Welcome to the first balance patch of the new year!

This patch is heavily Expedition-focused, targeting some outliers to bring them more in line.

• The Winter Fox to 10-cost, -1 cost for every 2 cards you have Hunted (was 12-cost, -1 cost for every card you have Hunted).
  
• Corrupted Riftborn to 5/4 (was 5/5).
  
• Light the Beacon to 5-cost (was 4-cost).
  
• Deeptrail Vanguard now 2/4 and grants the drawn spell Voidbound (was 2/5).
  
• Unstable Hellion loses Overwhelm.

The Winter Fox is an exciting quest, but can lead to uninteractive and one-sided games when it comes down too early. Decreasing the maximum cost while reducing the speed of the discount should keep it in a healthier range, while increasing the impact of Advantages gained from hunting.

Corrupted Riftborn, Deeptrail Vanguard, and Light the Beacon all have strategic gameplay we believe in, but their current rates have led them to be more dominant than we’d like. These changes should reduce their ubiquity while leaving them as viable options for decks that want to build around them.

Unstable Hellion’s Overwhelm has often meant that if you don’t have an answer to it immediately, you’re dead. Drawing a blocker to trade with the Hellion on its second attack often still meant taking 15 damage to your face. Removing the Overwhelm preserves the gameplay of maximizing its Emtomb damage while making blockers a more viable defensive option.

• Gold Mine to 2-cost (was 3-cost)
  
• Duel for Steelwarren to 5-cost (was 6-cost)
  
• Fiera, On the Frontlines to 5-cost (was 6-cost)
  
• One Eye Returned to 3/5 (was 3/4)
  
• Champion of Vengeance to 4/4 (was 3/3)
  
• Reeve's Mandate gains “Can’t be negated.”
  
• Insatiable Gorger to 4-cost (was 5- cost)

These are a variety of changes intended to buff underperforming archetypes or inspire new avenues of exploration. The Reeve’s Mandate change in particular should provide more counterplay to the many powerful negate effects that are currently seeing play.

Deeptrail Vanguard is in The Devouring set and Unstable Hellion was recently introduced in the Community Bundle. Players will receive 1,250 gold if they bought the base bundles and an additional 1,250 gold if they bought the premium versions. Corrupted Riftborn premiered in December 2023’s Eternal Chapter – Riftbreakers; players who purchased that chapter will receive 650 gold. All other crafted cards that are receiving a nerf can be destroyed for a full refund.

You can check out hover-over card images on our news site: this patch will be live later today and we will update the forums accordingly.

Happy playing!

Greetings, all! This patch brings forth a variety of fixes and improvements, including a few the team tackled based on your reporting (thank you!).

• Fixed an issue where Stirring Sand didn’t give the opponent a response window and couldn’t be negated
  
• Fixed an issue where Camrin’s Sniper Rifle’s Summon didn’t trigger Mastery
  
• Fixed an issue where Deeptrail Vanguard would fail to draw the spell that copied it if there were no other spells in void
  
• Fixed an issue where the card drawn by Deeptrail Vanguard lost its discard VFX if the Vanguard was silenced
  
• Fixed an issue where playing some units with Master Archivist could crash the game
  
• Fixed an issue where Cunning Plan did not trigger renown on your sacrificed unit
  
• Fixed an issue where units leaving play in response to Fallen Winter’s Devour would be stunned when they returned to play
  
• Fixed an issue where Cast Out created a 0/0 sentinel when not amplified
  
• Fixed an issue where Display of Creation’s second mode revealed non-attacking Stealth units
  
• Fixed an issue where Pilgrim’s Pack would provide only partial stats for one turn when a unit with multiple was transformed
  
• Fixed an issue where Bounty Board could pop your own Aegis
  
• Fixed an issue where Shadowsea Rising popped Aegis when Aniyah, Master Sleuth should have prevented it
  
• Fixed an issue where some relics with Once Per Turn abilities would become exhausted units when transformed into units after being activated
  
• Fixed an issue where units with Inscribe and Shift were unable to be played Shifted
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI chose poor targets for Pin the Jotun

