What if you made Forgotten Fighter 1 gold and target any tech 0 or tech 1 cost 2 or less. Patroller or not.
You’re maybe getting +1 gold out of a -1 card trade, plus getting tempo.
Is that better than StW? I’d say no. Is that better than Rampant Growth or Sensei’s Advice? Maybe. It’s probably better than arrest or scorch now? Seems okay to me.
3 buffs all at once sounds like a lot, especially if we’re trying for a “light touch”.
Are we buffing the purple starter in general now? My sense is that overall the starter is strong, with Fading Argonaut as of the most consistently strong starter units, Nullcraft threatening some nice harrass, and Plasmodium for the potential of early timing attacks.
Forgotten Fighter doesn’t have to be buffed to be a card that is played often, it’s just a tool that could be tweaked to deal with Aven better if we’re concerned about the Purple-Blue matchup.
Is there an example of that ability ever being used in competitive play? I can’t think of one. It is absolutely terrible. @dreamfire sorry I should have specificed, I’m talking about Porkhand Magistrate.
I feel like I’ve seen it once, but I definitely wouldn’t be able to find it without searching through years of tournament posts… 
Here are a couple, both played by the winner of a match:
You just have to search for “forgotten fighter your” or “forgotten fighter bounces” 
Well, I’m ostensibly at work so I wasn’t quite willing to do that, haha! Thanks though, that’s interesting that the few times it did get used that player was able to win the game.
That wasn’t an exhaustive search, more a proof of concept (I too, should be working).
if you click on the reply symbol on penatronic’s post, you’ll see they were talking about porko’s tap to disable ability
(joining the people who should be working but instead are milling about on a forum :))
While Penatronic was talking about porkhand, my two cents on forgotten fighter:
half the card’s effect isn’t about when it’s played but when it makes an opponent act differently because it could be played
I think I’ve seen Porkhand used when the opponent relies on a single card to do all the work, usually some sort of solo hero rush (e.g. maxband Midori rushing the base with Moment’s Peace spam). If I remember correctly, it was rare that the game was close enough by then for it to matter.
So it has only been played against me specifically losing to it. Got it, nevermind, doesn’t need buffs XD
No honestly I wasn’t suggesting all of the buffs I suggested to FF, just thought it was an interesting thought experiment. I do think 1 cost and target non patrollers is warranted though
I think porky shouldn’t pay 1 for his ability, otherwise is fine.
@Penatronic I found one case (by searching for “Porky disables”). Exactly the circumstances that @charnel_mouse described.
So, it’s true that Porkhand Magistrate doesn’t get played, but Arrest does. And Arrest is arguably on par with Porkhand Magistrate’s ability, maybe even weaker:
Porkhand Magistrate vs Arrest:
Seems to me like the maths of Porkhand Magistrate’s ability vs Arrest is pretty even. The real issue is that 3 cost for a 2/3 is a bit expensive early, and the blue meta right now is mostly about card explosions with Reteller of Truths or Flagstone Garrison, so it doesn’t fit in very well later game either.
I think Porkhand Magistrate is off-meta more that out of balance.
Also: making a second source of Arrest cheaper would be even more oppressive against purple.
The main things Porkhand Magistrate has over Arrest is that it can target heroes and Tech III units, and that you can consistently disable something every turn, but Blue starter makes it difficult to have the tempo to capitalise on the latter.
From what I’ve seen of Porkhand being used, I think you’re also underestimating how painful it can be to give your opponent an extra card, especially on multiple turns. Unless you’re disabling something their entire deck relies on, you’re roughly paying to give them a free Surplus add-on.
it’s an ability that is really bad early game, and there’s no way it’s not going to be a worker before there’s a good target for it. I guess the real question is how do you make it remotely useful going second vs black or white starter, and I can’t think of a good change. Any change to cost or stats feels like too much. maybe make it a 2/4? even that seems pretty decent for 3 gold.
Word. I havn’t played that many games against purple starter yet, but FF kept giving me hedaches as a well timed FF, especially in combination with battle suits and/or nullcraft, very well is capable of giving you that very relevant early hero kill. If the opponent factors that in he usually plays in such a way that FF is not necessary to play, but the threat in hand really is relevant and leads to the opponent playing more defensively. Therewith purple gets what it wants simply by the card being within the starting 10: more time in the early game. I wouldn’t mind it being able to pop a backline Aven though.
Yeah it’s a card that can often remove two health from the board, for two gold. That’s not as bad as people are making out. The real issue is having to play a hero, rather than the spell itself.
Yeah, I get that giving the opponent an extra card is aversive. Compared to playing Arrest, both players get an additional card. If it can give you a tech break or delay something like Molting Firebird from wrecking your day then that situation would be worth it, or if you’re lower on cards yourself. Hey, maybe lack of respect for Porkhand Magistrate when you’re low on cards is part of why blue is struggling against black with the imps!
Or alternatively, if you have a reputable newsman, building inspector, or gemscout owl in play, you can give yourself a free surplus add-on.
@Penatronic I mean, snapback is an ability that’s really bad early game, and it’s a strong card. I’m not saying that Porkhand Magistrate is as strong as snapback, but that it’s situational like that.
I’m really not saying that Porkhand Magistrate is super strong, but unless we’re arguing that Arrest is too weak then it’s not clear how the Magistrate’s ability is inbalanced with Arrest if we do the math. It’s not being played has more to do with the current meta than the strength of the card.
Sure, so with what you’ve said they r pretty even. Now add:
While other arguments based on its lack of early game impact or the value of using it as an (expensive as hell) ‘surplus’ are, I agree, hard to quantify, I don’t agree that it is balanced with arrest if we do the math.
What about dropping its gold cost. Two and reducing its stats to 2/2? Makes it a little bit more useful without the text without being particularly powerful in any way.