This article is written by me, Tom Ross, BossMTG on discord and social media. I’m currently the #1 ranked player on Spellslingers. It reflects my personal opinions for balance changes to Spellslingers after getting feedback from members of team mtg-ss. It doesn’t represent the intentions or opinions of Wizards of the Coast. It also doesn’t address any bug concerns, the user interface, or the economy.

Tier List:

1 – Ral, Teferi, Liliana, Domri
2 – Vivien, Serra, Nissa, Ajani
3 – Drizzt, Jace, Kiora, Angrath, Vraska, Gideon, Chandra, Nahiri, Kaya
4 – Ashiok, Sorin

I believe that tier 1 is well above the other Slingers, while the rest of them are closer in power-level.

Ral – Spark of Genius to 1 mana, Awakened Horror 5/5 from 6/5. Free spells are always a problem, and likely will always be. Thing of the Ice is troublesome when transformed early (turn two on the draw), and I can see its stats being adjusted as well.

Teferi – There are many ways to address Teferi’s strength. Some options are:

  – Disorient to 2 mana (maybe -4/-0)
  – It’s Alive! to a 1/1
  – Reducing Teferi’s starting life
  – Teferi’s Acolyte to 2/4 or 1/5
  – Teferi’s Staff to 3 mana

Of these I like reducing Teferi’s life by 1 and making Disorient 2 mana for -3/-0. I don’t like reverting on the 2 cards for 3 traps passive so early after the change, and I imagine 1 card for 2 traps brings up UI issues to deal with. I like It’s Alive! as a strong card that could be playable in other decks… and it also speeds up wins from Teferi once the game has been determined. How Vindictive Shot is changed (either its wording to match its effect, or coded to work as worded) should be taken into account how many nerfs Teferi sees… so 2 nerfs if Vindictive Shot is made weaker and 3 if it’s wording is changed to match effect (-2 starting life would count as 2 nerfs.)

Liliana – Champion of the Perished 3/1 from 2/1. Corpse Conveyor 4 mana from 3. Soulsever Lich 8/4 from 9/4. Every damage point matters and reducing the Lich’s power one will reduce the number of single-shot kills. I think the Liliana reanimator deck is cool and it’s fun to “do the thing” and as a whole I’d like her kit to stay strong and for non-reanimator Liliana decks to have a chance. I believe that Champion of the Perished can be 3/1 from 2/1 to push small zombie beatdown without affecting the bigger builds.

Domri – Gatstaf Agitators add “can’t block”. Domri is a good deck for an unknown metagame and took advantage of the buff with traps and moonlight. Without affecting Domri’s overall kit I think slightly nerfing a werewolf like Gatstaf Agitators makes sense.  The turn Gatstaf Agitators is cast and transforms would be more vulnerable for aggro decks to punch through damage.  

Vivien – No changes. I believe Vivien to be an optimal deck to have as a strong deck in the metagame. She’s difficult to sequence which rewards experience and knowledge of combat.

Serra – No changes. I think Serra is appropriately strong. The problem is her games take too long. Assembling 2x Mend, Strahd, and Sanguine Bond for turn 14 is a cool idea, but get’s old fast.

Nissa – No changes. Centaur Sage should be watched as making it a 4/4 from 5/5 wouldn’t affect its main purpose but a nerf would certainly ding the Nissa and Domri decks using it, especially ones using Channeler of Might, forcing them to play “normal” beefy creatures like General Eladamri.

Ajani – No changes. Great midrange deck that goes bigger and taller than everything else.

Drizzt – No changes. The waves of nerfs have Drizzt in the right place.

Jace – Laboratory Maniac to 2/2 from 3/3. This would match the real Magic stats. The Laboratory Maniac deck is still playable with many more hoops to jump through, more vulnerabilities, and slower win rate. Still, if LabMan Jace becomes popular again it could the detrimental to the health of the game, so insuring that it dies to Infest would give some insurance, and that it dies to Break a Leg or Shock if left bare.

Kiora – No changes. Kiora looked really hard to balance so I’m happy she’s stable. Any more strength may push her to being another control deck with Leviathan inevitability. Primeval Titan to 7/7 may be enough to spark interest without going overboard.

Angrath – No changes. Angrath is both beating who he should and losing to who he should at a good rate.