• Improved the prompt text when playing Mark power cards
  
• Removed an extraneous prompt when casting Defy Authority

Eternals—

A new year, a new Chapter! Being a professional gambler’s easy when you can rewind time. Unless they catch you…

Heroic Upgrade
Players can purchase this Chapter’s Heroic Upgrade For 1000 gems to get:

Tricks of the Trade Theme deck
4x premium copies of each of this Chapter’s Promo Cards
A Unique Premium Avatar: Cuno, Localized Rewind



Reminder: Premium cards will be granted immediately after purchase for any Missions in a Chapter that a player has completed at the time of purchase. Upcoming premium cards in the Chapter will be granted after a player beats the associated Mission, or at the end of the month.

Eternals—

A new Sealed League has dropped! Cuno tried to get ahead of us last month, but this month is actually his time!

How it Works: Open card packs and play in a month-long League, using all the cards you open! The event costs 12,500 gold or 1,100 gems to enter.

Can’t make the first week? Catching up is no problem. You’ll get the packs you missed, and your limit on games that count towards the Leaderboard will increase. You can resign and buy into the League multiple times. Only your most recent run will count toward the leaderboard.

By the way, each participating player will unlock the The Specialists League card back for immediate use:

• Week 1: 4x Battle Lines, 4x Behemoths of Thera
  
• Week 2: 2x Battle Lines
  
• Week 3: 2x Behemoths of Thera
  
• Week 4: 2x Battle Lines

Minimum Rewards for Playing Include:

• 4 x Battle Lines packs
  
• 1 x Premium Uncommon Card
  
• 1 x new premium card back upon entering the League

Happy playing!

Eternals!

We got one last thing to give you before 2023 wraps up— a big community store update! Also included: some rewards to players for streaming Eternal or watching other people stream Eternal.

Earlier this year, we announced the sunsetting of the Design-a-Card product. We are releasing all 19 cards, new and old alike, in a single bundle! We’re offering 3 ways to purchase this bundle: 50,000 influence, 25,000 gold, or 1,000 gems. We’ll also have a premium version of the package for 2,000 gems. Want to upgrade later? No problem as there will be an upgrade for 1,000 gems!




Here are all of the cards:

• Ooze Tower (and Oozeling) (Inspired by OlorinTheWise)
  
• Mogen, Demagogue (Inspired by Surfwizard)
  
• Marvelous Imperion (Inspired by marvin_the_imp)
  
• Ageless Knight (Inspired by Why I Salty)
  
• Zadia, Fearsome Outcast (Inspired by Moltavio_the_Mage)
  
• Aeda, Heretical Forgemaster (Inspired by Jeabusierre)
  
• Unstable Hellion (Inspired by Shimrra)
  
• Icy Scrying (Inspired by iron_man)
  
• Master Archivist (Inspired by ItsTenz)
  
• Listening Bug (Inspired by AntMan)
  
• Zephyrus, Unparalleled (Inspired by TempestDragonKing)

• Torq, Ballistics Crafter (Inspired by Collecter)
  
• Thieving Fox (Inspired by MercurioBlue)
  
• Moldermuck (Inspired by Kasendrith)
  
• Doctor Zytrom (Inspired by Calebovitsch)
  
• Wasteland Broker (Inspired by Beri)
  
• Siege Train (Inspired by gibbon)
  
• Kira, the Prodigy (Inspired by y0ttabyte)
  
• Deans' Chamber (Inspired by KorethVahn)
  

We’re removing the random pack product and replacing it with Expedition Legal packs. Currently, this will include Battle Lines and Behemoths of Thera. We’re also adding boxes of these packs at a 10% discount.





We’re keeping the repurchase-able Draft ticket but giving it a slight tweak. We’re dropping the price down to 35,000 influence and making it available once a week. More Draft for everyone!

Quests will now update twice a day! The first update will remain at its regular time, midnight (PST), and the next will occur 12 hours later! This will also refresh your ability to reroll a quest twice a day as well.

