Greetings, Citizens,

As we leave the Tomb Worlds with arms full of Archeo-tech we come to Cawl Season! Cawl himself arrives as a new Warlord, now being the first character to have both a Bodyguard and Warlord card. Bringing with him a significant amount of new Adeptus Mechanicus cards, as well as an improvement to a number of their existing cards.

So, without further delay, let’s dive into the changes:

Balance Changes

Servant of the Emperor:

With the transition from Deathblow to Anti-Infantry it was only fair to add a bit of extra health, and the extra melee should make this card into a very efficient Infantry blender

A card that has always struggled to find a place. Changing Furious Charge to Shield, making it the SotE’s cheapest Shield card, should give it more utility and help it stand out.

Slightly under-statted, Tezla gets an all round buff, making him an efficient mono attacker for his cost.

Bringing Decima down from 40 to 39pts gives it some protection vs BGH, and a few more wounds should make it overall a much more durable card.

There have been fewer homes for Aximillion in recent months, so getting an all-around buff to the best boy should help find him a forever home.

This iconic duo has been lacking some punch since their release, so a meaningful attack increase should help them stand out against the wide range of Servants Inspiring Presence cards.

Aeldari:

With tough competition for mid-cost outflank cards, the Harlequin jetbike is towards the back of the pack. A more offensive primary stat should help make it stand out.

Similarly the Aeldari are spoilt for choice with good fliers, and even at the cheaper price point, the Skyknife is struggling, so it receives a decent attack buff.

As one of the most expensive psykers, Illanors stats were far behind most of the other options, point per stat. Giving him a strong all-round buff should see him justify his cost and present him as a stronger all-round and more durable card vs the usual high damage, low health offering that are the majority of Aeldari psykers.

Necrons:

A bit behind the other lychguard, it should now be a solid low-cost defensive choice, with the ability to hit back.

T’au:

With a wealth of cheap Taunt cards, Mont’yr has struggled to present good value. Bumping his health noticeably beyond other cards of the same value should make him an alternative to save deck space, rather than taking two smaller taunt cards.

T’au has good options for very powerful Inspiring Presence cards, and also some very cheap ones. An all-around buff should make him a bit more tempting, especially at his already low price point.

One of the original T’au cards in the game, Ob’lotai used to be an auto-include in most decks. Now as time has gone on, and new cards released, he’s been left behind. A decent ranged buff should recapture some of his former glory.

Space Marines:

In a similar story to Ob’lotai, Varrus was also once a very popular ranged pick, who has since been left behind. So a strong buff to his ranged attack should get him dusted off and off the bench.

Point for point, Remus is probably one of the most durable Inspiring cards in the game, and combined with the Shield trait, he’s very challenging to remove. However with such low attack stats, that had meant you had a card that could hold a lane, but not much else. A strong attack buff should make him much more tempting and versatile.

Chaos:

Nurgle is all about durability, so a bit more health should help this cheery chap keep playing his questionable bagpipes for longer. And we all need more questionable bagpipes in our lives.

While a popular card to hold that mid-cost Taunt slot for Chaos, Ordrogg is still a bit behind similar cards in other factions stat-wise. So a health buff to keep him competitive with his peers seems reasonable.

With a large number of expensive, powerful psykers, and cheap cost cost-effective psykers, the mid-cost options are easy to overlook for Chaos. An all-around attack buff, but focused on psychic, should hopefully present some more value on top of his solid wound pool.

Orks:

Smirkett – Goff Clan Gretchin
Endless -> Taunt

While Orks have a decent selection of Endless cards, there isn’t much offering in cheap accessible Taunt cards. Smirkett is in a great position to fill that role and should find an easy place in many decks.

Ork melee utility cards can often struggle to find a place in decks, particularly when understated, so a generous buff should see Spookums get back to krumpin’.

While a triple attack berserker is potentially terrifying, Phelmfroth doesn’t always stick around enough to reach that potential, so he’s getting a decent bump to health. With a bit more base Psychic he should make more of an impact with the secondary Warp Surge too.

As with a number of other cards Grukk is an original card that has been left behind a bit, and with stats that no longer represent his rarity. A good health buff and strong melee increase should see him sticking around and dishing it out more than ever before.

Tyranids:

While on the surface a decent glass cannon choice, he realistically wasn’t bringing enough cannon for the amount of glass. With a buff to both wounds and range he should feel more usable in that role.

The Zoanthrope has been a bit too reliant on its Psychic Link trait to get good value, and while we’re not changing the trait at this point, a large Psychic buff should see it able to deal good damage even without full support.

Old One Eye is iconic in the tabletop game, but he hasn’t been living up to that position in recent times, so a significant shake-up is due. Swapping from Regeneration to Endless captures that you can’t keep Old One Eye down, and makes him the only card to combine that with Berserk. This is noticeably more power than Regen was providing him, so we’ve brought his health down a little to compensate, but it should stop him rampaging with his new look.

Leagues of Votann:

While not overly understated, it felt odd to have a card with balance ranged and melee have Deathblow, so a melee bump should see him suit his trait a bit better.

At its over 40 price point, the Sagitaur is struggling to over the durability value that either of the Land Fortresses are offering, even at a notably cheaper price point. Pushing it over 300 wounds should make a good difference, and a splash more-range attack never hurts.

And that’s it for our final Balance Change of the year! The whole team here at Combat Cards and I wish you very happy holidays and look forward to seeing you all in the next year. See you then!