Eternal Points List 23.03

The Eternal Balance Team is back with an update to the Eternal Points list now that we’ve had time to explore what the Parhelion Cycle has done to the Eternal landscape. Cards like Gaslight and Dr. Vientiene Keeling have found homes in combo-heavy Ob Superheavy Logistics and Industrial Genomics (IG) decks, while Katorga Breakout and Tsakhia “Bankhar” Gantulgar are seen in MaxX: Maximum Punk Rock and Clan Vengeance Esâ Afontov: Eco-Insurrectionist decks. Now that we’ve seen how the full Borealis Cycle has changed the format, it’s time for a bit of a shake up.

Eternal Points List 23.03 Summary of Changes

Effective Date: 31 March, 2023

• Ob Superheavy Logistics is now 2 points (up from 1)
• Tech Trader is now 1 point (down from 2)
• Mti Mwekundu: Life Improved is now 1 point (down from 2)

Click here to jump to the full list.

Explanation of Changes

Everyone’s favourite boat has been an Eternal superstar since it was released in Midnight Sun, delivering instant speed tutoring in the game’s largest cardpool. Ob has been a great addition to the format and has featured in some strong decks. However, with the release of Parhelion, very consistent and powerful combo kill decks featuring Jeeves Model Bioroids and Mutually Assured Destruction have appeared in the meta, delivering fairly reliable third turn kills. The ability to fetch most of your combo at will means these decks demand early interaction to avoid sudden death. While powerful and brutal combo decks are expected in Eternal, these Ob decks seem likely to be too powerful for the meta. The Balance Team will continue to observe Ob for a possible future increase to the full 3 points.

Since the Eternal format was revamped, Reg Whizzard: Master Gamer has been a dominant Runner archetype. Cards like Crowdfunding, Bloo Moose, and Desperado give this archetype the ability to contest early asset decks like Gagarin Deep Space, IG, and Ob. These decks are piles of money, breakers, and various tech. We’ve had difficulty finding a way to depower some of these Runners without cascading effects on the format. While we’re still attempting to reduce the reg Runner power level, we wanted to give players an incentive to play slightly stranger decks. Tech Trader needed a slight buff, allowing decks like Panopticon and Pirate Hayley, and Armand “Geist” Walker to see more play in the format, ensuring Eternal is the format for both the powerful and the weird and wonderful!

One of the other challenges the Balance Team has faced is buffing scoring Corps. The best glacier Corp, Mti, has never had much room for cards that it wants to play, since the same cards are found in unpleasant grinder decks. While there are other challenges for scoring Corps, we’re buffing Mti as a starting point to try to increase the popularity of this Corp archetype

Other cards are being considered for future adjustment. Pinhole Threading and Gaslight are being considered for future addition to the points list, but we don’t feel that it is currently necessary since many Runners are opting for Political Operative as the disruption tool of choice. Gaslight is very strong, but we determined it would be an overcorrection with the simultaneous nerf to Ob. IG’s increasing popularity, thanks to cards like Bladderwort, Simulation Reset, and Dr. Vientiane Keeling has been noted, but the Balance Team believes the current top Runners should be more than capable of handling the threats they pose.

We look forward to seeing what people come up with in the new points list and we hope to see people playing in more Eternal events this year!

Eternal Points List 23.03

Effective date: 31 March, 2023

Changes from Eternal Points List 22.09 highlighted in bold.