this update sees the introduction of the Threat stat, as well as a bunch of balance changes that revolve around it

• the first new statistic added to fighters since the game's inception, the Threat stat determines a fighter's Threat range. A fighter's Threat range determines whether an opponent can resolve a Win ability from their flipped action even on lost outcomes.
  
• This mechanic is replacing the previous iteration of this concept, where an opponent's ability to cheat out Win abilities on lost outcomes was based on the Range impact of the winning player's flipped action.

The previous iteration of this mechanic was very unintuitive for new players, because it demanded that they pay attention to a card's Impact line during periods where they really shouldn't have to be. It was very frustrating to learn the game as a result because it added confusion to which aspects of an action's interface was relevant when. Additionally, its practicality was questionable because it relied too much on the opponent's flip choices, adding ever more mental strain in the outcome step. Projectiles in particular were overly dominant in this space because most of them have infinite range, which led to them completely choking out utility-based Blocks and Grapples.
The Threat stat aims to solve these issues. by having a clear and immediately readable stat on the opponent's fighter, players can immediately understand its purpose and more consistently position themselves in the outcome step to prioritize Win ability-based utility plays. It also adds flavor to the characters and provides a new balancing lever to their power At the same time, this should hopefully make the Impact Line easier to learn too, because they no longer have to truly think about it until later on in the turn.

• The reference card's interface have been streamlined for increased readability.
  
• One of the sides of each reference card have a slightly altered color background.
  
• The first reference card now contains the Outcome Chart/Default impact order on one side and the Turn order on the other (previously had the Outcome chart/Default impact order on one side and quick references of the Elemental-exclusive impacts on the other)
  
• The second reference card now contains the Universal Activated Abilities on one side and a new reference on the other; A quick reference for every ability icon in the game (previously had the Universal Activated Abilities on one side and the turn order on the other)

just a basic update to modernize the reference cards a bit more and provide more useful info for new players to learn.

the following cards have been changed to account for the inclusion of the Threat Stat:

• Serpent's Bite (functionally unchanged)
  
• Detonate (functionally unchanged)
  
• Chrono Strike (functionally unchanged)
  
• Time Distortion (functionally unchanged)
  
• Idol of Cruelty (functionally unchanged)
  
• All-American Suplex (minor balance change, power-neutral)
  
• Puddle Token (Buff, (P) ability range now scales with your threat range, instead of just the token's adjacent spaces)
  
• Trapper's Gait (buff, (F/C) ability lets you create the token onto a space within your threat range instead of an adjacent space)
  
• Supreme Friction (functionally unchanged)
  
• Electric Leash token (Buff, the first (P) ability range now scales with your threat range, instead of just the token's adjacent spaces)
  
• Prognosticate (Nerf, ability ranges now scale with your Threat range instead of it's impact range)
  
• Arcane Grasp (Buff, (F) ability lets you create the token onto a space within your threat range instead of an adjacent space)
  
• Duskwalker (Buff, (W) ability lets you create the token onto a space within your threat range instead of an adjacent space)
  
• Rumble (Buff, (F/C) ability lets you create the token onto a space within your threat range instead of an adjacent space)
  
• Runic Inscription (buff, (W) ability now scales with the range of your most recently-flipped or linked action instead of only its own impact range)
  
• Amplify Power (Buff, (F) ability lets you create the token onto a space within your threat range instead of an adjacent space)
  
• a large number of the Easter egg characters

These changes serve to make the Threat stat provide some new fighter-specific synergies with certain cards

Grounded Condition

• First (P) ability is now optional
  
• First (P) ability can now allow you to ignore effects that affect your movement (primarily negation effects)

removed a floating deck pouch that I had accidentally copied

This update sees a rework to the Knockdown impact, an updated set of Universal Activated Abilities, a bunch of stat changes to fighters across the board, and a quality of life rework update to Fang.

• The knockdown circumvention cost now occurs at the end of the Outcome step, instead of at the start of the Upkeep step.
  
• The knockdown circumvention cost now needs you to discard two cards that share an attribute with the opposing flipped action, instead of discarding one card of any attribute.
  
