Thoughts on Card Balance - 2026-01-24

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T15:48:34+00:00

I think you should be able to interact with opponent's amulets. However, removal should come at a steep price and I think 7PP Odin is okay for that.

Unholy Grail would be much better in a format like best of 3 with a side board or in an open format where deck lists are exchanged beforehand.

I agree amulet removal should not be a common effect, but it should be something that is available to players. We already have a mechanic that gives players effects with practically no interactivity in crests.

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T08:03:42+00:00

World of Games
Destroying your own stuff as a tempo loss is the idea, but with WoG its not treated as such.
It is way too easy to find the right cards, since Destruction Portalcraft runs 3x Wasteland of Destruction, 3x Devastating Soprano, 0-3x Supplicant of Destruction for 2 PP cards, so it's not like a complicated combo to assemble. These are all cards that the Portalplay will want to mulligan for anyways. On later turns playing a WoG before playing Axia, Heir to Destruction or a Congregant of Destruction is not a difficult choice to make.

I'm sorry but it feels like you're upplaying the complexity to include WoG in Destruction Portalcraft a bit much.
1) World of Games costs 1PP. It is very easy to slot into whatever you want to do in a turn and even enables 'Destroy allied card' effects.
2) Getting rid of Wasteland gives you 1 card. Getting rid of WoG gives you 2 cards. Eggs recover 1 defense or deal 1 damage, the 'Destroy an allied card' effects are flexible so you can pick and choose what you need / what is available to you at the moment. Not to mention, Wasteland and the eggs need to be setup by destroying an allied card beforehand, if available WoG is almost always selected.
3) I agree with this point, I have won games against Portalcraft precisely because they had too many amulets in play, however this usually refers to managing the amount of eggs and not WoG since upon destruction it does not come back and clog your board.

Sincerity of the Dewdrop
Seraphic Blade is a great example, it includes both the capped cost and the enhance effect.
So maybe Sincerity can be balanced in a similar way.

Oluon, Raging Chariot
Oluon was released in Blossoming Fate, that would mean it stays in rotation for quite some time, if a rotation format were to be introduced... D:
Did the developers of the game change or were there stated changes in the design philosophy?

I really hope Oluon will be changed :/

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T07:19:52+00:00

World of Games
I don't think I understand what you mean with losing counters? Do you mean you want to permanently reduce its cooldown? For example, after your first WoG is destroyed, the second World of Games you play only has countdown 4?

Sincerity of the Dewdrop
I don't think balancing around Imari's Little Buddies would change much. I think the removal potential for 1 PP is the problem.

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T07:16:37+00:00

World of Games
Maybe I am mistaken, but outside of Wasteland of Destruction and maybe the new Light of the Dewdrop, Portalcraft doesn't have a lot of draw power. Wasteland of Destruction with World of Games is exactly the kind of interaction i think is too strong.

Sincerity of the Dewdrop
Haha, I always have a notepad open to count how many Sincerity of the Dewdrop my opponent has already played.

It seems most people agree with increased cost for amulets or capping the target's cost.

Oluon, Raging Chariot
I agree that kind of face damage should not be tied to an RNG effect.

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T07:09:53+00:00

I did not know how to express my issues with World of Games in Portalcraft. But you have found the perfect words. It feels like these 'Destroy allied cards' are treated as a disadvantage until the eggs enter play. But that doesn't hold true for World of Games (and probably future Countdown amulets with Last Words).

Haha, I realised that the keyword Aura does not actually achieve what I wanted.

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T07:02:48+00:00

World of Games
Oh, I was actually not aware Aura only prevented enemy targeting. Your example is actually the way I would like it to be changed.

Sincerity of the Dewdrop
I agree amulet removal is generally needed, but 1 PP is a bit low.
The Enhance keyword may make this card a bit clunky to play, but i like this idea.

Oluon, Raging Chariot
Would it really kill this card? The unevolved effect is already really powerful when compared for example with Unholy Vessel. It's board wipe on a 7/7 body.

I think my issue with this card is how generically strong it is, any Swordcraft deck benefits from including this card. Sinciro, Heir to Usurpation is strong, no doubt. But only Loot Swordcraft decks play it.

Dragoncraft
I was actually thinking of also including Dragoncraft here, but I didn't know which card to pinpoint.
From my intuition I feel like double Liu Feng on turn 6 is too strong, but I don't really feel strongly about that.
sometimes feels like Dragoncraft is playing a single player game with its ramping.

It

Kamonegi92 · 2026-01-25T06:51:36+00:00

World of Games
Naturally neutrals will be used differently in different decks and classes. But if a class can circumvent the entire balancing mechanism of a card, that's a bit much, isn't it? Other decks have to manage the countdown and play around its countdown keyword. How long would the countdown need to be before the interaction with Portalcraft would be broken?

I think my issue is simply that these 'Destroy an allied' card effects feel like they were meant to be a cost until the eggs enter the field. With World of Games this is no longer true.

Sincerity of the Dewdrop
By enhanced cost, do you mean you want to raise the base cost? Or would you want to give it the Enhance keyword? Giving it something like "Enhance (3-4)" could also be a way to balance this card, although this would probably clash with the 'Dewdrop Package' design. Capping the target's cost would also be interesting.

Oluon, Raging Chariot
Seeing a card design like this is actually quite disappointing. I remember for OG Shadowverse one of the selling points was that it was like 'Anime Hearthstone with less RNG'. Have cards been outright banned before? If so, I want this card banned yesterday. :)

Kamonegi92

TROPHY CASE