Hello Agents,

Rumors have been swirling amid the mists of the dimensional rifts: The countless perils of the infinite worlds are going through an upheaval… well, more than the usual amount, anyways. Hearing the rumors of foes that are even more ruthlessly efficient than usual, you wonder to yourself what could drive such a trend. Of course, you’re no stranger to danger lurking around every corner… if you’re lucky, you can get by the usual way, with the help of your trusty allies. But if you’re really lucky, and you listen at the edge of Puffy’s pool in a quiet hour, you might just hear the whispers of the answer you’re looking for:

“...balance patch…”

That’s right folks, it’s time for a massive Infinity Wars balance patch! Be aware that some of these card changes are aimed more at Rift Run than Constructed. You may also note in the Table of Contents below that there’s something of a focus on Warpath, Genesis, and Flame Dawn; other factions will receive more buff-centric attention in future balance updates!

Major Features

• All premade decks have been overhauled! They also have descriptions on mouseover which explain some of their strategy for the benefit of new players.
  
• New music tracks and styles!
  
• Major balance changes! (See below)
  

Fixes:

• Non-permanent card modifiers are no longer removed when moving between out-of-play zones. (e.g. Hand to Deck)
  
• Fixed Soldier of Purity’s trigger occurring on damage dealt rather than entering combat as the card states.
  
• Fixed Overcharge cards that have an additional target not removing the overcharged card if their target didn’t end up being valid. This was most common with Jade Witch, but also affected Adaptive Ritualist, Crazed Augmenter, Champion’s Attendant, Recruit of Solace, and Angel’s Bane.
  
• Fix Sinister Corruption removing tags it shouldn’t have, such as Enraged and Ascended.
  
• Abilities will now prioritize “Remove when played” over “Return to hand when played”. This can come up when giving Tinker Recall or when using a Recall Ability on Augmented Ninja.
  
• Fix Azael counting opponent’s health loss instead of yours when stolen.
  
• Fixed issue where Alternate Art Profile Pictures would show the original in the store preview instead.
  
• Change art for the 2/2 and 4/4 Undead tokens to Diseased Zombie and Sleeper of Avarrach, respectively.
  
• Fixed Dugg healing player multiple times a turn due to poison.
  
• Fixed Bemmie being able to target cards in your hand.
  
• Fixed deck editing incorrectly being available for premade decks.
  
• Fixed possible soft-lock in Rift Run when attempting to resume deck building
  
• Performed minor startup optimizations to the deckbuilder.
  
• Performed a minor fix to an issue that may have been causing desyncs.
  
• Fixed an issue where piercing damage dealt to a fortress would not count as fortress damage.
  

Highlighted Reworks and Changes

Nero, Crypt Delver changed to:
4 cost
When another Character you control is killed or Sacrificed by an effect you control, Nero gains +2/+2.
Pay 1, Sacrifice a Character: Create a Risen of Avarrach in your Graveyard. Activate this only once per turn.
8/8

We’ve come after Nero both directly and indirectly in the past, but Nero remains a cut above the level of free value we want commanders to have. The solution we want to try is to swap Nero’s abilities to reduce the number of free Risen of Avarrachs you can get. The triggered effect has been weakened and the activated one has been strengthened as well, to fit their new roles.

Evellee changed to:
Pay 2, Exhaust: Recruit a Character that costs 1 or less.
Pay 1, Exhaust: Remove another target Deployed Character you control, then Recruit a Character costing X+1, where X is the removed Character's cost.

Evellee has been an ever-present terror of the meta due to her consistency from command. Her second ability will now place the new character in the support zone, preventing surprise hasty threats, which are difficult to counterplay when they are happening all the time. In exchange, she’ll only exhaust for 1 turn again.


Marina, Touched By Infinity changed to:
4 cost
Lifelink 4
Pay 2: If target Character would die this turn while Marina is in Play, that Character is Exhausted for two turns instead, and Marina Transforms into a 10/10 Spirit Dragon with Flying and Lifelink 8. Activate this only once per turn.
8/8
(Previously activation costed 4 and lasted indefinitely)

New Marina is a bit of a strange card with limited application and weird incentives around activating multiple times. We want to buff her and also streamline the usage of the ability.

