[Gods Unchained] Balance Patch Review - Sanctum Decks Changes

Hello guys! Today we got a balance patch to review. Sanctum decks size was changed and also some of the cards in them because they were too impactful/swingy. There are no card rebalances or any other gameplay aspects being the change.

To better understand my points first take a look at the original patch notes posted on the Gods Unchained subreddit. There is also a full list of cards that are currently in each Sanctum deck.

Deck sizes reduced from 12 to 10.

There are two reasons behind the decision for this change. The first one is that the community wanted smaller decks and the second one is that the GU balance team was struggling to make 12 card decks with only Core set cards.

So firstly, personally I totally disagree with this point and I would like to see Sanctum decks growing in size to a certain point as the game gets more cards so that this mechanic doesn't just end up as something you need to prepare your decks even before the game starts and use it as a mid-game sideboard. I do agree on the variance issue but that can be changed at it is changed with the second thing in the patch notes, we'll come to this shortly.

Secondly, why not use all of the card sets available? There are no "real" reasons to not do this. It doesn't make sense to treat Genesis or other sets available in a special way if that isn't helpful for implementing this mechanic the right way. In that way, Sanctum can naturally evolve with every new introduction of cards and feel fresh more often.

Replaced/removed some of the highest impact cards in the sanctum.

We heard the feedback around certain cards being too powerful/having too much swing when they are in the sanctum. As such we've chosen those ones to remove/replace while we iterate.

Defenders deck removed Helian Elite, Tomb Blademaster & Cyclops Defender. Added Cardshark.

Removal deck removed Dust to Dust, Inferno, End Times. Added Ogre Archer.

Answers deck removed Amplureal Sentient Shard, Ratify, Porphyion Dread Cyclops. Added Ballista.

Value deck removed Helian Blademaster, Double Dealer, Tome Golem. Added Ambitious Adventurer.

Threats deck removed Oni Spellsword, Phase Touched Golem, Ecophon Atlantean Hydra. Added Viking Outrider.

Wait, isn't this a solution for "too much variance"? I'm not talking about the fact that they removed more cards than they added but they removed those problematic ones that heavily impacted the game. Now if they used other sets to fill the decks it should be easier to maintain the consistency with larger deck sizes.

For example, we could easily preserve consistency with the Defenders deck if we also add Trojan Golem and even Firewall into it. Not amazingly great but does the job of defending.

Removal deck could also receive an interesting addition, Ares Peacemaker and maybe even Guerilla Sabotage. And since swingy cards are getting removed, should that count for Blackblood Blast also? Rapture Dance seems fair since you can actively play around it.

Answers deck doesn't feel complete. Where are the heals? Isn't that the answer when you are dealing with aggro? Maybe this isn't what is meant for this deck but at least swap Amazon Conscript out of it because that card definitely doesn't feel like an answer. It is mainly used to "buff" overstated creatures with a Confused keyword.

Value is still left with a lot of variabilities. In general, Born Again and Opalised Roots are two cards that give too much advantage in Control mirror match-ups especially. Rune Viper Tincture is a little bit less problematic since drawing too much can be a disadvantage too. Many backline creatures could fit this deck, maybe they should consider cards like Choralis Rune Moth or Anputian Magus.

Threats deck really captured the theme well. There are different sorts of threats and these creatures represent them pretty good. I'm glad they removed those that were unfair. They should also find a replacement for the Orcish Elite not because it's too strong but because it doesn't feel like a threat card but more like an answer versus a wide board with smaller creatures. A threat should be something you need to remove quickly for a specific reason, like Rolling Watcher or Raving Fan.

Today was a short one indeed. I just wanna say that I'm glad how much the GU team cares for the community and is willing to give us what we want. Even if it doesn't end up the best thing for the game right now, it was worth a shot. The more iterations we test out the better chances we'll find the right one. I hope we get more changes in a week or two.

Useful tools for Gods Unchained statistics, meta, deckbuilding, leaderboards, etc. :
https://unchainedstats.com/
https://gudecks.com/

Markets:
https://gu.cards/
https://tokentrove.io/GodsUnchainedCards
https://opensea.io/assets/gods-unchained

Custom cards generator tool:
https://www.gucustom.cards/

Gods Unchained discord channel:
https://discord.gg/G8YAWcX

Thank you for reading!

,z3ll