I'm actually surprised how many people are still playing, after stopping for a few months I popped in expecting tumbleweeds but there were still 5 or 6 games going on.
Is there anyway to tell how many people are just chilling in the lobby anymore? I stopped playing like 18 months ago when the new client was launched so the UI is still all weird to me.
For some reason the design team leaned towards "Themed decks". I always preferred creative splits with synergistic combinations between different factions.
I wouldn't say we leaned towards theme decks specifically. The fact is that non-theme synergy naturally emerges from mechanical interactions so it's generally always growing (especially with some of the consolidation of abilities using more of the same keywords, instead of similar, but different keywords) even without directly wanting to create it (if directly supported it might end up being considered a "theme" by some definitions anyway). But generally people also enjoy cohesion in design/lore so themes is a good way of pushing that front as a base. It's not really any different than most card games. Personally, I played splits in general as well. FW/FS AP Denial and Bursticade were my 2 favorite decks
honestly the focus on theme decks was one of the things i most appreciated about poxnora. the focus on story and lore being present in the game made deckbuilding a lot more interesting, even if most aren't the best decks in the world.
I like to think myself pretty creative! At least in the sense that I always enjoyed making decks that are more about having a certain theme or one strategic idea instead of decks that do well in meta. Decks that are simply fun or interesting in some way, instead of hyper-effective / unstoppable. It's also one reason why I don't like playing ranked games.
My FW / IS "Chop block - Mercy / AP denial" deck was the very last deck I hit Rank 1 with before PoxNora's unfortunate death, and the deck that I held Rank 1 with for the longest time. Coincidentally, due to the strength of it, it was also the last deck that I got nerfed into the ground This one will go down in history, among others.
- Also as one of the most ball breaking.... as interactive to play against as a necromancer mtg deck lol when it got going.