This surprise DC Dual Force patch arrived delivering important big fixes, one major quality of life improvement and significant changes to one of the most important Green Lanterns along some welcomed changes to the Might early game.
This week had a LOT of bug fixes and this is expected for the foreseeable future, so for more information see the full patch notes:
This week was also the Beta update you can find here, detailing what to expect next week with the first new comic release and the release of our first new card Bursting Boom Tube:
We also got confirmation that the intention from here on with the Beta is weekly patches providing new content, balance changes and bug fixes!
So who are the big winners and losers from the patch? What changes could make the biggest difference to the game and what should you explore. Read on for reaction and thoughts on the patch notes and a deck to try with the changes.
Mulligan now happens simultaneously
First up, this doesn't impact any deck but is one of the biggest quality of life improvements we can get. This shortens the start of game significantly and very welcome!
Steve Trevor: Is now a 2/2 (was a 2/3)
steve-trevor has been one of the most impactful early cards to play. As it allows you to access your Leader ability one turn early and these abilities are often the strongest tempo plays you can make early game. Often Steve Trevor then equated too adding 4 power to Wonder Woman, buffing the health of several cards and clearing an opposing recruit for example. This nerf at least makes the recruit easier to deal with which should not be underrated. For the power of the effect 3 health is not always easy to clear, leaving a persistent threat on the board.
Wildcat Is now a 3/2 (was a 3/3)
wildcat would often end up staying on board as a persistent threat and was difficult to clear alongside the buffed card. Additionally 3 health when buffed by Wonder Woman to 4 health was even more difficult to clear sometimes trading with 2 cards or abilities. These first two changes indicate the balance seems to be recognising just how important health is in DC Dual Force and both are big hits to the Might early game. However Wonder Woman is likely still very strong and shouldn't be abandoned due to these changes.
Talia Al-Ghul: Is now a 5/4 (was a 4/4)
talia-al-ghul adds more power to an average card but makes a significant difference. At 5 power the size of the threat is greater and this means your opponent is incentivised to deal with it more and the clock put on your opponent's Leaders is higher. However buffing the Health or the size of the heal effect would likely have made a much bigger impact the card is now more likely to trade favourably and heal your leaders. She will also now activate Black Adam.
The Culling: KO ALL Recruits with 4[ATK] or less (was 3[ATK] or less)
the-culling alone may change the way early games are played as this card can be a full reset to much more boards now. The Culling would 'miss' when you got to Turn 3 and the same turn your opponent played a card like Queen Hippolyta, buffing the board to 4 attack. The size of this change cannot be understated. The Tyranny control package has been close to competing prior to this change and this opens up these strategies significantly. It will be very rare that The Culling doesn't result in a full board clear played on Turn 3 and the value as the game goes on as risen significantly.
Additionally The Culling has been kept under the 5 attack threshold, keeping it from being an answer to Black Adam decks and also means we can runs this in Black Adam decks without collateral damage to our side of the board.
Metallo
- Metallo’s ability no longer works when a card has been KO’d before it has been created
- Metallo’s ability now works correctly on cards that were buffed above 5[ATK]
metallo is a key card to making Black Adam strategies work and this change ensures it works has you would expect. The buffed card change means we can pair the card with buffed Sea Creatures for example and when they trade expect Metallo to be able to come down for free. This bug was severely how much it was impacting the ability to explore this strategy. Metallo can be found with Friends in High Places and now potentially come down for free with the buff the same turn after your buffed Sea Creatures trade.
Darkseid
- The tile destroyed by Darkseid’s ability no longer prevents players from attacking characters behind that space as if it was being protected
darkseid has been unplayable to this point and during the initial beta's strategies looking to play and retrigger the effect were being explore to some success. Darkseid not only remove the recruit but can open up a permanent line of attack to an enemy Leader which can be abused with Leader effects like Black Adam.
Energy Blast: Now says “Deal 4 damage to an enemy.” (was 3 damage)
energy-blast is simple and very effective change. This now answers almost all Bronze recruits and this is very welcome for the Energy faction which can fall behind fast to high health boards.
Savage Vines: Is now a 3/3 (was a 3/2)
Poison Ivy's savage-vines-created often felt like an inconvenience to play against rather than a threat. This makes them more likely to survive on board and they can potentially allow for Poison Ivy decks to be built which rely on these as threats on board, giving more slots to Actions which support the draw strategies.
Hellblaze: Now says “Deal 4 damage to each enemy.” (was 3 damage)
hellblaze change is also very welcome for Energy strategies, both ones that just want to hit the Leaders and ones that want to survive longer. Shazam decks for example may now want to find space for this card, allowing you to survive longer to try and hit the chain of Lightning Bolts or The Flash decks may want to try and include this in the Gold slots as a way to find lethal.
Cards with SPEED and FLURRY should work properly when their ability is triggered, like with The Cheetah
Big change impacting the-cheetah as having this effect not work does impact the viability of a Harley Quinn empty hand strategy. Worth exploring now as with an empty hand she now becomes 6 damage which cannot be blocked.
Chaselon: Now says “When you play another Green Lantern, generate [BRONZE]” (was the first time each turn)
Finally the most exciting change. The possibilities here for chaselon huge and this could almost be considered a rework. This will be triggered also be Green Lantern Cadet, so for one resource we can develop Chaselon alongside a Cadet, then play another Green Lantern, whilst generating another resource and activating the effect. When playing Green Lanterns it often felt you needed everything to go right to get the effects and not fall behind, this helps significantly allowing you to get your effects and try to snowball the Lanterns.
Deck to Try
This week, try black-adam-leader . Interactions and buffs support this deck, we can now try to flood with 5 attack cards easier and set up ways to swing with Black Adam into opposing Leaders with darkseid . Just play 5 power cards, and buff your Black Adam then go straight into the opposing Leaders. Use cards like friends-in-high-places to get your big Gold resource recruits. Now metallo is fixed this could represent a free to play card and the-culling won't hurt your recruits as much as most will be over 4 power.
Last Page
What are your thoughts on the changes? Let us know in the comments below.
Good Luck, Have Fun and Stay Safe!
