So, have anyone figured out a use for this card? I opened her on launch and have no idea if there's any way at all I can play her. That 3 health is an insult for such a cool concept. Compared to Waxadred it's worse in every single way.
From my experience Al'ar is best when you are ahead, or at least when your opponent doesn't have any minions, so they cannot just use a minion to kill off the ashes for free. It then serves the role of something threatening but also annoying to get rid of, which can be useful. Now I'm not saying it is a great card in most games even if you have a deck that suits the card, but equally don't underestimate how useful it is to use up 2x 3 damage removal.
As for the comparison to Waxadred, keep in mind there's tools for 9 other classes to use so being worse in rogue doesn't rule out uses elsewhere. The other deathrattle classes (hunter and priest) in particular can have some fun mutliplying Al'ar or the ashes.
You can also consider using both Waxadred and Al'ar in the same deck, which will at least give you a feel for when Al'ar is actually stronger than the dragon. Even just on paper 2x3 > 5, so she can be tougher to remove in the first place, and she comes back quicker so there will be a few times when she's better.
While the appearance of DH is undoubtedly the reason why Sac Pact is being played and got targeted, the Jaraxxus point only really became a thing 8 months (not 6 years) ago when Zephrys turned up and is absolutely relevant here: it is not just warlocks suppressing use of Lord J., it is the large number of singleton decks too. I could honestly see them making a change to not target Lord J. around now even if DH hadn't been introduced.
Ultimately any change that makes the players happy is justified, and in this case the Jaraxxus aspect is a legitimate part of why people would be happy about it (especially as he's a fan favourite card).
With regards to Demon Hunter, I'm very happy with the Battlefiend nerf. I think Altruis the Outcast shouldn't do face damage with its ability, but the mana nerf is appreciated. I think Glaivebound Adept needed a mana nerf more than an attack nerf.
I still think Priestess of Fury needs a health nerf to at least 5. And finally, Twin Slice should be nerfed to 1 mana, while KEEPING Second Slice at 0. It's NOT a twinspell! Triggering both for free is broken, even with the Altruis the Outcast nerf.
Druid is absolutely very much playable despite Skulking Geist, they just can't rely solely on Jade Idol to win every game now. The most prominent Druid deck in Wild right now doesn't have many tech answers beyond Loatheb and Mana Burn, and those cards are not particularly reliable at that. The best play pattern to beat it is kill them by turn 4 or 5, or to just maintain a high life total and gain armor, or play deathrattle-Quest Priest.
I think you're wrong about "the next set idea sounds good on paper, but has been awful in the past." Adding checks and balances has been the way standard formats in card games have stayed healthy over the years. The common reasons things have been banned from a standard format has always been a card being too powerful after multiple sets have come out despite tech options being introduced (but failing), or a card being so meta-warping that all the strongest and most playable decks in a format revolve around it in an unhealthy way. Sets are usually designed with the most recent sets and some future sets in mind, so this "let's ban/change cards before the half-life of a set" attitude is very concerning about either a design team's assessments, or a community's intolerance for finding answers to things in the meta themselves.
There's such a thing, as we know of from other card games, of continuous and regular bannings/nerfings causing dissatisfaction among a playerbase. In the case of Hearthstone, dust refunds are a nice thing to have, but they don't refund the dust spent to craft cards that interact with the cards that get nerfed. Beyond that, having cards, interactions, and decks pulled out from under players gets unsatisfactory pretty quickly. I personally think Wild is the only thing worth playing HS now (beyond Battlegrounds, which has a terrible monetization strategy now), and I wouldn't like to see the one format in this game I enjoy dies for the sins of Standard.
But most of the time they combo him with 0 mana spells and in rare cases with 1 mana spells. It's rare scenario when Kael goes with 2 mana draw 2 and only when dh is desperate. I understand it's a nerf, but I don't like OTK Kael at all, even, i think, it's another plague for this game, i like him, if he used like huge value card with cheap spell cheap spell 1 huge spell and thats it. But he found abuse with broken OTK s*it. Like Aviana Kun were cancer, he is too.
