Pre-Season 20 Balancing: A Review || Axie Infinity
In this offseason the developers have decided to implement a balancing update. Unlike the previous iterations of such updates, the balancing this time might occur another time. This is the response of the developers over the “Bumpy-Bone Sail” nerfing incident which has enraged countless players due to the fact that the nerf was done while season 19 was ongoing.
Furthermore, this balancing would have not been possible without the inputs of a balancing committee consisting of several players. This would mean that the balancing would be fair and less centralized than previous ones. Looking at it from another angle, this has become a small sample of a “governance” wherein stakeholders(no pun intended) of the game are able to influence the game. For now, it might only consist of a few players but in the future this will be done by a lot of AXS holders.
For more information about the pre-season 20 balancing, do check out this Substack Article by Sky Mavis.
Aqua Revival? Or Nah?
The most controversial balancing last season was the massive nerf for a lot of Aqua Axie cards/skills. This led to countless players to have lower ranks since their Aqua teams were unable to contend against the rise of Dusk and Reptile Axies. With the Aqua Axies being less popular, Beasts and Mech Axies have emerged to dominate the upper ranks. But will it still be the same this upcoming season?
Risky Fish and Shoal Star are right on top of the cards that were buffed this time. Risky Fish skill had an increase of 5 shield(20-->25) while Shoal Star skill had an increase of 5 to both attack and shield( 110/10 -->115/15). This might seem measly but small damages matter! The previous nerf has made Aqua Axies very vulnerable with the reduced shield. While the lacking damage made it even harder to struggle against Dusk and Reptile Axies. At the same time, these 2 skills are very popular skills for Aqua Axies so a lot of players felt crippled. But I still wonder if this is enough damage to incentivize players to use pure Aqua Axies again? The next balancing update will tell us.
Aside from this good news, other Aqua cards have not gone unnoticed! Oranda which is another popular Aqua horn part has been nerfed! 10 atk reduction and 5 shield reduction making it 120/30 --> 110/25 in attack and shields! Shrimp tail part has been reduced by 5 damage as well(30atk-->25atk) but this does not matter much since it is a backdoor skill(support skill). Catfish has been buffed! 10 more damage! 80 atk-->90 atk! More heals for catfish yay!
The combination of Bumpy and Sponge has also been fixed as well. This skill should have been fixed together with the Bumpy and Bonesail combination but it seems that the devs got struck by a very strong backlash so it has only been fixed this offseason. Sponge will now only trigger “attack+” buff once per round. Bumpy & Bonesail has been also fixed to give 2 cards when shield is broken when used at the same time. This fix means that the Bumpy & Sponge combo works the same as well. 2x attack buff for 2 Sponge cards? Please let the devs know if you have an Axie with Sponge back part.
Immortals in Trouble?
At long last, another nerf for these pesky immortal fishes! AhemAhem Despite the previous nerf last season, Double Anemone builds are still very popular. It was also regarded as an A rank skill last season! The skill was a complete nightmare for a lot of players since the healing sustain was too overpowered! Of course the developers would not allow the “essence” of the skill to be completely removed. So they decided to lower the stats of the skill once again without touching the 100 heals(dammit!).
Both horn and back part of the Anemone cards were nerfed. Both had a decrease of 5 to shields. While a whopping 10 damage was reduced to both cards! 80atk/35shield-->70atk/30shield!! Now this is insane! This means that Double Anemone is essentially a healing card with some average damage. This means that opponents have more chances to fight against them since the opponents could survive(due to less damage) and deal more damage(less shields). Opponents could now store energy and cards in a v1 situation and still be able to counter attack for the win in the next round.
But wait! Double Anemone Aquas are also popular being paired with Bird Axies! This time, “Indes Bird” which are using Hare Dagger tail part has also been nerfed! It has its stats nerfed from 120/30 -->115/20. Also, the Eggshell horn part had its damage reduced by 10(120 atk-->110atk). But wait, it's not over yet! Dark Swoop has mysteriously been nerfed as well! 10 points minus to DS(20atk-->10atk)! Why, though?
Coincidence? I think not! This seems to be a very direct nerf against the popular Double Anemone + Hare Bird combo! But am I happy? Ofcourse I am! I had a hard time against this team while I am not using Axies with Slow. I always match against this build at 1400-1800 MMR. This is also the MMR bracket of Jihoz…. Another coincidence?
