Been a busy month here at Dream Sloth doing some catch up and making some new things, and we’re excited to share it all!

Patch should be going out Friday, May 31st at around 7pm EST/23:00 UTC.

Table of Contents

Epic Series 4 – Winners and Card Changes

Congratulations to TOPDECKTIMMY, Meziljie, Topdeckguru (aestari), and Kolos for their Epic Series 4 top 4 performance! We wanted to showcase their decks to the community along with the changes they implemented for this month (though some of the cards in these decks have been changed since the tournament).

1st Place – TOPDECKTIMMY

TOPDECKTIMMY won out running the same Vetruvian Zoo and Vanar Walls deck days 1 and 2.

Astral Crusader

[Old] Minion | 7 | 6 / 12 | At the start of each turn, switch the positions of both Generals.
[New] Minion | 10 | 5 / 5 | When you replace this card, this and other Astral Crusader cards in your action bar and deck cost 2 less and gain +2/+2.

Shoutout to D.GG, who were the first to this sort of tweak to Astral Crusader (i.e. changing its ability to affect ALL Astral Crusader’s in deck). It was one of my favorite cards in that version of Duelyst, and I wanted to bring it to D2. Augury/vindi’s existence in the game suggests that there is potential for this card to be very degenerate, but if that is so, it is at least here for only a month.

– TOPDECKTIMMY

Primus Shieldmaster

[Old] Minion | 4 | 2 / 6 | Provoke. At the end of your turn, give nearby allies minions +0/+1.
[New] Minion | 4 | 3 / 6 | Provoke

Back in D1, 3/6 Primus Shieldmaster was: a stalwart 4 drop, inoffensive power-wise, and an overall positive influence that focused on the game’s board-based fundamentals. Hopefully its presence in D2 will do the same, acting as a dichotomy to longtime staple Emerald Rejuvenator

– TOPDECKTIMMY

Paddo

[Old] Minion | 7 | 12 / 6 | Airdrop. Opening Gambit: Teleport nearby units to random spaces.
[New] Minion | 7 | 7 / 8 | Airdrop. Opening Gambit: Summon two Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire auras on nearby spaces.

The sloth is based. Here is mega-sloth.

– TOPDECKTIMMY

2nd Place – Meziljie

Meziljie came in second with Healyonar and Spellhai deck, only making some minor adjustments to the former for day 2.

Meziljie redistributed the card changes prize to the next two players.

3rd Place –  Topdeckguru (aestari)

Topdeckguru came in third running the same Spellhai and Vanar Walls decks both days.

Bloodrage Mask

[Old] Artifact | 2 | When you play a spell, your General deals 1 damage to the enemy General.
[New] Artifact | 1 | When you play a spell, your General gains +1/+0 until your next turn.

I felt like its current iteration does not align with Songhai’s faction identity as well as it could. Though it provides spell damage, it does not reward or punish players based on positioning which is a critical aspect of duelyst. Changing the card in this way will open Songhai up to new deckbuilding strategies while still remaining true to the faction’s identity.

– Topdeckguru (aestari)

Deathblighter

[Old] Minion | 6 | 6 / 8 | Prevent all healing.
[New] Minion | 6 | 6 / 8 | Opening Gambit: During your opponent’s next turn, after they play 3 cards, end the turn.

Aggro decks are common in the meta right now, and this card aims to blunt the force of those decks. It will give players another option to consider when deckbuilding that is board centric, and helps to put a limit on the utility of spell centric power play.

– Topdeckguru (aestari)

4th Place – Kolos

Kolos rounded out the top four with two Vetruvian Mech decks day 1, and two Abyssian Sarlac decks day 2.

Spelljammer

[Old] Minion | 3 | 2 / 4 | Players draw 1 fewer card at the end of their turn.
[New] Minion | 3 | 2 / 4 | Opening Gambit: Until your next turn, both players draw 2 fewer cards at the end of their turn.

Cards are too OP in card games. This change is perfect for players that find picking which card to play too mentally taxing. Peak Duelyst game play is about being beaten to death two damage at a time.

– Kolos

Balance Changes

Just a quick preface here: We have our eyes on a bunch of cards and decks. These changes aren’t the sum total of our thoughts on the state of the game, just where we are starting. We are only making small number of changes here for a few reasons:

• We value some amount of consistency in the metagame. We don’t just want to invalidate players’ entire list of decks and game knowledge overnight.
• We value constant churn in the metagame. We want the game to be constantly evolving over time, and plan to do that with more frequent smaller changes. We still have some process things to sort out here, so we aren’t entirely sure what the schedule will look like, we’ll let you know when we know more.
• We value player feedback. We know the community has a lot of thoughts and feelings on the game, and we want to listen to that. We want to be able to take that feedback on both the changes and the reasoning and apply it to future changes, rather than just making sweeping changes all at once.
• We value understanding the data. We are working on getting the data analytics into a better state, and building a better understanding of how card changes affect it. This is just easier to do with smaller changes given the amount of it that we get.

