Patch 20.0.2 which hits Hearthstone tomorrow, April 13, and will bring with it a handful of great updates!
- Battlegrounds balance updates (Queen Wagtoggle is back!);
- Duels balance updates;
- A round of needed and very, very, very much satisfying nerfs for Constructed.
In particular, tomorrow's patch will bring changes to 6 different cards, whose respective decks have been wreaking havoc in the first 2 weeks of the Forged in the Barrens meta. While some people were advocating for even more changes -preventive nerfs to Animated Broomstick, Refreshing Spring Water, Tickatus and Librams as well as some buffs, something we haven't received in a very long while - we are definitely satisfied with what we're getting and we're looking forward to seeing what the new expansion will (actually) bring us with a more balanced meta.
But now, let's go over each change and try to understand their implications for the meta.
Deck of Lunacy Nerfed
The mana cost of Deck of Lunacy is now 4 (Up from 2).
Probably the most obvious change and the one everyone was hoping for at the same time. Despite not having found any play in the months following its release in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, the Core Set introduction and the rotation made Lunacy's spell pool extremely consistent. Let's take a quick look at the numbers:
- 10-Cost spells - Survival of the Fittest, Nagrand Slam.
- 9-Cost spells - Libram of Hope.
- 8-Cost spells - Cenarion Ward, Guardian Animals, Jewel of N'Zoth, Deep Freeze, Grand Finale, Idol of Y'Shaarj, Power Word: Fortitude, Tidal Wave, Twisting Nether.
- 7-Cost spells - Cycle of Hatred, Expendable Performers, Fel Guardians, Celestial Alignment, Flamestrike, Mask of C'Thun, Commencement, Soul Mirror.
From a quick look at this list, you'll notice there are very few whiffs: combine it with the fact that the 6-Cost spell pool has lots of card draw (Skull of Gul'dan, Sprint, Hand of Gul'dan, Nourish and Incanter's Flow's shenanigans and you'll obtain a deck with insane tempo and very little chances to be outlasted given the great cycle.
Deck of Lunacy's controlled RNG created too much pressure on a meta that was not able to leave breathing room for new strategies and cards - from now on, many more classes will be able to see the light of the day.
Sword of the Fallen Nerfed
The durability of Sword of the Fallen is now 2 (Down from 3).
Secret support for Paladin came back with Forged in the Barrens after a very long time. However, Sword of the Fallen was a bit too much over the top. Given the low cost and the possibility to coin it on turn 1, this Weapon guaranteed early games with too many Secrets being fished out of the deck and ready to disrupt the opponent's play; Seeing a Paladin with 3 to 4 Secrets ready to be triggered on turn 4 was not an unusual sight over these last few days.
Reducing Sword of the Fallen's durability by 1 swing will leave the card's functionality untouched, but at the same time, it will decrease its power level by one-third (33%!) and make the early turns against Paladin more reasonable.
Now, if only Aldor Attendant into Hand of A'dal weren't a thing anymore...
Jandice Barov Nerfed
The mana cost of Jandice Barov is now 6 mana (Up from 5).
Jandice has always been a good card, but until lately everyone was fine with her. However, after the introduction of the Core set and the rotation, the 5-Cost minions pool was left with very few bad outcomes, making so that an on-curve Jandice Barov (usually followed with Shadowstep in Rogue for a second wave of minions) too much to handle for most classes.
The devs stated that they're not willing to dilute the 5-Cost pool in the future and, anyway, they're not planning to balance Jandice this way, so increasing her cost was definitely the right call.
We can see a world where this card will get unnerfed upon the next rotation in April 2022, but for now, we can say that, while the card will be slower, it will still be a good play and will still be included in top-tier decks.
Pen Flinger Nerfed
Pen Flinger can no longer target heroes - only minions.
Who's the loser now, huh? HUH? Although this is not the flashiest change on the list, it is definitely the one with the most implications.
Face damage and minion removal, Pen Flinger has been quite the flexible card throughout all its existence. Aggro, control, combo - every deck with a high density of spell had little to no reason no to run this little shit dude, to the point where most games came down to how fast the player was able to draw Flinger and how many flings were able to be chained in the same turn. Sure, the card had pretty annoying animations and voice lines and was really frustrating to play against it, but don't be fooled, this is not the only reason why it was changed. The card was powerful and needed to be dealt with.