About Altrius - odd dh got nerf, it's good, but other - it's just idk, i understand, now it's hard combo him so early and deal massive board and face damage for nothing. But still, class who has so many broken cards gets so weak nerfs is pathetic. Yes, they must be reasonble, but that s mean they must nerf other cards too. Coz it's not enough especially if you nerfing sac pact that hard. As i said - waitng 3d DH nerfs.
Oh, also, these nerfs looks like nerfing absolutly broken quest mage in wild with just +2 spells...
Not going to lie, I'm really disappointed with the nerf to Open the Waygate. The two extra required randomly generated spells are a such a minor increase, that it's barely noticeable. IF someone had any problems with Exodia Quest Mage prior to RoS, the 2-point increase would have been smooth af. But from the last few expansions mages got so many good ways to generate spells, that it deserved a bigger hit. Things like Mana Cyclone, Magic Trick, Licensed Adventurer and now Evocation can really pump up those numbers, especially if they are used alongside Sorcerer's Apprentice. And let's not forget Ray of Frost, that fulfills two roles at once - stalling and quest progressing. There just aren't any bad RNG-based spell generators, as they were in the past. Now there's no real penalty, when you build your deck to complete the quest.
The thing I hate about that deck is the highroll potential. This is what I despised in former community hated decks as well - Naga Sea Witch Warlock/Hunter, Big Priest, Darkest Hour Warlock, Star Aligner Druid, OG Quest Rogue etc. The last time I faced Cyclone Mage in wild, the opponent completed their quest on turn 5 with the help of Sorcerer's Apprentice, used Time Warp on the following turn alongside 2 giants and killed me with a randomly generated Fireball. Talk about highroll.
That's my opinion regarding the mage deck. The other nerfs are more or less fair: Bloodbloom's cost doubles and I doubt we will see Darkest Hour Warlock ever again. Mecha'thun warlock got hit hard, but the deck will replace the spell with Drakkari Enchanter and it will survive. Odd DH received a lot of hits, so it's very unlikely it will remain competitive in wild. As for Standard: Combo DH is going to stay - it seems that the devs are satisfied with its presence. I think mid-range DH will become stronger, now that its aggressive variant got hit in many different ways. Tbh I'm kinda excited about the Sac Pac change - I know, that Lord Jaraxxus is still a weak win-condition in comparison to Galakrond or some Plot Twist shenanigans, but I've always missed playing him and now I'm looking forward to running a control warlock deck in standard.
Battlefiend: Correct nerf. Let's see how it performs now.
Altruis the Outcast: Solves absolutely nothing. The issue with this card is how it destroys your board AND obliterates your face simultaneously. Now it deals more damage if it sticks (unlikely but still...). The cost increase only makes it slightly worse for slower DHs who care more about controlling the board than the face damage. The card is less flexible now but it will still see play in every DH deck in standard. The cost increase is very significant for wild though. Now he can't be played in Odd DH.
Kael'thas Sunstrider: The most underwhelming one. Just one more mana isn't going to solve most of its comboing issues. It's just a tiny bit slower. Maybe it will be enough to help the fastest aggro decks kill combo players. But this surely was very disappointing.
Bad Luck Albatross: The increase to 4 mana is good. A tech card should never have good stats for its mana cost. Its purpose is to counter specific strategies. It should be situational. As it is right now, it's just a good 3 drop that also messes with your opponent's strategy/deck.
Frenzied Felwing: Easier to remove which is appreciated. Most likely, it will still see play.
Sacrificial Pact: Just as expected by everyone. Now it's still an inexpensive source of healing for Galakrond Warlock but not a free heal + removal. Lord Jaraxxus can finally see some play. People will certainly experiment. Is it going to work? Maybe. We will see.
Bloodbloom: As i expected. This should stop Darkest Hour Warlock but it will hurt other decks as well.