Raa changed to:
At the end of turn, if an enemy Character died this turn, create a 2/2 Demon, then if you control 16 or more Demons, you win the game.
(Previously made two 1/1 Demons each time and needed 20 to win.)

We like Raa but he makes too many tokens for free, and playing against Raa can feel quite punishing. Previously, Raa was banned in Ranked play, but we would rather balance it as a normal card. In particular, this change will reduce the very high value of making two tokens when you have access to Master of Demons, Volatile Genome, and/or Demonborn.

Tome of the Dead changed to:
4 cost
At the end of turn, Tome of The Dead gains 1 chapter. Then, if it has 3 chapters, Sacrifice Tome of The Dead and kill all Deployed Characters. Move any Characters killed this way to your Graveyard.

Tome of the Dead is an exceedingly powerful card, a key controlling tool which makes up a cornerstone of the Sleepers of Avarrach. This change makes Tome go off one turn faster than before, but come out one turn later. Originally the goal was to reduce the duration of Tome’s chilling effect when played early during the build-up phase. We ended up going a bit sideways from that to make Tome more likely to save your life when drawn later, while weakening its early resource efficiency a bit.

Grimmish, The Persuader changed to:
2 cost
Flying
When Grimmish dies or changes controller, he Removes himself and Immolates your Fortress for 20 (it will take 20 damage at the end of each turn).
12/12

Grimmish is commonly regarded as being too swingy and taking over the entire game whenever he is played. The game turns from “Infinity Wars” into “kill Grimmish and win, or else die”. It’s not ideal. We want to reduce the severity of both the upside and downside, while still keeping Grimmish as a memorable and highly risky card. Now, you’ll still probably die if you don’t kill Grimmish, but slower, and you’ll still probably die if Grimmish dies, but slower, in both cases giving you more chances to make a high-stakes comeback.

Undisturbed Necropolis changed to:
5 cost
When an enemy Character dies, create a 4/4 Undead in your Graveyard. At the end of next turn, Raise it to your Support Zone.

We think Undisturbed Necropolis was too slow and weak. We would like it to be a more interesting location choice in comparison to Lifeless Battlefield or Kyrallic. It will no longer look back in time to before you played it, but it’s cheaper, helps fill your graveyard sooner, and also now Raises, to work with Decrepit Crystal or Infested Scavenger.

Voracious Goliath changed to:
change sacrifice to kill, gain Reach and the Giant type

Voracious Goliath is the finisher of choice for Verore and ensures their dominance in lategame scenarios, no matter what boards they’re up against. While it’s good to have powerful cards that seal the deal for control decks so that games don’t go on too long, it’s also good to have a little more counterplay, especially from cards that are supposed to resist Mass Death, such as immunity to kill effects and Barrier. This also means that Voracious Goliath will now cause morale loss, but we think that’s fine. We also want more reach at the top end of the cost curve, and it has Goliath in the name.

Lightning Blast and Chain Lightning no longer deal extra damage to Artificial characters.

We don’t feel that the “electric damage” clause is worth the added tracking and interaction complexity, and don’t want to keep balancing Artificial characters (especially commanders) around it. Note that there are some other lightning-themed spells such as Overcharged Storm which already do not have this effect. Lightning Blast is very different in role from a specific sideboard hate card like EMP Grenade, in a way that feels more unfortunate to be on the receiving end of.

Cloaked Operative reworked to:
4 cost, 7 morale
11/6
Barrier 1
Overcharge: If Cloaked Operative has no barriers remaining, gain Barrier 1. Activate this only once per turn.
Cloaked Operative has been an odd and weak card for a long time. Redesign to take some inspiration from Covert Battlesuit.

No More Heroes changed to:
5 cost
Choose one:
Kill all Deployed Unique Characters.
Kill all Unique Characters in all Command Zones.

