A rundown of the mechanics that came out ahead and those that took a hit going into Mirage league. Some of these are clear cut, others will depend on how the new atlas tools shake out in practice.
Winners
Expedition
Expedition got a meaningful upgrade this league. The fifth scarab slot was previously flex, and now you have a specific strong choice with the new Expedition Scarab of Infusion. The scarab makes logbooks always drop with four implicit modifiers and causes expedition monsters to gain increased difficulty and reward for each remnant detonated. More difficulty, more reward, more danger.
Beyond the scarab, Rog could be returning as a viable option with the tree, Kingsmarch, and gambling all nerfed elsewhere.
Settlers
Settlers moved from a pure Kingsmarch strat to more of an in-map mechanic. Crimson Infusion was already a viable early game farming strategy for getting more maps and that baseline remains intact. The new Kalguuran Scarab of Enriching increases ore gained from deposits and buffs the difficulty and reward of guarding monsters for every completed deposit in the area. The base Kalguuran Scarab now also grants two additional ore deposits instead of one so no loss of number of ores without the map device.
The ore can now be shipped for currency as well, which could make this genuinely strong early in the league when people are still getting their footing.
Breach
Breach gets a win column entry on the strength of one change alone: you can open multiple breaches in a map and have them overlap again. That alone is a step up from last league. The full scarab rework changes the naming and functionality across the board, Hive mechanics are in, and there are new options with enraging through Ailith's skills. The full ceiling is still to be determined but the baseline is already more fun than where it was.
Anarchy
Hard to know exactly how this plays out but it looks spicy. The new Anarchy Scarab of the Exceptional adds an Exceptional Rogue Exile to the area. Given how exiles have been used historically for juice this could be worth slotting in to test.
Ritual
Andrew discussed on stream with Ziz that Ritual in Mirage essentially gives you a fifth ritual that is comparable in juice to the other four combined (at least how I understood it). That is a significant multiplier for doing extra tribute rolls or pulling out stockpiled loot. The Ritual Scarab of Selectiveness now also allows for two additional rerolls instead of one, which compounds nicely with more tribute to spend.
Losers
Blight
Blight took the most hits of any mechanic this patch. The Scarab of Invigoration reward bonus is down 20%. Blooming no longer adds non-boss waves to portals. Blightheart no longer doubles waves and instead guarantees two additional waves per portal with a chance at a third and fourth.
The hope is that Mirage running double blight encounters offsets some of the scarab nerfs, and Astrolabes running strings of maps could compensate further. Blooming gets relegated to farming ravaged maps specifically, which at least frees up a scarab slot for wisps. It is not dead but the ceiling is meaningfully lower than last league.
Ambush
Ambush scarab strats typically used one base scarab alongside others and the net result of this patch is three fewer boxes per map and less div/currency boxes. The Ambush Scarab of Discernment has reduced efficacy and the base Ambush Scarab now grants four strongboxes instead of three — doesn't offset the map device loss with the scarab setup most people ran.
Harvest
Juicy crop rotation took a nerf with no more awakening scarab, but standard doubling and basic crop rotation remain viable. Harvest Astrolabes effects are still unknown and could shift the outlook depending on what they do.
Abyss
Abyss felt unrewarding last league and the new scarab doesn't change that for me. The new Abyss Scarab of Descending guarantees an Abyssal Depth in the area. Gone are the glory days of affliction or even the annoying but rewarding hordes. Maybe it has some stealth buff in the mirage with how it prints rare monsters.
-Stay Sane Exile