• Circumventing knockdowns now results in a Reversal, where the player suffering from the knockdown negates the opposing flipped action's Impact line and resolves their own, but locks themselves out of Loss Compensation for the turn.

with a lot of the other systems being improved at the base level, Knockdowns are now sticking out as very poorly implemented. In the previous iteration, the decision of whether to pay to circumvent a knockdown as an incredibly unengaging non-choice; letting the opponent get a free win was too powerful not to prevent, but paying the cost didn't result in fun gameplay. On the first turn where the knockdown was guaranteed, it meant just arbitrarily losing turn 2 for guessing wrong on turn 1, and from turn 3 onwards players always had the resources to circumvent it.
What this boils down to is that for a vast majority of the game, a knockdown impact basically just read "your opponent loses five energy and discards a card from hand next turn". Some strategies appreciate the resource denial, but most simply didn't care in the slightest, meaning that resolving a knockdown provided no meaningful advantage from turn 3 onwards.

This update aims to make knockdowns provide more immediate value, while also making it more fun for the player on the receiving end. moving the cost out of the Upkeep step means that players will always get to use the energy they generate that turn to pay the cost, removing its uncounterable power on turn 1. Additionally, flipping a card first now creates a mindgame where the player who resolved the knockdown now has to think carefully about what attribute to win with or risk getting their impact line negated. Finally, the player resolving the knockdown can always rest assured that they'll at least be able to get value from it by guaranteeing a Win ability resolving even if the opponent gets to perform a Reversal.

• Added a 1-cost ability that lets you discard two cards from your hand, but prevents you from performing a combo that turn.
  
• Removed the 4-cost ability that lets you look at the top card of your deck and return it or put it on the bottom of your deck
  
• Removed the 6-cost ability that lets you draw a card.
  
• Added a 5-cost ability that lets you search your deck for a card, then shuffle your deck and put the searched card on top.

These changes aim to remove some of the chaff present in the selection of Universal options, with the new 5-cost option merging the two abilities being removed in an effort to improve consistency. The new 1-cost option serves as a way to refresh your hand on turns where you win the outcome but don't have a useful hand to play off of the win.

• the following fighters have had their Hand Size increased to 6 from 5 and their health reduced by 1 to compensate: Magnus, Dre'j, Sakan
  
• Hido - Energy capacity increased to 17 from 16, Life reduced to 49 from 50
  
• Reven - Hand Size increased to 7 from 6, Life reduced to 48 from 49
  
• Atlas - Handsize Increased to 7 from 6, Life reduced to 45 from 47
  
• Tatsuyo - Life reduced to 47 from 48

now that I have had tons of playtests under my belt, I can say with confidence that hand sizes of five, in most scenarios, is simply too small for this game. Magnus, Sakan and Dre'j suffered to maintain a consistent gameplay experience especially when going up against a character with a hand size of eight. With the knockdown rework increasing the discard cost from one card to two, I figured this would be the best time to streamline the handsizes for the main cast. This doesn't mean that characters with hand sizes of 5 will never exist, just that they will be used very sparingly in the future and will be reserved for characters with built-in draw power that is strong enough to justify it.


Gash Condition

• Discard/Suspend trigger no longer triggers from the same card more than once per turn
  
• Cleanup trigger no longer has a maximum of 4 damage

Jagged Fortune

• Range impact changed from position based to being simple 4 range

Charm

• Trigger is now a modal effect that lets you choose between drawing a card or returning a card from discard pile to hand
  
• empowered effect from already having Initiative changed from drawing two cards to choosing both modes

Siren's Kiss

• (F/C) ability now lets you search you deck for a card and discard it, instead of discarding from the top of your deck.

Broadside

• Damage impact reduced to 3 from 4
  
• (C) Ender ability reworked into a (P) ability (effectively the same thing, but now lasts permanently instead of only on the turn you link the card.

Another update, another Fang rework it seems. The Previous iteration succeeded in making the character viable to play, but ended up leaning too hard on the duration stacking playstyle to be successful. This combined with the new 1-cost universal ability giving her easy access to hand discards means that she needs a few changes to compensate.
This update hopes to curb the power of the Duration stacking playstyle by making Quick Strike cards no longer provide double duration value when discarded, while making her feel a bit easier to setup with and making a more traditional combo-oriented playstyle feel better to play into.

- fixed the titles of the newly revamped rulesheets

- Fixed a glaring error on Howling Blade, where the trigger was worded in such a way that the damage boost would be meaningless due to missed timing

This update sees a massive overhaul to the Rulesheet's structure, as well as a new board for the flipped actions which has been expanded to contain a space for linked actions as well



The previous rulesheet was a 40+ page monster that was not approachable for new players in the slightest. For this update, I have split the previous rulesheet into three separate documents; A basic rulesheet that provides all of the most important info needed to play the game at a basic level, an Advanced rulesheet that expands on the basic rulesheet with further optional rules and clarifications, and finally a Glossary that provides definitions and clarifications for all the specific game terms and keywords in the game.

