I managed to hit rank 10 for the second month in a row (3rd month playing) with Control Warrior that is heavily teached towards my meta (various Dragon, Face and Highlander Hunters, Galakrond Rogues, Token and Embiggen Druids, Mech Paladins etc).
Do you think it's viable in the higher ranks, I'm trying to reach rank 5.
I don't know specifically which cards would be hit with a nerf, but there will certainly be nerfs coming in soon for the Shadow Isles. I've played games where my opponent was running Shadow Isles without any champions and still beat me because of how OP their numerous last breath and card draw effects are.
It's fine to run a deck without a full 6 champions, but it's silly that the available cards in Shadow Isles are so good that running zero champions can be a reasonable idea in a game to centered around champion cards.
Thanks for the great summary! I love your Hearthstone content and I think it's super cool that you branched out into other games as well. Keep up the great work.
Just unlocked King Anduin and I'm glad they released rewards for 1000 wins, but I'm a little underwhelmed. I was hoping there would be new voice lines and a unique entrance since it takes a lot to unlock these, what are your thoughts?
I'll miss these the most because I enjoy experimenting with non-meta decks and these have given me the most fun. These cards started my love for Combo decks, Thief decks and for Priest and Rogue decks in general.
These cards I absolutely won't miss because I had frustrating experiences with them either through gameplay or getting them in a pack not only once, but even twice:
Lifedrinker - Such a good neutral card. All the shenanigans I did with it especially with Shadowstep and Spirit of the Shark will be missed.
Prince Liam - I'm sad that this didn't see much play outside of Hakkar decks, but I had much fun with it.
The Glass Knight Of course the free legendaries I got from Witchwood were the niche Paladin ones, but this card along with Val'Anyr made me enjoy playing Even Pally.
Chameleos + Lady in White - Of course the other free legendaries I got were also the niche Priest ones. These two is what started my love for Thief and Combo decks. I'll miss them very much.
Face Collector - I'm one of those few players who like the RNG aspect of Hearthstone and I used to include this card in every single Rogue deck I played. It was my Edwin Vancleef as I did not (and still don't) have him.
The Boomsday Project:
Spider Bomb - I adored the egg version of Deathrattle Hunter so getting to use this in Mech Hunter was fun.
Zerek, Master Cloner - Another card I spent hours on making it work. Zerek is my favorite card ever; I love his art and I love his name. Long live our immortality-seeking ethereal.
The entire Rogue set - Deathrattle Rogue, Pogo Rogue, Thief Rogue, Miracle Rogue, Tempo Rogue. Rogue is now my favorite class to play because of these decks.
Zilliax - One of the best cards ever printed. I hope we get a similar card in the next year.
Mecha'thun - I was absolutely gutted when Naturalize was hall of famed because it meant the death of Mecha'thun Druid in Standard. I still have fun playing this card in Wild and getting to pull off its win condition is so satisfying.
Rastakhan's Rumble:
Seance - The most enjoyable games I've played were with Thief Priest. There's just something about beating your opponent with their own cards that feels exhilarating.
Mass Hysteria - I'm frenemies with this card. The amount of times I hoped it would clear the board but didn't are countless, but the amount of times it actually did save my ass are also countless.
Spirit of the Shark - My favorite Loa spirit. I've done so many combos and burned so many cards due to a full hand with this card.
Zentimo - It seems like a long time ago when I would get Wow reacts when I played Hex or old evolve cards with Zentimo on board before Galakrond Shaman was a thing.
Hir'eek, the Bat - Yes, it's a horrible card, but did I spend hours trying to make it work? Of course! I lost more times than I won, but winning with a board full of 15/15 bats was very satisfying.
Hakkar, the Soulflayer - Another one of my favorite Combo cards. I hoped it would be a viable card, but oh well.
15th February update: Chilling with Corbett's Jade Dragon Druid to Rank 1: UI to the face wins games!
Rank 1. Dragons. Jade Golems. Chilled out soundtrack. Ultimate Infestation to the face. Amazing.
Thanks to Corbett (https://twitter.com/corbettgames) for the deck. I have featured this deck before - but this is my first time using it consistently to get to rank 1. Armour deals with aggro. Shuffled Jade Idols help you out-value slow control decks. Mecha'thun is a problem. Darkest Hour on turn 5 can also be an issue (if you don't have Poison Seeds). Otherwise, this deck has a good chance of matching up against a range of tier 1 decks.
On a number of occasions, I have out-valued Reno Quest Mages - with enough armour gain and taunts helping to withstand the damage from giants.
I don't see why they would rework Deny. The only problem it has is being too mana efficient for its cost. Put it at 4 or 5 mana and it still becomes viable for decks who need to protect key minions but less universal in any deck.
I also don't see most of your buffs happening.
Poro Snax is pretty crazy if it works, it's just that very few people actually play Poro decks these days.
Trueshot wouuld also be kind of ridiculous as a fast spell, given that it essentially acts like Avalanche in most cases.
