Yeah, this is working as it should be. Your Hero Power isn't actually targeting anything when it's being fired by Reckless Apprentice, and thus won't trigger Ice Walker since Walker specifically mentions a target.
Well shit, I guess it wasn't intended after all. A bit inconsistent with how other "targeting" mechanics work
Winrates were also for people who mulliganed for it, and then jammed it down on two because the options were "hero power" or play lunacy.
Let me put it another way. The deck functions just fine without lunacy. Lunacy just allows the deck to highroll and win certain unwinnable matchups. Turn 4 will slow it down which makes it more vulnerable to hyper aggro decks, which means the deck can't just mulligan for incanters/deck of lunacy any more, it'll have to mulligan for early game removal which means the deck functionally plays out differently.
These are good nerfs. Spell mage was already winning games when it didn't draw DoL and the match felt pretty fair. Paladin still looks strong but no more Flinger to accompany 0 mana libram anymore is going to hurt more than people might realize. Watch post nerfs will hopefully incentivize more minion combat and given that rogue would have likely been instant tier one with mage and pally nerfed, I'm glad she was hit as well. Hopefully I see significantly less Jandice shadowsteps in the future.
he didnt exactly predict them. before the weekend on his stream he said someone from Blizzard leaked him the nerfs. i dont think he said onn his Ytb video that someone told him, but on stream he did. So his predictions arent exactly that, he plain and simply knew what they where
Interesting conjecture, but I dont believe the data supports it. The winrates for a turn 1/2 DoL were very high, and moving it to a later turn (and requiring all or part of that turn) helps tone it down.
So you'd rather nerf every single cheap Rogue and Paladin spell, the entire Libram mechanic, and Rogue's burn spells just so Pen Flinger is allowed to be used as face damage?
I think the issue was that, despite the core refresh and new expansion release, it continued to be one of the most played cards in Standard. Factor in the unrivaled abuse of (as you mentioned) libram decks, and the card was due for a change. I think most players will agree that the design is interesting and the effect is fun, but something had to give at this point.
It's also quite unusual for a very low-cost neutral card to drive deck construction as strongly as PF did, which I have to think partially influenced the decision to nerf.
because it's a 2-mana 1/4 that can't be removed on curve by most classes (at least not 1 for 1) that has Windfury and scales extremely hard with buffs, meaning if that thing gets coined out on turn 1 and buffed with, say, Hand of A'dal by turn 2 you effectively lost the board and won't get it back for a while.
Not to mention it's still releveant in the lategame because it also happens to have Rush.
Crabrider is basically Speaker Gidra for one less mana and also a neutral with the only downside being that you actually need to run buffs to make it work....and guess which class has a lot of efficient buffs.
2-mana minions should not have 4 health unless they are legendary or at least don't infinitely scale in threat level the longer they remain alive.
I'd settle for them fixing the obnoxious bug with Oh My Yogg! that forces me to either relog or turn the sound off. Agreed that it feels like a 1 mana counterspell at least 60% of the time.
Animated Broomstick is weird because it isn't being played much right now. Unclear if that is a result of the meta or it just isn't as powerful as it seems. It needs worthy targets.
Because it's super hard to deal with when it gets coined out and buffed with Hand of A'dal. Once you've got there, there are several directions you can go. Libram of Wisdom, Blessing of Kings, and so on. You can protect it with Redemption or Righteous Protector, it gets tutored by Crystology and Call to Arms. If you get it out on an empty board on turn 1 or 2, Crabrider can singlehandedly win you a game as soon as turn 4 or 5 with only 2 or 3 buffs. I would have liked to see it nerfed to 3 Health, most classes have something that can deal with that. 4 Health is difficult to remove on turn 2 or 3.
it's not really a good sign if the only thing that was keep them in check were two very obviously overpowered decks.
For pretty much every deck other than the two top dogs these things represent must-kill targets, meaning they effectively have taunt, while at the same time having vanilla stats +1, meaning there are almost no removal spells that trade on an even mana cost, meaning you most often have to play two cards to get rid of them, which is already a huge loss in ressources and tempo.
They had the blowout potential of an uncontested Questing Adventurer with nearly double the statline.
Is Hearthstone's Sir Annoy-O Paladin Hero Skin Making a Return Soon?
But what if...you DID have to buy 20 Witchwood packs to get this skin? Wouldn’t that be wonderfully annoying?
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Hearthstone should never, ever reward high apm.
Should this interaction Freeze the whole board?
Well shit, I guess it wasn't intended after all. A bit inconsistent with how other "targeting" mechanics work
Is Hearthstone's Sir Annoy-O Paladin Hero Skin Making a Return Soon?
I've been hoping for the return of a skin I don't have yet. Should have known it would be THIS.
Hearthstone's Duels Mode is Getting Balance Changes on April 13's Patch 20.0.2
Who could have possibly guessed massive mana discounts and infinite value could cause problems in Hearthstone?!
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Winrates were also for people who mulliganed for it, and then jammed it down on two because the options were "hero power" or play lunacy.