All in all, a very powerful and warping card that was able to decide many matches all by itself. From now on, Libram Paladin will lose its long-run finisher; Aggro Rogue will take the second hit after Nitroboost Poison's nerf; Wild's Reno Priest will have less reach and Wild Darkglare Warlock's (oh nooooo...) power level is going to drop down significantly.
Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post Nerfed
Far Watch Post now has 3 health (Down from 4).
Mor'shan Watch Post now has 4 health (Down from 5).
I decided to write about these cards together because they were changed pretty much for the same reason. While the Watch Post cards were clearly designed to work as tech cards with varying success depending on the meta (pretty much like Ogremancer), Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post were just auto-includes in almost every deck in the first two weeks of the new meta: given the high health and the low cost for their mana, they were never bad includes and pretty much auto-includes in any strategy that could run them (with the only exception of No Minion Mage for obvious reasons).
Considering these premises, we definitely see the reason why the cards' cost wasn't increased and were just weakened, making so that they'll be able to be removed with more ease, allowing Aggro to flourish a bit more.
What do you think of these changes? Do you think other cards should've been changed? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Even in Casual, 75% of my games this morning were against Lunacy. Enjoy your last hurrah, assholes.
My first game was against a Lunacy mage. What is the difference between Turn 1 Lunacy vs. Turn 3 Lunacy? Not much. Turned off the game after seeing that bullshit again
I haven't yet seen one post-nerf, but I'm prepared to be underwhelmed by the change.
I can't believe Librams got off the hook. Claiming that the only paladin problem is the weapon and the flingers is a miss IMO. Flingers were a thing only because the constant 0 cost spells, why they did not think about that is above me.
The Pen Flinger nerf might do more than you think. There were so many times where I just needed to hang on for one more turn to swing the match, but that chip damage to my face was just too much. Adding a bit of survivability goes a long way.
I hope you are right. I might be biased because I HATE libram mechanic since scholomance.
Will we get a dust refund for the Kargal Battlescar after nerfs of watch post's ... These cards are closely related.
Now I'd like to see all the people who rudely replied to this comment keeping their Kargal Battlescar (if they happen to own one) despite the upcoming dust refund.
Look who got it right ;)
Have you ever gotten a refund for a card that was weakened by a nerf to a different card? No? Then stop asking.
Not only rude but also wrong lmao
No, it was accurate. It has never happened before. There's always a first time.
no.
So. Much. Greed.
Now let's see if the Pen Flinger nerf finally "balances" Darkglare Warlock.
Happy about Pen Flinger nerf.
I was hating him!
I would have been happier if the nerf included complete silence from Pen Flinger and the animation being sped up by 100%.
That's because he called you looser. Don't take it personal.
I think Paladin and Mage continue to dominate. Pen Flinger will just clear the way for the buffed up Paladin minions to get the win, machine gunning opposing boards.
Refreshing Spring Water willremain a ridiculous "draw 2 for 0". No-minion mage will continue to be insanely powerful, especially with Font of Power providing insane value far more often than it whiffs.
Rogue willbe less effective. I don't see anything else changing beyond a few less Lunacy high roll wins.
I think you're underestimating what a 2 mana nerf can really do in a tempo based meta. The only way lunacy mage still dominates is that the entire meta is made of decks that literally plays nothing for the first 3 turns and you mulligan exactly for Deck of Lunacy.
No minion mage is effective, but far from being a tier 1 deck. Without DoL its incredibly linear, and even if Font of Power fetches them the literal nuts, what are they really doing for the first 4 turns? Jandice is nerfed too, so that's another turn 5 play gone.
From my own experience, the only time lunacy mage is a proper tier 1 deck is when they play DoL on turn 2-3, or turn 4 followed by incredible draw engine. With this nerf, the only deck it can really snowball to death would be a deck that plays only tempo with no buffs, have no burn plans, and cannot effectively clear boards. In other words, the only deck it can reliably beat are meme and combo decks. That's hardly anything to cry about.