Aside from the “Double Anemone and Hare Bird Team”, another popular build has been nerfed. “Khairru Plants” or Immortal Plants are also going to be nerfed. This plant Axie uses Bidens and Zigzag to remove debuffs and heal itself to immortality. It has extreme survivability while only using little energy. Bidens’ shield has been reduced by 5(50–>45 shields) while ZIgzag has both attack and shield reduced by 5(60/60→55 atk/55 shield). Damage-wise, Pocky and Cactus has also been reduced by 5 further reducing the threat of the said Immortal Plant Axie. As a side note, the “Anti-heal” debuff of Scarab back part can now be removed using Bidens which is a big boon for this Axie.
Jumping Lason Nerfed Again!
Aside from Dark Swoop, other backdoor skills such as Wing Horn and Sneaky Raid have been nerfed! This skills are very popular in Jumping Lason or “Poison Meta” teams. Wing horn had a decrease of 10 in atk but in balance it has an increase of 10 to shield(50atk/10 shield-->40atk/20shield is more balanced than nerf). While Sneaky Raid had a decrease in shield by 10(40shield-->30shield). But wait that is not all! Grass Snake has its shield reduced by 10(30shield-->20shield) and Cerastes has its damage reduced as well! Its damage was reduced by 10(90atk-->80). Squishy backline Axies like Aqua Axies and Bird Axies might survive after that little sneaky raid right?
Punishment For Discard-Pocky Teams!
What comes up must go down. Newton stated this all the time. Just like crypto. In the same manner, popular builds that have gone too high in the popularity/meta must be nerfed! Just like jumping Lason!
This time, Double Bug & Fast Pocky Axie are being nerfed! Parasite horn part and Pincer mouth part now requires a combo(2 or more cards used by the same Axie) to activate the effect of discarding opponent’s cards. Parasite also had 10atk reduction(90atk-->80atl) nerf! This balancing might reduce the chance for Bug Axies to easily chain these cards with Barb Strike and Cute Bunny with only few energy and cards. Despite this nerf, Pocky the horn part has only been nerfed a tiny little bit. 5 damage reduced which makes the skill 125atk-->120 attack. This still makes this skill a complete nightmare when having 2 Bug Axies in the team. Hopefully, the discard nerf makes this team less of a menace.
Aside from the Discard skills, a lot of Bug Axie cards have been balanced as well. Gravel Ant now requires a combo in order to disable the opponent’s melee attack. This is still a powerful card despite the balancing. Zero cost cards such as Pupae and Twin Tail had its damage reduced by 5 due to their popularity as well. While Fish Snack tail part has been nerfed as well by having its shield reduced by 10(90-->80shields). Lastly, Lagging had a small bump in damage, 30atk-->35atk.
Scarab has also been balanced. “Anti-heal” debuff is now considered as a true Debuff. In the positive light, this debuff can now trigger the effect of Thorny Caterpillar. However, this means that Bidens can now easily remove this debuff which makes this skill less of a threat towards Axies with debuff removal skills(mint/bidens).
Buffs for the Underappreciated
A lot of unpopular cards have been given some incentive this round. Silence Whisper can now heal the Axie using it! Hurrah! Not so useless anymore! Other plant cards have also been buffed in attack and defense such as Bamboo shoot and Potato Leaf. Though I am not sure if these will make these cards more popular in the current tank meta, their stats makes them decent enough.
Some Bird cards have been increased in stats as well such as Cloud, Trump, Raven, and Cuckoo. But surprisingly, Feather Fan is the biggest change this time. Just like the previous buff of Timber, it now has a massive increase of attack. Feather Fan now has a stat of 80 attack and 50 shield from the previous 40/90. This is also a shield in the ideology of bird Axies. Now they are focusing on the damage rather than defense.
Another underappreciated card before is Gila. This skill has never been popular due to its effect of attack debuff when attacking opponent is poisoned. Now it's stats make it more attractive than ever. With the 10 additional shield(55-->65 shield), this can make any Axie even more tanky! This will make this Axie best paired with a Yam tank for consistent poison presence to even further make the Gila user unkillable.
Ending Notes
This balancing may happen again this offseason so be sure to be on your toes! Aqua Axies might make more waves this upcoming season(no puns intended). While several unnoticed cards might create a new Meta as well. Some cards were not included in this post as well. I have not yet included the skill and crit max computation update in this post since this is getting long. So I will try and get it out quickly in my next post.