Open the Waygate: Probably not enough. Mages are too efficient at generating random spells and they have a ton of 1-cost spells. Sorcerer's Apprentice mana discount just makes it too easy to complete. There's also Primordial Glyph.
Libram of Justice: A simple 1 mana cost reduction. Just as expected. And i still think this isn't enough.
Some changes were expected but i have serious doubts about some of them (especially Kael'thas and Altruis).
IMHO, warlock is really the class being nerfed the most, as now it will struggle in its best match up : DH. I don't see gala warlock standing a chance vs Tempo DH now.
I just hope I won't have to craft Jaraxxus to make the class viable now, as I really don't like this mechanics.
DH's changes are kinda cosmetic imho, the fact that [Hearthstone Card (Altruis the Outcast) Not Found] still can hit face, that [Hearthstone Card (Glaivebound Adept) Not Found] still does 4 damage and that fiend still is one of the best tier 1 ever, makes me think tempo DH will still be pretty strong. Kael'thas nerf may not hurt combo DH that much either.
As for Libram paladin, don't think this change will be enough but maybe it can become a good tier 2 deck...
Ok, so I'm an idiot and didn't realise the infinite value of Replicating Challenger. I'll make a 2/3 that only activates when surviving damage and post it.
What's up with the match-making? Why the f am I facing Diamond 5-1 players while trying to get to Platinum 1?
Friend of mine made it to legend last week and is constantly facing Platinum and Diamond players as well. Get your sh.. together, Blizzard. That's just stupid...
Altruis the Outcast and Kael'thas Sunstrider had their mana cost increased by 1, Glaivebound Adept to have that apparently paltry slap to the hand by having his 7 attack reduced by 1. All this seemed to be to be balanced to ensure a slower dhunter aggro deck (due to the not insubstantial nerf to Battlefiend) are not too slow to succeed against spell druid and other dhunter decks.
Frenzied Felwing change is perhaps massive, since it can now be AoE down along with the other aggro cards from dhunters, but its still a ridiculously good card in an aggro deck so I don't predict this card getting dropped any time soon. Bad Luck Albatross is another nerf that generally make it less of an auto include, but a 4/3 is still not too bad, even at 4 mana. Only time can tell if 2 copies of 4 mana 4/3 is too much to see inclusion into decks that plays it.
That change to Open the Waygate. 2 extra to its requirements. Hardly slowing it down against anything but hyper aggro. Not exactly what I had in mind.
And the best nerf/buff to warlock. Sac Pact not longer a 0 mana destroy a key dhunter minion, and no longer troubling the dreams of Lord Jaraxxus. Not that it changes much in the matchup since warlock still have the cards to remain Illidan's strongest enemy.
Ok, so I'm an idiot and didn't realise the infinite value of Replicating Challenger. I'll make a 2/3 that only activates when surviving damage and post it.
I think Kaelthas should have been changed to "only the third spell in the turn", I think this is bananas when it gets more than once, specially in druid token.
Really happy to see Sac Pact no longer target enemy Demons. Now players can play Jaraxxus without auto-losing against highlander decks.
Emphasis on "auto."
You do realize that the REAL reason they nerfed it was because they didn't want it being used as a 0 cost free easy removal against Demon Hunter's big demons. No longer being able to target Jarraxus is maybe the reason they cited in the AMA blog but the fact it took them 6 years to change this? RIGHT WHEN demons are now being played left and right? Sorry but no. The real reason is that Sac Pact was a niche tech card prior to DH release. After DH release it became a core tech/removal against any Demon Hunter matchup making the Warlock Vs DH matchup favored for the warlock.
But yes, now people can play Jarraxus without auto losing.
No one is saying Jaraxxus was "the real reason." Jaraxxus is a curb cut effect. I just appreciate it.
Kael'thas Sunstrider - 1 mana is a nice way to slow it down but not kill it. I think Combo decks need to exist even if they aren't my fav archetype to play with or against, so I'm glad they didn't change the ability.
