Will o' the Wisp question

[ammms]

The open skill of Will o' the Wisp:

One friendly unit of your choice gets MAX HP+10 and HP+10.

Isn't its skill supposed to be adding 2 SP?

[reydien]

The card was changed sometime between the A-Kon preview and the start of the alpha test. From my understanding, the Japanese team changed some abilities around throughout the entire basic set in order to improve game-play and balance.

Will o' the Wisp specifically was changed because originally, if you might have noticed, all of the starter decks had 3 copies of Will o' the Wisp in them. Card-Game balance 101: if EVERY deck has copies of the same card in it, that card is probably overpowered. I know I personally experienced several Backlashes (special event when both players play the same card on the same turn; they basically cancel each other out) during my few plays at A-Kon, including one game where we almost backlashed all 3 wisps (I decided not to press it and let the other guy play his, since at that point I had the upper hand on the field).

[Guest]

"If every deck has copies of the same card in it, that card is probably overpowered."

In my opinion, this is a pretty good guideline to follow.

-Az

[reydien]

Well, something to keep in mind, when the game goes live there will only be 100 different cards available (25 per faction). Balance is one thing, but at inevitably there a "power base" will form for each faction, and with only 25 cards it'll probably be a small subset.

[DanTheTimid]

So true, especially early in any card game decks tend to be VERY similar, no matter how well balanced, because there just aren't many options yet.

However I will say I don't like the "If every deck has copies of the same card in it, that card is probably overpowered." guideline... atleast not if ignore that "probably" cause the "probably" is very important. Over use of cards is certainly a cause for concern and a reason to investigate the power of said cards, but just because a card is used alot doesn't necessarily mean its too strong. All too often in card games people use bandwagon jumping as their primary deck construction technique. One guy wins a major tournament and some of the cards he used get released to the public, your almost assuredly going to see use of those cards jump. The truth might just be that he was a really good player or got lucky but all too many players prefer to go with the proven winners over trying to innovate new winning combinations.

That said, in this case the Japanese team in charge of balance has had 10 sets and several years of experience with this game and all of these first set cards, so if anyone would know which ones are just overly hyped and which ones truly are over powered, they'd be the people.