No More Heroes is already great when it’s removing one or more characters from the field, but also hating on expensive Unique commanders as a free bonus makes it very frustrating to play against and near-guarantees a win against multiple archetypes which rely on a Unique character. Typically, commander removal is something that has opportunity cost to include or use, and we don’t think Uniques are a dominant threat that needs such an efficient dedicated hate card. Also, it is now a lot easier to dodge your own No More Heroes, so you can use your own Unique commanders more comfortably in those decks.

Subjugated Dragon changed to:
10 cost
Flying, Unstoppable
When Subjugated Dragon dies or is Removed while Deployed, create four 6/6 Demons with Flying, then lose this effect.
22/22

Subjugated Dragon could use some love. It’ll still be vulnerable to transform effects but will release its demon handlers if removed, and can now be revived. As a side effect, this adds some potentially interesting combos.

Lucca, Rebellion Leader changed to:
Cost 8
When you Deploy Lucca, all Characters you control gain Barrier 1.
15/15

This change adds some extra uses for Lucca, Rebellion Leader. In addition to protecting from Mass Death, she will also let you win a combat for free, and if any of your characters don't fight an enemy that turn, they'll keep the Barrier until it pops, making it more useful for undeployed commanders, supportive characters, and herself.
In exchange, her cost has been raised and the ability trigger has changed to no longer be repeatable with flicker effects.

Nerfs

Support Drone 2/2 -> 2/1

Support Drone is often played as a 5/5 for 1, which is a strange thing to give (with upside) to Genesis in particular. Support Drone is also one of the most-played cards and we don’t intend to harm its popularity significantly, but want to make it less dominant against other 1-drops by making it trade off more when it buffs itself, without affecting its usage for buffing other characters by much (since very few things deal only 1 damage, a 2/2 and a 2/1 are fairly similar).

Carrion Creeper 8/6 -> 8/5

Carrion Creeper is a dominant aggro threat and puts a lot of damage down while trading up well against a variety of blockers. Increasing the amount of smaller things that can trade into it should offset these advantages a bit.

Jade Witch 8/12 -> 8/10, 12 damage -> 10 damage, 1p -> 2p (double hybrid)

Jade Witch is incredible value no matter how you slice it, and surpasses many other cards with its sheer power. We like there being good defensive cards like this one, but it’s an auto-include in too many decks, so we’re reducing both where it can be played and its power level.

Once Was Clean 1p -> 2p (double hybrid)

Powerful haste cards are good at creating advantageous trades, ending the game, and dodging removal. We think Once Was Clean is strong enough that it should be less of a “splash card”. We like this better than weakening it in other ways.

Defiant Monk 2 cost -> 3 cost, 2/6 -> 4/8

The value from Monk is too high for how low the investment is (and how random it is). Slowing your growth chain down by one turn should help.

Lingbao’s Will & Lingbao, Sage of Discipline & United Front 4 morale burn -> 3 morale burn

Morale burn decks tend to make the number of morale loss events more important than the amount of base morale being lost in each. This has been a significant constraint on card design, for instance by creating a massive difference on card effects and characters between 0 morale and 1 morale (whereas 1 vs 2 doesn’t really matter much). This change won’t totally overhaul those dynamics but will reduce their severity somewhat.

Time For Fun Lose Unlimited

This is actually a buff to game client performance. You can still use Uncontrolled Rift for your meme deck (see below for its buff).

Sabore, Who Finds Balance can now only activate once per turn.

Taxera the Unseen has been changed to only grow from your own removal effects:
Whenever a card is Removed from a Graveyard by an effect you control, Taxera gains +2/+2.

Kira, Cold’s Embrace buffs are reduced to +3/+3 and +6/+6 respectively.

Misc Buffs

• Acid Rain 2p -> 1p, 5 cost -> 4 cost
  
• Abandon All Hope 7 cost -> 6 cost
  
• Undying Dedication Also affects Characters in your graveyard and Command Zone
  
• Lake Shrine Ranger 5/5 -> 7/5
  Previously she would not even trade with a lot of early fliers. This should make her better at her stated job.
  
• Spirit of the Serpent 4 cost -> 3 cost
  
• Eagle-Eye 2p -> 1p
  This change, as well as a lot of the other purity reductions, is mainly to benefit Rift Run. Eagle-Eye in particular should be pretty cool to have in more Sabore decks though!
  
