I thinking Vlad + Braum deck with all of them units that power up when surviving damage.
Yesss... YESSSSSS /megatron
What spells should I put into a deck like that?
Braum honestly slows down that deck, but if you're OK with cutting out some of the self-damage spells you can toss in some control spells for survivability. Take Heart and Transfusion are must haves. Bloodsworn Pledge can be good if you want to buff Braum up to take some hits from the Transfusion or other self-damaging cards. Might is not bad because without it you're getting chump blocked by your 15/1 attackers and that can feel frustrating.
It's the concept you're alluding to that I've messed around with. I dunno about its viability in the upper tiers, but its synergy works for me as a midrange deck.
edit: for context, the deck I'm linking uses Vlad and Braum
I thinking Vlad + Braum deck with all of them units that power up when surviving damage.
Yesss... YESSSSSS /megatron
What spells should I put into a deck like that?
Braum honestly slows down that deck, but if you're OK with cutting out some of the self-damage spells you can toss in some control spells for survivability. Take Heart and Transfusion are must haves. Bloodsworn Pledge can be good if you want to buff Braum up to take some hits from the Transfusion or other self-damaging cards. Might is not bad because without it you're getting chump blocked by your 15/1 attackers and that can feel frustrating.
I'm not married to Braum, I just felt he was a natural fit due to all the Freljord units who buff when damaged. Who would you recommend instead? Darius and stick with a full Noxus deck, or just stick with 3 Vlads and replace the Braums with other cards?
I thinking Vlad + Braum deck with all of them units that power up when surviving damage.
Yesss... YESSSSSS /megatron
What spells should I put into a deck like that?
Braum honestly slows down that deck, but if you're OK with cutting out some of the self-damage spells you can toss in some control spells for survivability. Take Heart and Transfusion are must haves. Bloodsworn Pledge can be good if you want to buff Braum up to take some hits from the Transfusion or other self-damaging cards. Might is not bad because without it you're getting chump blocked by your 15/1 attackers and that can feel frustrating.
I'm not married to Braum, I just felt he was a natural fit due to all the Freljord units who buff when damaged. Who would you recommend instead? Darius and stick with a full Noxus deck, or just stick with 3 Vlads and replace the Braums with other cards?
I actually like Vladimer's suggested deck with the Braum included.
My biggest problem with Braum though in that deck, is the potential for your board to get overloaded with Poro's. A game has never gone long enough for that to happen to me, but just the thought of not being able to play the real stars of the show makes me wary.
On the flipside, getting a massive Braum that forces undesirable trades (and eventual repeated removal) is not bad.
I'm watching BruisedByGod's LoR stream, and his opponent played For Demacia to level up with Lux, and BBG countered by playing Vengeance on Lux. But instead of letting Lux die, his opponent played Detain on Lux and had his 1/1 Spider hold on to her.
I had no idea you could do that. What a creative play!
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It's the concept you're alluding to that I've messed around with. I dunno about its viability in the upper tiers, but its synergy works for me as a midrange deck.
edit: for context, the deck I'm linking uses Vlad and Braum
So I tried the set a bit last night.
Very fun to play, but I seem to get bodied hard by any Demacia set, or any set with any form of barrier, basically.
While I can out-power Demacians once I get going, my lower overall health puts me at a disadvantage against barriers, since barriers don't care how strong you are, and my unit's lower health overall means they lose most exchanges they can't outpower. I'll need to pack more damage spells in to dispell barriers, or put in more cheap units ( that have more than one health) in so that I can overwhelm with numbers.
This set is also mega-vulnerable to noxian guillotine, as I found out to my dismay in a game against a Noxus deck that I got too cocky in.
Yeah I played around a bit more and wasn't feeling it in the long term. Subbing in Braum meant you had to drop some of the activators for your self damage. I like the Omen Hawk addition, but not sure +1+1 on the next two units is stronger than soaking up removal for Unscarred Reaver. Avarosian Heartguard I feel the same way: nice to have one more ping of health with Vlad, but in the long run just feels like it's taking up the spot of something like Bloodsworn Pledge.
Maybe I'll play it more but for some reason I feel like anything with Vlad wants to go FAST and the above isn't fast at all (giving those other deck types more than enough time to gas up).
Yeah I played around a bit more and wasn't feeling it in the long term. Subbing in Braum meant you had to drop some of the activators for your self damage. I like the Omen Hawk addition, but not sure +1+1 on the next two units is stronger than soaking up removal for Unscarred Reaver. Avarosian Heartguard I feel the same way: nice to have one more ping of health with Vlad, but in the long run just feels like it's taking up the spot of something like Bloodsworn Pledge.
Maybe I'll play it more but for some reason I feel like anything with Vlad wants to go FAST and the above isn't fast at all (giving those other deck types more than enough time to gas up).
I wonder if a Vlad set might work more nicely with a Hecarim/Ephemeral team? This also gives access to the kill card, which can deal with any super buff and/or bubbled enemy units.
Ephemeral allows for full benches really easily and they don't care about taking damage, since they're immediately dead. Focus on units that damage the enemy core directly and focus on rushing down opponent at mid-game. Thoughts?
I don't know why, but I really want to make Vlad work for some reason.
Just scored another 7-win Expedition run. Who knew having 3 Inspiring Mentors and 5 Novari Conspirators would be OP busted? Most games didn't last beyond turn 5. Each match was: Mentor, Novari bounce Mentor, hit for 4, Mentor, Novari bounce Mentor, hit for 8, Mentor, Novari bounce Mentor, hit for 12.
In games were they did have an answer, I was able to push enough damage through with Tryndamere's Battle Rage on a Elusive to push 12 to the core. Seriously, this was a pretty one-sided run.