Bad Luck Albatross - I feel this change moves it out of auto-include territory and into a deliberate tech card choice. Now you'll only include it if you specifically want to shut down highlander/pure paladin/spell mage, but it's wayyy worse against everything else.
Frenzied Felwing - Feels like a fair nerf. Still a good aggressive card but much easier to remove.
Altruis the Outcast - Guys, I know the 4 attack makes it stronger, but going up by 1 mana is a big deal. This ain't a buff. Combined with the change to Kael'thas it is way harder to do massive burst with him cause you'll have less mana to play cards on the same turn.
Battlefiend - Called this one before it was even released. Great change.
Libram of Justice - It's a nice buff. I doubt it's enough to really push Paladin up, but it helps. I've been playing a lot of Librams lately and there are a lot of times where it cost just a tiny bit too much. Now you can fairly reliably expect it to cost 3ish mana by the time you need it (if not less).
No one plays [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] for its value. Everyone plays for the [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] . So you need to count BOTH cards as being one to determinate its real value. One extra card cost 2 mana or more (see [Hearthstone Card (Glimpse Beyond) Not Found])
Total cost: 1 mana [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] + 1 mana [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] + 2 mana extra card = 4 mana 6/7 stats. Impressive stats, but nothing game breaking. And this is the best case considering a top deck yeti, there is no guarantee the yetis will ever show up. The longer it takes to draw one of them, the worse it gets.
If [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] placed [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] directly on the top of the deck insted of shuffling 2 copies, then i agree you could argue its stats are overturned. Still, 5/5 + 1/2(that needs to die and stats spread into 2 turns) is much worse then a raw 6/7, and without keywords like Fearsome/Overwhelm it becomes easier to block as any token can do it.
The goal of nerfs is to make the class playable without being oppressive. Nerfs are not supposed to take a class or card and make it "dumpster tier" to the point that you never see them again, just managable.
Increasing mana costs for a lot of the cards DOES inhibit the ability to combo with them. Altrius and Kael are going to be heavily impacted by having mana costs increased by 1. It means it's less likely to be able to be combod. It also means that Kael can no longer be combod with 2 cost spells (6+2+2) and will now need discounts or 1 cost spells to combo. In short Kael moving from 6->7 mana is HUGE as it limits what spells can be combod with him naturally. Same thing goes for Altrius, to a lesser extent. Moving cost from 3->4 means that it has less combo potential on the same turn.
Really happy to see Sac Pact no longer target enemy Demons. Now players can play Jaraxxus without auto-losing against highlander decks.
Emphasis on "auto."
You do realize that the REAL reason they nerfed it was because they didn't want it being used as a 0 cost free easy removal against Demon Hunter's big demons. No longer being able to target Jarraxus is maybe the reason they cited in the AMA blog but the fact it took them 6 years to change this? RIGHT WHEN demons are now being played left and right? Sorry but no. The real reason is that Sac Pact was a niche tech card prior to DH release. After DH release it became a core tech/removal against any Demon Hunter matchup making the Warlock Vs DH matchup favored for the warlock.
But yes, now people can play Jarraxus without auto losing.
New Neutral Minion - Al'ar
From my experience Al'ar is best when you are ahead, or at least when your opponent doesn't have any minions, so they cannot just use a minion to kill off the ashes for free. It then serves the role of something threatening but also annoying to get rid of, which can be useful. Now I'm not saying it is a great card in most games even if you have a deck that suits the card, but equally don't underestimate how useful it is to use up 2x 3 damage removal.
As for the comparison to Waxadred, keep in mind there's tools for 9 other classes to use so being worse in rogue doesn't rule out uses elsewhere. The other deathrattle classes (hunter and priest) in particular can have some fun mutliplying Al'ar or the ashes.
