Waking Plague Tier List and Meta Musings
All images are taken from gods unchained, edited myself, sourced, or used via tiermakers tier list generator. The final balance patch notes are here
Tier List Explanation: Why now?
Greetings everyone, and welcome to the foretold tier list post for Waking Plague. Some of you might be asking, "Why did Rex put this out so late and not earlier before all the nerfs were in?" and the answer is somewhat simple "I wanted to do a tierlist that would be relevant going forward and not just for a brief balancing window and discuss it". I also didn't want to influence the playerbase into realizing which cards are actually good, but I wanted to discuss the meta and the tierlist in an open and constructive way. Pretty simple reasoning, but sound nonetheless.
Borderline Cards: Pretty Busted but....
The following cards I viewed as "borderline" in the A tier list/S tier list "Sunbleached Gargoyles" "One Who Remembers" "The entangling horde" "Attuned to the Biome" and "Double Vision". These cards are nuts but require conditionals to be achieved, but it doesn't change the fact that these cards are pretty insane and completely warp the way the archtypes they are used in function.
Sunbleached gargoyles sets a batshit crazy precedent for statlines going forward. A 6/8 frontline with flank for 5 mana is absolutely bonkers. Doesn't need much more explanation.
Double Vision is a really strong card with a conditional that is easy to pull off relative to the effect that occurs. This card is easy to use with hooded figure and seriously juices up "Thinking Man's Mayday" in which cards are played more than once and or bounced. Also easy to pull off with void steal since a lot of stuff now just spams sporophytes etc. and it's pretty easy to get two of those 0 cost boyos and go to town. Even as a 2 mana "sleep a creature" effect it's rather solid, the conditional effect is crazy and I have a feeling will become easier to pull off as time goes on. It already is valid in a few places with mimic and hooded figure etc.
Attuned to the Biome: Nature now has a traitor spell for taking control of a creature (which when given to factions that don't normally design around traitor effects tends to be meta breaking). 3 mana I control your creature is very good and stacks with GoE guardians, and when people figure out how to build it into GoE guardian nature as an unblockable tall removal/ reach that will be the only moment it's true power is realized.
One who remembers is a massive card that will allow some crazy plays as time continues to go on. This card is definitely one of the strongest in the set but your deck's consistency is effected massively to achieve the effect. In the current state of GU it is a strong card that enables Arrandion and "the great finality", but it's not limited to those effects or decks. 7 mana game ending plays can now happen with any god via existing cards like "Tempest altar" etc. The highland deck condition is a pretty big con in GU considering GU's mulligan mechanics, but the payout is potentially game winning. This card will effect the design of GU going forward.
Entangling horde has insane stats for a 5 mana creature and the conditional is very easy to achieve. With broken seal you average 4-5 copies summoned on average by turn 5. This card is batshit insane but only around 200 people can even utilize it properly so despite it being "batshit insane" we likely won't see many en mass numbers due to low potential to actually utilize it to the maximum by the majority of the playerbase. A board of 2/6s with regen 1 at 5 mana is absolutely fucking bonkers and debatably should be an S tier card. I was really on the fence about this one, this card is fucking insane and provides wild value even if you sac only 1 sporophyte with it's roar. The only wide board removal that gets rid of it in the entire game at this manacost is tears of the mountain, cognative dissonance ( one of only 2 standard cards that can do this, like seriously wtf is this?), toast to peace (the other standard card that can stop this), and Light and Luster combined with eucos. So that means in Standard there are TWO CARDS IN THE ENTIRE GAME that stop this and they are both domain specific. It's not right, and if this is "designing for standard" it scares me.
All of these cards are A/S tier or beyond but will take a while to hit their stride so they are in the "borderline" section of this post. Hell they aren't borderline, they're busted AF just not quite fully realized yet. Or they tip the scales on years of balancing decisions made for domains around NOT having said elements (Attune to Biome etc.), a lot of cards were given stronger effects due to certain gods lacking in said areas. So when those areas are supplemented it tilts the entire balance of the domain in ranked.
Talking Tidbits: Design Methodology/ Card Availability
So I wish this section was as bright and cheery as I would like it to be, but sadly it contains a bit of constructive criticism amongst the positive points. The designs are creative, but the issues they have sortof outweigh the creativity presented. This isn't meant to be too "doomy or gloomy" either it's mostly just a realistic perspective based in actual design theory and existing infrastructures and not just "coping and bagholding", so if you don't like hearing that some mistakes are being made maybe skip this section. If you want to engage in a healthy discussion and comment about it (even if you think I'm wrong), please don't hesitate to do so. As a community we need to be thinking about GU going forward : Will GU be ok if we continue the course like this? What should be changed?
"There is a card that deals with it so I can print whatever I want"
This genuinely has been the design method behind the last few sets, and it's pretty scary. However let me explain why with an example for those who might not get why this sort of design methodology is scary. Lets say we have a new 3 mana spell printed that fills your hand with beams and makes them cost zero next turn, this card is obviously busted and problematic correct? Well according to the current design methodology because "Corrupted Sorceror" (neutral, destroy all generated cards in opponents hand, 3 mana 3/4) exists this 3 mana spell can exist because it has "at least one counter". Great dragon hunter (neutral 2 mana 3/2 destroy a creature with 6 or more HP when played) exists, so thusly I can print a 30/30 at 3 mana because realistically there is at least one counter. Starting to understand the problem here and why this is a crazy way to run things? If there was a 1 mana neutral "destroy a creature" spell it wouldn't justify printing a 2 mana 30/30 etc. etc. but under the current design philosophy all these cards and justifications would be "fine". This is an incredibly dangerous design philosophy that does not factor in general card availability, overall meta proliferation, domain variety, and quite frankly is a little half assed (particularly when you think about standard as a mode going forward). Think about when I was talking about entangling horde earlier, only 2 domain specific cards are ALL that can stop it in standard. So the logic behind it was "a counter exists so I can print it", and now lets continue with the same logic fallacy with another example. Let's say you had a 5 mana card that is an 8/8 that summons a board full of 8/8s with it's roar, under this current design philosophy it's justifiable because "light and luster and eucos in eclipse exists so it can be countered, or you could toast it", starting to get the problem here? The actual math of cards is being thrown out the window and the justifications behind them are "does ANYTHING exist that stops it, and if there is at least one thing I can print it". This design method causes metas to hit a design space ceilings very fast where sets have to print counters within the set to justify their existence because there are no counters otherwise (we are REALLY close to this and in standard there are many cards with almost NO counters).