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And another 7-win run, this time with a pseudo-Control Noxus deck. Stave off some early aggression, then (literally) Overwhelm them with my big boys. Reward was a Teemo. Pretty good week for Expeditions, going 7/4/7.
I also started playing some Ranked (Bronze 4 right now) and decided to homebrew up a Freeze/Control deck with Anivia x3, Tyrandre x2, Ashe x1. Stall until I can drop Anivia and either copy her with Chronicler of Ruin (x2 Anivia is busted) or The Rekindler to bring her back.
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Had another game where my opponent went all-in with 6 units and threw up the Ninja Bow emoji. Like, I'm Freljord, did you honestly think all that damage was getting through?
I kill his Elise and heal for 3 next turn. Then he goes greedy the following turn by playing a unit instead of attacking with his 5 units. That's a full board of 0-attack minions. He passes. Ruination clears his board going into my turn 10. He adds 2 units on his turn and pushes some damage through by attacking first, leaving me with 4hp. Next turn, he loses everything (including his last cards) to my She Who Wanders.
Sad Poro emoji from him. Ninja Bow emoji from me. GG with 4hp remaining.
I love that the interactivity of combat means that you really have to think with your attacks as long as your opponent has cards and mana. Such a great game!
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Hecarim and Kalista changes, Vanguard Lookout are now Elites, Mageseeker's all got their text changed, and a bunch of other tweaks.
Those changes seem fine. We'll see if the Hecarim change reduces him from an autoinclude in pretty much any Shadow Isle's deck regardless of synergy. The Kalista change seems wordy as hell, but it looks like it puts her back into the realm of where she was in the beta. . .and so she might actually see play.
Overall I think it's a fine patch and I hope it shakes up the game just as much as that first patch did. I still think Rekindler is going to be everywhere and they need a proper graveyard mechanic for him.
Kind of a sad vault this week. 14 commons, 8 epics, 2.5k shards. No epics or champions. Quite a few upgraded Wildcards though. I had a lot of duplicates for additional shards, so it got me interested....
Math nerd stat time!
I started the open beta on Feb 6th. That means I've been playing for 41 days now and opened 6 vaults. My vaults have been level 12 and a single 13. I also missed the first week of Expeditions, did a few single runs the following three weeks, and have done x3 runs the last two weeks (10/18 possible Expeditions). On average, I play enough games to finish my daily quest, get 3 PvP wins, and finish 3 Expedition runs. This ends up being about 7-8 games/day.
Here's my current card collection, wildcards, and region levels:
**It should be noted that I did buy the starter pack, which included 66 cards (although it was less because of my current collection). I haven't bought anything else.**
According to my region tracks, I still have 4 region specific Champions, 6 Champion Wildcards, 6 region specific Epic capsules, 3 region specific Epics, 4 Wild capsules, 3 Epic Wildcards, and a 6 each region specific Plat/Diamond chests. For guarantees, that means:
10 more Champions (6 of my choice)
12 more Epics (3 of my choice)
20 more Wild cards (probably mostly Common/Epics)
The game having Epic/Champion protection really shows. Over the coming weeks, my Epic/Champion card count will steadily rise, while my Common/Rare will be much more swingy, since they are RNG based. Of course, these numbers could be better if I spent my Wildcards, but being a gamer, I just hoard them like Elixirs. Riot mentioned wanting to change that mindset since I'm a lot of people are doing that same thing.
Still though, ~60% set completion in 5.5 weeks is pretty impressive for a F2P game. Definitely puts people on more of an even playing field.
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I thinking Vlad + Braum deck with all of them units that power up when surviving damage.
Yesss... YESSSSSS /megatron
What spells should I put into a deck like that?
Braum honestly slows down that deck, but if you're OK with cutting out some of the self-damage spells you can toss in some control spells for survivability. Take Heart and Transfusion are must haves. Bloodsworn Pledge can be good if you want to buff Braum up to take some hits from the Transfusion or other self-damaging cards. Might is not bad because without it you're getting chump blocked by your 15/1 attackers and that can feel frustrating.
I'm not married to Braum, I just felt he was a natural fit due to all the Freljord units who buff when damaged. Who would you recommend instead? Darius and stick with a full Noxus deck, or just stick with 3 Vlads and replace the Braums with other cards?
I actually like Vladimer's suggested deck with the Braum included.
My biggest problem with Braum though in that deck, is the potential for your board to get overloaded with Poro's. A game has never gone long enough for that to happen to me, but just the thought of not being able to play the real stars of the show makes me wary.
On the flipside, getting a massive Braum that forces undesirable trades (and eventual repeated removal) is not bad.
EDIT: Just played Vlad's deck. I like it.
haven't check out the deck yet but from what been trying I think damage self decks unless you go demacia with tough are overwhelm decks. basically the attack get to obscene levels but their health is trash unless you get the like the 3 characters that have regen so things that give overwhelm is important as you will trade down everytime on attack. the patch buffed the deck if you include pack mentality. +2/+2 overwhelm on everyone is great. vlad himself i have mix opinions on. more time he seems to be a hinderance as lower health just keeps trading down a scary prospect. I think he works better with a SI last breath idea
Had an awesome Expedition week. A pair of 7-win runs and a 4-win run. Got 3 Champions and 6 Epics from the Capsules. Overall, it was a net gain in cards and Shards. If only every week could be this good. :biggrin:
Also, I'm super sad this thread isn't more active. I want to talk about the game more, but it doesn't seem like it's getting a lot of traction. :bigfrown:
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I'm getting close to the point where I'll have every champion. Is there an optimal approach to expeditions once I reach that? Unsure if I should sit on tokens for next xpac or cash them in for shards or what
Earn unlimited (and improved) Vault rewards:
-Level 2+ includes an Expedition Token (previously awarded at level 10).
