A new Season brings new balance changes This Season we take a look at the infamous ZAPPIES, a card that has been the center of balance discussion within the community since they entered the Arena!

• Damage:

  +20%
  

• Hit Speed:

  1.6s -> 2.0s

  (25% slower)

• Faster ‘First Attack’ on target:

  1.4sec -> 1sec
  

• Staggered Deploy Time:

  0.15sec
  

Zappies is a tough design to balance – while they are fragile and low damage, they had the ability to 'stun-lock' enemies unless they could be dealt with.

We want you to be able to play your cards, so having other cards easily shut down interactions is a no-no. When Zappies were competitively viable before, the meta became overly defensive and difficult to break through.

Ultimately, the stun-locking is the biggest problem with Zappies so it made the most sense to reduce its effectiveness. By reducing the hit speed (but increasing the damage), Zappies remain about the same Damage Per Second, but won’t disable enemies permanently. In exchange, Zappies get a faster first attack, enabling them to block charging Princes and other fast-moving targets before they close the gap.

• Building Lifetime:

  Reduced 60sec > 50s
  

• Spawn Time:

  Reduced 13.5s -> 12.5s
  

• Now spawns 2 Barbarians when destroyed

当晚率先展开的是败者组的比赛。首场比赛，在首局先失一城的情况下，法国天才Viiper凭借后两局的卡组针对成功逆转Samuel晋级，精准部署再次发威；另一边德国人ReicherT在前两局战成平手后，决胜盘用一套胜率奇高的自闭桶惊险取胜，与法国人会师下一轮。

胜者组方面，长发战神Lucas在面对MAU时火力全开，一局皮卡羊一局白王电胖都无懈可击，哪怕玻利维亚王牌斗志再强也无奈败北，Lucas也因此挺进决赛并手握两次机会。

回到败者组半决赛，首局在双方大闪互劈的情况下，ReicherT凭借多一个雪球伤害的微弱优势惊险获胜。第二局，ReicherT操刀墓园再次遇上克星自闭桶体系，但吸取前人经验的他前期先是力保血量，双倍之后一波沉单位外加蹦迪成功拉回劣势，最终再下一局挺进败者组决赛。

而在败者组决赛中，MAU再次展现出自己在组卡上的独特理解，先是超骑毒羊稳稳抓住ReicherT的超骑暗夜女巫墓体系，随后又是一手锅炉卫队四猪让德国天王的家驹全场迷失，最终，MAU击败ReicherT重回决赛，与巴西人Lucas再次上演巅峰对决。

Despite the reduced lifetime, Barbarian Hut will spawn the same number of total Barbarians (10). The last wave will come when the building is destroyed, making the Hut a bit more spell-resistant and consistent against Giants and Golems. The slightly faster spawns will allow waves to build up, making Barb Hut better at creating offensive meat shields to tie up enemy towers.

在短暂的休息之后，最后的决战正式拉开帷幕。第一场第一局比赛，Lucas操刀一套渔夫驹对上MAU的烟花炸弹桶。比赛前期，Lucas一个神级的渔夫拉飞桶开国王塔的操作让自己处于领先位置。比赛中期，占据优势的Lucas沉底打出双路驹的套路，而只有单路防守能力的MAU对此毫无办法，只能眼睁睁看着皇家巨人疯狂输出。最终，卡组天优的Lucas没有给对手太多机会，稳扎稳打先下一局。

第二局比赛，Lucas操刀一套烟花地震猪对上MAU的多空军狗矿体系。比赛中，MAU的一手灵性渔夫，直接让Lucas的野猪没有一锤定音的机会。反观当天狗过河之后，MAU一发箭雨秒掉Lucas的关键防空烟花小妹，天狗大军直接打出爆炸伤害。随后占据优势的MAU扎紧营寨，最终扳回一局。

决胜局中，MAU操刀一套超骑电车墓对上Lucas的飓风游侠矿炸。开局阶段，MAU一波急躁的蹦迪被Lucas抓住机会激活国王塔。正当以为Lucas将要拿下比赛时，中期面对着MAU的超骑返场，Lucas却反手一套矿工炸弹兵反打，结果偷鸡不成还导致费用吃紧，看到机会的MAU直接桥头无限增兵不给喘息机会，而顽强的Lucas在防守多波后，公主塔还是无奈告破。MAU成功拿下第一场决赛！

第二场决赛随后继续上演。首局比赛，Lucas操刀一套自闭矿工对上MAU的迫击炮墓园。比赛中，双方你来我往各显神通，公主塔血量也在交替下降。但最后时刻，MAU在一波女神返场时没有及时跟上蹦迪，随后再跟墓园已经是强弩之末。而Lucas在艰难防下这波后，直接火箭+矿工+滚木提前完成斩杀。Lucas先下一城。

第二局比赛，Lucas祭出迫击炮四猪对上MAU的大骷髅家驹体系。比赛前期，Lucas不断桥头迫击炮+炮车给予MAU压力，导致MAU投入过多的防守费用后不能顶出家驹反打，反而每次巴西人的四猪都能不断完成消耗，Lucas渐渐掌控场上的局势。

来到双倍时间后，终于腾出手来的MAU在防守完一波后，趁着大骷髅血量健康桥头再跟家驹打出最后一击，结果大骷髅被防守单位吸引疯狂卡位己方家驹，最终这波“内鬼”行为让己方家驹仅仅开出一炮，也让MAU错失扳回血量的机会。最终，Lucas稳扎稳打没有再给对手机会，成功拿下胜利后加冕第六赛季月赛冠军。不仅如此，Lucas这一战还解锁了“唯一一位双冠王”、“连续拿下月赛冠军”两项伟大成就！

Royal Hogs haven’t found their place in the meta. On ladder, they struggle against Wizards and Valkyries. In Challenges, they bump into Mega Knights and Bomb Tower. Overall, they didn’t usually provide a good reward for the cost/risk.

作为巴西双子星之一，Lucas早在2020年秋季赛就展露出自己的过人天赋，与Wallace领衔的痛苦战队也曾在魔都给世人留下深刻印象。进入个人赛时代后，Lucas超强的单打能力让他在天梯上很快崭露头角，但许是对新赛制的不适应，巴西天王在前几个赛季的资格赛中表现并不算太好。

• Faster ‘First Attack’ on target:

  1.0sec -> 0.7sec

A few months back, we nerfed several very powerful cards. Among them were Witch, where we reduced her first attack and spawning speed. In combination, this was a bit too much. Witch struggles to get off attacks with a long charge-up time, often getting stuck on Skeleton Army or other fragile troops.

中国选手方面，Higher和力量哥目前分别暂列18和22位，直通名额依旧可期。Cooper和单王在一个赛季的穷追猛赶后，目前分别位列95和99名，距离前56仅有60分的差距，只要在接下来的两个赛季杀进一次前32乃至8强，最后一搏资格赛依旧存有希望，我们也期待能在全球总决赛上看到更多中国选手的身影。

现在，CRL第七赛季的天梯奖杯竞速正在火热进行中，在仅仅剩下两个赛季的情况下，留给每一位想要冲击全球总决赛的选手们的机会已经不多，每一场战斗几乎都称得上是生死决战。究竟下个月月度决赛能否出现中国选手的身影？又有哪些人能登上全球总决赛的末班车？我们一起期待！