We expect this to be a controversial patch. We want to keep the pawn's special two-space move, but we're seeing that players are using it to bypass their opponent's defenses. We think this will strike the right balance between mobility and defense. Please let us know what you think!
We wanted to speed up the early game and make sure players can get right into the action, so we're buffing the early game Pawn.
We've heard some complaints about the Queen, calling us SJWs for making an OP female character, or complaining that promoting a pawn to a second Queen supports bigamy. Our only concern is to bring you the best game possible, and we have no plans to nerf the Queen.
However, the Queen and Bishop buffs in conjunction have make the King a bit too vulnerable in the center of the board, so we're buffing the King in response by giving it a one-time ult.
The Vizier to Queen change was a stealth buff to the Pawn. We're happy with that change, but we wanted to provide a bit more flexibility by allowing the Pawn to become any piece.
The Vizier has been replaced by the Queen.
We wanted to open up the game in a more aggressive direction. We'll be monitoring gameplay and making adjustments as needed.
We think pieces that can't move aren't fun, so we're giving the Pawn a bit of extra flexibility in the late game.
Checkmate is now required to win. You can no longer win by capturing all pieces other than the King.
This is a refinement of the King's ult that further protects the King while preventing it from using the ult offensively.