Dev Blog - October Balance Patch

Hello friends!

We have been seeing some significant changes in the Kards meta since the launch of Air Supremacy last month. German control has become very popular with the addition of Henschel Hs 129 and the Salamander from Air Supremacy, Japan/France shuffle (juffle) is very strong after the balance changes in August and Brewster decks in various forms have a very solid performance. This balance patch aims to hit the peaks of these decks to even them out a bit to give other strategies more breathing room and open the way for the winter expansion that is just around the corner.

People can debate whether these changes are enough or too much. The intention is not to kill off any decks currently popular, simply to bring them down a notch or two in power. With you, our community, constantly coming up with new ideas and fine tuning older ones, it is impossible to say exactly where the meta will land, but we hope it will be slightly more diverse for the next few weeks until we kick the sandcastle again with the winter expansion.

As usual, we will start by looking at the cards that are seeing a nerf, then we will go through the cards being buffed. Let’s get to it.

Nerfs

HENSCHEL HS 129

Old: Deals double damage against ground targets. Deployment: Fight target enemy unit.

New: Has +2 attack against ground targets. Deployment: Fight target enemy unit.

The fight part on a big body makes this a very attractive unit for control decks, but what puts it over the top is the immense pressure it can put on the enemy HQ from the air. That is the part we want to reduce, so the new version deals “only” 6 damage to the HQ instead of 8. The Henschel still hits the ground hard so expect to see it continue to fly high.

CAPITULATION

Capitulation has, unexpectedly, led to the capitulation of many since it was introduced back in Naval Warfare. But now as winter approaches we are seeing sphincters tighten and backbones harden, meaning it is now more difficult to rattle the rabble. End result, Capitulation now costs 9.

SEAHAWK

Seahawk is the second Air Supremacy card seeing a bit of a course correction. It has become quite popular, as it stifles many aggressive strategies and can make combat calculations quite tricky. We are lowering its altitude by reducing its defense by 1, bringing it into range of a lot more answers. The ability though remains the same, so you still need to make sure your math is correct to find the path to deal with it.

4th ALABAMA

Old: Blitz. Show when drawn: Give your units +2 attack until end of turn.

New: Blitz. Show when drawn: Give your units +1 attack until end of turn.

Ah, yes. 4th Alabama, the happy face of highrolls. We have been seeing people lean a bit too heavily on the high variance Alabama gives in recent weeks and feel this creates more frustration than fun. Brewster decks can, and do, perform very well without adding the Alabama highroll into the mix, so we are reducing the buff it gives to +1 instead of +2. This may end up making Alabama a neglected backwater, but so be it.  

SABAE REGIMENT

Sabae, the most beautiful beau at the ball. Sabae. Arguably, the buff this card received back in August single-handedly put juffle on the map. It is keeping its powerful ability, but we are shaving off a couple of points to reduce its ecological footprint slightly. This, by itself, will not have a big impact on the favorability of the shuffle strategies, but there is more to come, so hold tight. 

KYOTO REGIMENT

This nerf is not aimed at specific decks as such, but rather a down-tuning of a card that was pushed a bit too hard. Removing an enemy unit is very strong and when coupled with a solid body this unit simply offered too much. This will impact a few decks, most notably Intel, but the card is still very much playable.

110e RÉGIMENT MOTORISÉ

Old: Blitz. Give your units +1+1 the first time you shuffle your deck each turn.

New: Blitz. Give your other units +1+1 the first time you shuffle your deck each turn.

Now we come to the second shuffle nerf. Juffle went from 0 to 100 in seconds after the August patch and in hindsight we gave it a bit too much. The deck is still very interesting, so we do not want to nerf it into the ground. Now that this unit no longer buffs itself means it will be easier to deal with even when all the stars align for the juffle deck. 

Buffs

CHAIN HOME

We have now entered the realm of buffs and beautification. The first couple of buffs are to the British fight subtheme from Naval Warfare. Being cheaper of course means more efficient and easier to pull off. This is unlikely to make it into a tier 1 strategy, but makes it a lot more interesting to play around with. 

HMS FORMIDABLE

Same goes for the HMS Formidable as above, empowering this under-utilized strategy. With the right setup this can easily end up being a full board clear. The fact this is a Navy card also opens up some possibilities to fit it into a British Navy control shell, though only time will tell if that Navy deck has legs to stand on. At the very least, some people will find enjoyment in experimenting with this, whatever floats their boat is good with us.

FAST HEINZ

Old: Give your German tanks in the frontline +2+1.

New: Give your German tanks +2+1.

Next we have a couple of buffs that are actually reverts of old nerfs (or at least partial ones). German Blitz has been dormant for a while, outrun and outvalued by other aggro decks. Removing the frontline restriction means the deck now has more comeback power, a very important factor with so many aggressive decks running around.

B-17 FLYING FORTRESS

The other old warhorse seeing a slight facelift is the Flying Fortress. While we are not going back to the 8 cost 6/6 version, shaving a kredit of its cost makes it slightly more relevant in coming down in time to impact the battlefield in a meaningful way. Big bombers as a dedicated strategy will need more love to become truly viable, but at the very least ramp decks have now a stronger option than before.

ISOLATION

Having just stated above for the Kyoto Regiment how strong even a temporary removal of a unit can be, we are of course immediately contradicting ourselves by strengthening this little temp removal. Wouldn’t be a proper 1939 patch otherwise. Temporarily removing an enemy unit may not be all that fancy right now, but perhaps there is a future where it becomes more relevant. Who knows?

LA DIVISION LECLERC

So far, the shuffle strategy is almost exclusively used in aggressive strategies. A slower, more controlling version is also a possibility, though has less support. While this cost reduction is unlikely to make a control shuffle deck a top tier strategy, it at least makes it a bit more viable. In an ideal world we would see a wider variety of shuffle decks in the meta and maybe one day that will happen.

SEMOVENTE DA 75/18

Old: Heavy Armor 1. Deals double damage against tanks.

New: Blitz, Heavy Armor 1. Deals double damage against tanks.

The final buff this time around is to the Semovente Da 75/18. In the long run, we want to make Italy a more interesting ally for a combined arms strategy. A few pieces are still missing for that to become really viable, but this is one step in that direction.

That is all for now. These changes will go out on October 28th. You better hurry up and make the most of these changes before the winter expansion comes and flips everything on its head. Let us know your thoughts on these and other matters, your feedback means a lot to us. See you on the battlefield, commander!