News from Mike Donais

I'm not seeing it on the frontpage so i'm posting it in here:

https://old.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/c44v2p/i_made_another_summary_of_answers_from_last/

Content:

"POSSIBLE" SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT EXPANSION

- Another potential "spoiler" for Loe and desert as we didn´t see any other desert kind of expansions than Loe?

- There is a card in the next expansion that was really hard to create and a lot of people worked at it.

- We might see a Finley one day again.

- There will be a few meme cards in the next expansion. (They have few of them for every expansion.)

WILD:

- Possible nerf for Big Priest in Wild would be primary Barnes, because nerfing all the ressurect effects would kill every other deck types (probably).

- Mike was also asking about what Wild people want to nerf in Big Priest.

- They are getting a ton of questions about Big Priest in Wild.

- Mike is actually playing wild a lot and his favorite deck is Reno Mage with N'Zoth. (Didn´t share his decklist tho :/)

- SNIP SNAP is not being really played in Wild so no nerfs needed.

- Naga the Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.

- It´s "possible" that we will see a balance patch for wild. (Probably not tho, might be answered in general.)

POSSIBLE FEATURES, DESIGN, UI, CARDS, ETC

- More "Glowing" types around cards has been already discussed but nothing to announce. (Mike said an example that they wanted to do a special red glow around E.V.I.L cards.)

- There might be a new hero card with Bartender Bob in the future.

- Removing "The Darkness" from the random generating cards (Evolve, Summon effects, etc) has been discussed and it might happen in the future.

- Expansion hints (as we saw with New Year announcement) are made to not spoil anything and they might be done to confuse players.

- We might see a new board design in the future with cards placed on it facing down to show everyone better your cardback and also clicking on the cardback would show it´s full art. (But it was just an idea and Mike said that it would be hard to get done.)

- Indicator for Hagatha´s token (Drustvar Horror) will be added in the future because a lot of people is asking about that.

- In the future we might see George as a playable hero skin, but they are hearing our feedback about who we want to see.

- Mike said that they should explore more Sha characters (Like Shaku the Collector), as they have a really cool strories to tell.

- One day we might see more quest cards.

- We might see a new permanent mode in the future (something like adventures).

- They already spoke about Nozdormu effect Tavern Brawl and longer turn-making cards but they were too hard to make, so they gave up on these ideas.

INTERESTING THINGS IN GENERAL

- Ben Brode actually hired Mike to work with him.

- They have a special "Button" in their office at Chad´s desk which is doing Ben Brode's laugh if they press it.

- Jason Chayes is not in the team anymore, but they are speaking to him time to time to discuss things.

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Hiei LV.7
6 years, 9 months ago

I'm not seeing it on the frontpage so i'm posting it in here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/c44v2p/i_made_another_summary_of_answers_from_last/

Content:

"POSSIBLE" SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT EXPANSION
- Another potential "spoiler" for Loe and desert as we didn´t see any other desert kind of expansions than Loe?
- There is a card in the next expansion that was really hard to create and a lot of people worked at it.
- We might see a Finley one day again.
- There will be a few meme cards in the next expansion. (They have few of them for every expansion.)

WILD:
- Possible nerf for Big Priest in Wild would be primary Barnes, because nerfing all the ressurect effects would kill every other deck types (probably).
- Mike was also asking about what Wild people want to nerf in Big Priest.
- They are getting a ton of questions about Big Priest in Wild.
- Mike is actually playing wild a lot and his favorite deck is Reno Mage with N'Zoth. (Didn´t share his decklist tho :/)
- SNIP SNAP is not being really played in Wild so no nerfs needed.
- Naga the Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
- It´s "possible" that we will see a balance patch for wild. (Probably not tho, might be answered in general.)

POSSIBLE FEATURES, DESIGN, UI, CARDS, ETC
- More "Glowing" types around cards has been already discussed but nothing to announce. (Mike said an example that they wanted to do a special red glow around E.V.I.L cards.)
- There might be a new hero card with Bartender Bob in the future.
- Removing "The Darkness" from the random generating cards (Evolve, Summon effects, etc) has been discussed and it might happen in the future.
- Expansion hints (as we saw with New Year announcement) are made to not spoil anything and they might be done to confuse players.
- We might see a new board design in the future with cards placed on it facing down to show everyone better your cardback and also clicking on the cardback would show it´s full art. (But it was just an idea and Mike said that it would be hard to get done.)
- Indicator for Hagatha´s token (Drustvar Horror) will be added in the future because a lot of people is asking about that.
- In the future we might see George as a playable hero skin, but they are hearing our feedback about who we want to see.
- Mike said that they should explore more Sha characters (Like Shaku the Collector), as they have a really cool strories to tell.
- One day we might see more quest cards.
- We might see a new permanent mode in the future (something like adventures).
- They already spoke about Nozdormu effect Tavern Brawl and longer turn-making cards but they were too hard to make, so they gave up on these ideas.

INTERESTING THINGS IN GENERAL
- Ben Brode actually hired Mike to work with him.
- They have a special "Button" in their office at Chad´s desk which is doing Ben Brode's laugh if they press it.
- Jason Chayes is not in the team anymore, but they are speaking to him time to time to discuss things.
KANSAS LV.16
6 years, 9 months ago

wow, that's really cool! thanks for sharing all this.

Friendly
FrostyFeet LV.18
6 years, 9 months ago

I believe Mike's comment on SN1P-SN4P and Wild was that the OTK decks (Mechwarper and Summoning Portal) are not strong based on their internal data, more like a meme level.

Staff

LyraSilvertongue LV.7
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From FrostyFeet
I believe Mike's comment on SN1P-SN4P and Wild was that the OTK decks (Mechwarper and Summoning Portal) are not strong based on their internal data, more like a meme level.
So long as my Spectral Pillager Rogue deck isn't killed due to a Mechwarper nerf to address a legendary everyone got for free I'll be happy.
I find their reasoning so incredibly odd when it comes to Big Priest. So, you nerf NSW decks & kill them due to them more or less doing what Big Priest does (highrolls, weak to aggro, anti-control playstyle) but try as hard as you can to not kill resurrect priest decks. I mean I'm all for preserving everything within reason because more decks = more fun, but inconsistency is something I really hate sometimes. Either unnerf NSW or kill Big Priest.

RavenSunHS LV.13
6 years, 9 months ago

- Naga Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
Instead, playing and losing against Big Priest and Darkest Hour Warlock is very fun and we deserve them in the meta...
___
As for the next expansion, I bet on something Titan-related, Uldum, Uldir, or a new one, but similar. And I expect both Sir Finley Mrrgglton and Reno Jackson to be reprinted into new versions of themselves. Maybe Brann Bronzebeard too.

KANSAS LV.16
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From RavenSunHS
- Naga Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
Instead, playing and losing against Big Priest and Darkest Hour Warlock is very fun and we deserve them in the meta...
___
As for the next expansion, I bet on something Titan-related, Uldum, Uldir, or a new one, but similar. And I expect both Sir Finley Mrrgglton and Reno Jackson to be reprinted into new versions of themselves. Maybe Brann Bronzebeard too.

I think we will definitely be seeing more reno jackson. I remember in a older article they said that they would be making more single copy cards, they also said that the next expansion would be themed similar to league of explorers. and now they are saying that sir finely will be coming back.
things are starting to fall into place.

Friendly
iWatchUSleep LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From RavenSunHS
- Naga Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
Instead, playing and losing against Big Priest and Darkest Hour Warlock is very fun and we deserve them in the meta...
To be fair, it took them ages to finally nerf Naga Sea Witch so them taking forever to do something about big priest fits their attitude towards wild (which is caring about it as little as possible).

Possible nerf for Big Priest in Wild would be primary Barnes, because nerfing all the ressurect effects would kill every other deck types (probably).

This is what troubles me most though. I'm afraid just nerfing Barnes at this point won't be enough. And seeing how it took the community what, a year now? Of constant bickering about big priest before they even considered doing something about it makes me feel like we'll have to go through at least another year of Anduin's utter bullcrap.

LyraSilvertongue LV.7
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From iWatchUSleep
Quote From RavenSunHS
- Naga Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
Instead, playing and losing against Big Priest and Darkest Hour Warlock is very fun and we deserve them in the meta...
To be fair, it took them ages to finally nerf Naga Sea Witch so them taking forever to do something about big priest fits their attitude towards wild (which is caring about it as little as possible).

Quote From No Author Specified
Possible nerf for Big Priest in Wild would be primary Barnes, because nerfing all the ressurect effects would kill every other deck types (probably).

This is what troubles me most though. I'm afraid just nerfing Barnes at this point won't be enough. And seeing how it took the community what, a year now? Of constant bickering about big priest before they even considered doing something about it makes me feel like we'll have to go through at least another year of Anduin's utter bullcrap.
Honestly Vargoth has more or less double filled the role of Barnes at this point. The main difference between the two is that Barnes represents a earlier highroll & diminishes greatly in the end game while Vargoth can't tutor anything out early on but creates an incredibly staggering value game/sustain potential in the late game. Nerfing or even deleting Barnes would do absolutely nothing essentially. Big Priest would still generally lose to aggro and sometimes midrange while they would win against most slow non-otk decks due to Vargoth & frequent 6 minion resurrects.

Pathod LV.2
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From LyraSilvertongue
Quote From iWatchUSleep
Quote From RavenSunHS
- Naga Sea Witch didn´t have that big winrate, but she was nerfed because It wasn´t fun to lose against that combo.
Instead, playing and losing against Big Priest and Darkest Hour Warlock is very fun and we deserve them in the meta...
To be fair, it took them ages to finally nerf Naga Sea Witch so them taking forever to do something about big priest fits their attitude towards wild (which is caring about it as little as possible).

Quote From No Author Specified
Possible nerf for Big Priest in Wild would be primary Barnes, because nerfing all the ressurect effects would kill every other deck types (probably).

This is what troubles me most though. I'm afraid just nerfing Barnes at this point won't be enough. And seeing how it took the community what, a year now? Of constant bickering about big priest before they even considered doing something about it makes me feel like we'll have to go through at least another year of Anduin's utter bullcrap.
Honestly Vargoth has more or less double filled the role of Barnes at this point. The main difference between the two is that Barnes represents a earlier highroll & diminishes greatly in the end game while Vargoth can't tutor anything out early on but creates an incredibly staggering value game/sustain potential in the late game. Nerfing or even deleting Barnes would do absolutely nothing essentially. Big Priest would still generally lose to aggro and sometimes midrange while they would win against most slow non-otk decks due to Vargoth & frequent 6 minion resurrects.
Absolutely this. If they're truly asking and listening to Wild players on what to nerf, they will do the right thing and nerf resurrect spells. Those are the real problem and they aren't played in any deck besides Big Priest. Nerfing Barnes would only mess up Spell Hunter when it comes to other competitive decks, but removing a big minion on turn 4 isn't a problem anyway if they can't resurrect it 2 times the very next turn.

iWatchUSleep LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From Pathod
Nerfing Barnes would only mess up Spell Hunter when it comes to other competitive decks, but removing a big minion on turn 4 isn't a problem anyway if they can't resurrect it 2 times the very next turn.
Good.
Barnes into Y'shaarj on turn 3/4 has no place anywhere. Not in big priest, not in spell hunter.
Get that disgrace out of my games, thanks.

AliRadicali LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From iWatchUSleep
Quote From Pathod
Nerfing Barnes would only mess up Spell Hunter when it comes to other competitive decks, but removing a big minion on turn 4 isn't a problem anyway if they can't resurrect it 2 times the very next turn.
Good.
Barnes into Y'shaarj on turn 3/4 has no place anywhere. Not in big priest, not in spell hunter.
Get that disgrace out of my games, thanks.
Totally agree. WRT Spell Hunter specifically, if a deck needs to run a 2-card combo that actively sabotages the main thrust of the deck in order to cheese out turn 4 concedes then that's a problem.
Maybe the spellhunter archetype should die along with the degenerate Barneshaarj combo until better support for it comes along.

Pathod LV.2
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From AliRadicali
Quote From iWatchUSleep
Quote From Pathod
Nerfing Barnes would only mess up Spell Hunter when it comes to other competitive decks, but removing a big minion on turn 4 isn't a problem anyway if they can't resurrect it 2 times the very next turn.
Good.
Barnes into Y'shaarj on turn 3/4 has no place anywhere. Not in big priest, not in spell hunter.
Get that disgrace out of my games, thanks.
Totally agree. WRT Spell Hunter specifically, if a deck needs to run a 2-card combo that actively sabotages the main thrust of the deck in order to cheese out turn 4 concedes then that's a problem.
Maybe the spellhunter archetype should die along with the degenerate Barneshaarj combo until better support for it comes along.
You people missed the point. Sure it's bullshit and it's horrible to lose to, but it's not nearly as bad as Big Priest since it's counterable by Dirty Rat and a bunch of other cards, but just nerfing Barnes would mess up Hunter and other decks that cheat out Y'Shaarj, while Priest would remain the same (this isn't even for debate, there are countless versions of Big Priest without Barnes that are the same cancer, Vargoth makes that possible), therefore nerfing Barnes would definitely be the wrong thing if you want to nerf BIG PRIEST

AliRadicali LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From Pathod
You people missed the point. Sure it's bullshit and it's horrible to lose to, but it's not nearly as bad as Big Priest since it's counterable by Dirty Rat and a bunch of other cards, but just nerfing Barnes would mess up Hunter and other decks that cheat out Y'Shaarj, while Priest would remain the same (this isn't even for debate, there are countless versions of Big Priest without Barnes that are the same cancer, Vargoth makes that possible), therefore nerfing Barnes would definitely be the wrong thing if you want to nerf BIG PRIEST

I agree that just hitting Barnes probably wouldn't be enough to address Respriest, and something more fundamental, like changing the way the game treats dead minions/resurrects would be preferable. I'm just pointing out that I have no sympathy for anyone using barneshaarj and I'm perfectly happy seeing other decks that run that cheesy combo take collateral damage from a potential Barnes nerf.

iWatchUSleep LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

Quote From AliRadicali
Quote From Pathod
You people missed the point. Sure it's bullshit and it's horrible to lose to, but it's not nearly as bad as Big Priest since it's counterable by Dirty Rat and a bunch of other cards, but just nerfing Barnes would mess up Hunter and other decks that cheat out Y'Shaarj, while Priest would remain the same (this isn't even for debate, there are countless versions of Big Priest without Barnes that are the same cancer, Vargoth makes that possible), therefore nerfing Barnes would definitely be the wrong thing if you want to nerf BIG PRIEST

I agree that just hitting Barnes probably wouldn't be enough to address Respriest, and something more fundamental, like changing the way the game treats dead minions/resurrects would be preferable. I'm just pointing out that I have no sympathy for anyone using barneshaarj and I'm perfectly happy seeing other decks that run that cheesy combo take collateral damage from a potential Barnes nerf.
This X100. Spell hunter can easily survive without Barnes and if it can't, it didn't deserve to be a deck to begin with. The Barnes/Y'shaarj combo is toxic in any deck and should be exterminated as soon as possible.
And yes, there are big priest builds that don't even run Barnes (which is a huge mistake). Their winrates are lower than the lists that do run Barnes. So that nerf, no matter how small, I'll take at this point. Anything to lower the success rate of big priest, even if it's only .01%.

Kovachut LV.9
6 years, 9 months ago

@ OP
Thanks for sharing the news with us. It's really interesting to learn more about the devs' opinion on the state of the wild meta and the possible features they are thinking on including some day.
Btw I had a feeling, that the next expansion is going to be all about assembling a League of GOOD/PROTECTORS (aka Avengers). The first expansion is all about EVILdoers robbing the magical city and logically the next one would include gathering people to restore its lost glory.
Lightspoon LV.7
6 years, 9 months ago

Taking on the resurrection mechanic will require a lot of work, because it probably has to do with how poorly graveyard is managed in HS. The easy solution for Team 5 is just to nerf Barnes, since he's the one taking all the blame since forever and also the one that allows to cheat out a big minion so early in the game (while Shadow Essence is at last 2 turns after him and that's is a very important difference between the two).

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News from Mike Donais

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