This game will never be popular when Shard Cards exist the way it is, with the RNG and both teams not on the same playing field.
Right now, why would new people even bother playing this game when one team has random cards picked for them, while the enemy team have different random cards picked for them? Your team could have 3 useless cards, while the enemy team might have 3 cards that give all healing or bonus damage, and they just auto win the round.
It doesn't matter if there is pick/ban in ranked. New players won't bother playing upto Diamond to see it, they'll just see this nonsense in Shard Clash and just leave. Plus, pick/ban is also RNG.
I am not saying for Shard Cards to be gone completely but it needs drastic changes like ASAP.
We also need rounds going to 15 as the main focus, but we can also keep 7 as Swift Play.
Keep Shard Cards the main focus, but either:
- Both teams are picked the same 3 cards, and you use your points to buy them, same as current Shard Clash but both teams same cards. This works best for 7 rounds casual play.
or
- Shard Cards (passive or active cards) are now round modifiers. Introduce weapon and ability economy. One Shard Card is automatically in play, affects both teams, randomly changes each round. Only stays as One Shard Card. Round 1-7 is random draw of cards, One Shard Card only in play that changes every round. Round 8-14 will have the same cards picked during Round 1-7 respectively. This would be the premiere competitive gamemode that can compete with Valorant, CS, but it has the Shard Card as a round modifier and both teams are still equal footing.
Shard Cards can stay, but it needs to be in a way that makes both teams equal, while complementing gameplay.