-Level 5+ includes a random Champion card (you can Braum Wave goodbye to bad luck Vaults with no Champions)
-Level 10+ includes a Champion Wildcard (replaces level 5 random Champion card).
-Beyond Level 13, unlock additional, unlimited capsules, each of which contains at least 3 Rares and 2 Commons, with a chance to upgrade to an Epic or Champion Capsule
Earn unlimited XP
PVP wins in Normal / Ranked and Expeditions net you at least 200 and 100 base XP (respectively), every time. Play as much as you want!
AI wins will always provide at least 50 XP going forward
Purchase unlimited wildcards
No more weekly stock in the store
Alternatively, you can directly purchase cards in the Collection tab using Coins (cost is identical to the equivalent wildcard)
Easily and consistently play Expeditions
Entry is 2000 Shards or 200 Coins. Combined with the Token in level 2 Vaults, those who love the mode will be able to play Expeditions more easily and less expensively. (Note that rewards have been reduced to compensate, and the guaranteed random champion has been moved to the Vault. Additionally, you’ll be reimbursed some of the value lost from existing Tokens in your inventory, and Expeditions started before the change goes live will receive the previous set of rewards.)
Full text dump (if you're still at work for some reason):
3/23/20 10:24 AM
After two preview patches, six weeks of open beta, and a whole lot of data and feedback from all of you awesome open beta players, we’re making a big update to progression and the in-game economy of Legends of Runeterra. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get right to the point and then dive into the rationale behind it all afterwards.
HERE’S THE DEAL
As design director Andrew “Umbrage” Yip talked about in his State of the Beta article, we’re seeing lots of positive results overall from the progression system. However, some of the methods we chose to achieve certain goals—like ensuring the meta continues to evolve and supporting the different ways players invest their time & money—aren’t doing the job as well as we’d like. So we’re adding more agency to your progression: a Champion Wildcard each week from a Vault that can now level up infinitely, no daily XP cap, and unlimited direct purchase of any card, among other things.
Our goal is to give you the ability to get what you want, how you want, in a game where players can compete regardless of how much they spend. We think this set of changes will maximize your ability to experiment with different cards, ensure a faster and more reliable “time-to-deck”, and will keep things accessible for every LoR player.
Effective starting Patch 0.9.3, you’ll be able to:
Earn unlimited (and improved) Vault rewards
Level 2+ includes an Expedition Token (previously awarded at level 10).
Level 5+ includes a random Champion card (you can Braum Wave goodbye to bad luck Vaults with no Champions)
Level 10+ includes a Champion Wildcard (replaces level 5 random Champion card).
Beyond Level 13, unlock additional, unlimited capsules, each of which contains at least 3 Rares and 2 Commons, with a chance to upgrade to an Epic or Champion Capsule
Earn unlimited XP
PVP wins in Normal / Ranked and Expeditions net you at least 200 and 100 base XP (respectively), every time. Play as much as you want!
AI wins will always provide at least 50 XP going forward
Purchase unlimited wildcards
No more weekly stock in the store
Alternatively, you can directly purchase cards in the Collection tab using Coins (cost is identical to the equivalent wildcard)
Easily and consistently play Expeditions
Entry is 2000 Shards or 200 Coins. Combined with the Token in level 2 Vaults, those who love the mode will be able to play Expeditions more easily and less expensively. (Note that rewards have been reduced to compensate, and the guaranteed random champion has been moved to the Vault. Additionally, you’ll be reimbursed some of the value lost from existing Tokens in your inventory, and Expeditions started before the change goes live will receive the previous set of rewards.)
Additionally, along with the first new set of cards—and new region—later this year, we’ll deliver the following feature:
XP Boost levels on Region Roads. These levels will increase any XP you gain toward unlocking them, accelerating your progress through the earlier part of the road and allowing new + returning players to catch up quickly.
The above changes (excluding the XP Boost levels) will be live on March 31 with Patch 0.9.3. We’re giving you early notice because we take changes to progression and the economy seriously, and know that you do too. Like our previous progression articles, we also want to provide as much transparency as possible and take the opportunity to talk about our broader goals, so read on for all the details that led to this update.
WHERE WE STARTED...
When we set out to build a better card game, we focused on a particular challenge: How to create a meaningful sense of progression while fostering greater periods of experimentation and discovery. Given this ambition, we knew going into the preview patches (before Open Beta even started) that we had more work to do to get to the final state of progression in LoR.
In our first article about progression, we said that: One of the big things we’re still debating is the fact that players are ultimately limited by time: There’s only one new quest a day, the Vault has a level cap, and wildcards in the store have a limited stock each week. It’s the tradeoff we’ve chosen in order to emphasize your agency—you have a clear way to get exactly what you want, but it'll take some time to get it. Is that ultimately better? We think so, but you’re about to show us.
And show us you did.
...WHERE WE ENDED UP
While many players were very satisfied with the amount of agency they had at the outset, others were struggling with the limits. One of the most obvious examples was the randomness of the Vault, specifically when it came to Champion cards. Given how critical champs are to the “time-to-deck”—an important way in which we measure progression in LoR—that was a big deal. The randomness was especially punishing for players who were relying on the Vault (versus the store) to get the champs they needed.
And while parts of the progression system—like limited stock in the store and a max level on the Vault—did seem to help the meta evolve more slowly, that benefit was overshadowed by notable downsides, like not being able to fully experiment with a majority of the cards. For some players, this made the meta stale in its own way, and for other players—those that have the most fun when being innovative and experimental—it was a real limitation that made LoR harder to enjoy playing altogether. While we love the idea of a meta that keeps evolving, we aren’t willing to keep constraining players in order to force a certain pace.