During the lifespan of Eternal, we’ve created many many Avatars and Card Backs. Essentially, there is no way to acquire the ones given for old leagues or time-limited promo card bundles.

When this update goes live, there’ll be 6 card backs and 6 avatars available to purchase with influence. When the month rolls over, 2 different avatars and 2 different card backs will be rotated in and 2 will be rotated out.

The card backs Enemies at the Gates and A Search for Answers will be leaving at the end of December!





The avatars Lieutenant Relia and Wyatt, Junk Collector will be leaving at the end of December!




To earn influence, you’ll need to link your Eternal account to Twitch. Everything in the community store will also be available via our Eternal web store.

Eternals—
Get ready for a pretty big Hotfix, chock-full of improvements and bug-fixes to fine-tune your Eternal experience. First things first, Buffmas has come early! When we nerf a card due to its performance in Expedition, that can often push it out of Throne as well. We want to take this opportunity to revert a bunch of changes for cards that are no longer in Expedition and might be fun additions to the Throne metagame.

• Phoenix Stone costs 2 to activate (was 3)
  
• Soulfire Drake to 5FFF (was 6FFF)
  
• Helena, Skyguide to 3/4 and +3/+4 (was 3/3 and +1/+1)
  
• Scalesworn Patrol gains Inscribe
  
• Vine Tangler costs 7 to activate (was 9)
  
• Slumbering Stone now plays the 2/2 Gargoyle on Entomb (was draw a 2/2 Gargoyle)
  
• Heart of the Vault to 6/6 (was 5/5)
  
• Acclaimed Artisan to Mastery 4 (was Mastery 6)
  
• The Bandit Queen to 3/3 (was 3/2)
  
• Eremot’s Machinations to 5TS (was 6TTSS)
  
• The Merriest Mandrake to 0/4 (was 0/3)

However, alongside these joyous buffs, there is one particular card that’s been causing some problems of late. Spire Shadows has always been an interesting buildaround, but a dangerous and often uninteractive amount of cost reduction. The recent addition of the Recruit mechanic has pushed the deck to high popularity. While its win rate has remained relatively average due to weak aggro matchups, it preys heavily on midrange decks and has been reducing variety in the Throne metagame.

• Spire Shadows becomes a Relic with “Once per turn, when you draw a unit with higher cost than Strength, swap them.

We experimented with a variety of changes, but just increasing the cost or making it a relic pushed the deck even more towards trying to set up a big combo turn without giving the opponent a chance to interact. This version maintains the low cost to start benefiting early, but increases counterplay and limits Recruit and Market shenanigans. Note that multiple copies in play trigger separately, so having three will swap the first three appropriate units you draw each turn.

• Fixed an issue where The Hermit’s Triumph did not play VFX to the chosen units
  
• Fixed an issue where The Hermit’s Triumph could return a unit to the previous owner when you sacrificed one of them early
  
• Fixed an issue where some abilities that count things in the void did not immediately update after Devour effects
  
• Fixed an issue where some Devour cards’ superhinting didn’t update when new targets became present
  
• Fixed an issue where some abilities that count relics in the void didn’t update when a unit-equipped Versatile weapon entered the void
  
• Fixed an issue where Aerial Suppression could retain double damage when Flying units were removed from play
  
• Fixed an issue where Eris, Apex Slayer’s Renown could bypass Aegis
  
• Fixed an issue where Nomnom, Epic Epicure could die when discarding Poacher’s Menagerie
  
• Fixed an issue where Mystical Shackles’ summon could trigger twice when played from the void
  
• Fixed an issue where Bounty Board had no VFX and could sometimes trigger and resolve in the middle of combat animations
  
• Fixed an issue where Bounty Board was not triggered by Killer attacks
  
• Fixed an issue where Eyes of the Hermit didn’t reveal the top card of your deck when played by Recruit.
  
