Reposted from my Axie-specific blog (Diary of a Lunacian). Also in video formats on Youtube - Long form and Shorts
tldr: Player 1 now only wins about 40% of the time after the changes in the Epic Era of Season 4
The Epic Era of Season 4 of Axie Infinity: Origins came with a number of changes to address the First Player Advantage problem in the Rare Era. It is good that Sky Mavis realises the problem and try to solve it fast, but it still makes me wonder whether Sky Mavis has enough resources in the game test department to allow such things to happen. Perhaps their philosophy is to just throw things out and see how things go.
Here is a quick summary of the changes with Player 1 (player who goes first) in Season 4 of the Epic Era (from the official annoucement):
- Player 1 will no longer have a Free Keep.
- Player 2 will retain their First Keep until they use it (previously, it would expire after Round 1).
- On Turn 5, player 1's energy will be reduced to 2 (previously 3).
- On Turn 5, player 1's card draw will be reduced to 4 (previously 5).
The big one is the third bullet point - Player 1 will only have 2 energy on Turn 5. I personally think it is a good change on its own, but together with the other changes, it now makes going first a bit tougher than going second.
Figure 1. Win rates of Player 1 (player going first) of matches involving the top players in the first few hours of the Epic Era of Season 4 in Axie Infinity: Origins
Data collected from matches in the first few hours of the Epic Era (before the emergency maintenance on 24 May 2023; Figure 1) showed that the win rate of Player 1 is now down to about 40% at the top of the leaderboard. While it is still far from 50%, it is at least a step in the right direction. Still, it remains a problem that there seems to be not enough game testing before the release of the balance changes. It seems like Sky Mavis is going with the approach of throwing things out there, let the community be the game testers, and react to the feedback from the community (which is a valid apporach for a developing game). I do hope that we will soon get to a point where the game is more mature and there could be more internal balance testing before releasing the updates so that we can avoid similar things from happening.
For now, it is what it is. Just remember to change your habit from the Rare Era, and click going second in the Epic Era. Good luck and have fun with the Epic Era!
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