Greetings, citizens,
This season, I’m struggling for a quick witty connection between the Kreig and Warp Spiders. So give me a minute while I grab a shovel and dig my way out of this hole, before this analogy becomes too much of a tangled web…
With that out of the way we can flickerjump into this Season's changes! We’ve got a number of changes to the Aeldari, particularly focusing on all the aspect warriors, and for the most part increasing their points and stats to make them feel a bit more like the elite of the Aeldari line like they should be.
In addition to that, we’ve got a few scatter changes to other factions, primarily looking at some trait swaps to give the best possible impact.
Balance Changes:
Aeldari:
Irillith - Howling Banshee Aspect Warrior
+3 Cost, +20W, +20M
As mentioned, we are looking at increasing points on a number of aspect warriors to make them feel a bit more elite. The Howling Banshee is a great example as one of the cheapest bodyguards available to the faction. At a 3-point increase, she’s still very affordable, but now, with +20 wounds, her fear goes a bit further, and +20 Melee means she's delivering a much more powerful punch. She should be able to do a lot more than just be fodder for Rakarth or Avatar decks, while still being able to fill that role too.
Ealion Toir - Dark Reaper Exarch
+5 Cost, +30W, +15R
Ealion definitely doesn’t feel like an Exarch, and with some new aspect warriors on the horizon, it's about time he felt like a unit leader! With a big bump in cost, he gets a substantial amount of wounds and a heft increase in range, allowing him to maximise his barrage, and make him a potent mid-cost damage dealer.
Thielle - Dire Avenger Aspect Warrior
+2 Cost, +10W, +10R
Keeping with the trend, Thielle was only marginally better than a regular Guardian. With these increases, he definitely stands out as a more premium ranged infantry choice, while still being very affordable.
Sylandri Veilwalker - Harlequin Shadowseer
+5 Wounds, +5 Range, +5 Psychic, +5 Melee
Veilwalker had been nerfed in the past as one of the few Aeldari cards with Shield; she was often spammed in Lelith decks to recycle the shield. While this is still possible, with the option of more Shielded cards since then, and with Lelith not being playable in PvP, this nerf is being somewhat reversed. By making her more balanced in Lelith decks, she was fairly unplayable with other Warlords, and the all-round increase, and therefore versatility, should mean she can be much more widely used!
Trialeorn the Silent - Craftworld Saim-Hann Farseer
-4 Cost
One of the biggest issues for Eldar psychic decks is space, and while Trialeorn’s raw damage output has always made it a very appealing choice for these decks, given how fragile he is, his investment is pretty high, given how long he can stay on the board. Rather than dilute his identity as a major glass cannon piece, reducing his cost helps psychic decks in general, and gives room for more potential support to compensate for his fragility.
Karandras - Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions
-2 Cost, +20W
Karandras has always stood out as one of the weakest options for the Phoenix lords, so his cost has been brought down to align with the others. Added to that, we’ve increased his wounds, to make him a bit more durable and differentiate him more from other Phoenix lord options like Baharroth and Jain Zar.
Necron:
Raunek Pha - Hierotek Circle Apprentek
Trait Change: Scout -> Target Acquired
Raunek Pha has been fairly consistent in their poor performance since release, and with plenty of access to Readies (or benefits from Readying), Scout wasn’t doing enough for him. Add to that Melee is the less popular of the two Necron attack types, we’ve switched Pha up a bit. Necrons have no Melee-focused Target Acquired, but have plenty of Ranged TA options. While Pha’s stats are balanced, he is now the best Melee TA option, but is still viable in other deck builds.
T’au:
Dohra'to Tohrrok - Kroot Farstalker
Trait Change: Furious Charge -> Target Acquired
Similar to Raunek Pha, where there are plenty of good Ranged TA options available to T’au, there’s none for Melee. Again not a common choice, but Kroot decks are definitely popular! By giving TA to the Farstalker we’re unlocking another support piece for T’au Melee, and a trait that is core to the T’au identity as a whole.
Name Unknown - Kroot Hound
+2 Cost, +10W, +10M
Similar to the Aspect Warriors, the Kroot Hound just wasn’t able to achieve a lot at its price point. Added to the competition at that cost with a host of powerful support drones, it’s no surprise the hound is struggling, so by increasing the cost, the hound steps out of that drone associated price point, and can do a lot more on the field with the added wounds, and importantly damage.
Anghkor Prok - Kroot Carnivore Long Quill
-20W, +10M
Talking of Kroot damage, for the most part, they underperform against the raw damage output of their T’au allies. While Anghkor Prok has a serious amount of Wounds available, really that comes at the cost of any meaningful damage output. So trimming off a few wounds for a good chunk more damage should make a difference.
Servants of the Emperor:
Damien 1427 - Adeptus Ministorum Arco-flagellant
-30W, +15M
Trait Change: Berserk -> Deathblow
Low-cost Berserk just doesn’t work all that well, particularly in a faction geared towards sacrificing cheap cards. As such were swapping the Arco-Flagellant over to Deathblow to perfectly fit that role, and to match the trait change were swapping a decent amount of Wounds over to Melee.
Chaos:
Nauseous Rotbone - Plague Surgeon of the Death Guard
-2 Cost
Chaos definitely has a bit of a premium on Medicae, and the Plague Surgeon, despite being one of the cheapest options, is one of the least popular. Reducing his cost should make him more appealing (or as appealing as a Nurgle surgeon can be) and give support to Chaos Melee with him now being the cheapest option for Medicae. This should also balance against him being the only Medicae in the faction with only one attack type.
Grizguttage - Spoilpox Scrivener of Nurgle
-2 Cost
Cheap Inspiring Presence options for Chaos are also quite limited, and the Scrivener also falls into the category of an older, perhaps outdated, Nurgle card. A price decrease fulfils the same purpose as the Plague Surgeon change, and loosens up access to better, cheap support options for the faction.
Cards Added to the General Pool:
Aeldari:
Fireheart - Nightwing
Servants of the Emperor:
Ionica Ulara - Canoness with Jump Pack
Gerantius - The Forgotten Knight
Mausoleum - Adepta Sororitas Castigator
Elyza Vengor - Adepta Sororitas Seraphim
Blue Devil - Marauder Bomber
Space Marines:
Redemption - Land Raider Banisher
Brother Corbulo - Sanguinary High Priest
Orks:
Munchacruncha - Snakebite Clan Gargantuan Squiggoth
Tyranids:
Yvester the Star-wrought - Genestealer Cult Goliath Truck
Mordecai Drevender - Genestealer Cult Benefictus