We also saw a less-than-awesome optimization happening: stockpiling wildcards (and to a lesser extent, shards). We see this as a problem for two reasons: First, it indicates to us that players feel it’s ultimately more valuable to hold onto wildcards instead of using them to regularly acquire and try out new cards, which directly contradicts our goals of progression, experimentation, and discovery. Second, stockpiling wildcards effectively eliminates the possibility of a “slow-evolution meta” for the next set, as players can use all those wildcards to unlock the majority of new cards instantly (an issue which would likely repeat going forward). Regardless of any other changes, we’d need to eventually do something to improve this, if only because new players would be hopelessly behind the well-resourced veteran players.
With all these problems clearly in view, we had essentially two options: keep the current course and accept that some players would have significant advantages over others (along with very different progression experiences), or make some big changes.
PROGRESSION 2.0
Our goal hasn’t changed—we still want to create a game with satisfying progression while fostering greater periods of experimentation and discovery—but we also don’t want the second half of that goal to come at the expense of the first.
Trying to maintain a meta that evolves slowly would lead to some things that just straight up feel bad. For example, one solution would be to limit not just how many wildcards you can purchase each week, but how many you can actually use each week. Another would be to establish set-based wildcards, so that none of the current wildcards would be applicable toward the next set’s cards.
It would sure slow things down, but there’s no way we’re doing any of that crap. (And even if we did, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to the kind of evolving meta we saw in Open Beta. There’s a high chance the community would default to playing existing top-tier decks rather than experiment with the latest cards in less-powerful decks, choosing to wait until a complete, competitive version of a new deck is possible before investing in playing it.)
Which brings us to big change #1: we’re making wildcards, or essentially direct purchase of cards, unlimited. Once we decided against the feels-bad methods necessary to make an Open Beta-style meta experience happen again, this became a simple way to improve three key things simultaneously: ensure new players weren’t forever behind those who stocked up earlier, enable players who wanted access to the full set of cards for experimentation, and eliminate the implicit pressure to make purchases because of the limited weekly stock.
That’s probably the bigger headline, but it isn’t the one we started with. Another goal we’ve been committed to since the beginning of LoR is to make a game where how much money you spend is NOT the deciding factor in your success as a player. So before we could get to the question of wildcards, we had to first figure out how to give players who invest time, rather than money, more agency. Turns out, it was a similarly simple solution: make XP gains and the Vault unlimited as well, and ensure players had more access to (and control over) Champion cards. That manifests as a Vault with a random Champion at level 5 or a Champion Wildcard at level 10, and continuous leveling for as many bonus capsules as you can get.
Together, these changes do a lot to increase agency across the board. But while they might be great for players that heavily invest with either time or money, they don’t do as much for another kind of player: those who don’t (or simply can’t) invest that way.
We never want anyone to feel like LoR is only playable if you’re grinding out games or dropping a bunch of cash. We’re also personally familiar with the fear of missing out and falling behind when you dip out of a game for a little while. So along with the now-consistent Champions from level 5 Vaults (which is designed to be virtually guaranteed just by completing your daily quests), we’re adding XP Boost levels that will accelerate anyone who’s far behind into a reasonable range.
Over time, additional XP Boost levels will be added based on how long and how quickly active players have been progressing to ensure there isn’t a huge disparity in card collections. If a significant part of the community ends up rocketing way ahead of the pack, the rest of the community can draft off them to catch up. We want coming back after a break to be easy and appealing, and ensure that it’s always a good time to start playing LoR.
That rounds out the major changes you can expect to see soon. Whatever struggle you were having with your progression, this update aims to fix it. You wanted less barriers? Unlimited XP gains, Vault levels, and direct purchases are yours. Needed more accessibility? Better rewards from the Vault, more Expeditions, and XP Boost levels are here. Were you praying every week for a Champion? You got ’em, no problem. The meta may evolve more quickly now, but your progression will keep up, and you’ll have more agency than ever before.
AND AWAY WE GO (AGAIN)
We’ll be watching carefully over the next few weeks to see how you all respond to these changes, and how it impacts the game overall. We’re determined to develop the best progression system we can for LoR while finding other ways to keep the meta fresh in an unlimited world.
We’ve given this update a lot of thought, and are striving to make it the last major change to LoR’s core progression and economy. As always, we’ll keep communicating along the way.
Thank you to everyone playing in the Open Beta for helping us see what still needed fixing. With launch not too far away, we’re more excited than ever for what you’ll help us create next.
Let’s keep building a better card game together.
A very detailed breakdown of the reasoning behind the changes. Giving players unlimited access to cards means pay2gofaster players can get all the cards they want, while the XP/Vault changes help F2P players keep up.
Overall, I like what they're doing.
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Hmm, I actually really liked their original goal of a slowly evolving "make do" meta. A wider variety of decks as people are forced to do the best they can with what they have, with things changing over time as people unlock more and more cards.
I understand the point they made about the stockpiling of wildcards making that idea impossible going foreward, but it's disappointing to see that vision abandoned. I would have preferred addressing the reasons wildcards are being stockpiled in the first place (economic efficiency due to duplicates being bad value). I actually think the idea they put forward and rejected about set- specific wildcards could be pretty good!
Also quite skeptical of the removal of champion rewards from expedition.
Yeah that Wildcard change is. . .I dunno. For all the boohooing that streamers were doing it really didn't stop people from playing the game and I think it made things healthy.
I like a lot of those changes. I need to get back to this game, more.
Great game, still, but I wonder how it's doing overall. Seems to be doing "ok" at least?
I never wait more than 2 seconds (and I imagine thats server lag more than anything else) for a game. Expedition matches are just as fast. The only time there's a wait is on something like RANKED which is understandable.
