Hello! I haven't been playing Gods Unchained a lot recently because I'm more busy, but I still try to play. After I recently saw an update about GP update, I was curious about it and I found this article where they explained the changes. Here are my personal thoughts about it!
Sanctum
Sanctum is always important in games: if you have enough favor, that one card can change the game. Until now, the price of cards were mostly cheap in general, however they changed it with this update.
Answers
Answers usually contain Relic hate and void removals. With the new update there are following cards:
- Bronze Servant came back into play, with 18 favor. As it was originally in the last sanctum, there isn't much to say.
- Valka got actually more expensive with 22 favor cost! It is a very useful removal, though.
- Vow of Champions, which I think were originally in Removal & Value, came to Answers with 25 favor cost. It is very versatile so I think the favor cost is very logical.
- Ironclad Minotaur seems really strong with 5/6 and protected, as well as sleep removal, but it is also expensive with 6 mana and 30 favors.
It is also interesting to not see Void Hate and 2 Sleep removals, and I think it would affect Death positively and Deception negatively, since Death uses void a lot and Deception uses sleep.
Defenders
Frontline units and more defensive side of units / spells.
- City Sniper seems odd, as it gives -2 strength for only 1 turn, which seems bad for 2 mana, However, it can shine in certain situations.
- Shield Maiden is actually good with costing only 2 mana and having a cheap favor cost compared to others.
- Dead Sentry is interesting with Blessed ability. With that blessed you can get some favor back to you, which technically can make this card cheaper than 15.
- Last but not least, Angry Angry Hippo is a very tanky frontline with 5 mana 4/6 stat. Although it is very expensive, it can be worth it for control decks.
I think Defenders actually got some buffs with good Frontline units (Angry Angry Hippo) and debuff units. It is interesting to see how it would be played out.
Removal
Removal was one of the better sanctum types, with damage dealing units.
- Ranger Firstbow is back with 15 favor cost. It is a decent unit to have, especially if you need a 1 damage dealer.
- Flamecaller is actually interesting because although some may say it is bad, it is actually a nice threat to have and your opponent would be having a hard time if they are heavily focused on creatures.
- Reckless Flamebreather is not good... Although the ability is okay, it has too high mana cost, making it useless in the first few rounds.
- Piercing Bolt is good with the standard 1 mana 2 dmg + Armor removal.
There are some cards that got added in Removal that does not get played often, so I am curious how would people use it.
Threats
Threats have mostly units that the opponent should take out fastly.
- Skeletal Hoplite is good with 1 armor, which makes it tanky for 1 mana.
- Bonded Warrior is also nice, with a total of 3/3 stat for only 2 mana.
- Harvest Arachne is not that good? Although Deadly is nice, it does not have other abilities and unless you can make it attack, it would be removed fast.
- Belligerent Insomniac has a standard 4 mana 4/5 stat with the bonus of sleep removal.
Out of these, I feel like the 2 lower cost will be more used, especially aggro decks would like the extra units.
Value
Lastly, the most important Value sanctum, which had basically drawing cards.
- Student of Truth doesn't draw you cards, but it gives favor after you draw a card.
- Foreign Diplomat gives you +3 favor while giving enemy +1 favor for 2 times. It has a nice stat, and overall you would be ahead by 4 favors.
- Encumbered Looter is one of the best Neutrals in this game, and it is also one of the best card in this version of Sanctum in my opinion.
- Militant Extortionist Steals 3 favor from opponent. Although the 6 favor gap is nice to have, I feel like 22 mana is too expensive for a 1 mana 3/1.
Overall, they really seem to change the focus of Value cards to Favors, which I think kind of make sense because Sanctum is all about favors.
God Power Changes
Next, I will be taking about the God Power changes.
Create -> Selena's Mark
Selena's Mark is back again! Create is too slow, but in Sealed it is one of the best GPs. So, I think they decided to bring Selena's Mark back.
Thievery -> Guild Shiv
Similarly, Thievery is also great in Sealed, so I think they changed it. The new GP is also nice. It makes the opponent's Relic Removal useless, with new Shiv appearing consistently. I think it is a good cheap substitute to Thievery.
Flip
Flip had the issue of returning the same card that they shuffled, so they changed it, which is basically a buff for Deception Mayday & Combos.
Radiance -> Bestow
Radiance changed to Bestow, which gives +1/+1 to the chosen one. Chosen One is not really used much now, and with the Dread set giving buffs to chosen one archetype, I think it would be more popular.
Overcharge
Mana cost is now 1 mana. Although giving +1 spell boost is not much against Magebolt GP, it may see future play in some Control magic decks.
Conclusion
So, here is my thoughts about the recent changes in GU! I might return with gameplay posts, but I am currently kind of busy right now so it would be hard to write some, though. Thanks for reading!