Happy new year everyone!
We are starting this year off with balance changes which mostly focus on Neutrals, Skellige and Syndicate.
Jean and Burza go over the most important changes and our thoughts behind them:
Changes
Neutral
Black Blood - Now has the Alchemy tag.
Chironex - Provision cost changed from 8 to 9.
Has a new part of ability:
If you have Unicorn in your hand, play it, then draw a card.
Unicorn - Provision cost changed from 8 to 9.
Has a new part of ability:
If you have Chironex in your hand, play it, then draw a card.
Decoy - Now has the Warfare tag.
Lady of the Lake - Now has the Relict tag.
Ornate Censer - Now has the Alchemy tag.
Sangreal - Ability changed to:
Purify and boost a unit by 12, then Infuse it with "Once both players have passed, damage self by 12".
Summoning Circle - Now has the Spell tag.
Bone Talisman - Now has the Organic tag.
Epidemic - Provision cost changed from 5 to 4.
Now has the Organic tag.
Petri's Philter - Now has the Alchemy tag.
Thunderbolt - Now has the Alchemy tag.
Monsters
Lilit's Omen - Provision cost changed from 12 to 11.
Skellige
Axel Three-Eyes - Ability changed to:
Deploy (Melee): Spawn and play Crow's-eye Rhizome.
Deploy (Ranged): Transform adjacent Crows into Crow Messengers.
Dracoturtle - Power changed from 5 to 6.
Armor changed from 5 to 6.
Crow Clan Druid - Power changed from 3 to 4.
Ability changed to:
Zeal. Order: Banish an allied Crow, then play a 4 provision Alchemy card from your graveyard and give it Doomed.
Feral Bond - Ability changed to:
Spawn Skellige Wolves on an enemy row and damage it by 1, then Create a bronze Skellige Warrior that was not in your starting deck.
Bloodthirst 3: You may Spawn and play any bronze Skellige Warrior that was not in your starting deck instead.
Northern Realms
Melitele - Provision cost chaged from 14 to 13.
Crone effect changed to:
Boost self by 1, then increase this card's ability values by 1.
Vandergrift's Blade - Now has the Cursed and Warfare tags.
Scoia'tael
Malena - Power changed from 4 to 5.
Milva - Ability changed to:
Immunity.
Whenever an allied unit moves, boost self by 1.
Treant Boar - Power changed from 5 to 6.
Vrihedd Dragoon - Ability changed to:
Deploy: Move a unit to the other row. If it's an enemy, damage it by 1. If it's an ally, boost it by 2.
Nilfgaard
Torres var Emreis: Highest Priest - Ability changed to:
Doomed.
Assimilate.
Deploy: Return a non-Doomed allied unit that is not from your starting deck to your hand, excluding self, boost it by 2 and give it Doomed, then play a card.
If there is no valid target, Create and play a bronze unit from your opponent's faction and boost it by 2 instead.
Syndicate
Blood Money - Provision bonus changed from 16 to 15.
Ability changed to:
Order: Damage an enemy unit by 6, then gain Coins equal to any excess damage dealt.
Whenever an enemy unit with Bounty is destroyed, increase the damage by 1. If the Order is used up, refresh it and set its damage to 1 instead.
Count Reuven's Treasure - Provision cost changed from 12 to 11.
Now has the Crime tag.
Fabian Hale - Power changed from 4 to 5.
Ignatius Hale - Power changed from 12 to 18.
Provision cost changed from 6 to 9.
Ability changed to:
At the beginning of the game or when Spawned, set own power to 1.
While in hand, deck or on the battlefield, whenever an enemy unit with Bounty is destroyed, Heal self by its base power.
Octavia Hale - Fee ability changed to:
Fee 2: Boost an allied Witch Hunter by 2. If you destroyed an enemy unit this turn, boost by 3 instead.
The Brute - Ability changed to:
Profit 0.
Deploy: Boost self by 0.
The boost is equal to the base power of the highest-power enemy unit with a Bounty you destroyed this game.
Whenever you place a Bounty on an enemy unit, increase the Profit by 1.
Confession Extractor - Provision cost changed from 5 to 4.
Profit amount changed from 5 to 4.
Scapegoat - Power changed from 1 to 2.
Profit amount changed from 6 to 7.
Game Fixes
Tyr: Master of An Skellig's ability no longer triggers during the opponent's turn.
Vandergrift's Bladeno longer destroys itself without boosting a unit if that unit was killed after being played (e.g. through An Craite Longship).