In-game balance

Core Card Balance Principle

The core of the balance system is a simple formula for calculating a card’s effectiveness:

Effective Value = Damage + Defence + Heal + Effect Value

Where:

• Damage — damage dealt by the card

• Defence — damage blocked by the card

• Heal — health restored by the card

• Effect Value — numerical estimate of the card’s special ability (defined based on testing and meta-analysis)

Card Cost Balance (Mana Efficiency)

For a card to be considered balanced, its efficiency relative to mana cost should stay within a target range:

Mana Efficiency = Effective Value / Mana Cost

Target range:
1.5 ≤ Mana Efficiency ≤ 2.5

Mana Efficiency	Interpretation
< 1.5	Weak card (niche or situational usage)
1.5 - 2.5	Balanced card
> 2.5	Strong card (limited by mechanics or conditions)

Example of Card Efficiency Calculation

Card	Damage	Defence	Heal	Effect Value	Mana cost	Effective Value	Mana Efficiency
MFER	1	0	0	0	0	1	-
NOUNS	2	0	0	0	1	2	2.0
SHIELD V3	0	3	0	0	2	3	1.5
VITALIK	0	0	0	1 (draw a card)	1	1	1.0
MMOXIE	1	0	0	2 (double next attack damage)	2	3	1.5

Card Effect Values

Card effects are difficult to estimate purely with numbers, so the following approximate Effect Values are used for balancing:

Effect	Example Card	Effect Value
Draw 1 card	VITALIK	1
Double next attack's damage	MOXIE	2
Ignore opponent's defence	BARMSTRONG	1
+ 1 mana for 2 turns	PAC	2
Reflect 1 attack	SUPERANON	2

Theoretical Battle Balance

Under standard game conditions:

• 5 mana per turn

• 8 turns before deck reset

• 40 HP per player

Maximum total mana per deck cycle:

Total Mana = Turns * Mana per Turn = 8 * 5 = 40

If a player uses only attacking cards with Mana Efficiency ≈ 2.0, they can deal:

Max Damage = Total Mana * Mana Efficiency = 40 * 2 = 80

Meanwhile, the opponent has:

• 40 HP

• Defensive and healing cards

• Counterplay effects

Thus:

Victory = Effective Value per Mana Distribution + Proper Deck Management

Key Game Balance Identity

Attack Potential ≈ Defence Potential + HP + Heal Potential + Game Effects

Graph explanation

Line	Meaning	Comment
Red (dashed)	Pure damage without defense and healing	If the player doesn’t defend or heal, their health drops very quickly
Green	Real damage considering defense and healing	It shows that defense and healing significantly slow down HP loss
Blue (dashed)	Player’s base HP = 40	A horizontal reference line for evaluating the speed of taking damage

This identity means that for a player playing perfectly (without mistakes), the chances of victory are determined not by the raw power of cards, but by the skillful combination and usage of them.

Calculation Results

Used Values

Variable	Value	Description
HP	40	Player’s starting health
D_avg	3.0	Average damage per attack card
DEF_avg	2.0	Average defense per defense card
H_avg	3.0	Average heal per heal card
M_regen	5	Mana regeneration per turn

HP loss without defense and healing

HP_t = HP - t * D_avg

After 10 turns: HP = 40 - 10 * 3 = 10

HP loss with defense and healing

HP_t = HP - max(0, t * D_avg - t * DEF_avg - t * H_avg)

In our case: t * D_avg - t * DEF_avg - t * H_avg = t * (3 - 2.5 + 1.5) = t * (2)

Metric	Value	What it means
Average damage	3	Deals strong damage
Average defense	2	Partially reduces damage
Average healing	3	Almost compensates for damage, but not fully
Total	-2 HP/turn	The player loses 2 HP each turn