This update sees the WIP introduction of the Proving Grounds, a tutorial for players to learn the basics of the game without getting overwhelmed by all the mechanics at once.


One major problem this game suffers from is the difficulty of easing starting players into mechanics or higher-level concepts, since nearly every mechanic is relevant/useable from the outset and even the pre-constructed decks labeled as low-difficulty are turning out to be very complex from a new player's perspective.

Part one involves a demo game with the two pre-arranged starter decks. Parts two and three will be coming out at a later date covering increasingly more advanced concepts.

This update sees a big chunk of balance changes to over 40 cards across every elemental cardpool, as well as a bunch of typo fixes.

the goal with this update is to be my definitive, final balance update to the elemental actions. with the exception of glaringly unbalanced strategies that need to be emergency-nerfed, I will hopefully never have to touch them ever again. Fighters may still receive balance updates in the future.

Isabel playstyle has become increasingly unsatisfying due partly to how little her Timewarp token's positioning actually matters. In the previous version, it was effectively just an extended text box for her burst action. With these changes, her Timewarp should hopefully feel like a far more meaningful part of her kit.

• The first change is to the token itself. Its previous triggered ability that let you draw an extra card during the upkeep step has been replaced with a passive ability that grants your actions higher damage while the opponent is cooupying the token's space, which will now make getting the token and your opponent to occupy the same space a key part of your gameplan. The Win ability has been simplified to make room for the new ability.
  
  
• Next, her Chrono Strike has had its Pushback impact removed to compliment the changes made to the Timewarp token, letting you strike an opponent occupying its space without immediately pushing them out and disabling that damage boost.
  
  
• Next, Rewind has had its Combo impact moved over onto Time Distortion, with a higher base damage impact to compensate
  
  
• Finally, Time Distortion has a smaller pushback impact and a newly gained Combo impact, making positioning your Timewarp mid-combo seamless and pain-free. The damage component of its flip/chain ability has been moved over to Rewind to account for this new flexibility.

with Earth Fighters having a much lower hand size on average compared to the rest of the roster, Earth as a cardpool has struggled to fit in all of its utility effects without seriously clogging up their hands, leading to a very big inconsistency problem. These new changes serve to give both archetypes in Earth equally solid Combo starters and tools that try to compensate for the low hand sizes of the characters using them.

• Fossilize is being completely overhauled from a conditional combo extender that was incredibly difficult to play around as a flipped action (making the only consistent way to enable it either Grounded or Pound to Dust), into a new combo Starter that draws its controller a card any time the opponent discards cards. This should hopefully let Mill players get proper combos going off of Fossilize in spite of a minimal hand size, or get decent draw value even from a small combo with discard effects from other sources. Additionally, even on a losing outcome, the opponent will have to manage their discard actives carefully or risk giving the Mill player a massive card advantage
  
  
• Next, Burial is gaining the Hyper Armor keyword (moved over from Tremor), in an attempt to give both archetypes access to their own distinct Starter with Hyper armor. People would splash the old Fossilize in pretty much every earth deck for the combo potential off of a lost outcome, and even though Fossilize can't do that nearly as consistently anymore (with its combo extension now coming from a Starter keyword instead of a flip/chain effect) I thought it would be healthier to ensure that no splashing is necessary in this case.
  
  
• Finally, with Fossilize becoming a Combo Starter, Earthshaker is being completely retooled into a hand-discarding active that lets you give any card combo (in the same vein as Amplify or the recently changed Firewheel Kick), retaining the previous iteration's Card draw based on conditions controlled. The important thing here is that this is a Response ability, letting you use it to draw off of conditions that will expire shortly even if you didn't win the outcome (and hopefully alleviating hand-size issues for condition-based strategies in the same way that the new Fossilize will try to do that for Mill strategies)

Even though the archetype wasn't awful, all the changes made to the other colors made this archetype fall behind in terms of gamefeel. The goal is to make this archetype function better on its own, without the need of support from other colors when possible.

• The first changes are various number adjustments to the Fire, Vulnerable, Wildfire and Scorched Ground temporary cards, in an effort to make them more reliable when outcomes aren't going your way and increase their damage potential slightly
  
  
• Next are changes to Phoenix Claw and Combustion, changing them from scaling with the number of conditions the opponent controls to instead care only if the opponent controls two or more conditions. This will make them far easier to balance, easier to understand from a player's perspective regarding when they've hit their powerspike, and feel way less setup-reliant.
  