You can also consider using both Waxadred and Al'ar in the same deck, which will at least give you a feel for when Al'ar is actually stronger than the dragon. Even just on paper 2x3 > 5, so she can be tougher to remove in the first place, and she comes back quicker so there will be a few times when she's better.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
Open the Waygate now requires 8 Spells...
I'm sorry, but did the Devs forget that Mana Cyclone, Primordial Glyph, Magic Trick, Ray of Frost, Banana Buffoon, Licensed Adventurer and Evocation are actual Cards that exist?
Like, what's this supposed to be? A minor Inconvenience?
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
While the appearance of DH is undoubtedly the reason why Sac Pact is being played and got targeted, the Jaraxxus point only really became a thing 8 months (not 6 years) ago when Zephrys turned up and is absolutely relevant here: it is not just warlocks suppressing use of Lord J., it is the large number of singleton decks too. I could honestly see them making a change to not target Lord J. around now even if DH hadn't been introduced.
Ultimately any change that makes the players happy is justified, and in this case the Jaraxxus aspect is a legitimate part of why people would be happy about it (especially as he's a fan favourite card).
10 Card Nerfs & Buffs Are Coming to Hearthstone Next Week Including Wild Changes and Demon Hunter Nerfs
I wish I'd face that Kind of Quest-Mage. You can at least hope to pull one of the Pieces with Dirty Rat or sometimes survive by having a Taunt up.
But every Time I decide to play it out, I get greeted with a „Free from that blasted Tower!" followed up with a smug „Hello!"
Idk. I just want this unfair Interaction to be gone.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
Sacrificial Pact - they nerfed Malchezaar interaction in Karazhan adventure D:
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
With regards to Demon Hunter, I'm very happy with the Battlefiend nerf. I think Altruis the Outcast shouldn't do face damage with its ability, but the mana nerf is appreciated. I think Glaivebound Adept needed a mana nerf more than an attack nerf.
I still think Skull of Gul'dan should only provide a 2 mana discount, but even that doesn't really slow Demon Hunter's insane draw engine since it still makes Chaos Strike, Spectral Sight, and Crimson Sigil Runner free. I'd like to see Chaos Strike nerfed to 3 mana to give it a power level more similar to Shield Block.
I still think Priestess of Fury needs a health nerf to at least 5. And finally, Twin Slice should be nerfed to 1 mana, while KEEPING Second Slice at 0. It's NOT a twinspell! Triggering both for free is broken, even with the Altruis the Outcast nerf.
10 Card Nerfs & Buffs Are Coming to Hearthstone Next Week Including Wild Changes and Demon Hunter Nerfs
Druid is absolutely very much playable despite Skulking Geist, they just can't rely solely on Jade Idol to win every game now. The most prominent Druid deck in Wild right now doesn't have many tech answers beyond Loatheb and Mana Burn, and those cards are not particularly reliable at that. The best play pattern to beat it is kill them by turn 4 or 5, or to just maintain a high life total and gain armor, or play deathrattle-Quest Priest.
I think you're wrong about "the next set idea sounds good on paper, but has been awful in the past." Adding checks and balances has been the way standard formats in card games have stayed healthy over the years. The common reasons things have been banned from a standard format has always been a card being too powerful after multiple sets have come out despite tech options being introduced (but failing), or a card being so meta-warping that all the strongest and most playable decks in a format revolve around it in an unhealthy way. Sets are usually designed with the most recent sets and some future sets in mind, so this "let's ban/change cards before the half-life of a set" attitude is very concerning about either a design team's assessments, or a community's intolerance for finding answers to things in the meta themselves.
