It’s probably too late to do, but I thought I’d offer these thoughts. Structures fundamentally don’t belong in the game of Faeria. They are competing both literally and figuratively for space with creatures and creatures are just more interesting cards as they offer players more choices. At a fundamental level, every structure is ultimately just a creature with the following drawbacks “This can’t move or attack. This can’t collect.” Its simply not interesting. I believe that a lot of the problems with structures could be solved by increasing the mechanical divergence between creatures and structures.
Imagine if the following change was made to structures. Creatures can walk on lands with friendly structures on them.
This change would make structures more flavorful. If I build a shrine on a mountain. There shouldn’t be anything stopping friendly units from visiting that shrine. From being at the shrine. From being on the same land as the shrine. When people make structures, people make them to use. People stand on them or live in them. They don’t just look at them from a land away.
This change makes structures feel radically different from creatures.
This removes the awkwardness structures often impose where in they impede your creatures movement and your strategy. It basically stops structures from literally competing with Creatures for space.
Of course, then we need to figure out what it means for creatures to be in combat when they are on a structure. I think the best option is to state that creatures attack creatures first, and once a structure is unoccupied, it can be attacked directly. This would make structures a lot easier to balance as structures would become less swingy. Players would actually be able to protect them so there would be many fewer blowouts in which players can easily clear a structure for free.
The final problem to solve is in UI design. This isn’t where my expertise lies but I’m confidant there is a sollution
The biggest problem i see with this is there needs to be a way to quickly kill things like faeria trees otherwise you are constantly trying to keep up with your opponents faeria i also feel like they made it part of the game on purpose the way it is but if they did change it i would say that they would be better off changing it to the creatures are protected by the structure because if you are in a structure while being attacked you are using it to protect yourself but i feel like it would have to be a special structure that has health
All structures have health so that isn’t a problem. I’m uncertain as to whether or not creatures should protect structures or vice versa. My guess is that whichever is chosen as default, a new keyword would be introduced which would reverse the default. So if my proposal was adopted, there would also be a new keyword “Destructive” which means “creatures with destructive attack structures before they attack occupants.”
Faeria tree is balanced in a context in which players can easily remove structures. As a result, the structure is very swingy. The difference between successfully cracking a tree and having it killed for free is astronomic. My proposal would reduce this variance. As a result, basically every structure would need to be rebalanced in this new context in which structures are actually protectable. The difficulty of doing this rebalance, and the UI problem, are the reasons I began my post with “It’s probably too late to do”
In most games structures are just like units that can’t move. RTSes. TBSes.
The difficulty of putting them somewhere that isn’t in the way is part of the strategy.
(I’d like to see some divine ones).
I also don’t think there’s an easy UI solution - there’s health numbers and stuff. Occlusion will be pretty hard to avoid without making it look ugly or shrinking stuff.
As for faeria tree, it’s one of the few cards I really dislike as it really just amplifies deck RNG.
Faeria tree is perhaps the most defining structure card we see in regards to structure health. I’m a Steam Forge user, and I can say that they are a perfect investment, and perhaps an overly perfect wall. Value over time by sacrificed land. High land-value decks won’t understand, but those of us who insist Neutral is just as much of a faction know that structures and their cost are a delightful thing to incorporate.
Swingey structures vs value structures, value structures really do offer a good question. Take Steam forge, 3 life for 1 faeria is no easy removal, and things like Garudan and Frogtosser can’t even contest.
What structures need is a way to get some prairie ramp. I propose a card idea I’ve been working on as follows:
