Hearthstone's Alec Dawson had some great comments on problematic cards in the current standard meta in today's reddit AMA. Here are the cards possibly being targeted, with an additional 1 or 2 cards of Demon Hunter flavor not yet named.
- Sacrificial Pact isn't fun when it plays a large role in the meta game and seeing more [Hearthstone Card (Jaraxxus) Not Found] would be fun.
- They don't want to kill off Kael'thas Sunstrider's combo potential entirely.
- 1 or 2 cards are likely changing for Demon Hunter.
We know that players have been asking for Sacrifical Pact changes for a long time due to the Jaraxxus interaction. What do you think they may change?
Quote From Alec Hey! We are planning something soon, but here I will shed light on what we are looking at.
With the Year of the Phoenix and Demon Hunter especially, we want to make sure we are active with our approach to balance. There will be additional changes coming shortly that is focused on Demon Hunter, Standard, Wild, and Arena.
For Demon Hunter, we are still monitoring the data as it comes in but expect 1 or 2 cards to see a change. We are thrilled by how players have responded to Demon Hunter, but we want the class to be in a healthy state for years to come. Will be adjusting as we see fit in order to get it into a great spot.
For other standard cards, we are looking at a number of cards including Sacrificial Pact, Bad Luck Albatross, Frenzied Felwing, and Kael'Thas. Some of these cards present some raw power that is just a little too high (Bad Luck Albatross, Frenzied Felwing), while a card like Kael'Thas can create some crazy swing turns but that's usually only fun for one player. Kael'Thas is a super interesting card though so we don't want to kill off his combo potential entirely.
When it comes to Sac Pac, we don't believe it is fun if it plays such a large role in the metagame. That says a lot about where the meta is and your ability to play certain cards. Also, it would be awesome to see more Jaraxxus!
Comments
Hopefully they'll finally address the elephant card in the room that's skewing the meta.
Yes - Ramming Speed of course. I have 5 of these and every one of them needs nerfing (with full dust refund available of course). Can't believe they didn't mention it.
I hear you, og. I feel that their ongoing ignorance of Ramming Speed's dominance is the biggest upset since their failure to nerf Unseen Saboteur, and that is in no way biased by the fact I have 3 of the latter.
I will add your just concerns to my official nerf campaign mandate - along with dapperdog's Chromatic Egg issue he's rightly expressed before.
(Though having 1 Unseen Saboteur in your collection might not be a bad thing sometimes).
Don't diss Unseen Saboteur. It wins lots of games for me in Wild. Standard just doesn't run old-school style OTK decks or feature control vs. control anymore.
(Sees another warlock's Cataclysm going off, a druid milling his own cards or wasting a Big Priest Rez before they've dropped a minion)
Its under 'consideration'
It'll be broken at some point in hearthstone history. Just gotta believe
Hopefully a slight nerf to the albatross like making it a 3/2 or a 4/1. I think the card is fun.
Bad Luck Albatross maybe getting nerfed? Wut face? Why?
Why? Because they had no idea what they actually want, I really don't see any other point of this card as a counter of Highlander decks. Btw released in the same set as the biggest Highlander's deck support expansion. Just LOL
This card is slowly making its way into every single list. It does more than disable highlander decks. With most of the classes having such limited card draw, top decking a useless bird is detrimental and extremely unfun. What was put in the game as a counter to highlander, has become a staple in almost any deck list.
If all the classes had more card draw, it wouldn't be an issue. But they are set in making some classes bad at drawing cards, and the win rate of those that can draw vs those that cannot is very evident right now.
Hand and deck control has been a thing in both MtG and Yu-Gi-Oh (e.g. Delinquent Duo and Yata-Garasu just to name a couple). Bad Luck Albatross is vastly inferior in comparison. Plus, the trade-off of drawing a bird for the opponent later, can be argued that you're playing a relatively low tempo minion earlier in the game that only pays off if/when the games continues long enough for the opponent to draw a bird.
The limited draw issue also only exists in standard. While you could argue most nerfs just due to a standard format issue most of the time it still remains incredibly unlikely that the next 1-2 expansions released to standard will not have at a couple new forms of card draw, at the very least. So should we really be nerfing a mid power level tier card for something that will most likely get remedied the next expansion with some basic card draw additions? Imo nerfs should not just be made with only the immediate card pool in mind, but if the devs know a soft remedy is coming soon that should weigh into the conversation.
Frenzied Felwing? That's what they're going with lol.
It's not Corridor Creeper ..
It is the most played Neutral card in the game according to HSReplay - 40% of decks, over 10% more than second place, Maiev Shadowsong.
Maybe in Demon Hunter or in platinum & legend ranks ? I've rarely seen it played. Definitely not in Warlock, Priest or Rogue.
Will they finally kill the meme of Zephrys the Great always killing Lord Jaraxxus?
Changing Sac Pac to only target friendly Demons would maintain the original intention of the card while eliminating the stupid "herp derp I instakilled Lord Jaraxxus" interaction. Want people to play J-rax? That's how you do it. Otherwise he'll never see the light of day, especially with Zephrys the Great still around in Standard.
Jaraxxus has bigger problems than just Sac Pac. Zephrys was definitely the final nail in his coffin, but he was virtually unplayable even before SoU. Between him limiting your HP to 15 max and costing 9 mana, he's just too much of a liability.
At least if they change Pact I can meme around with Jaraxxus without fear of instantly losing.
They also plan to change Open the Waygate and Bloodbloom
https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/g0okne/hearthstone_team_ama_april_14/fnavsat/
Hallelujah, can't wait for the changes to be implemented.
Took bloody long, but please do it this time blizzard. I'm not saying this because I have a golden Darkest Hour and Bloodbloom. No. Really. The fact that [Hearthstone Card (crystal caverns) Not Found] been nerfed three times and Open the Waygate is merely being considered for one should be made a crime.