• Fixed an issue where Hunts caused by Living Reflection could bypass Aegis in certain scenarios
  
• Fixed an issue where Reeking Troublemaker could prevent units from blocking if killed/silenced/transformed in response to its summon
  
• Fixed an issue where a stolen Ossuar Longbow would not gain armor from Hunting
  
• Fixed an issue where Cirt, Prime Deserter instantly died when created directly into play
  
• Fixed an issue where Cunning Plan’s sacrifice did not trigger Renown on your unit
  
• Fixed an issue where Cunning Plan’s sacrifice occurred after the enemy response window instead of before
  
• Fixed an issue where Tight-Lipped prevented Cunning Plan from sacrificing a unit
  
• Fixed an issue where Destiny units targeted by Altruistic Bonepicker or Against the Odds could keep their damage after dying
  
• Fixed an issue where Strip for Parts could not play Bloodrite Kalis
  
• Fixed an issue where Veli, Always Watching’s Bolster ability played VFX for the larger debuff first when doubled by Fiera, on the Frontlines
  
• Fixed an issue where Devour units could still buff themselves if they were killed in response. The Devour will still destroy cards if possible.
  
• Fixed an issue where Embargo Officer didn’t prevent Information Leak’s discard
  
• Fixed an issue where Voice of the Speaker did not grant Echo to power cards that were created and drawn
  
• Fixed an issue where Heirloom Blade could be partially played with 2-5 power and only shifted units in play
  
• Fixed an issue where Kosul Elite didn’t grant Fast to Versatile weapons
  
• Fixed an issue where Martyr’s Chains didn’t trigger unless there was at least one unit before a unit is created at the end of the turn
  
• Fixed an issue where Dizo’s Racket did not properly apply Lifesteal from relic weapons
  
• Fixed an issue where Blood of Makkar did not offer a response window when played
  
• Fixed an issue where some ongoing void-binding abilities did not update when stolen
  
• Fixed an issue where Vara, Decisive Action could be sacrificed by Vara, Death’s Master
  
• Fixed an issue where Can’t Remember showed the enemy deck when they had Aegis

• Updated Fang Trap’s functionality so that the Bolster debuff can stack correctly with existing damage on the unit. It now grants a permanent debuff to the cursed unit, rather than modifying the curse’s ongoing debuff amount.
  
• Updated Vulk’s Heart so that it can play a Vulk with 0 or less health if the +2/+2 will get Vulk above 0 health
  
• Streamlined VFX for all spells with Unleash to play faster, especially Growth Spurt
  
• Removed outdated Black Market hangers on Rime Conclave Smuggler and Fearless Crescendo
  
• Updated spell-negating abilities like Numbing Cold to not trigger against spells that cannot be negated

Eternals—
Brace yourselves. The plates beneath our feet are shifting: the time of the Riftbreakers is beginning.

Players can purchase this Chapter’s Heroic Upgrade For 1000 gems to get:

• Guardians of the Rifts Theme deck
  
• 4x premium copies of each of this Chapter’s Promo Cards
  
• A Unique Premium Avatar: Corrupted Riftborn

Reminder: Premium cards will be granted immediately after purchase for any Missions in a Chapter that a player has completed at the time of purchase. Upcoming premium cards in the Chapter will be granted after a player beats the associated Mission, or at the end of the month.





You can find the full interactive deck list here - Riftbreakers News Article

New to Chapter Missions? First Time players will receive the Guardians of the Rifts Theme Deck for free after completing this month’s first Mission, and the Heroic Upgrade price will be reduced to 500 Gems.

A round of applause for November's Chapter 84-War Effort Top 100!

Eternals—

A new Sealed League has dropped!

How it Works: Open card packs and play in a month-long League, using all the cards you open! The event costs 12,500 gold or 1,100 gems to enter.

Can’t make the first week? Catching up is no problem. You’ll get the packs you missed, and your limit on games that count towards the Leaderboard will increase. You can resign and buy into the League multiple times. Only your most recent run will count toward the leaderboard.