Let me put it another way. The deck functions just fine without lunacy. Lunacy just allows the deck to highroll and win certain unwinnable matchups. Turn 4 will slow it down which makes it more vulnerable to hyper aggro decks, which means the deck can't just mulligan for incanters/deck of lunacy any more, it'll have to mulligan for early game removal which means the deck functionally plays out differently.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
These are good nerfs. Spell mage was already winning games when it didn't draw DoL and the match felt pretty fair. Paladin still looks strong but no more Flinger to accompany 0 mana libram anymore is going to hurt more than people might realize. Watch post nerfs will hopefully incentivize more minion combat and given that rogue would have likely been instant tier one with mage and pally nerfed, I'm glad she was hit as well. Hopefully I see significantly less Jandice shadowsteps in the future.
Should this interaction Freeze the whole board?
Turns out this is actually a bug. It will be fixed by tomorrow's patch.
Is Hearthstone's Sir Annoy-O Paladin Hero Skin Making a Return Soon?
I really wouldn't call Sir Annoy-O a Halloween skin. It doesn't have any connection to it, besides being sold in a bundle at the time.
Is Hearthstone's Sir Annoy-O Paladin Hero Skin Making a Return Soon?
Annoyo is one of my favorite skins. Hellooo!
Goodbye Free Classic Packs - Their Contents and Tavern Brawl Rewards Changing Soon, Potential Benefits if You Held Onto Any
oh okay that‘s great. didn‘t know about that
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
he didnt exactly predict them. before the weekend on his stream he said someone from Blizzard leaked him the nerfs. i dont think he said onn his Ytb video that someone told him, but on stream he did. So his predictions arent exactly that, he plain and simply knew what they where
Standard Hearthstone Decks to Take For a Spin While Waiting For Card Nerfs
Because it's a terrible deck.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Exactly. I'm glad I'm not alone with this point of view. :)
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Interesting conjecture, but I dont believe the data supports it. The winrates for a turn 1/2 DoL were very high, and moving it to a later turn (and requiring all or part of that turn) helps tone it down.
Dean Ayala Details the Different Groups of the Hearthstone Dev Team, Confirms More Battlegrounds Content in the Future
You clearly have no clue what you are talking about
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
So you'd rather nerf every single cheap Rogue and Paladin spell, the entire Libram mechanic, and Rogue's burn spells just so Pen Flinger is allowed to be used as face damage?
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
I think the issue was that, despite the core refresh and new expansion release, it continued to be one of the most played cards in Standard. Factor in the unrivaled abuse of (as you mentioned) libram decks, and the card was due for a change. I think most players will agree that the design is interesting and the effect is fun, but something had to give at this point.
It's also quite unusual for a very low-cost neutral card to drive deck construction as strongly as PF did, which I have to think partially influenced the decision to nerf.
Howto: Win-5-Ranked Weekly Quest twice
Just did that without even reading through the bug fixes in the patch notes :D
Forgot to reroll last week though, wasted xp.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
because it's a 2-mana 1/4 that can't be removed on curve by most classes (at least not 1 for 1) that has Windfury and scales extremely hard with buffs, meaning if that thing gets coined out on turn 1 and buffed with, say, Hand of A'dal by turn 2 you effectively lost the board and won't get it back for a while.
Not to mention it's still releveant in the lategame because it also happens to have Rush.
Crabrider is basically Speaker Gidra for one less mana and also a neutral with the only downside being that you actually need to run buffs to make it work....and guess which class has a lot of efficient buffs.
2-mana minions should not have 4 health unless they are legendary or at least don't infinitely scale in threat level the longer they remain alive.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
I'd settle for them fixing the obnoxious bug with Oh My Yogg! that forces me to either relog or turn the sound off. Agreed that it feels like a 1 mana counterspell at least 60% of the time.
Animated Broomstick is weird because it isn't being played much right now. Unclear if that is a result of the meta or it just isn't as powerful as it seems. It needs worthy targets.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Because it's super hard to deal with when it gets coined out and buffed with Hand of A'dal. Once you've got there, there are several directions you can go. Libram of Wisdom, Blessing of Kings, and so on. You can protect it with Redemption or Righteous Protector, it gets tutored by Crystology and Call to Arms. If you get it out on an empty board on turn 1 or 2, Crabrider can singlehandedly win you a game as soon as turn 4 or 5 with only 2 or 3 buffs. I would have liked to see it nerfed to 3 Health, most classes have something that can deal with that. 4 Health is difficult to remove on turn 2 or 3.
Queen Wagtoggle and Captain Hooktusk Are Returning to Hearthstone's Battlegrounds + Beast, Dragon, and Elemental Balance Updates
“Hey! Elementals in BGs are pretty strong. Should we nerf any of them?”
”No, make them stronger!”
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
it's not really a good sign if the only thing that was keep them in check were two very obviously overpowered decks.
For pretty much every deck other than the two top dogs these things represent must-kill targets, meaning they effectively have taunt, while at the same time having vanilla stats +1, meaning there are almost no removal spells that trade on an even mana cost, meaning you most often have to play two cards to get rid of them, which is already a huge loss in ressources and tempo.
They had the blowout potential of an uncontested Questing Adventurer with nearly double the statline.
Hearthstone's Pen Flinger Can No Longer Attack Face, Watch Posts Nerfed, and More! Forged in the Barrens Nerfs Arrive Tomorrow
Paladin seems still strong.