Card Availability and Meta Proliferation: Can they even play the counters?
The other thing about this design logic is that A LOT of the cards that are current "meta counters and meta tech" were really limited print revival cards with a really limited availability. A lot of the cards that counter the new busted shit are really really rare and the only counters available for various things (Outside of the new "unique tactician" card, which is printed WITHIN THE SET and not available otherwise). Jonguleur Journeyman is good into everborns, but that's a card that was printed for 1 week months ago that is presented as "a meta solve for everyone". The design doesn't factor who can play with what cards or how many there are and instead the designers behave like it's hearthstone where players can "scrap duplicates to get new cards at a fixed rate so any player can get any card if they grind". In GU it's impossible to actually f2p grind out anything without putting money down (and even when you do there is no fixed rate for dusting so there is no "if I grind enough I can get it" assurance on ANY card. Not great tbh). GU doesn't have a dust system and never will so they can't design recklessly like this making metas where many of the available counters are really limited prints with only like 100-200 cards available at best. It's bonkers. Could you imagine going into another game and having the "main modern meta decks" only be able to be countered by cards printed for a week half a year ago and there are only 200ish copies etc. etc. with no way to acquire them via playing the game? It's something you wouldn't really tolerate in another online card game would you? Food for thought.
F2ping to earn a met deck is impossible without investment
Currently in GU it is mathematically impossible to earn any gods or any met cards with a grey deck (ie cards you can get via playing the game). There is currently no way to acquire any expansion cards from any expansion via playing the game without spending money. You used to be able to get starter cards using the "stardust" in the shop on a weekly rotation, now there is actually zero way to "grind your way to a met deck" in GU. You just have to buy it, only option. All current decks a new player will encounter are all almost assuredly a met deck or a rented high tier meta deck fucking off and misplaying at lower ranks AKA getting "P2wed on even in the lowest ranks". If you don't see the problem with this you may have been in web3 too long to understand how gaming works in general when it comes to f2p models and labeling yourself a "f2p game". This is optically something that will put off MOST players that enter this game, this monetization is even more aggressive than marvel snap and marvel snaps change in monetization caused them to go from a 5 star app on the app store to a 2.5 star app and they are facing their lowest earning ever despite their "cards being more scarce and costing more"(sounds familiar huh?).
Imagine the general gaming public's reaction to even more aggressive monetization than that for a much lesser IP? And you can't dust cards or f2p grind ANYTHING to boot and can only use money and have to interact with crypto. Starting to get where I'm coming from? We've kindof been in the forest so long we can't see the trees, and it's about time to wake up and smell the moss. This point is probably the most optically poor and makes GU look the worst, I know it's complicated to solve but the current system isn't going to onboard gamers very well onto the platform. Without the IMX gem quests I doubt we'd have any "small fish" in the ecocsystem at all currently because the game makes it super unattractive to "build up your collection by playing the card game". If I was starting out playing this game fresh today I wouldn't have picked it up, it's unrecognizable from the f2p experience I remember that got me hooked in the first place and gives off numerous red flags. If I had to start out and never earn a single expansion card no matter what I did via gameplay no matter how well I did ever, I'd have gone to play something else because I would have gotten too bored with it and thought it was "a total sussy moneygrab that isn't worth it compared to other card games". I would even rather "do chores all day" in SNAP to get the occasional new card, and the general public hates that monetization. Imagine what they would think coming here? Truly a strong deterrent. Here is where I expect a lot of "those extractors are ruining the value of my investment" etc. etc. responses, but try to mull on this "If no one wants to play this game organically all of your assets and GODS tokens are worth nothing", so what's worse: bleeding the games playerbase so you can feel emotionally better about "scarcity" or having a healthy game with a healthy meta/ecosystem that can actually pull people in and get them to stay but some players can get cards by PLAYING THE VIDEOGAME!? The biggest sellers of IMX/GODS are still anonymous whale wallets and IMX themselves, the "extractors" are just a scapegoat while IMX uses the funds to keep themselves afloat and anonymous whales leverage liquidity. "Scarcity" also doesn't generate demand on it's own, this is some weird crypto people logic that isn't inherently true. If I have 100 of a product no one wants and destroy 50 of them that doesn't mean people will start wanting the remaining 50 of the product more. And yet somehow the playerbase has been convinced that autocannibalizing themselves is going to increase demand for the product because there is "less of it", these lower print numbers haven't been helping. It's not increasing demand, it's only decreasing supply and making the game more inaccessible for the existing playerbase. The focus should be on improving GU as a movable product and not listening to NFT bros talk about "scarcity" thinking it will help with demand when the main factor for demand is THE GAME ITSELF.
Anyways, thanks for reading my rant. It took me a bit to write because IRL has been kicking my as. I've been meaning to write this for a while and I really appreciate all of you and your continued support and your time in reading to this point. You all rock and are what make it worth posting in the first place. I'll see you all on Twitch slapping down random shit into Eucos' Battlefield. Stay safe out there and I'll see you next time. Let me know what you think in the comments, cheers.