First off, what deck you play is extremely relevant. Not only are certain decks far harder to play optimally, even if they may not look like it at first glance, they may also be a poor matchup into whatever you're facing.
I played eg. Beast Hunter 0/5, switched to Quest Shaman 0/3.
I honestly don't think that the powercreep is as bad as you make it out to be. Yes, there are some power outliers in the post-launch mercs, but those also existed within the release mercs. There also is the opposite with mercs that are fun for pve, but not strong enough for pvp like Wrathion, Balinda, Galvangar, Trigore, Vanessa etc.
The current top-meta comp also mainly contains release mercs and all of them are perfectly usable in pve. I'd even go as far as to claim that Lokholar isn't even that strong in itself, but was just a direct counter to the previous Valeera that will loose its relevance once the meta focuses on slower abilities.
I've been playing lots of Mercenaries recently, and my biggest issue is the coins. Duplicate protection exists for cards in the traditional game, so why not for coins? It's incredibly frustrating to keep earning coins for maxed out mercs while I am desperately trying to upgrade new mercs but don't have the coins to do so.
I'd really love it if Blizzard, just once for a reveal season, could get their communications in order and put something out that wasn't dog shit. It's bad enough they don't understand how to encrypt their CDN builds so we can leak contents ahead of release, but this was so easy to not fuck up since it just required a couple of humans to know comms.
"Let's put out the card reveal schedule but some time slots aren't actually card reveals".
Vladimir/Galio doesn't look like a good pair, Noxus lacks protective spells and you don't want to self damage your formidable units because that would also lower their attack. He will probably work better with either Soraka, Braum or Poppy.
I have my doubts even with all the Pandaria stuff.
And honestly i hope dont get it, atleast for a good while ( a year or 2), HS already has enough trouble with balance and having evry class be relevant as it is, DH aslo didnt really help out with balance in HS.
And a new 11th class would mean either class cards for evryone so even less new stuff to try out and less cards to push stuff, and so if soemthing doesnt work out (like big spell mage or the fell stuff for lock) thats now even worse for the class. Or they add more cards to expansions and make it more expensive and HS is more then expensive enough as it is.
They said no new class though, so maybe this is them getting Pandaria out of their system a bit, introducing these characters into the game so the non-WoW players get familiar with them, and lining up the new class for next year with established lore and maybe even mechanics.
I think major changes require a much longer timespan to implement. A lot of this content was likely already done or close to it when Mercenaries launched - they actually came up with a content plan for a change.
I fully expect to see a lot of the art available in the shop for regular portraits though in the future. Double dipping on art assets is awesome ROI and I know there's a few art pieces I wouldn't mind as a playable hero.
I'm gonna be honest here, I don't think Mercs is ever going to improve. Their approach to balance seems to be "release broken stuff then release more broken stuff to counter previously released broken stuff". It's not even been out for a year and the powercreep already rivals that of Traditional HS. Excess coins still haven'T been addressed in any way, grinding is still a repetitive chore. PVP is just not interesting due to lack of actual strategy beyond "netdeck a popular team and hope you don't queue into things that hardcounter you"
Honestly at this point they're better off just selling the merc portraits as actual skins since they're clearly the best part of the entire thing.
My prediction is that Galio decks will be good because they synergize well with Poppy and Yordle Smith, and Poppy is still a beast when she gets to apply her buff.
Do we really want him back when his entire thing, both in game and in meme is charge? We already have Mr Smite bringing the spirit of Leeroy to Standard. By the looks of it we have the 10 (probably 9 non-evil) mercs making up the raiding party, so I assume Leeroy isn't there anyway.
There REALLY needs to be a Leeroy Jenkins revival of some kind. Leeroy has been a staple in the game for years, and now that we are going into HIS realm, there HAS to be some kind of reference to him... even if it's a card where the rest of party is just saying, "God damn it, Leeroy!"
On the one hand I fully understand how we ended up here. On the other hand, Onyxia's lair is a long long way from Alterac Valley and the pedant inside me is pained by these cards officially being part of the AV set. I guess I'll just have to ignore the pedant and be happy to see dragons again; they always push decks in a direction I approve of.
Can't win in Standard anymorr
I wrote that down already?
Welcome to the Onyxia's Lair! Alterac Valley's Mini-Set Releases on February 15 and Brings 35 New Cards to Hearthstone
Lol, the golden bundle is so overpriced.... But netherless, I'm full of joy. Somebody even predicted Onyxia's Lair.
Onyxia's Lair
Gotta love that Disney villain attitude!
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
I honestly don't think that the powercreep is as bad as you make it out to be. Yes, there are some power outliers in the post-launch mercs, but those also existed within the release mercs. There also is the opposite with mercs that are fun for pve, but not strong enough for pvp like Wrathion, Balinda, Galvangar, Trigore, Vanessa etc.
The current top-meta comp also mainly contains release mercs and all of them are perfectly usable in pve. I'd even go as far as to claim that Lokholar isn't even that strong in itself, but was just a direct counter to the previous Valeera that will loose its relevance once the meta focuses on slower abilities.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Gets 3 New Heroes, Returning Heroes, and Brand New Cosmetics Next Week
Dat Onyxia hero power! Whew! I don't think we've had a hero power this shit since Sylvanas quit in disgust.
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
I've been playing lots of Mercenaries recently, and my biggest issue is the coins. Duplicate protection exists for cards in the traditional game, so why not for coins? It's incredibly frustrating to keep earning coins for maxed out mercs while I am desperately trying to upgrade new mercs but don't have the coins to do so.
Onyxia's Lair Card Reveal Schedule is Out! Reveal Period Lasts 5 Days
Don't worry, new community manager is laughing about it. Fantastic comms from the team!