There's such a thing, as we know of from other card games, of continuous and regular bannings/nerfings causing dissatisfaction among a playerbase. In the case of Hearthstone, dust refunds are a nice thing to have, but they don't refund the dust spent to craft cards that interact with the cards that get nerfed. Beyond that, having cards, interactions, and decks pulled out from under players gets unsatisfactory pretty quickly. I personally think Wild is the only thing worth playing HS now (beyond Battlegrounds, which has a terrible monetization strategy now), and I wouldn't like to see the one format in this game I enjoy dies for the sins of Standard.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
But most of the time they combo him with 0 mana spells and in rare cases with 1 mana spells. It's rare scenario when Kael goes with 2 mana draw 2 and only when dh is desperate. I understand it's a nerf, but I don't like OTK Kael at all, even, i think, it's another plague for this game, i like him, if he used like huge value card with cheap spell cheap spell 1 huge spell and thats it. But he found abuse with broken OTK s*it. Like Aviana Kun were cancer, he is too.
About Altrius - odd dh got nerf, it's good, but other - it's just idk, i understand, now it's hard combo him so early and deal massive board and face damage for nothing. But still, class who has so many broken cards gets so weak nerfs is pathetic. Yes, they must be reasonble, but that s mean they must nerf other cards too. Coz it's not enough especially if you nerfing sac pact that hard. As i said - waitng 3d DH nerfs.
Oh, also, these nerfs looks like nerfing absolutly broken quest mage in wild with just +2 spells...
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
Not going to lie, I'm really disappointed with the nerf to Open the Waygate. The two extra required randomly generated spells are a such a minor increase, that it's barely noticeable. IF someone had any problems with Exodia Quest Mage prior to RoS, the 2-point increase would have been smooth af. But from the last few expansions mages got so many good ways to generate spells, that it deserved a bigger hit. Things like Mana Cyclone, Magic Trick, Licensed Adventurer and now Evocation can really pump up those numbers, especially if they are used alongside Sorcerer's Apprentice. And let's not forget Ray of Frost, that fulfills two roles at once - stalling and quest progressing. There just aren't any bad RNG-based spell generators, as they were in the past. Now there's no real penalty, when you build your deck to complete the quest.
The thing I hate about that deck is the highroll potential. This is what I despised in former community hated decks as well - Naga Sea Witch Warlock/Hunter, Big Priest, Darkest Hour Warlock, Star Aligner Druid, OG Quest Rogue etc. The last time I faced Cyclone Mage in wild, the opponent completed their quest on turn 5 with the help of Sorcerer's Apprentice, used Time Warp on the following turn alongside 2 giants and killed me with a randomly generated Fireball. Talk about highroll.
That's my opinion regarding the mage deck. The other nerfs are more or less fair: Bloodbloom's cost doubles and I doubt we will see Darkest Hour Warlock ever again. Mecha'thun warlock got hit hard, but the deck will replace the spell with Drakkari Enchanter and it will survive. Odd DH received a lot of hits, so it's very unlikely it will remain competitive in wild. As for Standard: Combo DH is going to stay - it seems that the devs are satisfied with its presence. I think mid-range DH will become stronger, now that its aggressive variant got hit in many different ways. Tbh I'm kinda excited about the Sac Pac change - I know, that Lord Jaraxxus is still a weak win-condition in comparison to Galakrond or some Plot Twist shenanigans, but I've always missed playing him and now I'm looking forward to running a control warlock deck in standard.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
Well, that was underwhelming...
Battlefiend: Correct nerf. Let's see how it performs now.
Altruis the Outcast: Solves absolutely nothing. The issue with this card is how it destroys your board AND obliterates your face simultaneously. Now it deals more damage if it sticks (unlikely but still...). The cost increase only makes it slightly worse for slower DHs who care more about controlling the board than the face damage. The card is less flexible now but it will still see play in every DH deck in standard. The cost increase is very significant for wild though. Now he can't be played in Odd DH.
Glaivebound Adept: Weak nerf. Still too threatening on curve.
Kael'thas Sunstrider: The most underwhelming one. Just one more mana isn't going to solve most of its comboing issues. It's just a tiny bit slower. Maybe it will be enough to help the fastest aggro decks kill combo players. But this surely was very disappointing.
