Around two and a half months since the last pair of players assembled their decks and duelled it out for Sundaes, we have news! Change is here, as we roll out our initiative of making Sundays Packs a more exciting game to engage with over a longer time period.
Updated Card Templates
Cards have received an updated look which incorporates the revised Sundays Esport branding that came into effect prior to RSXI. All of the same info remains on the card, with the exception of tier name - cards are now primarily identified by the tier's unique colour; in the example shown, the Elite Tier's bright red. You'll also still be able to view !card info to check the series a card comes from.
Another reason for the new look was to adjust the dimensions of a card - they can now be applied to IRL trading cards, whereas the original design was largely untenable for potential physical sales.
Introducing Variants
A brand new concept at the heart of the Sundays Packs revival, Variants are set to change the landscape of the game forever - 21 different archetypes aim to define all types of player - from demo chaser to goal hanger, speed demon to stay-at-home defender, we've got you covered!
Common Variants are neutrally adjusted cards that can be found at the same rarity as ordinary base cards. For every base card, a player also has 3 Common Variant cards that best represent their play style. The +4 to an individual attribute can have a big impact on the card's overall playstyle, but the -2 to a pair of alternate attributes offset the gains. The end result is a card of equal numerical power to a player's base card, but one that will play more like their named archetype in the match engine.
Here's an example of a Common Variant from the Master Tier.
Azazel's Aggression is enhanced here by 4 points from the 89 on his base card, increasing it to 93. The offsetting changes affect his Defence and Success, decreasing them from 90 and 86 to 88 and 84 respectively. The final card we see in front of us is one that still largely represents Azazel's playing ability - three attributes (SHO, SPD and PAS) remain identical - but AGG is now the card's strongest stat by 5 points.
Rare Variants aim to explore more specific styles of play - with +2 gains to a pair of attributes and no decreasing elsewhere, Rare Variants are mildly improved versions of a player's base card, and will be slightly more difficult to find in packs as a result. There's still plenty of them, though - same as Common Variants, there are also 3 Rare Variants per base card.
Here's an example of a Rare Variant from the Challenger Tier. Rare Variants can be distinguished from Common Variants by their unique Icon, present in the bottom left corner of the card.
A bit simpler to describe than Common Variants, on this Ares card two attributes are changed - his Shooting is increased from the base card's 81 to 83, whilst his Defence also improves from 82 to 84.
Rare Variants aren't just shiny PNGs, though - they also boast better discard values and minimum market listings. Ares' base card can be discarded for 125 sundaes (not that you'd ever want to do that), whilst Rare Variants of Ares can be discarded for double the value, at 250 sundaes apiece.
New Market
Players of ECC Packs will be familiar with the Market, and the revival of Sundays Packs migrates this feature to the SE server for the first time.
As simple as it looks - players will be able to list their cards on the open market (provided their price is above the minimum baseline for the type of card they're selling) where anyone can purchase them. You'll also be able to search the market to find the players you want. Spotted a Courier variant of your own card? It could be yours - but it'll cost you!
Mount Sundays
Cards from Season 2 of Mount Sundays are set to enter the game! These have been calculated with a slightly adjusted formula to compensate for originating from 3v3 instead of 2v2, as well as being a competition that is not separated by tiers - the end result is a set of cards with some intriguing playstyles that could become a great asset to your deck! MS2 cards, same as RSX, have also been given the Variants treatment - for every MS2 base card, there's 3 Common and 3 Rare Variants to match. MS2 cards will be in separate purchasable packs to RS cards at launch.
What else?
That just about wraps it up in terms of the new features you'll spot immediately when Sundays Packs makes its return in the coming days, but there's still more to come as we aim to make Packs a more exciting place to be over a longer-term period, such as;
The return of Squad Building Challenges, using First Owner cards not purchased from the market
The introduction of an "Item Shop", where cards can be purchased a single time for a set price
Packs Snap Tournaments that players can enter their decks into to play for rewards
More unique rewards from watching SE Twitch streams
More frequent limited time packs (anyone for Exotic Variants?)
At launch, the pool of cards is slimming to allow players better access to the cards they care about - Seasons 6, 7 and 8 are being removed from active rotation, whilst Season 9 will remain (complete with new Variants of their own!) alongside the brand new RSX and MS2 sets. Pack odds are also being altered to make them more balanced and equally worthwhile to purchase. There will be over 2000 cards in the game at launch, and we can't wait to see you there!
DISCLAIMER: The content of this article is a very, VERY late draft of the final features - so whilst we're 95% confident the eventual launch will be reflective of it, this announcement isn't a binding contract and there could still be minor changes if we run into development trouble.
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