Yeah i havent seen any issues with population (only plat now trying to move diamond). It just isn't proper released yet and we havent seen a Riot ad blitz yet
From last week, I gained the following: 60 commons, 51 rares, 26 epics, 14 champions. I also gained 16 extra wildcards. Of course, that should be balanced against having two 7-win and one 4-win Expeditions. So the numbers might be a bit higher than normal this week.
Currently, I'm sitting at an 81% total set completion. That's a 21% bump over last week! In theory, I should have a complete (or nearly complete) set very soon. This is after almost 7 weeks of playing an average of 7-8 games per day and 3 expedition runs. And all this without using a single Wildcard, although I have crafted quite a few cards (mostly commons/rares though).
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Hmm, I actually really liked their original goal of a slowly evolving "make do" meta. A wider variety of decks as people are forced to do the best they can with what they have, with things changing over time as people unlock more and more cards.
I understand the point they made about the stockpiling of wildcards making that idea impossible going foreward, but it's disappointing to see that vision abandoned. I would have preferred addressing the reasons wildcards are being stockpiled in the first place (economic efficiency due to duplicates being bad value). I actually think the idea they put forward and rejected about set- specific wildcards could be pretty good!
Also quite skeptical of the removal of champion rewards from expedition.
It's being moved to the vault and it'll be a wildcard at higher levels so that should actually do a lot to help the problem with deckbuilding.
From last week, I gained the following: 60 commons, 51 rares, 26 epics, 14 champions. I also gained 16 extra wildcards. Of course, that should be balanced against having two 7-win and one 4-win Expeditions. So the numbers might be a bit higher than normal this week.
Currently, I'm sitting at an 81% total set completion. That's a 21% bump over last week! In theory, I should have a complete (or nearly complete) set very soon. This is after almost 7 weeks of playing an average of 7-8 games per day and 3 expedition runs. And all this without using a single Wildcard, although I have crafted quite a few cards (mostly commons/rares though).
That's 70% completion by raw card number and 76% completion scaling for shard cost.
If I cashed in all wild cards it would be 88% completion by raw card number and 86% completion scaling for shard cost.
I do one expedition per day to spread out the PvP win exp and then on Monday I do freeplays until I reach my level 10/11 Vault. I haven't played a game of constructed since week 1 and resultingly have crafted 0 things.
I'm very curious how the change to expedition rewards will alter their profitability. If they both remove the champion card and reduce shard payouts I'm not sure it's a +EV proposition once your weekly token is expended.
Ya I'm not thrilled about the removal of a champ from expiditions. It made the cost of an expedition effectively free from my point of view as a champ cost 3000 and you're guaranteed to get one.
I’m willing to see how things pan out, but Riot does seem to be listening. If the Champion cards become a problem, they’ll probably adjust things again.
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Posts
Braum honestly slows down that deck, but if you're OK with cutting out some of the self-damage spells you can toss in some control spells for survivability. Take Heart and Transfusion are must haves. Bloodsworn Pledge can be good if you want to buff Braum up to take some hits from the Transfusion or other self-damaging cards. Might is not bad because without it you're getting chump blocked by your 15/1 attackers and that can feel frustrating.
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Try out this:
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It's the concept you're alluding to that I've messed around with. I dunno about its viability in the upper tiers, but its synergy works for me as a midrange deck.
edit: for context, the deck I'm linking uses Vlad and Braum
I'm not married to Braum, I just felt he was a natural fit due to all the Freljord units who buff when damaged. Who would you recommend instead? Darius and stick with a full Noxus deck, or just stick with 3 Vlads and replace the Braums with other cards?
I actually like Vladimer's suggested deck with the Braum included.
My biggest problem with Braum though in that deck, is the potential for your board to get overloaded with Poro's. A game has never gone long enough for that to happen to me, but just the thought of not being able to play the real stars of the show makes me wary.
On the flipside, getting a massive Braum that forces undesirable trades (and eventual repeated removal) is not bad.
EDIT: Just played Vlad's deck. I like it.
I had no idea you could do that. What a creative play!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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So I tried the set a bit last night.
Very fun to play, but I seem to get bodied hard by any Demacia set, or any set with any form of barrier, basically.
While I can out-power Demacians once I get going, my lower overall health puts me at a disadvantage against barriers, since barriers don't care how strong you are, and my unit's lower health overall means they lose most exchanges they can't outpower. I'll need to pack more damage spells in to dispell barriers, or put in more cheap units ( that have more than one health) in so that I can overwhelm with numbers.
This set is also mega-vulnerable to noxian guillotine, as I found out to my dismay in a game against a Noxus deck that I got too cocky in.
Maybe I'll play it more but for some reason I feel like anything with Vlad wants to go FAST and the above isn't fast at all (giving those other deck types more than enough time to gas up).
And that 2/1 that reduces the cost of your most expensive minion in hand is legit.
PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
I wonder if a Vlad set might work more nicely with a Hecarim/Ephemeral team? This also gives access to the kill card, which can deal with any super buff and/or bubbled enemy units.
Ephemeral allows for full benches really easily and they don't care about taking damage, since they're immediately dead. Focus on units that damage the enemy core directly and focus on rushing down opponent at mid-game. Thoughts?
I don't know why, but I really want to make Vlad work for some reason.
In games were they did have an answer, I was able to push enough damage through with Tryndamere's Battle Rage on a Elusive to push 12 to the core. Seriously, this was a pretty one-sided run.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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I also started playing some Ranked (Bronze 4 right now) and decided to homebrew up a Freeze/Control deck with Anivia x3, Tyrandre x2, Ashe x1. Stall until I can drop Anivia and either copy her with Chronicler of Ruin (x2 Anivia is busted) or The Rekindler to bring her back.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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New patch notes:
Hecarim and Kalista changes, Vanguard Lookout are now Elites, Mageseeker's all got their text changed, and a bunch of other tweaks.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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I kill his Elise and heal for 3 next turn. Then he goes greedy the following turn by playing a unit instead of attacking with his 5 units. That's a full board of 0-attack minions. He passes. Ruination clears his board going into my turn 10. He adds 2 units on his turn and pushes some damage through by attacking first, leaving me with 4hp. Next turn, he loses everything (including his last cards) to my She Who Wanders.