Bad Luck Albatross: The increase to 4 mana is good. A tech card should never have good stats for its mana cost. Its purpose is to counter specific strategies. It should be situational. As it is right now, it's just a good 3 drop that also messes with your opponent's strategy/deck.
Frenzied Felwing: Easier to remove which is appreciated. Most likely, it will still see play.
Sacrificial Pact: Just as expected by everyone. Now it's still an inexpensive source of healing for Galakrond Warlock but not a free heal + removal. Lord Jaraxxus can finally see some play. People will certainly experiment. Is it going to work? Maybe. We will see.
Bloodbloom: As i expected. This should stop Darkest Hour Warlock but it will hurt other decks as well.
Open the Waygate: Probably not enough. Mages are too efficient at generating random spells and they have a ton of 1-cost spells. Sorcerer's Apprentice mana discount just makes it too easy to complete. There's also Primordial Glyph.
Libram of Justice: A simple 1 mana cost reduction. Just as expected. And i still think this isn't enough.
Some changes were expected but i have serious doubts about some of them (especially Kael'thas and Altruis).
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
IMHO, warlock is really the class being nerfed the most, as now it will struggle in its best match up : DH. I don't see gala warlock standing a chance vs Tempo DH now.
I just hope I won't have to craft Jaraxxus to make the class viable now, as I really don't like this mechanics.
DH's changes are kinda cosmetic imho, the fact that [Hearthstone Card (Altruis the Outcast) Not Found] still can hit face, that [Hearthstone Card (Glaivebound Adept) Not Found] still does 4 damage and that fiend still is one of the best tier 1 ever, makes me think tempo DH will still be pretty strong. Kael'thas nerf may not hurt combo DH that much either.
As for Libram paladin, don't think this change will be enough but maybe it can become a good tier 2 deck...
TAUNT, INSECT! - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
That seems much better.
Group Therapy! Need to blow off some steam? Mega salty? Here's the place!
What's up with the match-making? Why the f am I facing Diamond 5-1 players while trying to get to Platinum 1?
Friend of mine made it to legend last week and is constantly facing Platinum and Diamond players as well. Get your sh.. together, Blizzard. That's just stupid...
Four Horsemen riding the Dragon
Sure, haven't played the deck in a while. Would be fun.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
A lot of these nerfs seemed...underwhelming.
Altruis the Outcast and Kael'thas Sunstrider had their mana cost increased by 1, Glaivebound Adept to have that apparently paltry slap to the hand by having his 7 attack reduced by 1. All this seemed to be to be balanced to ensure a slower dhunter aggro deck (due to the not insubstantial nerf to Battlefiend) are not too slow to succeed against spell druid and other dhunter decks.
Frenzied Felwing change is perhaps massive, since it can now be AoE down along with the other aggro cards from dhunters, but its still a ridiculously good card in an aggro deck so I don't predict this card getting dropped any time soon. Bad Luck Albatross is another nerf that generally make it less of an auto include, but a 4/3 is still not too bad, even at 4 mana. Only time can tell if 2 copies of 4 mana 4/3 is too much to see inclusion into decks that plays it.
That change to Open the Waygate. 2 extra to its requirements. Hardly slowing it down against anything but hyper aggro. Not exactly what I had in mind.
And the best nerf/buff to warlock. Sac Pact not longer a 0 mana destroy a key dhunter minion, and no longer troubling the dreams of Lord Jaraxxus. Not that it changes much in the matchup since warlock still have the cards to remain Illidan's strongest enemy.
So I guess not much will change after all.
Legends of Runeterra - New Video for the Piltover & Zaun Champion Showcase Featuring Jinx
Yeah, her lore is actually kind of interesting with Vi. Hope they develop that more.
TAUNT, INSECT! - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Ok, so I'm an idiot and didn't realise the infinite value of Replicating Challenger. I'll make a 2/3 that only activates when surviving damage and post it.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
I think Kaelthas should have been changed to "only the third spell in the turn", I think this is bananas when it gets more than once, specially in druid token.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
No one is saying Jaraxxus was "the real reason." Jaraxxus is a curb cut effect. I just appreciate it.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
My two cents:
Kael'thas Sunstrider - 1 mana is a nice way to slow it down but not kill it. I think Combo decks need to exist even if they aren't my fav archetype to play with or against, so I'm glad they didn't change the ability.
