Balance of the Force (Will It Be Before or After Origins?)
It is my opinion that almost any deck is beatable, so I tend to be hesitant with Balance of the Force changes. That said, the game is at its best when the meta is open enough to allow diversity. With any potential Balance of the Force, FFG has to consider whether the meta is actually in need of a change. Is one deck dominating all challengers? Is the game hemorrhaging players because of the negative player experience (NPE) associated with a card? In our current meta, one deck is not dominating all events. It IS clear to me that one character is still a step above many others that see play. I’m not convinced the NPE factor of this meta is overly corrosive, and many games are quite fun. I do believe, though, that some cards are deserving of a second look by FFG.
Remember Enrage? One Damage for One Resource Was Nice.
Enrage (AW81) is one of the more interesting cards from the Awakenings booster set. Enrage offered players a trade – a free resource for a point of damage. It saw a significant amount of play because players valued a single resource highly enough to trade a point of health for it. However, Enrage was a balanced card; it had to be drawn randomly, it was often dead late game, and it took a card from hand to play. There are several other resource generating events, but they all share many of these same restrictions. I would argue that Enrage is better than most of the events seeing play in Standard today, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the power of Snoke.
Gaining Resources (Too) Efficiently with Snoke
Part of me believes that Snoke (WF4) was originally balanced assuming that his Power Action would be used only on dice showing damage. Paying a resource to deal two points of damage is on curve. Cards like Lightsaber Throw (SR72) and Conflicted (AG110) work that way. Taking a point of damage to deal two in return feels good, but also feels fair. Enrage offered a similar trade – a damage for a resource. The issue with Snoke is that he is never going to feel fair when his ability is used to resolve dice that don’t show damage. He is strictly more efficient than any other resource-generating card in Standard. Allowing players to take a point of damage to gain two resources is what makes Snoke “broken.”
Snoke is immediately on board at the start of the game because he is a character card. This means he does not suffer from inconsistent timing (like any resource generating card in the deck would) when utilizing his effect. The Snoke/Watto/FOST deck we’ve seen in the Convergence meta has been able to assert itself as one of the best decks in the format. This is because of the introduction of more impactful and more powerful supports that take advantage of Snoke’s efficiency and are able to break the game’s resource curve. The printing of characters like Watto (CV38) that are difficult to interact with certainly helped as well. Snoke is substantially better and more consistent than any other resource generating card in Destiny, and his current pairing has only exacerbated that issue.
I believe that Snoke is about to become a part of an elite club by getting Balanced a second time. While an errata to make his ability only apply to damage probably fixes the problem entirely, it would also invalidate an entire style of play. I think it’s far more likely Snoke sees another point bump (perhaps to 13/15, maybe even to something odd like 12/15). Snoke needs to find a place where his Power Action is good, but doesn’t break the resource curve of Destiny like it does now.
I See You, Entourage
As far as the rest of the Balance of the Force is concerned, attention has to turn to supports. Entourage (CV152), Megablaster Troopers (CV31), and Vader’s Fist (AG13) tend to garner the most attention. Of the three, I actually think Vader’s Fist and Megablaster Troopers are okay as is. They’re clearly great cards, but they’re also both (relatively) balanced. Vader’s Fist, for example, is balanced by its cost – five resources is still steep. Megablaster Troopers is also excellent, but it can be a victim of its own inconsistency.
Entourage, however, shouldn’t be able to tutor a copy of itself, pay for it with its resource side, and then spot itself for its special. I see two possible solutions to this problem that the Balance of the Force could include. First, FFG could remove the scoundrel keyword from the card. This would reduce the damage output of Entourage and not allow one copy to tutor another. FFG may also decide to designate Entourage unique. That change would force players to choose something different with the tutor, ending the loop. Hired Muscle (AN12) is pretty good!
Force Storm and Some Final Thoughts
I believe my fellow writers are going to focus on Force Storm so I’ll leave that analysis to them. I honestly think that Star Wars: Destiny is in a good place right now. My hope is that any Balance of the Force changes will improve a game that continues to be very enjoyable. I’m excited to write more content for The Chance Cube, and I hope you’ll bear with me as I find my footing! Thanks all!
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