Hey gang, today’s article will be a little bit of a different flavor. I’m calling it an opinion piece since it’s not in my usual new player content and community building, though you could make the argument that promoting positivity is community building. Also pretty much all of my articles are opinion anyway, so who am I fooling? Let’s dive into some context about the current fretting over ‘meta’ and why I believe there’s not much to worry about after all.

There has been a good amount of chatter online these past few weeks about the recent metagame and the prevalence of ‘ping damage’ – cards that deal direct damage to a fighter without the opportunity for a defense roll. While this kind of card has existed for a long time, recent strong warbands Ephilim’s Pandaemonium and Domitan’s Stormcoven have been able to make more use of it than others before them. Additionally, it has been supported with good options in both the Daring Delvers and Seismic Shock Rivals decks. With the upcoming Deathgorge box leaning into this mechanic once again with both new warbands as well as the Force of Frost Rivals deck, the discussion has picked up pace once more with some more vocal people decrying the ‘bad design’ and ‘terrible decision making’ from Games Workshop – one person on the Vassal Discord going so far as to ‘hope people get fired over this’.

In defense of the Vassal Discord, it’s packed with some of the most passionate people in the community who have invested the most into this game and care the most about its future direction, and I get that you don’t want to see something you love change in a way you feel might be for the worse. Shoobie, the forum runner, has actually made the recent decision to bring Aman of Path to Glory in to help restructure the discord and assemble a moderation team to help bring things into a more positive frame, which I support wholeheartedly. I’m not advocating for toxic positivity, but some of the more virulent negative takes do little to support the game’s health or the community’s growth. Today I’ll take a stab at observing the meta in a realistic yet optimistic way.

Why the Sky is Not Falling

I’ll begin by saying that yes, it does appear that the Ping Meta is here to stay, and it’s fair that some players may not like it as much. But to say that it ‘ruins the game’ is a step too far. What a ping card does is increase the lethality of the game, speeding up the rate at which models can be removed from the board, sometimes without much you can do about it. This does change which warbands are better or worse, which cards have more or less utility, etc. That said, there have been other times when lethality has increased in this game (or other meta shifts) and people have been able to adapt. Great Strength is a staple card that moves many fighters into ‘one-shot’ territory, and people either learned to take additional wounds or damage reduction, or accept that some fighters will not survive the first attack. When Beastgrave and Direchasm had us sprinkling lethal hexes all over the board, people learned to stay away, take cards/actions that reduce their chance of being driven back, or learned to accept you might be dropped into a pit (and a trap/pit trap/twist the knife).

My point is that there have been meta situations before that had high lethality, and the game and community persisted – not to mention the dozens of other changes in the meta over the years. There was absolutely grumbling at the time these things were getting started, but in time they became normal and simply part of how the game was played. This change might rankle some, yes, but there are ways we can learn to adapt and things we can do in light of the prevalence of pings/magic/wizard dominance. Remember Cursebreakers? I do, and while they were very strong for a time, the game wasn’t a disaster – it just simply had a different flavor for a while.

Evidence from Other Games and Systems

While ‘Ping’ might be somewhat of a unique concept for Warhammer Underworlds when compared to other games, there are some analogous rules that we can look at in other games to see that their inclusion or rising prevalence does not destroy a game or community. Magic: the Gathering has had direct damage for as long as I can remember, and it’s a core part of Red decks. When you play that game, you simply understand that Red will try to do that to you and either play to your own gameplan or attempt to prevent it depending on the tools you have. That community hasn’t seen Red on Red finals in every tournament as if it’s the world’s greatest strategy, and if it somehow became such, the rules could change in the future. Hearthstone has a few heroes who have built in direct damage as a core mechanic in the game, and it’s certainly popular. Even within Games Workshop properties, there exists the concept of “Mortal Wounds” – abilities and effects that cause damage without the target getting to use their armor, and perhaps without even rolling to hit or wound. When the concept was introduced, there were naysayers. When it became more commonplace with certain factions, there were doomsayers. Yet 40K has persisted, the player base adapted to the new reality, and their community is larger and more vibrant than ever before despite “ping”. There is no reason we can’t do the same.

Suggestions for Overcoming this Challenge

One way to adapt to the prevalence of ping is to re-evaluate warband choices. Perhaps before you played mostly low wound/high model count warbands- you certainly still can, but they will be more punished by ping cards. You could focus on choosing objectives that don’t require as many surviving fighters, or have contingencies for when fighters die earlier than they used to. You could try to take more cards (that previously saw almost no play) such as ‘spells cannot damage this fighter’, ‘no gambits can be played in the next power step’, etc. Or you could take more ping cards yourself and play with the new design space. You can also consider trying Nemesis or Rivals, as there will be less ping to go around in these formats and it won’t influence the game as much (plus, Nemesis is great for a dozen other reasons).

There are myriad ways to adapt to the change in ‘what’s good these days’ and what you expect your opponents to bring, but being mad about it online doesn’t actually help you adapt. It doesn’t improve your mood, it doesn’t change the reality, and it doesn’t inspire other people to play the game with you. People are mad because they like the game! If you like the game, you should want to play it, and want others to play it with you. Driving away potential players with Debbie-Downerism isn’t how you do that. So let’s learn to overcome together and enjoy this marvelous game with its new coat of paint. Who knows, you might just like it after all.

The Only Constant is Change

The fact of the matter is that this game has changed in the past, and will change again in the future. A new warband will release, and it will have some card that’s very strong. A new set of rules will come out, and it will affect the viability of some cards and strategies. A new board will be in play, an old card pack will rotate out, and so on. The game doesn’t exist in a single state for long, and that’s a good thing. Personally, I want for it to change, to have things remain new and exciting, with different sandboxes for us to experiment in. I adore Warhammer Underworlds, and part of its charm is the chance to try something new every so often, or bring back an old favorite now that the scene is different. Humans instinctively fear change, and hesitate to give up on something they are comfortable with. But clinging to the past or advocating for stagnation does little to improve the game or promote the growth of the player base – it drives people away because it tells them ‘the game sucks and the players are all angry people’. we can do better, and we should do better.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m excited for the head games I’ll have to play to stay out of Hammertide’s straight-line path. I’m excited to find out how well I’m able to avoid adjacency to stave off a devastating Irresistible Feast. Believe it or not, I’m even excited to see Abasoth’s Avalance blast some of my warbands! I used to love playing Shardgale back in the day. Are things going to look different? YES! Let’s explore this new space with a sense of wonder and remember why we play this game – because we like fun. And it’s fun to try new things.

I referenced this in a recent Underworld Underground podcast episode, but you really should consider reading the (very short and digestible) book Who Moved My Cheese. Your local library almost certainly has a copy available in print, e book, and audiobook. You can get it right now through the Libby App! Instead of wondering what evildoer changed your beloved game and griping about how they shifted the meta, you can lace up your shoes and embrace your new adventure. As Haw can tell you:

“The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese”

As stated before, this is an opinion piece, and you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion which does not have to align with mine. I invite your feedback and am open to discussions, but strongly believe that this is a great game, and while it may look different after a change, it will remain a great game and I will continue to love playing it. I hope you’re able to feel the same! What new adventures in Deathgorge are you looking forward to?

• Fishmode
  GW Fanboy and Delusional Optimist