Onyxia's Lair Card Reveal Schedule is Out! Reveal Period Lasts 5 Days
Reveal schedule is a lie.
So the official schedule says we've got an 11 AM PDT reveal, which was a few mins ago. That was met with Swaybae instead introducing reveals.
So "Reveal Schedule" doesn't even mean exactly that apparently. According to Sway, she's going to be teasing cards.
I'd really love it if Blizzard, just once for a reveal season, could get their communications in order and put something out that wasn't dog shit. It's bad enough they don't understand how to encrypt their CDN builds so we can leak contents ahead of release, but this was so easy to not fuck up since it just required a couple of humans to know comms.
"Let's put out the card reveal schedule but some time slots aren't actually card reveals".
Galio: New Demacia Champion Reveal - 5 New Runeterra Cards Revealed
Vladimir/Galio doesn't look like a good pair, Noxus lacks protective spells and you don't want to self damage your formidable units because that would also lower their attack. He will probably work better with either Soraka, Braum or Poppy.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Gets 3 New Heroes, Returning Heroes, and Brand New Cosmetics Next Week
Many whelps handle it!
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
I have my doubts even with all the Pandaria stuff.
And honestly i hope dont get it, atleast for a good while ( a year or 2), HS already has enough trouble with balance and having evry class be relevant as it is, DH aslo didnt really help out with balance in HS.
And a new 11th class would mean either class cards for evryone so even less new stuff to try out and less cards to push stuff, and so if soemthing doesnt work out (like big spell mage or the fell stuff for lock) thats now even worse for the class. Or they add more cards to expansions and make it more expensive and HS is more then expensive enough as it is.
Onyxia's Lair Card Reveal Schedule is Out! Reveal Period Lasts 5 Days
Only 13 total reveal events. That means we can expect an average of 2-3 cards per reveal. That or Nina gets a whole bunch at the end.
The Immovable Object has Finally Been Moved! Lightforged Cariel's Achievement is Fixed in Next Week's Patch
Immovable Object feels SO good ... until you get ooze'd :D
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
Yeah, this is getting a bit ridiculous.
They said no new class though, so maybe this is them getting Pandaria out of their system a bit, introducing these characters into the game so the non-WoW players get familiar with them, and lining up the new class for next year with established lore and maybe even mechanics.
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
I think major changes require a much longer timespan to implement. A lot of this content was likely already done or close to it when Mercenaries launched - they actually came up with a content plan for a change.
I fully expect to see a lot of the art available in the shop for regular portraits though in the future. Double dipping on art assets is awesome ROI and I know there's a few art pieces I wouldn't mind as a playable hero.
Onyxia's Lair Card Reveal Schedule is Out! Reveal Period Lasts 5 Days
According to her twitter account, she is a storyteller who will be giving "teases" to the cards being revealed everyday.
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
I'm gonna be honest here, I don't think Mercs is ever going to improve. Their approach to balance seems to be "release broken stuff then release more broken stuff to counter previously released broken stuff". It's not even been out for a year and the powercreep already rivals that of Traditional HS. Excess coins still haven'T been addressed in any way, grinding is still a repetitive chore. PVP is just not interesting due to lack of actual strategy beyond "netdeck a popular team and hope you don't queue into things that hardcounter you"
Honestly at this point they're better off just selling the merc portraits as actual skins since they're clearly the best part of the entire thing.
Hearthstone Mercenaries Gets a Limited-Time Event Soon, Pandaria Characters Added as New Mercenaries
Monk class for Hearthstone inc
Galio: New Demacia Champion Reveal - 5 New Runeterra Cards Revealed
My prediction is that Galio decks will be good because they synergize well with Poppy and Yordle Smith, and Poppy is still a beast when she gets to apply her buff.
Welcome to the Onyxia's Lair! Alterac Valley's Mini-Set Releases on February 15 and Brings 35 New Cards to Hearthstone
Do we really want him back when his entire thing, both in game and in meme is charge? We already have Mr Smite bringing the spirit of Leeroy to Standard. By the looks of it we have the 10 (probably 9 non-evil) mercs making up the raiding party, so I assume Leeroy isn't there anyway.
Galio: New Demacia Champion Reveal - 5 New Runeterra Cards Revealed
This entire archetype is a fearsome player wet dream.
Welcome to the Onyxia's Lair! Alterac Valley's Mini-Set Releases on February 15 and Brings 35 New Cards to Hearthstone
There REALLY needs to be a Leeroy Jenkins revival of some kind. Leeroy has been a staple in the game for years, and now that we are going into HIS realm, there HAS to be some kind of reference to him... even if it's a card where the rest of party is just saying, "God damn it, Leeroy!"
Galio: New Demacia Champion Reveal - 5 New Runeterra Cards Revealed
The part that interests me is that his ability is on Summon. An event that is potentially so game-changing and swingy would normally be on Play.
That may not be too important, given that there aren’t a lot of ways to randomly summon a 9-cost unit. Still, it could lead to some big plays.
Welcome to the Onyxia's Lair! Alterac Valley's Mini-Set Releases on February 15 and Brings 35 New Cards to Hearthstone
On the one hand I fully understand how we ended up here. On the other hand, Onyxia's lair is a long long way from Alterac Valley and the pedant inside me is pained by these cards officially being part of the AV set. I guess I'll just have to ignore the pedant and be happy to see dragons again; they always push decks in a direction I approve of.
Welcome to the Onyxia's Lair! Alterac Valley's Mini-Set Releases on February 15 and Brings 35 New Cards to Hearthstone
Not sure if I will be able to handle so many whelps.