• Ao Shun, Dragon of Wisdom 3p -> 2p, 30/30 -> 36/36
  
• Suppress 2 cost -> 1 cost
  
• Repair Heal Fortress for 15 -> 20
  
• Celestial Dragon 2p -> 1p
  
• Fickle Friendship Gain Exile 5.
  
• Reflective Shield 2p -> 1p, 7 cost -> 5 cost
  Reflective Shield is always being overshadowed by cards like Mass Death, so we’re making it into a 1p option.
  
• Hellmouth Labourer “When Hellmouth Labourer attacks” -> “When Hellmouth Labourer enters the Deployed area or attacks”
  
• Vasir’s Dreadknight Reduce cost by 1 -> 2
  
• Lead By Example “Characters you control get +2/+1 until the end of turn for each Unique Character in your Assault Zone.”
  Was really weak and confusing to play before. It’s probably still marginal/situational but at least will let you order your attackers however you want now.
  
• Ceaseless Hunger 5 cost -> 4 cost
  
• Torment Intruder 13 morale -> 8 morale, 21/18 -> 23/19
  
• Research Become hybrid purity
  Restoring Research to its former glory, because everyone deserves to draw some cards.
  
• Genetic Splicing Gain Recall 2
  
• Uncontrolled Rift Reduces the random card’s cost by 1.
  Rift is a fun card for goofing around with, it deserves a little extra fun.
  
• Aleta, Immortal Traveler Return to only drafting Unlimited Characters
  The current set of Unlimited Abilities are not cards you likely want to pick from her.
  
• Bemmie, Paragon of Community +4/+4 -> +5/+5, but can’t target tokens
  Bemmie had to be nerfed by a lot, but a little compensation is in order since the card hasn’t had any serious showing since then. We’re concerned about the power of Bemmie with a steady source of 1-cost tokens such as Rita’s Guards, and want to make them stronger without having to continue worrying about that, and without having to change the costs of the tokens.
  
• Captain Andrews, Survivor 5/10 -> 5/12, change from “non-Unique Factionless Human Character” to “non-Unique Factionless Character that costs 4 or less” (this strictly expands the recruitment pool in normal cases)
  
• Vault of the Void
  At the end of your turn, if you have no Voidtouched in play, Vault of the Void becomes 34% more complete.
  This makes it still work if the tokens are removed or transformed or something, and also allows it to complete within your lifetime.
  

Warpath Buffs

• Carries New Life battlefield -> deployed
  This is more so that it’s harder to misplay than for power level reasons.
  
• They Who Rampage 6/6 -> 6/8
  
• Adaptive Hulker +5/+5 -> +6/+6 (15/15 total when overcharged)
  
• Strikes When Struck Gain Vigilance
  Previously Warpath hasn’t gotten Vigilance, but they can have Haste, so it should be fine and cool.
  
• Matriarch Also heals the Command Zone for 2
  Help deal with command damage and is good with Fight, among other things. Should be exciting.
  
• Umbral Warden 4/12 -> 6/15
  
• Kael’s Restoration 4 cost -> 3 cost
  
• Pit Brawler 10/18 -> 10/20, extra 8 damage -> extra 10 damage
  
• Kills By Leaping 16/10 -> 16/16
  
• Force Against The Law 22/22 -> 24/28
  
• Shockwave Giant changed to:
  8 cost
  Reach
  Pay 5: Enrage 10
  When you Enrage Shockwave Giant, it deals 5 damage to all other Characters on the Battlefield.
  15/15
  The other Giants all have Reach. We want more Reach at the top end of the curve. The enrage ability should be a little better at justifying the high cost of the card now.
  
• Dragon of Autumn Wind Reduce the drawn cards’ cost by 3
  
• Caretaker of the Young & Ruins of an Ancient Civilization & Ancient Egg 4/4 Beast tokens changed from 4 morale to 3 morale
  
• Pack Hunt & Stampede 4/5 Beast tokens changed from 4 morale to 3 morale
  
• Never Forget The Fallen & Breeding Grounds 6/6 Beast tokens changed from 6 morale to 3 morale
  
• Ancient Aggression Emblem 2 cost -> 1 cost (to play), move to the front of the Assault Zone
  
• Taunt Work on any Deployed enemy and move to the front of the Defense Zone.
  
