While the Genesis set is critical to the overarching concept of the game – true player ownership – we wanted to highlight how it doesn’t impact the accessibility of Gods Unchained as a whole.
Featured writer and long-time TCG player, Luci Kelemen explains...
You are free to play for free
Looking across the digital TCG industry, it’s evident that a paywall isn't the answer to making a great card game. If you have a strategic mindset and dedicate the time required to the mastery of a given title, you should be able to succeed. Gods Unchained also values this approach, and it is exactly why the dev team is dedicated to providing the resources needed to compete via the free-to-play pathway in the game.
It's worth noting the many viable options in the GU metagame. Even this early in the game’s life cycle, where Genesis cards actually make up a decent percentage of the overall card pool, you can still find top decks on GuDecks.com with an estimated price of a goose egg: 0 ETH. These are made up entirely of Core cards and require no Marketplace purchase or any Genesis cards to catapult you to the top of the ladder, as long as you make the correct decisions on your way to Mythic.
Here are just a few examples of provably competitive core decks and archetypes: like this Death Zoo deck, or these options for Nature and War respectively. Expect this to remain the case going forward and you have a scenario where any enterprising player will be able to qualify for the world tournament with just Core cards in their arsenal.
Of course players with Genesis cards have been at an advantage in recent times, predominantly due to the Core reset and the launch of the Marketplace. But as multiple new sets and further content releases are added to the game in early 2020 and beyond, Genesis cards will become a smaller portion of the overall card pool, and many meta decks will have viable alternatives to cards in this set.
From a gameplay perspective, Genesis cards provide something different. A special way to leverage your true ownership of Gods Unchained cards, and a highlight of the perks of being an early adopter.
The Genesis set: options and opportunities
The primary reason Gods Unchained embraced blockchain technology is the emphasis on player ownership. Too often favorite archetypes and strategies get nerfed to the ground, never to be played again the same way. It’s just the memories that remain, with no way to recoup what was lost – either from a gameplay perspective or a financial one. And that’s assuming you even have the opportunity to sell them on: most digital card games opt for a purely collectible-based approach instead of any sort of a marketplace, and even those which do decide to open up trading in a closed environment where you have no realistic way of ultimately cashing out in a legitimate way.
Blockchain technology also allows Gods Unchained to take another long-lost aspect of physical card games: the individuality of the specific cards you own. Some example in the pipeline include signed cards, unique artwork, fabled stories of where they’ve been. i.e. tracking the unique history of every card. This allows for added value in everything you own in Gods Unchained.
So how does the long-term vision for the Genesis set factor into all this? Think of them as optional tools for those who want to experience more depth in the Gods Unchained experience, by offering meta variety and unique matches. The uber-rare Mythic cards, for instance, aren’t meta-defining (nor are they meant to be) but will definitely create jaw-dropping, board storming experiences whenever they’re played. Ultimately, the Genesis cards will be a source of surprise for players in the future as the pool of available cards expands beyond its current state.
For free-to-play players, the Genesis set will be an intriguing curiosity; part of what makes Gods Unchained different from other card games out there but not something that’s necessary to engage with in order to have fun (or succeed) going forward. Meanwhile, for players who’d like to mix things up, while opening up a whole range of new, diverse options - from gaming the Marketplace to some added spice for existing decks - the option is always there to dive in and explore.
So onwards and upwards in 2020 – with many more of the stories, cards, decks and gameplay experiences which already made Gods Unchained such a special endeavor. For the loyal GU fanbase who have already been along for this wild ride, we thank you for the continued support. We promise there’s a lot more to come in the new year.
~ Luci Kelemen
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