By the way, each participating player will unlock the Riftbreaker League card back for immediate use:

• Week 1: 8x Battle Lines
  
• Week 2: 2x Battle Lines
  
• Week 3: 2x Battle Lines
  
• Week 4: 2x Battle Lines

• 4 x Battle Lines packs
  
• 1 x premium Uncommon Card
  
• 1 x new premium card back upon entering the League

Happy playing!

Welcome to the first post-Battle Lines live balance patch!

The primary focus of this patch is Draft, but we’re making some small Expedition-targeted changes as well.

• Lipa, Witch of the Woods to 1/1 (was 2/1)
  
• Karrina, Embercaster to 3/3 (was 4/3
  
• Kid, Grove's Heart to 3/2 (was 3/3)
  
• Turnabout now deals 2 damage even if the unit wasn’t played this turn. (Still 6 damage if the unit was played this turn, was no damage otherwise.)

Lipa’s base rate has been high enough to see play in almost every Primal Expedition deck, from the most aggressive to the most controlling. And that’s before you start taking advantage of her synergies with Mirror Image, General Fiera, or the new Devour mechanic. Losing a point of power should reduce her ubiquity and speed at closing out games while leaving her a viable option for decks that take particular advantage of her.

Charge-heavy strategies with Kid, Grove’s Heart have also proven to be a bit too fast and resilient, capable of racing down opponents who stumble even slightly. We don’t want to be too heavy-handed while the new metagame is developing, but minor nerfs to Kid and Karrina should allow a little more room for new strategies to emerge.

Turnabout was designed to be a strong answer to these Charge-heavy strategies, but the weakness of the base use has been too limiting to succeed in that role. We’re raising the floor while making sure it’s still at its best when used tactically against Charge, Killer, and Ambush.

• Aerial Suppression to 2-cost (was 1-cost)
  
• Fireguide to 2/4 (was 4/4)
  
• Contraption Crafter to 1/3 (was 0/4)
  
• Forked Lightning to 2-cost (was 3-cost)
  
• Cunning Plan to 5SS non-fast (was 7SS Fast)
  
• Putrefying Presence gains “Draw a card.”
  
• Sonic Blast to 2-cost (was 3-cost)
  
• Glory Seeker Renown bonus now grants +1/+1 and Lifesteal (was just Lifesteal)

Please note these images will be updated to reflect changes later today.

Fire has been overperforming in draft while Shadow has been lagging in last place. We’re taking two fire commons down a notch, giving Primal some better options for fighting against Nomad, and buffing several shadow commons and uncommons.

Shadow’s Renown archetype was struggling in particular, so most of our buffs are focused there. We had intentionally aimed low with Putrefying Presence, with the goal of being a low-power Renown enabler that wouldn’t get scooped up by other decks. In practice, Renown has had plenty of enablers but hasn’t paid off enough when its game plan comes together.

Along with these balance update, we’re also fixing a lot of bugs that were found:

• Fixed an issue where Fiera, On the Frontlines didn’t apply to Ziat, Whatever It Takes and Veli, Always Watching.
  
• Fixed an issue where Insatiable Gorger could be triggered by enemy Devour effects
  
• Fixed an issue where Quinn, Skullhaven Warden’s buff didn’t persist through zone changes or unit copying
  
• Fixed an issue where Theran Sniper’s debuff didn’t persist through zone changes or unit copying
  
• Fixed an issue where Telia, Perfect Timing’s Ultimate did not trigger if she died while hitting the enemy player
  
• Fixed an issue where Skullhaven Tinker and Eris, Apex Slayer didn’t trigger by weapons created into play
  
• Fixed an issue where Devoted Ranger didn’t draw a card when triggered by weapons created into play
  
• Fixed an issue where Theran Sniper could apply -0/-0 when triggered by Inscribe spells
  
• Fixed an issue where Veli, Always Watching didn’t increase its ability if the target left play in response
  
• Fixed an issue where Shockwave Elemental could attempt to stun units with Endurance
  
• Fixed an issue where Strange Blacksmith and Strange Gladiator did not display VFX to their targets
  
• Fixed an issue where Vara, Decisive Action shared its import/export number with Scared Beetender

-Happy Playing