Now that we are about two months from the release of Rush of Ikorr, there are a couple of elephants in the room we need to address! Despite the overwhelmingly positive and encouraging feedback we have received from the community on the game, we are constantly striving to make the game as enjoyable as possible. With that said, we will be discussing a handful of cards and interactions that have served to be a negative play experience for players.
In today’s update, we are going to cover four different approaches to game balance and play experience including what cards are making their inaugural appearance on some of these lists. The four lists we will be discussing today are Banned Cards, Banned Champion/Infusion Combinations, Limited Cards, and Card Erratas. We will cover what each of these mean in the sections below. Let’s get into it.
Banned Cards
The following cards are banned. This means they cannot be played in your deck in any sanctioned event.
Blessing of Osiris
After a couple months of constructed play, we have seen a significant number of players across multiple regions taking advantage of a three-card infinite combo in Prophecy. This combo utilizes Blessing of Osiris, Stargazer, and Starry Deer Crocodile + Salt Block to force your opponent to draw and discard every card in their deck. Once they are out of cards in their deck and are continuously forced to draw cards on an empty deck with Salt Block, the controller of the combo freely secures Ikorr until they have won.
With cost reducers and the power of Ix Chel, Lady Rainbow as an avatar, this combo can be initiated very early in the game. All in just a single aspect to boot! We had taken a look at each of the offenders in the combo, considering various options to a solution, but Blessing of Osiris seemed to be the main piece that allowed for unhindered resilience. That power doesn’t stop at this combo, as a card like Blessing of Osiris has serious potential of posing ongoing threats as the game continues and more cards are designed. To eliminate the negative experience created now and avoid future problems, Blessing of Osiris is banned.
Banned Champion/Infusion Combos
It is no question that Infusions offer both exciting and powerful card options in Rush of Ikorr. But with power, comes great… challenge. In addition to the thousands of possible combinations of champions and Infusions that can be, there is a unique capability for us as developers to balance the play experience through the banning of specific combinations, instead of cards or Infusions outright. This allows players to still play them separately and continue experimenting with all the possibilities. As the game grows, the possible combinations becomes exponential, so we will constantly be cognizant and aware of those that are problematic.
For now though, the following champion/infusion combinations are banned. This means they cannot be played in that configuration in your deck in any sanctioned event.
Venomous Asp + Eager
Lethal has proven to be a powerful keyword and that was intended! However, turning your 1-drop Lethal champion into an immediate answer to anything across the battlefield has served to be less interesting. Due to the hyper efficient influence cost and low Infusion value on the Infusion, Venomous Asp with the Eager Infusion is banned.
Onryō + Eager
In a guaranteed resource game, progression of play is inherently linear. This means that cards tend to get more powerful as the game progresses. Of course, this is by design and we happily include cards at high influence costs that have an impact on the game (games gotta end, right?). With that said, Onryo with the Eager Infusion poses an undercosted threat that trades up over and over and over again, trivializing the appeal of boss monster level champions. Therefore, the combination of these two cards is banned.
Unrelenting Taskmaster + Omamori of Fortune
The combination of these two cards presents a similar problem as Onryo + Eager in that it presents an aggressively costed one-sided boardwipe that trades up without consequence. While these two can still be played separately, we want to see if breaking them up slows it down in a relevant way. In the meantime, as we gather more data, the combination of Unrelenting Taskmaster + Omamori of Fortune is banned.
Ashigaru Gunner + Sumptuous Cacao
Ashigaru Gunner has proven to be a staple 3-drop aspectless champion even without the power of Sumptuous Cacao. While this combination does not introduce anything inherently broken or easily abused, the value-to-opportunity-cost is clearly better than many other similar cards in this slot. The addition of the Infusion to an already aggressive option gives faster decks an even more formidable champion with very low vulnerability. For that reason, Ashigaru Gunner + Sumptuous Cacao is banned.
Limited Cards
Limited cards include cards that have a maximum of 1 copy legal in any deck. Players cannot play more than 1 copy of these cards in their deck in any sanctioned event.
No changes.
Card Erratas
Card erratas include cards that have had their text changed to better clarify or represent the mechanical intention. While we aim to minimize the number of erratas that are needed, sometimes a card needs a small adjustment to work as intended. When a card undergoes an errata, its previous text will no longer be valid and it’s new text will be the card’s true text. A card’s errata text will always be visible in the card gallery (https://my.upperdeck.com/public/roi/cards). The following cards will have their card text updated.
Kitsunebi
Old: SUMMON — Void target champion. During the end phase, its owner summons it.
New: SUMMON — Void another target champion. At the beginning of the next end phase, its owner summons it.
The purpose of this errata is to avoid infinite summon triggers during a player’s end phase. Kitsunebi’s previous text allowed its controller to endlessly summon it during their end phase, creating for an unintentional interaction. With the updated text, Kitsunebi’s trigger will bring back the voided champion at the beginning of the end phase, prohibiting the possibility of infinite triggers.
Enlightenment
Old: Until the end of this turn, allied effects can target any player, champion, or location.
New: Until the end of this turn, allied effects that target may choose their target at any range.
The intention for Enlightenment was always for it to functionally extend the range at which allies could have an impact. Upon release, it is evident that the templating of the card’s effect is not intuitive. This errata does not change the card’s intention as much as it clarifies it. Enlightenment does not change the properties of what targets can be chosen, it simply increases the range at which they can target.
For example, Death Wahy requires that its controller destroys “target allied champion.” Enlightenment’s previous text of “any champion” could be interpreted that Death Wahy could instead destroy “target opposing champion.” This was not the intention as effects under Enlightenment still must target something that it could legally target (in this case it would still have to be an “allied” champion). It is now clarified in the updated text that any effect that targets may do so beyond its normal range.
Thank you so much for sitting through this hefty update, but we hope it leads to more positive play experiences in your games! As designers and developers, we strive to be transparent and receptive with everything we release. We will continue to keep a close eye on how Rush of Ikorr continues to unravel over the coming months. There is no schedule currently for when these updates will come, but we are certain to find a good pace eventually. Also, keep an eye out for comprehensive rules on the horizon. Thank you again and happy raiding!