Sad Poro emoji from him. Ninja Bow emoji from me. GG with 4hp remaining.
I love that the interactivity of combat means that you really have to think with your attacks as long as your opponent has cards and mana. Such a great game!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
Those changes seem fine. We'll see if the Hecarim change reduces him from an autoinclude in pretty much any Shadow Isle's deck regardless of synergy. The Kalista change seems wordy as hell, but it looks like it puts her back into the realm of where she was in the beta. . .and so she might actually see play.
Overall I think it's a fine patch and I hope it shakes up the game just as much as that first patch did. I still think Rekindler is going to be everywhere and they need a proper graveyard mechanic for him.
Math nerd stat time!
I started the open beta on Feb 6th. That means I've been playing for 41 days now and opened 6 vaults. My vaults have been level 12 and a single 13. I also missed the first week of Expeditions, did a few single runs the following three weeks, and have done x3 runs the last two weeks (10/18 possible Expeditions). On average, I play enough games to finish my daily quest, get 3 PvP wins, and finish 3 Expedition runs. This ends up being about 7-8 games/day.
Here's my current card collection, wildcards, and region levels:
- Commons: 133/150 (17 cards w/no copies) Total count: 325/450 (125 missing) ~72% complete
- Rares: 94/108 (14 cards w/no copies) Total count: 192/324 (132 missing) ~59% complete
- Epics: 30/36 (6 cards w/no copies) Total count: 64/108 (44 missing) ~59% complete
- Champions: 21/24 (3 cards w/no copies) Total count: 41/72 (31 missing) ~57% complete
- Wildcard count is 75/35/8/2
- Region levels are 16/16/8/8/8/15
**It should be noted that I did buy the starter pack, which included 66 cards (although it was less because of my current collection). I haven't bought anything else.**According to my region tracks, I still have 4 region specific Champions, 6 Champion Wildcards, 6 region specific Epic capsules, 3 region specific Epics, 4 Wild capsules, 3 Epic Wildcards, and a 6 each region specific Plat/Diamond chests. For guarantees, that means:
10 more Champions (6 of my choice)
12 more Epics (3 of my choice)
20 more Wild cards (probably mostly Common/Epics)
The game having Epic/Champion protection really shows. Over the coming weeks, my Epic/Champion card count will steadily rise, while my Common/Rare will be much more swingy, since they are RNG based. Of course, these numbers could be better if I spent my Wildcards, but being a gamer, I just hoard them like Elixirs. Riot mentioned wanting to change that mindset since I'm a lot of people are doing that same thing.
Still though, ~60% set completion in 5.5 weeks is pretty impressive for a F2P game. Definitely puts people on more of an even playing field.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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haven't check out the deck yet but from what been trying I think damage self decks unless you go demacia with tough are overwhelm decks. basically the attack get to obscene levels but their health is trash unless you get the like the 3 characters that have regen so things that give overwhelm is important as you will trade down everytime on attack. the patch buffed the deck if you include pack mentality. +2/+2 overwhelm on everyone is great. vlad himself i have mix opinions on. more time he seems to be a hinderance as lower health just keeps trading down a scary prospect. I think he works better with a SI last breath idea
Also, I'm super sad this thread isn't more active. I want to talk about the game more, but it doesn't seem like it's getting a lot of traction. :bigfrown:
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Had Overwhelm buff, probably? There are a couple of ways to do that pretty easily that would make her a good finisher.
Steam, various fora: Ivellius
League of Legends: Doctor Ivellius
Twitch, probably another place or two I forget: LPIvellius
So far it's still too hard to level her up I feel. It works sometimes, but not sure it's actually worth it.
CEBACAIFGYDQCAIBAMFRGFAYFIBAGAIFAEHSEAYBAEGCOKACAIAQCJRUAIAQKFBA
Cards I'm on the fence about:
Cards I'm thinking about adding:
Thoughts?
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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I found two nearly identical lists:
CEBAMAIFAEHR2KBWG4DACAILBQKBQJZJAIAQCAIXAEAQKBAA
CEBAMAIFAEHR2KBWG4DACAILBQKBQJZJAEAQCAIXAIAQCBIZAEAQCNA
And hey, my P&Z region 13 reward Epic card upgraded to a Champion (Jinx). Lucky!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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Quick highlights:
Earn unlimited (and improved) Vault rewards:
-Level 2+ includes an Expedition Token (previously awarded at level 10).
-Level 5+ includes a random Champion card (you can Braum Wave goodbye to bad luck Vaults with no Champions)
-Level 10+ includes a Champion Wildcard (replaces level 5 random Champion card).
-Beyond Level 13, unlock additional, unlimited capsules, each of which contains at least 3 Rares and 2 Commons, with a chance to upgrade to an Epic or Champion Capsule
Earn unlimited XP
PVP wins in Normal / Ranked and Expeditions net you at least 200 and 100 base XP (respectively), every time. Play as much as you want!
AI wins will always provide at least 50 XP going forward
Purchase unlimited wildcards
No more weekly stock in the store
Alternatively, you can directly purchase cards in the Collection tab using Coins (cost is identical to the equivalent wildcard)
Easily and consistently play Expeditions
Entry is 2000 Shards or 200 Coins. Combined with the Token in level 2 Vaults, those who love the mode will be able to play Expeditions more easily and less expensively. (Note that rewards have been reduced to compensate, and the guaranteed random champion has been moved to the Vault. Additionally, you’ll be reimbursed some of the value lost from existing Tokens in your inventory, and Expeditions started before the change goes live will receive the previous set of rewards.)
