RE: SPS Governance Proposal - Restrict Gladiator Cards Below Silver League
You are viewing a single comment's thread:
I think I'm going to have to vote "no" here.
I agree it's a problem, but this is a band-aid that obfuscates the underlying issue. The problem exists in higher leagues (silver/gold/diamond) as well.
Essentially:
#1. Some Gladiators are OP
#2. Soulbound cards can be ridiculously hard to get
Point #2 is a separate issue and also applies to soulbound reward cards. When you've been playing regularly for a year and still don't have key soulbound reward cards so you know certain match-ups are going to be auto-losses, it is super frustrating. But that should be talked about separately.
As for Point #1, Gladiators were not playtested thoroughly because at the time it was a niche gimmick that was intended for brawl use only. I think at this point the options are:
A. Try to rollback Gladiator use in non-brawls (ban/remove Conscript summoners and the ruleset). I think this would be more challenging because a large part of the soulbound rewards card is the conscript summoners.
B. Errata the problematic gladiators.
At the end of the day, the problem (in novice/bronze/silver/gold/diamond leagues) is NOT Conscription + Gorth or Helmet or Alva or Xulax. The Problem is Conscription + Quora or Captain Katie or Katrelba or Isgald or Fina.
If I had to rank the gladiators:
S Tier:
Quora Towershead
A Tier:
Isgald Vorst
Bertrol Gobson
Katrelba Gobson
Whistling Damon
Captain Katie
Fina Voxum
B Tier:
Chimney Wallstop
Orella Abadon
Marisol Contuma
Flagulon Reine
Jini Guise
Sola Ranjell
Larissa Kerato
C Tier:
Krash Wanderford
Alva the Crusher
Hugo Strongsword
Witch of Warwick
Sarius
Alfredo
Relenor Cleavor
Cutter Brieze
Ajax Lightfoot
Liza Fox
Tatiana Blayde
D Tier:
Helmet Kharafax
Edith Emberstar
Trapp Falloway
F Tier:
Paladon Rakk
Kotriphus Bane
Gorth
Xulax Nightwind
See any common themes? Since Bloodlust is the central feature of gladiators, any abilities that improve the chance of getting bloodlust kills are especially strong such as dual attack types (Quora), opportunity (Fina/Isgald/Bertrol), snipe (Katie/Damon), sneak (Katrelba), and Double Strike (Katrelba).
I think the better solution is to errata the one S Tier gladiator (Quora), the 6 A Tier (Isgald, Bertrol, Katrelba, Damon, Katie, Fina), and possibly some of the top B Tier gladiators. And then potentially think about improving the D and F tier gladiators.
To be honest, the gladiator cards are a good addition but it's not as OP in bronze as long as you know how to counter it.
for Quora, just rent Doctor Blight. IT's only 0.57 cents. If you use earth, you can combo it with Obsidian. With the lack of Cleanse in lower league, this actually kills Quora builds.
You can even just use Djinn Oshannus + shield (Prophet Rosa) to counter most of them.
For Katriela Gobson, use Venari Knifer at the back.
Not to mention that ALL bloodlust changes can be countered by dispel.
Gladiators are not really a problem now since there are many outs due to Rebellion. And isn't this why Summoner Tactics are made? So, you can re-strategize after seeing your opponent's build?
this proposal seems rushed and was not thought well. Maybe the whales in the leaderboards in bronze and silver are struggling and that's why they wanted these removed.
This exactly. My Quora often gets countered by Blight and dispel sets her right back to basic. I don't rent, because I can't guarantee having the time to actually play more than a few games at a time. So
I don't have Doctor Blight in my arsenal, but as you say, he's easy enough for new players to get hold of if they want.
I think that all gladiator cards can be devastating if they get the chance to get rolling. I remember a circumstance when I used Gorth to defeat Quora highlighting the flaw in attempting to rate these cards. They all have circumstances where they can shine. A key to winning battles is not to be predictable and if I can see a pattern of play I can devise a strategy to counter it. Putting together a set of cards that work as a team can defeat any knuckleheaded monster set. The countless number of times I have been blasted to bits by Yodin when I didn't see it coming. The even more countless times I have played a forward focused attack when I need to attack the backline. Nobody is going to win every encounter the game just doesn't work that way. It is good that gladiators are not easy to obtain and it is great that they are obtainable for everyone willing to put some effort in.