Hot Take: “Dud” Cards
Hot Take: If Chaotic were to return, the game would benefit from more creativity among cards, even if some of these are “dud” cards.
Why? The card game has experienced a lot of power creep since the original Dawn of Perim set. Serious players clamour for Zamool, Xerium Armour, and Iflar cards to gain an edge; beginner players, who might not have access to these “elite” cards have less of a chance of success.
Therefore, should Chaotic return (I’m not holding my breath), I think there should be a focus on unique card abilities that are accompanied by drawbacks. This makes the game interesting, especially for beginner players who may have no choice but to use “dud” cards.
Take Fivarth for example; he has dismal stats, no elements, and only reduces recklessness in Warbeasts by 5. There is really no reason to run him in lieu of other conjurors like Ranun or Bylkian. Yet still, a beginning Warbeast (or even general Mipedian) player with few other options might use him for his Mugic ability and untargetability, even if they may need to build around his weaknesses. It makes the game more interesting than having a few overpowered creatures with extremely powerful battlegear socking it out and ending each match similarly.
As such, I think that having more Fivarth-esque “dud” cards that would not see much play in serious competition adds to the meta and allows for more interesting matches. It also combats the power creep that rendered much of the Dawn of Perim set relatively useless.
As an example, take the creature Quisk, who appeared in the show but never had his own card. I could see him having similar stats to Fivarth (and no elements), but possessing three Mugic counters and an ability to spend all of them and temporarily prevent opposing creatures from moving (this would allow players to essentially “skip” an opponent’s action step). Is it a good ability? Maybe not. Would it be fun to try out in a match? Absolutely. Could it be played right? Probably.
As such, not every card needs to be a winner for the game to be fun; in fact, “weak” or “bad” cards add texture to the game and force players to be strategic