Full text dump (if you're still at work for some reason):
After two preview patches, six weeks of open beta, and a whole lot of data and feedback from all of you awesome open beta players, we’re making a big update to progression and the in-game economy of Legends of Runeterra. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get right to the point and then dive into the rationale behind it all afterwards.
HERE’S THE DEAL
As design director Andrew “Umbrage” Yip talked about in his State of the Beta article, we’re seeing lots of positive results overall from the progression system. However, some of the methods we chose to achieve certain goals—like ensuring the meta continues to evolve and supporting the different ways players invest their time & money—aren’t doing the job as well as we’d like. So we’re adding more agency to your progression: a Champion Wildcard each week from a Vault that can now level up infinitely, no daily XP cap, and unlimited direct purchase of any card, among other things.
Our goal is to give you the ability to get what you want, how you want, in a game where players can compete regardless of how much they spend. We think this set of changes will maximize your ability to experiment with different cards, ensure a faster and more reliable “time-to-deck”, and will keep things accessible for every LoR player.
Effective starting Patch 0.9.3, you’ll be able to:
Earn unlimited (and improved) Vault rewards
Level 2+ includes an Expedition Token (previously awarded at level 10).
Level 5+ includes a random Champion card (you can Braum Wave goodbye to bad luck Vaults with no Champions)
Level 10+ includes a Champion Wildcard (replaces level 5 random Champion card).
Beyond Level 13, unlock additional, unlimited capsules, each of which contains at least 3 Rares and 2 Commons, with a chance to upgrade to an Epic or Champion Capsule
Earn unlimited XP
PVP wins in Normal / Ranked and Expeditions net you at least 200 and 100 base XP (respectively), every time. Play as much as you want!
AI wins will always provide at least 50 XP going forward
Purchase unlimited wildcards
No more weekly stock in the store
Alternatively, you can directly purchase cards in the Collection tab using Coins (cost is identical to the equivalent wildcard)
Easily and consistently play Expeditions
Entry is 2000 Shards or 200 Coins. Combined with the Token in level 2 Vaults, those who love the mode will be able to play Expeditions more easily and less expensively. (Note that rewards have been reduced to compensate, and the guaranteed random champion has been moved to the Vault. Additionally, you’ll be reimbursed some of the value lost from existing Tokens in your inventory, and Expeditions started before the change goes live will receive the previous set of rewards.)
Additionally, along with the first new set of cards—and new region—later this year, we’ll deliver the following feature:
XP Boost levels on Region Roads. These levels will increase any XP you gain toward unlocking them, accelerating your progress through the earlier part of the road and allowing new + returning players to catch up quickly.
The above changes (excluding the XP Boost levels) will be live on March 31 with Patch 0.9.3. We’re giving you early notice because we take changes to progression and the economy seriously, and know that you do too. Like our previous progression articles, we also want to provide as much transparency as possible and take the opportunity to talk about our broader goals, so read on for all the details that led to this update.
WHERE WE STARTED...
When we set out to build a better card game, we focused on a particular challenge: How to create a meaningful sense of progression while fostering greater periods of experimentation and discovery. Given this ambition, we knew going into the preview patches (before Open Beta even started) that we had more work to do to get to the final state of progression in LoR.
In our first article about progression, we said that: One of the big things we’re still debating is the fact that players are ultimately limited by time: There’s only one new quest a day, the Vault has a level cap, and wildcards in the store have a limited stock each week. It’s the tradeoff we’ve chosen in order to emphasize your agency—you have a clear way to get exactly what you want, but it'll take some time to get it. Is that ultimately better? We think so, but you’re about to show us.
And show us you did.
...WHERE WE ENDED UP
While many players were very satisfied with the amount of agency they had at the outset, others were struggling with the limits. One of the most obvious examples was the randomness of the Vault, specifically when it came to Champion cards. Given how critical champs are to the “time-to-deck”—an important way in which we measure progression in LoR—that was a big deal. The randomness was especially punishing for players who were relying on the Vault (versus the store) to get the champs they needed.
And while parts of the progression system—like limited stock in the store and a max level on the Vault—did seem to help the meta evolve more slowly, that benefit was overshadowed by notable downsides, like not being able to fully experiment with a majority of the cards. For some players, this made the meta stale in its own way, and for other players—those that have the most fun when being innovative and experimental—it was a real limitation that made LoR harder to enjoy playing altogether. While we love the idea of a meta that keeps evolving, we aren’t willing to keep constraining players in order to force a certain pace.
We also saw a less-than-awesome optimization happening: stockpiling wildcards (and to a lesser extent, shards). We see this as a problem for two reasons: First, it indicates to us that players feel it’s ultimately more valuable to hold onto wildcards instead of using them to regularly acquire and try out new cards, which directly contradicts our goals of progression, experimentation, and discovery. Second, stockpiling wildcards effectively eliminates the possibility of a “slow-evolution meta” for the next set, as players can use all those wildcards to unlock the majority of new cards instantly (an issue which would likely repeat going forward). Regardless of any other changes, we’d need to eventually do something to improve this, if only because new players would be hopelessly behind the well-resourced veteran players.
With all these problems clearly in view, we had essentially two options: keep the current course and accept that some players would have significant advantages over others (along with very different progression experiences), or make some big changes.
PROGRESSION 2.0
Our goal hasn’t changed—we still want to create a game with satisfying progression while fostering greater periods of experimentation and discovery—but we also don’t want the second half of that goal to come at the expense of the first.
