Greetings my fellow Casters! With UFO currently dropping and changing the game, it’s easy to miss some of the less obvious updates that have been clarified recently in the Rules Index. Some of these changes may seem subtle at first, but in a game as complex as MetaZoo, they will shift the landscape of the Meta significantly… so it’s best to pay attention. Luckily for you, I eat and sleep MetaZoo as a passion/unhindered obsession so allow me to break a few of these changes down, starting with the most important; Flood the Nerf. Here are some MetaZoo rule updates you should know.
If you’re a devoted Water player, you may have heard of the “First Anniversary Flood” combo. Let’s look at the effect box of FtE (Flood the Earth), “Once per game, you may Destroy each face-up non-Aura Page in the Arena except for Water Pages and Beasties with Flight”, and we’ll compare that with the effects of FAC (First Anniversary Celebration), “Nullify all traits on all pages until the end of your next turn”.
You may already see the combo; nullify traits with FAC, then wipe the board and take all those pesky Flight beasties along with (since their Flight trait has been nulled)! Just keep in mind that Flood the Earth must be the only Non-Aura page you contract that turn, you’ll have to contract FAC on your previous turn and wait until it comes back around to contract FtE. All of this WAS fair play up until our most recent Rules Index update, but no longer. You will now see that underneath FtE’s entry in the index, it now states,
“Flood the Earth checks for the Flight Trait. [FAC] would nullify the effects of Flight, but the beastie would still retain the trait”
So we must bid R I P to the FAC/FtE combo, you served us well dear friend and we salute you. To be honest tho, this change absolutely makes sense and I think they defined it well with the current language. Sorry Water Casters, f in the chat.
Ok, let’s move on to the next change, this one involving one of the popular chase cards of the Nightfall set, Grim Reaper. When Grim was introduced, it was hailed as an unstoppable force in the Arena. With a page effect that flatly states, “This Page cannot be affected by other pages” and an attack effect which, “ignores effect text boxes”, what can one really do to stop the Grim? The answer is very little, and due to a recent clarification in the Index… even less. One of the biggest debates around Grim’s effects was centered around the use of potions such as Smokey Spirits or Unlucky Potion to modify combat and die rolls, the argument being that these potions do not directly affect Grim, they affect combat itself and the die rolls of the Caster. It was a good argument, but in the end R&D sided with Grim, announcing that his attack cannot be Smokey’d or Unlucky’d due to the fact that it “ignores effect text boxes”. So even cards that peripherally affect Grim are ruled out… which again, I think is the wise decision. Grim is, hands down, the hardest beastie to cast in the game and I think it would’ve gone against the intention of the card to make him so easy to manipulate once he hit the Arena. I don’t think anyone is upset about this one, we’ll take it as a W for my favorite eternal force of Death.
Our third major amendment in the rulebook involves a beastie who is making a splash in the current meta after remaining overlooked for months. Beast of Busco finally got a proper entry in the Rules Index. Phew, as someone who cherishes both my water decks and my lightning decks, this has been intense. Beast of Busco’s “Hungry Crypto” power allows its controller to place their palm flat on the top of the page and every opposing page they touch with their fingers is dealt 50 damage; likewise, any pages that they control, if touched, are destroyed and result in a bookmark. The debates have been MANY; ranging from, “what is considered the top of the page”, to what is considered “my full palm”, to “how much can I rotate my hand”, “what’s the terra bonus about?”, and on and on and on as you can imagine with an effect as unique and powerful as Busco.
Well, debate no longer; the answers are here. Beast of Busco just got an enormous update in the Index which you should absolutely familiarize yourself with. In short, they answer all of the questions. The top of the page is static to the direction Busco is facing so if you fatigue Busco to the left, the left side is now the top and vice versa. You do not have the option to tilt your palm or cheat away from the direction in which Busco is facing after fatigue but you may choose to fatigue him 90’ to the left or the right. Finally, they also state that the Terra bonus does not affect the damage of “Hungry Crypto”, so no 100 damage per finger. There’s a bit more to unpack there but I suggest you take a look at the Index yourself for this one. Otherwise we could be here all day discussing the Beast.
Finally, we come to the end with a simple (but important) clarification on the Defender trait. Defender in Metazoo grants a beastie double its max LP on the opposing players’ turns, so if the Matlox you control has 90 base LP on your turn, it will have 180 LP on your opponents’ turns… but what happens if I hit that beastie with a Toxic Water and I remove the Trait? Does the LP remain doubled? Thanks to the new clarification we now see that the LP will REDUCE back to the printed LP when Defender is removed, making them much easier to deal with.
That’s all for today! According to R&D, we’ll be receiving weekly Rules Index updates over the course of the next few months so I’ll be sure to check in now and then to inform you of the changes. With a game as complex as Metazoo, every answer only leads us to further questions and I’m here for it. Thanks so much for tuning in, I hope this helps you and if you’d like to take a look at the index yourself, you can find it below at https://metazoogames.com/pages/rules-index
-Until next time!
Moldy (@moldypotions on IG)
