I have been in the Faeria since the very earliest access.
And now the only thing I can’t understand - the existence of the Three Wishes card.
It is absolutelly imbalanced, almost “play to win” card.
Even if it had Legendary status this card would be overpowered.
It ruins the game!
Please explain me why this card has not been removed from the game as yet? Why?
I’m not here as long as you are, but I can explain why I wouldn’t like to see it removed.
First, I admit that it can be frustrating to play against it. The most annoying part is that your opponent knows the next three cards before you do. However, this is also what makes the card interesting to begin with.
Anyways, Three Wishes is a very unique and interesting card. And interesting cards deserve several tries to balance them carefully instead of plain removing them.
So what makes this card unique?
It’s currently the only card that has a 4 different land requirement. Consequently, you can’t just splash it in every deck. Instead, you have to build your deck around this card completely in order for it to work.
I believe, it’s solely to Three Wishes that 4-colored decks are working at all. If you remove that, you remove 4-colored decks as an archetype.
Three Wishes is versatile in its effect and therefore allows a wide variety of Three Wishes decks. For example, you can go for only 1 or 2 colors only. Or you can build your Wishes around Faeries of all the 4 colors. Or you can make use of all AoE clears, it’s up to you.
On the other hand, Three Wishes decks are always control type, because the card itself is rather slow with its 8 land requirement total. Therefore you need some (more or less exchangeable) key cards in order for this archetype to work. These key cards must enable you to build several colored lands within one turn. Hence, you need to make use of Earthcraft, the Elementals or sth. else.
Being a control deck that revolves around an 8-land-requirement card, you also need some kind of card draw in order to achieve some consistency. Otherwise, you may not draw your Wishes fast enough/at all.
Three Wishes, in its essence, is the very definition of a well designed control deck: It’s like a ticking time bomb. You need some time to get it to work; but if you survive long enough, it’s pretty hard to be stopped.
Finally, the aspect of seeing (and using) your opponents next three cards, is something very unique. Sure, it’s extremely powerful (depending on your opponent’s deck), but on the other hand, it needs a lot of time to set up. And, as the Wishes player, you can even lose by playing your opponent’s cards: By telling him what he will draw next, he might now know, whether it’s worth to draw another card (or even draw into lethal) or not. (I experienced this situation in one of my last games with my red/yellow burn deck. It was awesome.)
By any means, it needs to be a strong card in order to work at all. There’s no way people are gonna use the most time taking card in the game, if its effect isn’t worth it.
However, you may be right about Three Wishes being too strong currently. Some (small) nerfs might be needed, like 1 or 2 added faeria cost.
But there’s absolutely no reason to remove such a brilliant card from the game.
I really like the card’s design and it’s one of the most fun cards to play yourself. It’s interesting to play different cards in every match and know what your opponent is about to draw.
It’s not always fun to play against it, though. Especially against very defensive wish decks that just remove everything you play, then outvalue you with the cards drawn from wishes. If the opponent efficiently maintains board control, then plays Three Wishes, there’s basically no way you can win anymore. It just becomes a long, drawn out match that’s boring for the player that isn’t playing wishes.
There’s a bit too much variance in how useful Three Wishes can be. At best, it can give you cards that allow you to play overpowered strategies, like playing 6 cheap Soul Eaters in one turn. At worst, it’ll give you three cards that aren’t useful at all for the rest of the match. Randomness plays too big of a role there, especially since it’s a card that decks rely on to win the match.
Three Wishes is interesting in that it encouraged a lot of new decks to be created. However, the vast majority aren’t really four color decks. Almost all wish decks are just 2 colors, wishes and earthcraft. So they’re essentially just two color decks with a few extra cards.
There are only a few decent tri color decks and no four color decks, as far as I know. The four color fairy deck is fun, but it’s pretty weak.
It’s a shame true four color decks don’t really work. I’ve tried using them, but you end up getting too few good cards to play early on, which causes the decks to work too inconsistently. Even tri color decks only barely work, since it takes quite long before you can make enough lands to play all three colored cards.
Three Wishes is better balanced since the last balance patch. It doesn’t feel like it automatically allows you to make a comeback anymore, since the faeria cost adds some risk to using it. It still might be a bit too powerful, though. The discounted cards are a huge advantage, since you can do the same thing your opponent is about to do, but more efficiently.
You can’t draw for the first 8 turns cause you have to build lands, nor gaining fearia.
Without early earthcraft rush decks can put aggressive lands very close to your orb.
You are not guaranteed to come back with wishes even if it’s likely if you manage to play them.
They aren’t free and If you are fearia starved even wishes won’t allow you to come back.
I just hit god yesterday and I almost never faced a 3w deck, cause there is just better options in general.
Dude just got rekt by 3w and whines in this forum without any arguments. I’m surprised how polite and well constructed the 2 answers above me are. I agree with them 99%.
I also think this card is both unfair and unfun (not necessarily OP, though)
As you said, a 3w deck is dependent on having Earthcrafts early on, and even with that it may fall pretty easily to rush and to an aggressive midrange.
On the other hand, it’ll have no problem to fend off a control deck, granted you can get a hand on your wishes, because the card is too much of a tempo swing (well, at least if you have a bit of luck)
Which brings me to the next point : RNG involved ! The idea to see the next cards of your opponent is not a bad one per se, but the fact that you can copy either 3 good and useful cards that you’ll be able to play before and with less cost than your opponent or 3 useless cards that you will not be able to play because of land requirements, or just because they’re not part of your own strategy is something that makes me quite uneasy with the card. I’ve sometimes won games by one good wish, and sometimes lost by one bad wish (I remember the 2 Twister + Champion when I had 2 deserts :(). that makes the card unfun to play for me, and frustrating to play against.
Now, I have a last grief about this card : it is a heavily oriented towards 4-color decks by its land requirements. However, that card is barely played in 4color decks. Instead, it’s played in bicolor decks, with a splash for Earthcraft and/or Garudan if that color isn’t one of the two. The rest of the lands are just fillers only for 3w. I’d like to see something done about that : either make the effect of 3w inherently benefit to 4-colors decks directly and less benefits if you miss colors (not sure how, though, it would need a rework), or add a deckbuilding requirement to the use of this card (in the same way as Reno Jackson in HS, only it would require X cards from each color to be present in your deck)
