Does anyone else feel like perhaps the option chosen for Nuru is just the worst possible option they could have picked? I have seen many suggestion out there and one chosen, to double her unit cost, seem to me the worst possible option. It seems like they are insistent on bringing her from overpowered to useless Other suggestions I have heard: -only 1.5x cost - unit summoned but cannot act on the same turn. -Increased charge time. -rising cost only after the first unit. -can only deploy a unit previously deployed once in the match. -groove only teleports a unit and doesn't create one. (may be too close to Tenri) I'd love to hear what others thing but I honestly think double cost is just way too much and the worst option. It won't change the things people think are unfair about it and it simply makes it frustrating to use.
Nuru is definitely not useless after the nerf. She is still in better half of the commanders on every 1v1 map and easily top 3 on most. Maybe this is a good argument, why 2x cost is more justified than 1.5x. In the current 'quantity over quality' meta just being able to reqruit 1 more unit is extremely useful. When that unit can instantly get active in the heat of the battle, that's even better. 1 additional pikeman can be what is needed to break through and the 75G extra means nothing. I have a feeling that many Nuru players didn't realize how ridiculously OP she was before and thereby overestimated their own level of playing. Now, well... truth hurts. I mean I literally went as far as making a .txt file on players who switched their commander to Nuru last second so I could counter that with Nuru of my own. I had to, because some maps... man, you couldn't do anything if the opponent played even moderately ok. Worst example being the map with two southern gates and 3 completely out of action production facilities (barracks, port, tower). "Have fun when I wreck your army with my brand new trebuchet/dragon/warship. All while your counter is still 3 turns away." There was a gentleman's agreement to not pick her before the patch, but obviously not everyone followed this. Maybe I will also briefly comment the other suggestions. Unit summoned but cannot act on the same turn - this was possibly the best alternative, perhaps a bit passive to fit with the image of groove being something immediately strong. Increased charge time - would balance a little, however, as Nuru only needs one groove to basically win the game, the other player is fighting against the clock -> has to rush and take bad engagements. Rising cost only after the first unit - wouldn't change anything. As mentioned, one teleport beam is enough to win the game. It is very rare that the match isn't decisive before the second groove (Valder being the only exception). Can only deploy a unit previously deployed once in the match - wouldn't do much. You have plenty of time before the first groove to "activate" threats, like reqruit a knight or treebuchet. Teleporting a mid-tier unit to the crit range of commander/expensive unit was and still is one of the main Nuru tactics. Groove only teleports a unit and doesn't create one - as you said, too identical groove with Tenri. Was this the best way to balance? Maybe not, but it's certainly not the worst and it does the job on balancing. It was probably one of the easiest and fastest of the alternatives to implement cause it doesn't require much changes in the campaign or Nuru AI. And something needed to be done quickly!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned simply having her summon units at 60% health for regular price. The main problem is her very high "burst" damage, so if you can somewhat take the edge off of that she suddenly becomes a lot more tame. Dragons, Knights and Treebuchets are a lot less scary at 60% health and cannot one-shot valuable things so easily. You do have to think about the possibility of her healing those newly summoned units with a mage or two though, so perhaps you actually need something even harsher like 60% health at 1.5x cost. In that scenario completely healing a dragon would still basically cost almost 2500g (which is the price it has now) but with the added complication of actually having two mages ready and within the correct range who now also cannot act on the turn they heal. I think this would put her roughly on par with Caesar, who also needs quite a thoughtful set-up to get really good value out of his groove.
Maybe a little adjustment to your suggestion Immortal, would be to summon the units at 1.5x normal Costa at 75 or 80% to take the edge off as you say, but still be useful. Then they could be healed as you mentioned at the regular costs of using structures or mages. I think 60% hp at 1.5 is a little harsh, would nearly make it useless imo Otherwise, I think Miinow makes some very valid points.