Patch 0.13.0: Center Stage

Plague Volunteer is a cheap Thorns body meant to trade its life for
reflected damage, but at 2 health it popped before it reflected anything.
More health lets it soak a swing or two, so the Thorns actually pay off.

Conscript wants to sit up front, poison what hits it, and reflect the
rest, but it folded on the first exchange. The extra health keeps it
alive long enough to do both.

A sniper doing 1 damage a shot was no threat, so the enemy simply ignored
it. A stronger ranged attack gives it a real reason to be feared from the
back line.

The Quartermaster is a Protect wall, but at 1 attack the enemy could
safely walk past it and kill the rest of your team. A real swing forces
them to deal with the wall instead of ignoring this signature fighter.

The Capeless One only pays off once the board thins to a single survivor,
and it kept dying before it got there. Two more health lets this signature
fighter live to land its finisher, which is the whole point of the card.
(Also softened visually in this patch's homage art pass.)

This Bloodlust brawler snowballs once it starts scoring kills, but it died
before landing the first one. More health buys it the round it needs to
get rolling.

Coronet Breaker is a glass finisher built around Shatter and Deathblow,
and it kept dying before it could combo. Extra health lets it survive to
land the hit it exists for.

A legendary sniper on a 5-health frame folded the moment anything looked at
it. The health bump keeps it firing instead of dying on turn one.

A 3-health aggro body evaporated before it could act. More health lets
this glass cannon survive long enough to swing.

This front-line tank had Void and a counter-punch but no bite, so it was
free tempo for the enemy. A stronger swing makes it a fighter they have to
respect.

Ashfield Runner is a signature sneaker built around Piercing, but its low
health meant it rarely lived to strike twice. The extra health keeps this
gem in the fight.

The Marshal is a Protect tank that was the single weakest fighter in the
affinity: no threat and not enough bulk to matter. It gets both a bigger
swing and more health so it stops being free attrition.

The heaviest Ironkin chassis carries Bloodlust but kept dying in the early
game before its kills fed the fight. More health lets it survive to
snowball, which is its entire identity.

A Taunt tank pulls every enemy attack onto itself, but at 1 attack and 4
health it just popped and gave the enemy free hits. More health lets it
survive the fire it invites, and a real swing means it fights back.

The Magister is built to outlast enemy casters with layered magic
mitigation, but it never had the bulk to actually outlast anything. Two
more health lets the wall do its job.

Earth's only ranged legendary was a toothless sniper. A stronger ranged
attack finally gives its Snipe and Blast kit real reach into the back line.

A 2-cost chip body with no abilities and almost no health was one of the
deadest cards in the game. It gets both stat points: a real swing and
enough health to land it.

The only Wind tank chassis was still soft enough to get farmed as fodder.
More health lets it actually anchor the front line the way a tank should.

The deepest-losing Wind fighter is a ranged chip body whose whole value is
its damage. A stronger shot plus more health let it keep chipping instead
of dying first.

A glass sniper with zero armor died before it could snipe. The extra health
keeps it alive long enough to earn its keep.

This signature diver kept throwing itself in and dying before its Piercing
paid off. A bigger swing and more health lift it toward the impact a
signature card should have. (Also softened visually in this patch's homage
art pass.)

A fragile Void caster that folded instantly. More health lifts it back to
playable.

This Reach fighter died before it could poke from the second rank. Extra
health keeps it in range to matter.

A back-line sniper doing 1 damage was no threat at all. A stronger shot
lets this signature fighter actually snipe.

One of the closer-to-playable weak cards, held back by a paper-thin frame.
More health nudges it over the line.

A threatless Protect tank the enemy walked right past. It gets both more
bulk and a real swing so it can actually hold a line.

This signature Stun-and-Affliction fighter was dying before its control
kit landed. More health keeps it alive to lock the enemy down. We are
watching it and may lift it further.

A Protect tank with real hit points but no punch. A bigger swing lets this
signature body threaten while it guards. We are watching it and may lift
it further.

Magic attacks never miss and cut straight past armor, so a high-magic body
on a durable frame was just guaranteed damage every turn. Trimming its
magic keeps the threat without making it unbeatable, since Water as a whole
was winning far too much.

