Duelyst Forums

Soooo... Why aren't we talking about the new keyword: Sentinel?

#1

It seems that the majority of community missed this, but in the new expansion, a new keyword will be added, naimly, Sentinel. I found this here

The article is short and detailed and desribes how the new keyword works better then I can, so I won’t be repeating it. What do you think about it? I feel that we curently lack some details on how the Keyword works. For instance, if I were to Phoenix fire any of the Sentinel: spell played would it transform before the Phoenix fire hit, or would it simply die?

#2

the transform happens before the card effect resolves, so they transform nd then take damage from pf. detals like does dancing blades work on freeblade are left to be discoverable I guess.

#3

So, what happens to Basilisk? Does one spell activated transform it and gives it +3/+3 or does another spell need to be casted for it to happen?

#4

I’ve no idea if it gets the buff before the spell or after, I would expect after, but will have to test.

#5

If a spell triggers one of the spell orientated sentinels, it will transform and activate their effect based on what card they are before the spell effect resolves. Caring a Phoenix fire on a hidden basilisk, for example, would transform it first, give it +3/+3, then it would take Phoenix Fire damage. In the end, you get a 5/2 basilisk.

It is also important to note that opening gambits are currently the only (?) confirmed effect to take place before a sentinel transforms, since opening gambits happen and resolve before a minion is summoned (hence why hearth sister will not give you a mana crystal if you place it on a mana tile and switch its place with another unit via it’s opening gambit).

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#6

I feel like missinterperating the Sentinel effects will be the main cause of rage quits the first few days.

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#7

I expect we’re simply a bit shell-shocked by all the reveals going on.

The Sentinel mechanism seems very healthy for the game to me and I’ll be enjoying learning to effectively play around the different ones. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more turns where players hold off doing things because they can’t afford the Sentinel backlash, and that seems like a good thing to me. The uncertainty factor has the potential to really deter overextension and aggressive decks in a way we haven’t seen before.

I’ve seen people complain about the Vanar Sentinels but I’m not especially worried by them because I don’t expect them to push any already dominant archetypes. All of the Sentinels seem viable to me, and I expect most players will run at least 2 out of 3 of them to avoid being too easily predicted.

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#8

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am really excited about these, I just have a feeling that the mechanics might be a bit confusing untill we figure out how exactly they work. I am curius on whether we will also get some sentinel support, something along the lines of Hunter or Mage in HS.

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#9

We already have some support for the spell ones in the form of sphynx. Cause who wants a riddle? Nobody

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#10

Songhai Grandmaster can also force the enemy General to attack, popping your Mizuchis

#11

So far the sentinel keyword looks too messily complex, particularly with the “undispellable” inconsistency. Hopefully it works better in practice.

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#12

We’ve already asked some questions in a thread around here somewhere. We’re just not really sure as to how to think about sentinels and how they’ll affect gameplay yet

#13
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#14

Most of the sentinel discussion has been in the interview thread, so there wasn’t much of a point in creating an entirely new thread discussing them.

#15

I think an argument still has to be made on the stupid wording of these

#16

What wording is stupid? The effect seems pretty clear to me.

#17

try to think as a new player who knows nothing about the game.
Do you expect a newcomer to understand that Bound Tormentor is in fact a morph creature 3/3 that transforms when the ennemy does something, that this happens before any effect currently in the game and that can’t be dispelled back to its original state but can be dispelled as a new creature?
Heck without the tutorial, Bound Tormentor was a mess to understand for me, and since I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, though I’m a tool, I asked a few of my friends who once played Duelyst to explain to me what this card did. Only one was able to give me an accurate definition, but not quite since it’s said nowhere that it triggers from ENNEMY units.

So, yeah I think the wording is beyond bad.

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#18

I think you raise some valid points. These cards definitely put more burden of knowledge on players, which can be especially frustrating with new players.

I think this can be alleviated by putting the rules of sentinels in the effect colum of the “morph” creatures themselves. Specifically list that it will permanently transform after one of three effects proc, which can very depending on the minion it is hiding. Also that the effect cannot be dispelled.

#19

Ooook I’m learning a new thing about this every post that comes here. When they said it wasn’t dispellable I thought it couldn’t be reverted to it’s original state.
While this is true, if I understand you well, the Morph 3/3 token can’t be prevented from transforming with a silence right?
Man this thing is such a mess.
The problem with these is that the card is waaaay too small for such overly complicated designs.
I think something has to be done on the layout. Wether it be on the whole class/ neutral identity of the card or on the textbox that is way too short. If CPG intends to do something on elaborate and advanced card effects, this has to be done.

#20

You’re right in that the sentinel itself cannot be prevented from transforming by a dispel effect.

Hopefully the devs do something to make the effect more clear. I think elaborating more in the text box of the sentinels themselves would be the best course of action by this point.