Trying to maintain a meta that evolves slowly would lead to some things that just straight up feel bad. For example, one solution would be to limit not just how many wildcards you can purchase each week, but how many you can actually use each week. Another would be to establish set-based wildcards, so that none of the current wildcards would be applicable toward the next set’s cards.
It would sure slow things down, but there’s no way we’re doing any of that crap. (And even if we did, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to the kind of evolving meta we saw in Open Beta. There’s a high chance the community would default to playing existing top-tier decks rather than experiment with the latest cards in less-powerful decks, choosing to wait until a complete, competitive version of a new deck is possible before investing in playing it.)
Which brings us to big change #1: we’re making wildcards, or essentially direct purchase of cards, unlimited. Once we decided against the feels-bad methods necessary to make an Open Beta-style meta experience happen again, this became a simple way to improve three key things simultaneously: ensure new players weren’t forever behind those who stocked up earlier, enable players who wanted access to the full set of cards for experimentation, and eliminate the implicit pressure to make purchases because of the limited weekly stock.
That’s probably the bigger headline, but it isn’t the one we started with. Another goal we’ve been committed to since the beginning of LoR is to make a game where how much money you spend is NOT the deciding factor in your success as a player. So before we could get to the question of wildcards, we had to first figure out how to give players who invest time, rather than money, more agency. Turns out, it was a similarly simple solution: make XP gains and the Vault unlimited as well, and ensure players had more access to (and control over) Champion cards. That manifests as a Vault with a random Champion at level 5 or a Champion Wildcard at level 10, and continuous leveling for as many bonus capsules as you can get.
Together, these changes do a lot to increase agency across the board. But while they might be great for players that heavily invest with either time or money, they don’t do as much for another kind of player: those who don’t (or simply can’t) invest that way.
We never want anyone to feel like LoR is only playable if you’re grinding out games or dropping a bunch of cash. We’re also personally familiar with the fear of missing out and falling behind when you dip out of a game for a little while. So along with the now-consistent Champions from level 5 Vaults (which is designed to be virtually guaranteed just by completing your daily quests), we’re adding XP Boost levels that will accelerate anyone who’s far behind into a reasonable range.
Over time, additional XP Boost levels will be added based on how long and how quickly active players have been progressing to ensure there isn’t a huge disparity in card collections. If a significant part of the community ends up rocketing way ahead of the pack, the rest of the community can draft off them to catch up. We want coming back after a break to be easy and appealing, and ensure that it’s always a good time to start playing LoR.
That rounds out the major changes you can expect to see soon. Whatever struggle you were having with your progression, this update aims to fix it. You wanted less barriers? Unlimited XP gains, Vault levels, and direct purchases are yours. Needed more accessibility? Better rewards from the Vault, more Expeditions, and XP Boost levels are here. Were you praying every week for a Champion? You got ’em, no problem. The meta may evolve more quickly now, but your progression will keep up, and you’ll have more agency than ever before.
AND AWAY WE GO (AGAIN)
We’ll be watching carefully over the next few weeks to see how you all respond to these changes, and how it impacts the game overall. We’re determined to develop the best progression system we can for LoR while finding other ways to keep the meta fresh in an unlimited world.
We’ve given this update a lot of thought, and are striving to make it the last major change to LoR’s core progression and economy. As always, we’ll keep communicating along the way.
Thank you to everyone playing in the Open Beta for helping us see what still needed fixing. With launch not too far away, we’re more excited than ever for what you’ll help us create next.
Let’s keep building a better card game together.
A very detailed breakdown of the reasoning behind the changes. Giving players unlimited access to cards means pay2gofaster players can get all the cards they want, while the XP/Vault changes help F2P players keep up.
Overall, I like what they're doing.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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I understand the point they made about the stockpiling of wildcards making that idea impossible going foreward, but it's disappointing to see that vision abandoned. I would have preferred addressing the reasons wildcards are being stockpiled in the first place (economic efficiency due to duplicates being bad value). I actually think the idea they put forward and rejected about set- specific wildcards could be pretty good!
Also quite skeptical of the removal of champion rewards from expedition.
Great game, still, but I wonder how it's doing overall. Seems to be doing "ok" at least?
PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
I never wait more than 2 seconds (and I imagine thats server lag more than anything else) for a game. Expedition matches are just as fast. The only time there's a wait is on something like RANKED which is understandable.
Not bad. The shards are definitely starting to stockpile as I'm getting a lot more duplicates. Looks like it's time to do another math nerd stat time!
From last week, I gained the following: 60 commons, 51 rares, 26 epics, 14 champions. I also gained 16 extra wildcards. Of course, that should be balanced against having two 7-win and one 4-win Expeditions. So the numbers might be a bit higher than normal this week.
Currently, I'm sitting at an 81% total set completion. That's a 21% bump over last week! In theory, I should have a complete (or nearly complete) set very soon. This is after almost 7 weeks of playing an average of 7-8 games per day and 3 expedition runs. And all this without using a single Wildcard, although I have crafted quite a few cards (mostly commons/rares though).
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It's being moved to the vault and it'll be a wildcard at higher levels so that should actually do a lot to help the problem with deckbuilding.
I'm at:
That's 70% completion by raw card number and 76% completion scaling for shard cost.
If I cashed in all wild cards it would be 88% completion by raw card number and 86% completion scaling for shard cost.
I do one expedition per day to spread out the PvP win exp and then on Monday I do freeplays until I reach my level 10/11 Vault. I haven't played a game of constructed since week 1 and resultingly have crafted 0 things.
I'm very curious how the change to expedition rewards will alter their profitability. If they both remove the champion card and reduce shard payouts I'm not sure it's a +EV proposition once your weekly token is expended.
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