Bad Luck Albatross - I feel this change moves it out of auto-include territory and into a deliberate tech card choice. Now you'll only include it if you specifically want to shut down highlander/pure paladin/spell mage, but it's wayyy worse against everything else.
Frenzied Felwing - Feels like a fair nerf. Still a good aggressive card but much easier to remove.
Altruis the Outcast - Guys, I know the 4 attack makes it stronger, but going up by 1 mana is a big deal. This ain't a buff. Combined with the change to Kael'thas it is way harder to do massive burst with him cause you'll have less mana to play cards on the same turn.
Battlefiend - Called this one before it was even released. Great change.
Glaivebound Adept - I didn't think this needed a nerf, but eh, sure I guess? Feels more in line with Fire Elemental now.
Sacrificial Pact - Feels like a really healthy change. Looking forward to more Lord Jaraxxus ;)
Libram of Justice - It's a nice buff. I doubt it's enough to really push Paladin up, but it helps. I've been playing a lot of Librams lately and there are a lot of times where it cost just a tiny bit too much. Now you can fairly reliably expect it to cost 3ish mana by the time you need it (if not less).
I don't play wild, so I don't know/care about Bloodbloom or Open the Waygate.
Enraged Yeti
No one plays [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] for its value. Everyone plays for the [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] . So you need to count BOTH cards as being one to determinate its real value. One extra card cost 2 mana or more (see [Hearthstone Card (Glimpse Beyond) Not Found])
Total cost:
1 mana [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] + 1 mana [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] + 2 mana extra card = 4 mana 6/7 stats.
Impressive stats, but nothing game breaking. And this is the best case considering a top deck yeti, there is no guarantee the yetis will ever show up. The longer it takes to draw one of them, the worse it gets.
If [Hearthstone Card (Yeti Yearling) Not Found] placed [Hearthstone Card (Enraged Yeti) Not Found] directly on the top of the deck insted of shuffling 2 copies, then i agree you could argue its stats are overturned. Still, 5/5 + 1/2(that needs to die and stats spread into 2 turns) is much worse then a raw 6/7, and without keywords like Fearsome/Overwhelm it becomes easier to block as any token can do it.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
The goal of nerfs is to make the class playable without being oppressive. Nerfs are not supposed to take a class or card and make it "dumpster tier" to the point that you never see them again, just managable.
Increasing mana costs for a lot of the cards DOES inhibit the ability to combo with them. Altrius and Kael are going to be heavily impacted by having mana costs increased by 1. It means it's less likely to be able to be combod. It also means that Kael can no longer be combod with 2 cost spells (6+2+2) and will now need discounts or 1 cost spells to combo. In short Kael moving from 6->7 mana is HUGE as it limits what spells can be combod with him naturally. Same thing goes for Altrius, to a lesser extent. Moving cost from 3->4 means that it has less combo potential on the same turn.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
honestly i dont get why they didnt just change the interaction between jrax and sacpact
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
You do realize that the REAL reason they nerfed it was because they didn't want it being used as a 0 cost free easy removal against Demon Hunter's big demons. No longer being able to target Jarraxus is maybe the reason they cited in the AMA blog but the fact it took them 6 years to change this? RIGHT WHEN demons are now being played left and right? Sorry but no. The real reason is that Sac Pact was a niche tech card prior to DH release. After DH release it became a core tech/removal against any Demon Hunter matchup making the Warlock Vs DH matchup favored for the warlock.
But yes, now people can play Jarraxus without auto losing.
Full Details on the Balance Updates Coming to Hearthstone Next Week - Demon Hunter Nerfs & More!
OBLIVION!!