Ashdod is worthless now

[triqui]

Originally Posted by kianduatha

Could you give some examples please? (Other than Ahiman Anakites, that is)

Sanguine Douses being unique artifacts, for example.

I don't see how size of the game change availability of blesses. You wouldn't play F9W9 Ashdod in any game. Power of different blesses in different metagames will be different. But game size wouldn't promote "unplayable" bless to "playable" it could only change the best one from "playable"

W9F9B8 would be absolutelly atrocious bless for any nation in a game with 25 provinces per nation and 20 nations, becouse the cost in scales would make it incredibly hurtful in the long run, plus you probably won't be able to take enough adventage from your sacreds to make it worthy.
In a 1vs1 match in a 20 provinces map, that bless alone might give you the victory before a proper counter is developed.

Otoh, a bless like S9 gets extra power once Wish is developed (it gives you a wisher, your pretender), and having +3 MR in your thugs and commanders is much more relevant in turn 60 than it is in turn 20.

So yes, I think the size of the map is very important to decide bless viability, becouse size of the game / map directly influence the length of the game, and the things that are useful in turn 15 aren't the same that are useful in turn 90. Blitz matches tend to gravitic toward fast and furious blesses, making some options unviable in that specific kind of match. That does not mean the option is not viable in some other kinds of matches.