January 2017 - last edited January 2017
Petal-Morphosis
http://plantsvszombies.wikia.com/wiki/Petal-Morphosis
It stinks. I've never seen it used once, literally not one single time, and I've been playing since launch. I mostly play Casual, where people play all kinds of experimental stuff.
Seedlings? It's rare, but sure. But never this.
4 mana to kill one of your creatures that probably cost you 1 to 3 mana to play.
No matter how bad it is--and if it's bad, why is it in your deck?--it's blocking a lane. You could have put 4 mana into a different lane.
Are all your lanes full and one of them is a poor little 1/1? For 3 mana you could give it +3/+3. For 4 mana, +1/+1 and a bonus attack. This list goes on and on, depending on class.
Compare to Pineclone [also Kabloom] which puts a 3/3 in an empty lane AND transforms all your plants into 3/3's. It's situational, sure, but in those situations it's infinitely better and no surprises.
Suggestion:
Option #1: Reduce the cost to 3 (to be conservative) then data mine some more after 3 months.
#2: Reduce the cost to 2 and remove the card draw.
#3: Leave it as is, but add "into a random plant that costs 2 or more."
#4: Add "into a random plant that costs 3 or more" and remove the card draw. [I realize this is dangerous, but it's the obvious 4th option]
#5: Change to "into a random super-rare plant." This is worth a 4 mana (sun) gamble.
Transmogrify (Super power, Rose, Citron)
http://plantsvszombies.wikia.com/wiki/Transmogrify
(As an aside, how exactly does Citron Transmogrify? Rose has a magic wand. Let's say Citron has a device...but why would technology be random? Has anybody else ever wondered that?)
This also stinks.
The primary purpose of the Super Block Meter is to prevent pure aggro and make sure everybody gets to play a few turns before the game ends.
Transmogrify, in its current implementation, is only useful 1) late game and (or rarely early game) 2) when the opponent has something dangerous on the board that is more dangerous than the worst possible Transmogrify result. Generally speaking, this is a super-rare occurrence early game, rare mid-game, and uncommon late game.
Many games can be played without ever seeing anything extremely worthy of a Transmogrify.
Also, Rose has Transmogrify AND Goatify, neither of which are particularly good against aggro. (Goatify is not technically useless against a base 2/2 or 1/2 etc. but it is in practice.)
Maybe that was an intentional design decision...but maybe it wasn't. I feel that's worth a mention.
So that's the aggro aspect covered.
Transmogrify is not only NOT useful early game, it's incredibly dangerous. There are SO many ways this can go wrong--either absolutely or dependent on board state--and I feel like I've seen all of them. (Both for and against me.)
Are any other super powers dangerous to the user? No. So, why is this one?
This is the crux of Transmogrify, and honestly I can't come up with a feasible answer of any kind.
I understand the game developers want some RNG, but for a life-saving aggro/death-preventing super power, that RNG has to be beneficial or neutral at worst. A super power should never be bad.
Finally, note that I posted Petal-Morphosis and Transmogrify together. Why one and not the other?
Either Transform is very dangerous and therefore Transmogrify stinks....or Transform is fine and Petal-Morphosis is over-priced.
This is my last defense. I honestly think they both need to be changed, but I don't think it's possible to reconcile changing neither.
IMO judging by Seedling's fragility and extremely limited utility, I'd say the designers consider Transform to be dangerous.
Suggestions:
#1: Just make it a generic 2/2 zombie that has no type (Imp, Sports, etc). There aren't any in the game so you get to make up something amusing.
#2: A 2/3 zombie that deals 3 damage to itself at the end of the turn. (Imagine the Exploding Imp, but carrying a Cakesplosion.)
#3: "Transform a Zombie into a random common Zombie that costs 2 brains or less." This solution is the most fun while still being actually good.
#4: "Transform a Zombie into a random common or uncommon Zombie that costs 2 brains or less."
#5: No Gravestone zombies.
#6: No "When Played" effects...these are often the worst aspects of Transmogrify. Also, 100% accurate since it's not being played. This is how Hearthstone works its transforms.
January 2017
Well... actually, the card draw itself for plants is actually worth like 3 sun. Flourish costs three for you to lose one card and get two cards. So the transform itself is only one sun of cost. It is a cool card but people get angry when they get a small nut or a button mushroom out of it.
January 2017
@jcalton wrote:
Suggestions:
#1: Just make it a generic 2/2 zombie that has no type (Imp, Sports, etc). There aren't any in the game so you get to make up something amusing.#2: A 2/3 zombie that deals 3 damage to itself at the end of the turn. (Imagine the Exploding Imp, but carrying a Cakesplosion.)
#3: "Transform a Zombie into a random common Zombie that costs 2 brains or less." This solution is the most fun while still being actually good.
#4: "Transform a Zombie into a random common or uncommon Zombie that costs 2 brains or less."
#5: No Gravestone zombies.#6: No "When Played" effects...these are often the worst aspects of Transmogrify. Also, 100% accurate since it's not being played. This is how Hearthstone works its transforms.
No, thanks, Rose and Citron players deserve to transform my arm-wrestler to the barrel of deadbeards or my tennis zombie whatever she is actually called to flag zombie when I play aggro.
Actually, raise the cc of the zombie after transmogrify to 3 so you will learn your lesson when to play it and when not.
January 2017 - last edited January 2017
Petal-Morphosis is not a great card, but I have certainly seen it used in many games and it's either great or poor, but the card draw makes it more valuable then you give it credit for. However, your suggestion to change it seem fair and I wouldn't be opposed to it.
Your assessment of Transmogrify however, I could not disagree more with. I main Rose and play a LOT of Citron and I can tell you, those guys have PLENTY of tools to stop and compete against aggro, they don't need ALL their powers to be great against it. You say Transmogrify is only useful:
"1) late game and (or rarely early game) 2) when the opponent has something dangerous on the board that is more dangerous than the worst possible Transmogrify result."
Both of those happen every game that goes past turn 5. Literally. If your deck can't survive until turn 5, your deck is the problem, not the single hero power that *could* have helped you.
As a control player I relish in using both Transmogrify and Goatify (when playing Rose) against my enemy. Those two spells are literally the only ways to successfully win a value battle against cards like Octo Zombie, Portal technician, Imp-throwing gargantuar and Barrel Roller Zombie (to only name a few).
I never want them to change this amazing tool for control decks.
February 2017 - last edited February 2017
Good news, Petal-Morphosis defenders: You can now spend $10 US to acquire one.
1) late game and (or rarely early game) 2) when the opponent has something dangerous on the board that is more dangerous than the worst possible Transmogrify result."
Both of those happen every game that goes past turn 5.
I consider past turn 5 late game...we seem to be on the same page? My only point was that it's not good against aggro/early game. That is all.
I suppose my question would be "Was it a design decision to make a card--Transmogrify--that can (literally) kill you early that can potentially be very good late? Sometimes."
February 2017
@jcalton wrote:
Good news, Petal-Morphosis defenders: You can now spend $10 US to acquire one.
1) late game and (or rarely early game) 2) when the opponent has something dangerous on the board that is more dangerous than the worst possible Transmogrify result."
Both of those happen every game that goes past turn 5.
I consider past turn 5 late game...we seem to be on the same page? My only point was that it's not good against aggro/early game. That is all.
I suppose my question would be "Was it a design decision to make a card--Transmogrify--that can (literally) kill you early that can potentially be very good late? Sometimes."
Petal-Morphosis is an unreliable, expensive card, Transmorgify is amazing.