Same story across Water's casters: guaranteed magic damage on sticky
control bodies was warping every game. A point off its magic reins it in
while keeping its Silence and Void control intact.

Another Water control caster leaning on always-hits magic. Dropping its
magic by one cools it down without touching its Void, Stun, or Dispel kit.

This Slow-and-reflect caster was another piece of Water's overtuned magic
core. A point off its magic pulls it back toward fair.

Part of the same Water magic cluster that was ending games on chip alone.
Its magic comes down a point; its Weaken debuff stays.

This was a high-magic body that never missed and ignored armor. We turned
its attack into a ranged strike, which can miss and is stopped by armor,
and set it to 2. It still hits hard when it connects, but it no longer wins
on unavoidable damage the way Water's casters were.

This reflect-wall wants enemies to hit it so Return Fire punishes them, but
it died before the plan came together. Two more health lets it survive to
reflect.

A ranged support fighter with no real shot was easy to ignore. A stronger
ranged attack gives it a threat to back up its Strengthen buffs.

This Bloodlust body could never land the first kill to start its snowball.
A bigger swing gives it the opening hit it needs.

Prime Reflection is a reflection fighter, but it was also carrying a strong
heal that let Light grind out wins on pure sustain. We removed the Heal and
kept its Protect and Last Stand identity, so it defends without also
out-healing the whole board.

Aurora Silencer's Silence and always-hits magic made it a sticky control
piece Light leaned on too hard. Its magic is already at the floor, so we
cut its health instead: now it can be killed before it locks you out.

This caster's guaranteed magic made it another pillar of Light's dominance.
We turned its attack into a ranged strike that can miss and be blocked by
armor, which reframes it as a sniper rather than an unkillable damage font.

Same fix for another Light caster: its magic never missed, so we moved its
attack to ranged, which can be dodged and stopped by armor. It keeps its
Flying and Thorns, but no longer chips for free.

A durable Void and Last Stand body that also poured out unavoidable magic.
Converting its attack to ranged means it can miss and be blocked, pulling
one of Light's biggest engines back to fair.

A cheap sneaker doing 1 damage was pure filler. A stronger swing gives it a
real reason to slip into the back line.

A glass sniper that died before firing. More health keeps it alive to
shoot.

This Reach tank still had no threat and kept losing anyway, even after
earlier buffs. More health lets it hold the line long enough to matter.

A dead caster that hit too softly. A point of magic gives it a real payoff
for surviving to cast.

One of the deepest-losing cards in the set, a legendary finisher that died
before it could finish. Two more health lets it live to swing.

A massive Last Stand wall with no offense was just free real estate for the
enemy. A real swing means the wall actually threatens back.

A fragile flying sniper that died before it fired enough. More health keeps
it in the air and shooting.

A Last Stand and Thorns tank that could survive forever but never win,
because it did no damage. A bigger reach swing gives it a way to actually
close games.

This signature Reach fighter was landing well below the impact a signature
card should have. A stronger swing lifts it toward its intended power while
keeping its Reach and Thorns kit.

Divine was the strongest affinity in the game, and its apex casters led the
way. Magic never misses, so a point off this fighter's magic is the
cleanest way to cool it without changing what it does.

A magic front-tank that was nearly unbeatable. Trimming its always-hits
magic pulls it back toward fair while it keeps its tanky, Void-shielded
identity.

Quiet-Bearer's team-wide front heal was a big part of why Divine ground out
so many wins on sustain. We removed the Tank Heal and kept its Void magic
mitigation, so it shields against casters without also out-healing the
board.

This support caster was double-buffing your whole team, which stacked into
Divine's dominance. We dropped its Strengthen and kept its Inspire
broadcast, so it still supports but no longer supercharges.

An always-hits Blast caster feeding Divine's overperformance. Its magic
drops to the floor so it stops chipping for free, while it keeps its Blast
splash.

This Divine commander was handing your whole team both extra health and
extra armor, piling onto Divine's overperformance. We removed the team-wide
Armor buff and kept the Health buff and its Flying grant, so it still
supports without stacking too much survivability on an already-strong
affinity.