See I don't like the "X would be fine if dumb Firking hardcounter Y was more widespread" argument at all. It makes for a win or loss game depending on the draws.
QFT I hate it when people point at APlock decks and say "see, just run Centaur Regulator" Yeah, good luck doing that in anything that doesnt bloody contain KF.
If you turn all summon champs into one time use summon champs you'd need to be buffing them a great deal elsewhere otherwise you've suddenly go a number of very bad runes. Most of the summon champs were balanced around the idea that they'd be pooping out the little guys regularly, but if they suddenly only summon once, you've got yourself a champ that becomes a sub par combat/support champ after it summons.
I'm glad we both agree here because that's not what I meant at all... the way I understand it should be not only nerf summons, but also provide specific counterplay. and it doesn't mean just spreading Sever Summons around. rework Sever Summons to deal set DMG instead of insta-kill. I'm bigger fan of tweaking interactions from both sides rather than one and calling it a day. the whole Sever Summons and summons play should be "more interactive" rather than all-or-nothing. considering the fact it's racial of Myxes, pupaes might be left this way, but the rest could be consolidated. ofcourse, giving the needed refunds. it also would mean Myxes to be more "special" flavorwise.
Actually, Myx Matriarch is an interesting model... 1) the summons are not immediately useful, and need to be placed away from the action lest the pupae get destroyed; 2) she is a poor combat champ, but a good support/annoyance champ... entirely appropriate given that she's potentially going to deploy a LOT of pretty decent champs if you use her right... one of my main problems with the Pet champs is that they are often extremely viable in their own right, regardless of the Pet... Vashal Ranger, Anaru, Den Mother, Barb Huntress, Boghopper Huntmaster, Hekatian Bloodguard, Azaren, and so forth... not only have a Pet, but they are damned fine champs all on their own (well... Azaren is not quite as strong, but he's no wimpling, either). Many of the Summoner champs are not as strong as the Pet master champs... but are stronger (generally) than Myx Matriarch... So maybe there should be a tradeoff between champ strength and summon cooldown? Or a tradeoff between champ strength and number of summons allowed? And let's just eliminate the on deploy pets, please.
My first reaction here would be to tone the pets way down. Summoned champions are usually "weenies" because they can be brought into play repeatedly, and cost AP (and time) to do so. With pets, you dont need the AP/time, but you still get them for "free". I dont think not being able to bring them back into play by default is enough of a reason to make them so much stronger than other summoned units. Alternately, some kind of double edged sword. It seems odd that you get a 2nd full champion totally for free (just with the summoned condition tacked on). At the minimum an "owner bound" seems appropriate, or some contingency that kills the pet if the owner dies, and major a cripple for the owner if the pet dies.
What about a passing-the-baton system. Where such non-"weeine" pets are summoned by a one time 0 ap ability (removed on usage ofcourse). But once the pet is out, the summoner dies after x number of turns ( like short lived, doom, new debuff, etc) Also nerf the pets to throw an owner-bound debuff on them that gimps their stats to a good margin as long as the summoner is alive, but once the summoner dies it gets a refund on stats and maybe an ability or two to bring it back to current status. This wouldnt render the on-summon-pet combo type unit worthless after the change while keeping it realistically balanced as well. This way, there isnt the problem of deploying 2+ champs on the cost/stats/value of a single one. Even if the player uses the summon ability on the deployment turn to get 2+ units, then there isnt a overpowered combo in effect as the pet has gimped stats and the summoner is basically on borrowed time. And finally when the summoner is offed then the pet still makes for a decent second wind unit. This might bring more tactical options to the table, no doubt summoning the pet right when the summoner unit is low on health or bound for the grave seems like the best idea, but if the summoner is left alive to one/two turn kill the pet while its under the hefty owner-bound debuff and then getting back to the dying summoner unit could provide more tactical options than simple kill kill kill maneuvers. Or on the other hand the pet+summoner could be used as a hard block/sacrificial for that crucial turn when its balls to the walls and everything hangs in the balance of 1 precious counter power-turn or somesuch.
This would be very nice. Boghopper Huntmaster used to get -2 damage if his Hippo died and the Hippo had Huntmaster Bound (But it was removed because ipox found a way to break the game with it) One of the big problems with pets is that they add a double precence on the field. Rider champs may overall have more meat, but having an extra champion alongside the first is more powerful becasue you can set up kills easier that way.
That is going to be hard since the old forum is gone. I do not recall the mechanic but somehow ipox did something that sneaky with all units that had Bound. It was sothing spellrelated. I never played agsint it myself but i recall AlphA had to remove Bound from all champions as an emergency fix.
Bane shift, from UD. At the beginning of the next turn, all conditions on this unit are transferred to the nearest opposite champ. Roughly, the trick was: Deploy champion with pet, huntmaster for specific. Cast bane shift on pet, sacrifice on the main champion, like the boghopper. Pet gains the possession condition, bane shift transfer it to the opponent's champion. This keep repeating because BS last for several turns and the bound master doesn't goes away either. However, due some bug shenanigans, the possession effect remains forever, so one by one every turn, the player would gain control over all the opposite army. And yup, AlphaPsa had to remove the condition temporary as a quick fix to stop this combo and fix the underlying combo.
And they never reverted the +5 nora nerf that stone colossus received with total injustice, as bound as a ability had 0 impact in him as his auto prestige upgrade negated the drawback. The constructs of ironfist never forget...
I like the idea that if the real champ dies, so does the pet. That seems fair. Kill anaru, lerper goes poof. Kill mother, cub explodes. That seems the most strategic solution in my opinion.
On the contrary, ST champions are often released with less HP than they otherwise might have been, at least while I worked there. In the past, some were even specifically nerfed because of the ST bonus (Polar Ant). Additionally, champions (of ALL factions) pay for those SPD and HP with their base cost. And I do see the difference between KF not getting as many 7 SPDers and other factions getting it but paying for it, but the phenomenon doesn't make ST (or any other faction) "a mess, ratio-wise."