• Unstoppable 1 cost -> 2 cost, remove “until the end of turn.”
  
• Wild Hunt top 3 cards -> top 4 cards
  

Genesis Buffs

• Kinetically Overloaded Drone Morale 4 -> 2
  
• Airborne Scientist 4/4 -> 5/4, morale 2 -> 4
  
• Drone morale 4 -> 3
  
• Assimilation Bot +1/+1 -> +2/+2
  
• Crazed Augmenter +6/+6 -> +8/+8
  
• Tygris, Politically Inclined 1/10 -> 2/10
  
• Overloaded Soldier 4/4 -> 6/6
  
• Immolation Drone 4/10 -> 5/10
  
• Mechanics Overseer 8/10 -> 8/12
  
• Symbiote Prototype 10/10 -> 15/7
  
• Cottontail VX 13 morale -> 7 morale, 2p -> 1p
  
• Inter-Dimensional Phase Bot 8 morale -> 6 morale
  
• Defy Surveillance The +2/+2 now sticks around instead of going away at the end of turn.
  
• Flux Capacitor Overcharge -> Discard
  
• War Machine 13% -> 15%
  
• Junkyard Activation costs 3/4/7 -> 2/3/5
  
• The Dragon Project Activation cost 4 -> 3
  
• Salvage Operation Add “Otherwise, create an 8/8 Artificial.”
  

Flame Dawn Buffs

• Siege Breaker changed to:
  6/6 -> 4/9, +4 damage to fortress -> +8 damage to fortress
  
• Reckless Zealot 10/4 -> 10/8
  
• Ghost Knight 7/1 -> 9/1
  
• Infected Purifier 7/5 -> 9/4
  This card is almost never played. Sharpened and increased overall stats to help it stand out from Infected Devil, which frequently overshadows it. Now more vulnerable to popular 4-damage removal and sweepers, but it has two ‘lives’ anyways.
  
• Vanguard of the Bond 7/5 -> 7/7
  
• Duelist 5/2 -> 7/3
  
• Flame Ram 0/15 -> 0/20, 15->20 damage to Fortress
  
• Frontline Warrior grows +0/+1 -> +0/+2
  This card is just really bad. We don’t expect this change to suddenly make it really good, but it’ll be more likely to do good things for you.
  
• Protector of the Dawn 8/10 -> 8/16
  
• Vis, the Furious “an additional attack until end of turn” -> “+1 Multistrike”
  
• Dragon of Summer Flame changed to:
  11 cost
  Flying, Unstoppable, Flame Strike 10
  When Dragon of Summer Flame enters the deployed area, deal 5 damage to all enemies in the Support Zone.
  When Dragon of Summer Flame attacks, deal 5 damage to all enemies in the Defense Zone.
  (These effects apply Flame Strike)
  25/25
  
• Hilderic, the Fist of Dawn changed to:
  16 cost
  Charge
  Hilderic costs 1 less for each time a Character you control has attacked this game, divided by 2.
  While Hilderic is in the Assault Zone, your other Characters in Play get +5/+0.
  20/10
  
• Ferocity +2 attack -> +4 attack if friendly
  
• Call the Crusade 5 cost -> 4 cost
  
• Flashbang Can target the Assault Zone as well
  We’d like to expand Flame Dawn’s capacity for controlling strategies. This can be quite a powerful stall tool now. We’ll keep an eye on its power level.
  
• Bloodbath Grants Deadly as well
  
• Ablaze changed to:
  2 cost
  All Characters in the opponent’s Support and Command Zone become Immolated, taking 1 damage at the end of each turn.
  Pay 4 instead to also kill target Location. If you do, increase the immolation to 3.
  
• Tactical Retreat changed to:
  3 cost
  At the end of turn, if you don't have a Character in the Assault Zone, Tactical Retreat becomes 50% more complete. When Tactical Retreat is 100% complete, draw two cards, then all your Characters in Play and in your Hand gain +4/+0.
  

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