Their heart was in the right place with AST.
Let's be honest about this. The new actual FLOW of the job is better. It feels better to have more cards to throw. You feel more impactful, and being able to throw the cards onto who you want instead of always fishing for AoE balance feels GREAT.
The idea of essentially having an AoE balance on demand every 2 minutes without it eating up your other buffs is awesome, and the idea of wanting to fill out a pool properly by manipulating your draws is a great idea. It really makes you think, and feel good about your choices when you succeed.
The actual issue is the complete lack of Flavor. As I've described it before, it's like going to a Restaurant, the waiter is amazing. Somehow they know exactly when to refill drinks, exactly when to leave, when to chat. Service is spectacular. Oh man, Atmosphere is AMAZING. What a classy and unique dining experience. The company you decided to bring is awesome. You REALLY hit it off, chatting the night away. You really feel a bond. Wow what a wonderful time overall. Except...the food is bad. The food being bad kind of ruins the night a bit, doesn't it? It's like the most important thing for a Restaurant.
The cards just need to go back to giving the buffs they gave before, but keep all the new stuff. Make spire give Dhit now, maybe nerf balance just a tad, and we're GUCCI. Wanting to fish for specific seals may even make you more likely to actually throw out a bole or another buff too. Imagine having an actual reason to make the tanks life easier by hitting him with a defensive cooldown which gives you the last thing you need to set off a sick aoe DPS buff.
You can just make minor arcana increase the effectiveness of your currently drawn card by a little and not override your seals just like it does now.