Visions in the Flames: Mechanics in Update 1.5

We continue our look into the upcoming 1.5 release with a focus on some of the actual mechanic changes that will be appearing in the rulebook. Before we get too far into things, if you haven’t checked out Part 1 of our series, please click here to do so.

In every revision of the rulebook since release we’ve made a few minor tweaks here and there to areas that have caused confusion for players – wording adjustments, clarifications, more examples, etc – and 1.5 is no exception to that. In all these cases, no actual rules have been modified, amended, or changed, its just an effort to clean-up some spots. Of course all these, just like all other changes, are noted in the Errata Documents, so you can quickly check what’s a mere wording update and what is an actual change.

Today however, we’re taking a look at some actual mechanics changes that will be occurring with the update. This isn’t a comprehensive list, as some items will get their own dedicated article, but it should give a window into what to expect when 1.5 lands.

Just like last time, there are essentially three “levels” of changes we’re doing when it comes to revising aspects of the Core Rules. The first example would be relatively minor modifications or changes. An example of this being Surge Forth. Currently, as the rule stands there can be some awkward timing conflicts and interactions that occur, specifically due to slight ambiguity in its exact timing. In 95%+ cases, it won’t come up, but in that remaining 5% that it does, it creates some unintuitive interactions (if you can’t think of any immediately, that’s perfectly normal – again, these are rare). While it may not seem worth it to modify a rule when the corner-cases are so low, this is also a facet that has potential to have more cases grow as time goes on and more content is released, so we’re taking the time to prevent that.

In this case, its just a clarification that the Surge Forth move happens only after any other Abilities, Effects, Cards, Triggers, etc. etc. have been resolved, essentially making it the very last thing that can happen in that instance. Again, this is pretty much how it functioned currently, outside of some specific cases. There aren’t a lot of these little corner-cases, since most of them have been removed and/or dealt with in previous updates, but this was one such that stood out and seemed worth addressing.

Alright, so now let’s talk about a couple “mid-range” style updates. Essentially these are changes that, while they do modify the core mechanics of the game, they do so in a way that really can’t be considered a drastic overhaul or modification. These are done in an effort to streamline situations that repeatedly keep coming up (much more than the 5% listed above) or, in the case here, modified to allow some greater tactical flexibility in the game.