Vraska – No changes. She got some changes in the last balance update, but I feel like the metagame isn’t quite right for her to succeed again.

Gideon – No changes. I think Gideon is still a strong deck even after the last wave of nerfs and that Serra has taken the spotlight for white players. I wouldn’t revert back to 4/4 Gideon this soon.

Chandra – No changes. Chandra is the starting Spellslinger so we don’t want to buff her too much. I’d like to buff a card not in her kit, and not easily accessible to newer players. Path of the Barbarian seems like a good target to improve red decks in the mid-to-late leagues. Buff to Path of the Barbarian is below.

Nahiri – No changes. Like Chandra, a Path of Barbarian buff may be enough to help her plan and winrate a tick.

Kaya – No changes. She’s mainly a good check against decks with no flying defense. Vampiric Knight buff below may help her winrate.

Ashiok – No changes. Ashiok dominated for a long time and there is still fatigue from it. Ashiok is still counterplay against Teferi.

Sorin – Plus 1 starting life. His passive heals him, making his starting life more than it seems, but is still low compared to someone like Serra. A little more life would play better with Death’s Shadow builds. Sorin’s main pairing is naturally with the red vampires, but there exist some white options as well. Buffs for Redeemed Thief and Vampiric Knight are below. Sorin was overshadowed by Laboratory Maniac and Gutfire Devil so I think a little limelight on him here would be nice.


INDIVIDUAL CARD CHANGES

Eternal Phoenix – 3 mana from 4 mana. This card is sweet and that it should see some play for a Mythic. I don’t think giving it haste is the answer since then it’s close to Inferno. After thinking about it being a 3/2 and other options I think making it 3 mana makes it a solid card. People can see it coming with the miracle reveal and it’s not clear it’d be better than a Skyknight Legionnaire. It’d give the red decks a slight boost, especially in the midrange department.

Pasture Prowler – 4/4 from 3/4. I still believe this is worse than a Kalonian Tusker… or even a 2 mana 3/3. Might be cool to set up a board where the opponent has 5 creatures so the Prowler’s drawback is negated.

Hoarding Dragon – 4/5 from 3/5. The only time I see this card is from something like Draconic Transformation where the debut doesn’t trigger. I think the slight buff might see Hoarding Dragon as a top-end of some mid-league decks.

Wrong Turn – Miracle from 2 cost from 3 cost. Flagrant Foul is still the go-too removal spell for black decks and having a 6 or 2 cost removal spell splits the difference to the point that people may consider Wrong Turn.

Vampiric Knight – 2/2 for 3 mana from 2/4 for 4 mana. Reducing the cost here opens several doors. Sorin gets an efficient vampire that doesn’t conflict with curving into Rowdy Reveler. Kaya gets a three-drop that can do sneaky damage that isn’t just another flier or sneak creature. Gideon splashing white is more of an option, as is a deck with Serra and Davil, and both of those decks could use reach too. 2/2 for 3 with armor and drain 2 on attack is different enough from Famished Fiend and Gideon’s Veteran as well.

Redeemed Thief – 3/5 from 3/4 and “can’t be countered”. The “can’t be countered” part would be behind the scenes and wouldn’t be necessary to be written on the card. Can’t trigger traps makes sense to not trigger Absorb or Remand in my opinion. This would give counterplay to counterspell and heavy trap decks while pushing black-white Sorin.

Path of the Barbarian – +1/+0 permanently on Axe of Vengeance activations from +1/+0 until end of turn, 2 charges from 3. It’d give power to the red decks without affecting the lower leagues since it’s changing a Mythic card. It’s also weird to make a 5 power attacker that triggers Indomitable Strength only to have the buff fall off.

Wulfgar – Add trample. Trample would make Wulfgar more appealing for a legendary Epic and match up with his ferocity in D&D lore. Even with the buff it’s likely worse than a Spiked Baloth.

Cursed Cross-breed – Have it trigger when you leave up open mana with a trap. Aligns with moonlight.

Gauntlets of Ogre Power – Set power to 6 from 5. Enables a fun, but likely uncompetitive deck for people to explore.

Primeval, Frost, Sun, Grave, Inferno Titans – 7/7s from 6/6. This is a visually appealing buff rather than one that would affect the metagame significantly.