  
• Finally, Scorching Ray is getting a buff to its Win ability, Doubling the card draw potential compared to before. A limit of 6 cards has been added to ensure it doesn't get out of hand against Earth decks.

Additional highlights that I don't have space in this post to get into detail over include:

• scaleback nerfs in water's Ice archetype because I overcorrected that archetype's power very slightly
  
• changes to Wind in an attempt to make the Substitute cards a bit more appealing deckbuilding choices
  
• Changes to some Thunder cards in an attempt to make Chain Lightning a more viable option to consider when building decks around it
  
• various other individual card changes, bringing the least played cards in the game up in power and hopefully making them decent niche options at the very least.

- some more fixes to typos that were introduced in the most recent update

- fixed two typos, including a very important one to the card Rapture where it was erroneously showing the wrong symbol in its rules text

this update sees a large amount of balance changes to many of the game's archetypes, with an overhaul to Fire and Light.

fire's combat damage archetype is being heavily reworked to be less resource-dependant, more versatile and have ways to secure their combos in order to make up for their poor defense. Highlights include:

• Firewheel Kick turning into a combo amplifier, letting you extend off of any flipped action (as long as you meet the requirements)
  
• Dragon's Breath, Relentless assault and Meteor Lock being reworked into powerful combo enders that benefit greatly from the archetype's damage boosting effects
  
• Trial by Fire, Comet and Raging inferno being changed to serve as strong new flipped actions to combo off of with the new Firewheel Kick
  
• Comet and Burnout becoming new tools to prevent your combos from being negated by Breaks, giving them ways to secure the win
  
• Rising Fury being reworked into something more generally applicable to most strategies.

As the game has gotten playtests from more and more people, fire's Damage archetype as revealed itself to really struggle against most strategies. Getting shut down heavily by Breaks and Mixups and having no good tools to combo into once it finally gets in means that it couldn't run its gameplan effectively. The changes will hopefully serve to carve the archetype's niche more effectively as the high-damage, secure combo element, with utilities that many other builds might appreciate


Light's defense and lifegain archetype is getting completely reworked, with nearly every card getting some kind of change. Highlights include:

• A new more focused play-pattern involving playing Blocks in the early game, stalling with control effects and waiting for the right opportunity to push for the win
  
• A variety of new utilities that make your opponent reveal cards from their hand and deck, giving you plenty of information to work with when choosing what cards to play
  
• new control effects that have incredibly efficient costs, but compensate your opponent in various ways
  
• a Reworked Heal impact that lets it be relevant while at your starting life total and be less overpowering when an opponent is trying to close out the game (instead of instantly recovering life, heal impacts give you Remedy counters that can be cashed in later to recover life)
  
• A rework to Honorbound, making it a powerful keyword when a player is successful but a crippling drawback when you misjudge the board state
  
• a shift in focus away from lifegain as the primary gameplan

to be blunt, this archetype revealed itself to be a complete mess, mainly because it didn't have an actual win condition to play towards. Before, all it did was gain life aimlessly and then not actually do anything with that lifegain. There's a very big difference between winning and not losing, so the archetype is being refocused into a new playstyle that mimics defensive play in real fighting games. The lifegain archetype is still present, but relegated to an inconsistent meme build that can sometimes pay off big

Light's card draw and topdeck manipulation archetype is getting many quality of life buffs in an effort to more efficiently acheive its playstyle. Highlights include

• Foresight impacts being reworked to draw you a bunch of cards before the scry effect occurs, making it a good way to go into the next turns with a huge card advantage over the opponent
  
• Fractal Blows, Prognosticate, Starfall and Gravity well being changed to give you a lot more control over the top card of your deck and let you play around Premonition tokens much more effectively
  
• Glimpse of Infinity, Ion Blast and Cosmic throwdown being changed to be much more powerful draw engine effects

Even though this archetype was functional, it turns out that it wasn't able to actually play out the intended fantasy as well as intended. As soon as a premonition token came into play, the play pattern devolved into "prey you get decent topdecks before it expires" instead of "change your topdeck to try and make the best use out of it". Aditionally, the card draw matters package was very underwhelming in general. The new changes should hopefully make a player feel like the topdeck master of their dreams.


many more small balance changes are being made throughout the cardpool, too many to fit in a single page. Highlights include:

• Tatsuyo receiving minor changes to make energy way less prevalent on him, make it a bit harder to extend combos and make Howling blade a more interesting synergy point with the new Rising Fury
  
• Thunder receiving small changes to make the Mixup playstyle more resource-reliant
  
• Dark receiving reductions to the damage impact of various cards