"I want to complain about Cleansing Emerald being moved from SP"

played ff sp very successfully without emerald before it got moved, it can make things a little more awkward but it gives you another rune slot for an offensive option which is the better option imo. Really depends on the meta but it is not needed by any means.

 

I stopped reading when you said higher skill to pilot lol

 

Ok, whatever. I've tried playing a version of my SP meta BG and it just doesn't work the same anymore. Again, you are more skilled than I but I am struggling to play it effectively. I am also at least 2-0 (one of them was an electric module) against FF SP BG's this week. Perhaps I am more skilled than them or perhaps they are just using less superior runes. I'm running a SP split atm and thats the best success I've had with SP since the big changes to it. Seems to be a ton of splits out there but not many FF.

 

FF SP, alot like FS is inherently efficient due to the bonus making it easier to play.

 

Wait. You've been testing the collective BG?

 

Giving every faction spot cleanse is lazy game design. Spot cleanse itself is pretty boring game design. It's rock-paper-scissors.

We need new cards. Creative cards that compete with spot cleanse.
For example:
- Summon a champ that Swallow Whole the target (who is probably cc'd and 1 roundable).
- Cheap hidden spell. Target champion. For next turn, all champs within 8 spaces that are attacked, relocate adjacent to target. And are stealthed for 4 turns.
- Soothing Serenade on an equip
- Summon 4 rock traps, not shadowspawn (like Erupt).
- 25 nora Spellthief Resurrection (Or new spellsurge ability like Murkwater/Snowstorm)

 

Yeah man, 4-0 so far. Haven't played much recently but so far so good. Better than my FF SP meta performance

 

What BG?

 

I don't completely agree with this. The free stats granted by the KF,UD, ST, and SL bonuses are, by definition, efficient. It's just that they are a very specific type of efficiency. The power of SP and FS' bonuses is that they give you the versatility of deciding what you want to do with them at that specific moment.

If we are going to talk about whether a bonus makes the game easy to play, we need to look at it in terms of what the bonus "wants". That is, what factors and decisions maximize the effectiveness of the bonus? Ignoring other faction tools to focus specifically on the bonus:
FS: Constant.
SL,ST,UD: Board state.
KF: Board state + map layout.
IS: Opponent's runedock decisions + board state.
FW: Game length.
SP: SP player's runedock decisions + game length.

The advantage that an SP player has over all other factions is that their bonus compounds. An SP player can take their nora refund and put it into another champ and get a bonus on their bonus, just like interest in a bank. This means that, over a longer game, they can outpace FS in terms of raw nora gen and therefore in terms of versatility. The caveat here, however, is that they are forced into a specific playstyle in order to accomplish this. Every time an SP player plays a spell, equipment, or relic, they are robbing themselves of not just that nora's immediate bonus potential, but its future compounding potential as well. I only partially agree that SP's bonus can make the 'game easy to play,' and that is specifically because it teaches a pretty good habit of "Always Be Champing." A lot of the time, this simple rule can make decisions easier for an SP player and the bonus can absolutely carry them through a disadvantageous position. It's not a coincidence that a lot of bad/mediocre players take a big step up after they've picked up SP for a few months.

But even an SP player is running a deck with 12 non-champion runes, and any "mistake" that they make with those runes (ie. spending nora on a non-champ and not getting a font/kill that turn) becomes doubly punishing because they lose out on bonus potential. Compare this to ST, for example. They are technically losing out on the potential 10hp if they don't play a champion in a given turn, but the long-term consequences of that decision are highly situational: They could be facing a board that does not have the firepower to efficiently one-round a champion whether it has +10hp or not, a Xulos could come out next turn and render that immediate 10hp moot, the opponent's firepower could line up (in terms of break points) such that the +10hp is inconsequential, or one of a hundred other scenarios might occur.

I'm not saying the SP bonus is bad. I believe that it is one of the strongest if the SP player sticks to a champ-heavy, phalanx-type playstyle (which, of course, opens them up to AoEs and is a huge reason why Mika is so valuable). But this is not without its drawbacks.

 

A split The Collective BG...FS/SP

 

Cleansing emerald gave SP a rune revelers chance to counter reverberating blast or hammer strike. It works well against 3+ turn distract or charm, and was great from a desperate removal of hex and dots.

Multiple turn duration abilities like the ones listed above have become more popular with SP's lose of cleansing emerald. SP, UD, and FW now all lack a form of spot AoE cleanse.

 

And FS, although they can get an interesting form with 1-turn delay.

 

FS has at least 2 mire folk with global deploy cleanse, and the turn delay for 8 hp heal and cleanse is awesome, i would take a clone rune of cleansing mist for fw any day.

 

Cleanse is racial is it not?

 

yup

 

The key word in all of this is desperate.

 

So most of the time its no big deal being stunned and helpless?

 

not if u play well or include other options. chances are if you lose because of one HS you prob was gonna lose anyway. sounds harsh but its the reality.

 

I mean, kinda. Xulos could also come out sooner and just Tariff **** you while it hyperscales into a 60-70 HP walking Essence Drain that attacks from range. I'm surprised that after all these years, he's still the best hero.