get a second instance of this On Reveal (or third, or fourth…). I think it's clearly a weaker card, but my instinct tells me that if we were just given a card with this Cost and Power initially, we would have thought it looked plenty powerful. It's still a 5/12+ that gives you an Energy boost. It's certainly awkward that you can't play it and float Energy on Turn 5, but High Evo decks will still love him.
EvOta
Cannonball
I've never had the same feeling of Cannonball being problematic as most of the player base and didn't mind him at 8 Power. Still, most of his current role in the game will be unaffected by the move down to 5 Power. He will still be relied on as a lane winner in the same way.
Frigga
Frigga enabled too much in Victoria Hand and contributed too much towards Multiple Gambits of Death, but I feel like the end result of this change will be for Frigga to just be dropped from those lists. Alternatives like Bastion and Nico are either slower or more unreliable, but they have higher upside. Frigga may be on her way to being just a combo/shenanigans card, if not for Cerebro 3.
Gambit, Horseman of Death
I just feel like this isn't enough with how people are currently playing this card. You still fulfill his objective with a single Valentina card. Most deck haven't struggled at all to hit the Cost threshold and, while this is meaningfully more difficult, I don't think it's enough to prevent one of the most unpleasant designs in the game from having a negative effect on the play experience. I would have much rather seen a move to 4-Cost, a change to the interaction with Valentina, or some other creative solution that leaves the card powerful and useful, but a lot less problematic. In fact, I believe it's likely they're just going to have to revisit this card soon anyway. At least they've banned him from High Voltage: Overdrive.
Heavy Gambit
Gorr, The God Butcher
I love the kind of change that is a nerf in one deck, but a buff everywhere else (with apologies to the First Ghost Rider). While I would still hope for a more substantial change to Mr. Negative, the Star-Lord and Gorr changes should reduce the play rate in the short-term.
Mjolnir
How many buffs has the hammer deck gotten? And it still never manages to get any meta penetration. At this point, it's probably a perfectly fine deck that just isn't cool enough.
Stormbreaker
Honestly, a 0/4 is one of the strongest cards in the game. Unfortunately, you have to stifle your own draws if you get the Bill, which won't even always happen. King Eitri is an underrated part of the puzzle, though, and I'm definitely going to play some hammers this week.
Strange Supreme
Once the most dominant card in the game, Strange has fallen on hard times. Victoria Hand just made boosting your created cards so much stronger than devouring them. The key card with Strange Supreme, in my opinion, is Cosmo.
Caiera
Caiera just always feels awful to put onto the board, due to the combination of lost opportunity with your 3 Energy and the small body. 3/5 really might flip the script, as much as a 1-Power buff can. She'll probably become a staple in the Ozymandias decks moving forward.
Weapon X
As opposed to Viv and Caiera, here is a 1-Power buff that just seems like it's not enough to move the needle. Weapon X isn't awful, but it's the kind of deck that is both draw dependent and will also lose a bunch of games by a few points.
Viv Vision
I really feel like Viv was initially balanced around being an End of Turn card, which made her dramatically stronger (even without Invisible Woman), and the dev team is still shy about her because of their internal testing experiences. Even at 3/4, I don't expect her to be a powerhouse. However, Viv works best when you can build unstoppable downhill momentum and get out of control and this will enable that more often. Let's have some fun.
Final Thoughts
It's a big OTA with some much-needed changes. Looming over it is the change to Horseman Gambit, though. I liked that the blog explicitly mentioned the broad shift towards combo. They said "we’ve got some buffs in store that we hope will shift the metagame slightly towards a more midrange state to help alleviate some of the over-the-top pressures of the past few months." The stated goal is one that is wholeheartedly support. However, I'm skeptical that this OTA will move the needle in that direction. The damage done to the metagame in the past few months is deep and putting mid-range and "good cards" back at the center of gameplay (and by extension, card placement, skill expression, and counterplay) will take some extensive work. It will be an interesting dynamic to observe over the next few weeks. Between the Gambit change and the multiple nerfs to combo-heavy decks, Shou-Lao, who didn't get hit, will have some degree of resurgence. Other than that, play ramp?