Nightsplitter

[Old] Minion | 5 | 5 / 4 | Opening Gambit: Allied Shadow Creep tiles heal allies one space away for 3 and deal 3 damage to enemies one space away.
[New] Minion | 5 | 5 / 4 | Opening Gambit: Allied Shadow Creep tiles heal allies one space away for 2 and deal 2 damage to enemies one space away.

Since the Shadow Creep rework in Timeless Beginnings Wave 2, Shadow Creep decks have gone from niche decks that mostly just used multiple Shadow Novas to kill the opponent, to a full archetype that makes use of Shadow Creep throughout the game. We are really happy with this change and the new gameplay that has emerged from it.  That said, Creep has been the most played deck, and among the most winning decks, and is warping deckbuilding around the 3 damage it does. We want to pull back on it a bit and give the metagame room to breathe a bit, but not completely push it out of playability. 

Nightsplitter is the big payoff for Shadow Creep, allowing the deck to immediately stabilize the board with a huge amount of healing for the General and a sizable body, and also often killing another minion (especially with Daemonic Lure) and/or getting in some damage on the enemy General. For now we are taking one off of both the healing and the damage, reducing the healing ceiling by a full Emerald Rejuvenator, and making it easier to position 3 health minions against Creep decks. Hopefully this will allow more decks to go under Creep for a kill, or be able to keep up with them in the late game. We will keep monitoring the deck, and make further adjustments as needed.

Manaforger

[Old] Minion | 2 | 1 / 2 | Your spells cost 1 less to play.
[New] Minion | 2 | 1 / 2 | The first 3 spells you play each turn cost 1 less to play.

We know that One Turn Kills (OTKs) hold a bit of a contentious place in the game. We think they could find a healthy spot in the metagame, but currently aren’t doing so. There is relatively little counterplay against these decks other than just killing them before they kill you, and the lack of agency here doesn’t lead to compelling gameplay, and is often quite frustrating. For now we are going to just cut down on the availability and speed of OTKs. We hope to introduce some more options for counterplay in the future, and will revisit these changes at that time.

The ability to make any number of spells in a turn cost 0 has, perhaps unsurprisingly, enabled multiple combo decks. For now we are going to try limiting the number of spells it can affect to curb the combo potential, while still allowing for it to provide significant cost reduction across multiple turns.

Owlbeast Sage

[Old] Minion | 4 | 4 / 4 | When you play a spell, allied Arcanysts gain +0/+2.
[New] Minion | 4 | 4 / 4 | When you play a spell, other allied Arcanysts gain +0/+2.

Having cards that care about their kin is great. It’s a resonant mechanical and narrative hook, allows for finer control over interactions, and is generally just fun to build around. In practice though, Owlbeast Sage hasn’t really done that, and instead frequently just keeps all the buffs to itself, turning into an overly sticky threat that can also just one shot a player with Divine Bond. We want to move this away from being a standalone card, and towards being more of an Arcanyst build around. 

Consuming Rebirth Combo

We are actively watching this deck, but are not taking action on it at this moment.. The deck can certainly do powerful things quickly, potentially putting 20+ power on board or outright winning with Synchronic Abomination as early as turn 2 or 3, it’s just unclear given the current data how consistently it’s doing so or what its overall win rate is. We do feel that the deck could be problematic with how fast it can win and how many game actions it takes, so we will continue to keep a close eye on it, and make changes if needed.

Revamp Changes

All of these cards are among the less played and less winning cards in their faction, though they aren’t the only ones. For now we are trying to make (mostly) simple to implement changes, and not make too many changes to the new player experience (NPE).

Aegis Barrier

[Old] Spell | 1 | Give an allied minion “This has Veil during your opponent’s turn”.
[New] Spell | 1 | Give an allied minion “Prevent the next time this would take damage or be destroyed”.

We think that it’s important to have some diversity in protection abilities for minions, so we are experimenting with a new one here. This is primarily aimed at protecting a minion from a single out of hand card, to make your opponent have to invest multiple resources into clearing something you want to stick around. We are hoping this adds some proactive counterplay against AoEs, opening gambits, and rush minions in a way that Veil can’t, with the added upside of some offensive capabilities.

Celestial Phantom

[Old] Minion | 3 | 1 / 5 | When this damages an enemy minion, destroy that minion.
[New] Minion | 2 | 1 / 3 | When this damages an enemy minion, destroy that minion.

We want to bring some more board presence and positioning based gameplay to Songhai, as well as provide more tools for them to play midrange and control decks. We’re hoping that by making this into a 2 drop that can trade with multiple 2/3s it can help slow down some games, as well as being able to provide some control later on. And for those who just want to use it as an out of hand hard removal spell with Inner Focus and Mist Dragon Seal, well, that’s still a pretty Songhai way to go about things.

Imperial Saboteur

[Old] Minion | 2 | 2 / 3 | Opening Gambit: Give a nearby minion -2/-0 until your next turn.
[New] Minion | 2 | 2 / 2 | Nearby enemies have -1/-0.

