v1.7.6: Turn it up to 11!

Well, I didn't want to make another patch for a while:

"patch v1.7.5 is out, and not updates for a while, even if a broken strategy is discovered (ill update if i did a really 4iq bug, like ai killing itself, or p2 starting with 4 extra mana, but i tested and it seemed fine)" - me

Unfortunately, there is a really bad bug. Due to a faulty game-end check, Tricky and better ai would not play a game-winning move. So I had to fix that. Fun.

While we're here, there's a few more balance updates to roll out.

First of all, that Triangle Rejuvenate from last update? Turns out the life valuation was still not correct, and ^0.7 gives better results. As such, the card needed to be nerfed again with the new AI.

Secondly, Black Lotus is being removed from the game. It's really pointless to have it around when there are Runes of Aether.

Rank 11

Ranked spells now go up to rank 11! Most ranked spells still only go up to 9, because, you know, fantasy magic theming, and also an 8 aether card is already stronger than a basic 12, so higher numbers are very expensive and powerful. But it's nice to have that as an option.

So the new rejuvenate:

Ranks 7 and 9 don't exist.

As you can see, Triangle Rejuvenate scales very well, both because of its triangular effect, as well the + sign in it. As a result, it costs an entire 2 aether for just +1 spell power. I leave it up to your imagination whether there is a cheaper way to get spell power.

The other card that uses higher ranks is Leeching Wave, which might not be surprising given that a "Rank X" already existed. The "Rank X" has been removed, and replaced with a proper rank 10. Also, its life adjustment has been buffed from -9 to -4.

There's no rank 11 cards in this patch, but I would hate to later have to make another patch introducing rank 11, so we're skipping straight from 9 to 11.

New Card

To compensate for the removal of Black Lotus, this patch introduces a new core.

Mana Depletion [41]

! Pay 1 charge for +1 FWAE.

You cannot play cards with printed cost higher than your charges.

<12>

This one was a hard one to evaluate. (which is the goal of a lot of my designs) On one hand, it's incredible value, but on the other hand, there's this drawback. The power of this core is pretty draw dependent, as any basic 12 becomes unplayable after just one use. I like how this core requires you to be resourceful, both in how much you can use the core, and when you can use it. (For instance, after playing a big card of a house, you can then use core depletion to help your other cards, giving up the card you just played.)

It also has some interesting deckbuilding implications. How might you take advantage of gaining mana that you might not be able to spend? The fusion spells introduced a few patches ago are one direction you could build in.