Sand Howler

[Old] Minion | 4 | 4 / 4 | Nearby enemies have -1/-0.
[New] Minion | 4 | 4 / 4 | Opening Gambit: Give a nearby minion -4/-0 until your next turn.

Neither of these cards is quite hitting the mark, so we are swapping the effects on them to give both a bit of a boost. Both of them fall into the category of slowing down the game a bit and improving combat math, which are effects we want to provide greater access to.

Blood Siren

[Old] Minion | 2 | 3 / 2 | Opening Gambit: Set the enemy General’s Attack to 0 this turn.
[New] Minion | 2 | 3 / 2 | Dying Wish: If it’s your turn, heal your general for 3. Otherwise deal 3 damage to the enemy General.

We are totally replacing the effect on this to provide an early play that leads to some new gameplay patterns, since it’s often correct to not just remove it. We like the amount of agency this provides to both players while filling different roles in different decks and at different parts of the game.

Progenitor

[Old] Minion | 4 | 3 / 5 | Opening Gambit: Summon two Hatchling Eggs nearby your general.
[New] Minion | 4 | 3 / 5 | Opening Gambit: Summon a Young Silithar Egg nearby your general.

The eggs from Progenitor have been a bit too hard to protect and too low impact once they do hatch. This aims to make it a bit easier to get more value out of the opening gambit by providing a more relevant and stickier body, and making it easier to position in a way to protect it since you only have one egg to worry about.

Arctic Displacer

[Old] Minion | 5 | 10 / 4 | Airdrop
[New] Minion | 5 | 10 / 4 | Airdrop. Opening Gambit: Stun a nearby minion.

Up until now Arctic Displacer has primarily been used as a burst damage card with Spirit of the Wild. We’re adding on the ability to stun a minion to help it be more relevant in other situations, either by ambushing a backline minion, or giving it a better chance of surviving to punch face.

Moebius

[Old] Minion | 1 | 1 / 1 | Airdrop. Opening Gambit: Spend your remaining mana. This gains +1/+1 for each mana spent.
[New] Minion | 0 | 0 / 1 | Opening Gambit: Spend your remaining mana. This gains +1/+1 for each mana spent.

A scaling threat like Moebius can help fill roles in several kinds of decks by providing the ability to contest the board early while also being a threat or stabilizer later on. By moving this to a more premium statline, we are hoping it can find a home doing that in multiple decks. This also lets us drop the cost down to 0, which has some interesting implications. 

Wording Changes

We want to try to make cards easily understandable when first read, and have consistency in how we refer to game mechanics across cards. We are cleaning up the wording on a few cards in this patch, and will continue to keep an eye out for places where we can do so in the future. If there’s anything you find confusing or think could be cleaned up a bit, please let us know.

Dynasty Standard

[Old] Artifact | 2 | Timeless. After you cast a nonzero cost spell, summon a Recruit behind your General with Attack and Health equal to the cost of that spell.
[New] Artifact | 2 | Timeless. After you play a nonzero cost spell, summon a Recruit behind your General with Attack and Health equal to the cost of that spell.

Echo Mage

[Old] Minion | 5 | 4 / 6 | Zeal: The first time you cast a spell with this in Zeal each turn, put a 1 cost copy of that spell into your action bar until the end of your turn.
[New] Minion | 5 | 4 / 6 | Zeal: When you play a spell, put a 1 cost copy of that spell into your action bar until the end of your turn. (once per turn)

Avatar of the Zenith

[Old] Minion | 6 | 4 / 11 | Whenever a minion is healed, put an Afterglow into your hand and summon a 1/3 Recruit on a random nearby space.
[New] Minion | 6 | 4 / 11 | Whenever a minion is healed, put an Afterglow into your action bar and summon a 1/3 Recruit on a random nearby space.

New Cosmetics

Just as a quick note: We are working on the faction recolor skins (Steel, Breeze, Marine, Infernal) for the units released in expansions, keep an eye out for those coming soon.

Prideful Skins – The Trevor Project Charity

These can be purchased individually for 200 shards per skin, or purchased as a bundle of 3 skins for 500 shards.

All proceeds from these this month will be donated to The Trevor Project, and we will be matching the amount raised this month, up to $1000.

Thanks to Pasty for the Eternity Sage – Prideful skin!

Magmar – Marine Skins

These can be purchased individually for 200 shards per skin, or purchased as a bundle of 17 skins for 3000 shards.

Abyssian – Infernal Skins

These can be purchased individually for 200 shards per skin, or purchased as a bundle of 17 skins for 3000 shards.

Heartboom Emote

Designed by Isbee and krackocloud

This can be purchased for 200 shards.

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements

• Fixed the issue where players were able to buy a Dervish – Breeze skin. It is now given if you buy a breeze skin that generates a dervish.
• Abyssal Crawler no longer has the Opening Gambit tool tip text.
• The Featured Icon in the shop has been updated.
• The Timeless 1 and 2 bundles have been updated with a new shop icon.
• Fixed an issue where the Lyonar – Steel bundle gave Vetruvian – Breeze skins instead.
• Searching for friends is no longer case sensitive.