Kalista is actually pretty decent I'd say...she's just not really main champion material, more like an additional 3-drop that gives you benefits if you can keep her alive, but at worst works as a removal magnet for very little risk. I currently run two copies in my Spider decks, and she performs fine.
Your Nerf suggestions seem likely. The biggest problem with Elusives at the moment is the mount of handbuff and burst buffs they have access too. Kinkou Lifeblade should not exist at all with Lifesteal, it's ridiculous to get something like a 5/6 that you can't even efficiently block and removes the possibility of a face race. I generally think Lifesteal is way too undercosted in this game, especially considering that via blocking you can proc lifesteal every round and it completely invalidates the relevance of early chip damage.
I think you should also include Jeweled Protector. If that card hits any Elusive unit and you don't have big removal ready you're probably gonna die within the next few rounds.
I have passed the max level, but if desperate you can do as I did and create a new account if you have acces to two mail accounts. You can even play against yourself and concede, as every hero unlocked = 1 level and leveling up is fast at that stage.
Just did this for morgl and then got like 7 friends recruited. But it worked out wonders and very fast. Th only con would be redoing the tutorial wich is nice, but can get repetitive if doing it a lot
There will be a balance change patch this Tuesday in runeterra which cards do you think will be changed (buffed/nerfed/reworked)?
Disclaimer: Those changes are suggestions/my opinion, also it doesn't mean I am salty for losing to the "op cards" nor I meme with the cards I suggest to buff.
Expecting changes to some frostbite cards they are too efficient.
OK I probably missed some stuff that is clear that it needs changes and Riot will surprise us with cards we did not think were problematic or cards that we didn't think were too good but they got the big data, the win rates the play rates..
I don't think I'd agree with lowering his attack value because making him kinda garbage on the board leaves him with all his cost going to pay for the effect. Having him be top heavy but blockable by trash makes him more interesting by design - the opponent needs to make tough decisions as to how to block him.
Removing Fearsome doesn't make blocking interesting, it makes it obvious. If Ledros didn't have Fearsome, you'd always chump block him to ensure he takes very little damage over time. This would be the best play every time to delay the inevitable bounce back to your opponent's hand.
Indeed, but that would have to be 2 turns later, where I would be dead already. And that would be 2 more cards to draw, where he could draw Decimate and Blade's Edge and in that case he didn't even need to attack or a board at all.
That's why I gave a practical example, and not an assuming one. Because when we enter the realm of assumptions, everything is possible ;)
When it comes to analysis, 'practical examples' are better known as 'anecdotal evidence' and are generally worthless. Anyone can come up with a scenario in which a card is gamewinning.
Moving on.
Quote From FortyDust
Roughly the same stats as other 8-drops
Immediately deals direct damage to enemy nexus (up to 10 damage!)
Returns to hand and can be resummoned for infinite value, infinite direct damage (expensive, but infinite nonetheless)
Fearsome, so impossible to chump block
Very few ways in the entire game to keep him from coming back
Alternative view:
- There are barely any 8-drops in the game, so stat-comparison doesn't really have much of a sample size. Small enough, in fact, that it's not unreasonable to ask 'okay, well, are the other 8-drops too weak rather than this one too strong?'. I would however note that he shares a mana slot with Ren Shadowblade, who literally sits on board saying 'your opponent now cannot develop a board, ever, until I'm removed'.
- Direct damage which is scaled to be incredibly inefficient as a finisher and strong if levelling a playing field; being burn in and of itself doesn't indicate an abundance of power.
- Historically, people tend to overvalue 'infinite' effects from my experience. Saw it a lot in HS - people tend to ignore the actual value of the card in favour of what can happen in incredibly obscure circumstances. While still relevant for balance purposes (of course), you're not going to see the card bounced more than a couple of times in the vast majority of games.
- Fearsome - sure. On the other hand, you're running at least 8 mana at this point - you can afford to block with something other than chumps. However, further point on this below.
Having thought further on the Fearsome point - generally speaking I don't value Fearsome all that highly, particularly on expensive cards (if you're getting that late into the game and still relying on chumps, you're having issues, is my usual feeling). However in this case, Fearsome has the secondary issue which I don't see anyone raising - top-heavy stats plus Fearsome plus bounce effect is a Catch-22 situation because you're forced into blocking with higher attack followers, which in turn makes the follower more likely to bounce.
Having considered that point now, I do agree that the Fearsome keyword is kind of problematic. Though I stand by my disagreement on the burn rounding up/down, because again, if you're losing to this card purely from the burn alone, you were probably dead anyway.
You usually draw one card per turn, so your hand becomes empty pretty fast. So if you trade the board, the return value of Ledros is immense, because now you have 2 cards next turn to play from hand while your opponent has only 1. Also if you draw a spell, you can spend 2-5 mana instead of 2, depending on your extra mana. If on the other hand the enemy draws a spell, Ledros presents a vicious threat to his life. Most cards that would draw you extra stuff, are not suited to do anything against Ledros, because you have to pay highly for extra draws (shadow assasin and avarosan sentry cannot even block ledros) and the best drawing card is glimpse beyond, which is mostly run by aggro decks.
Next is Ledros rewards aggro decks for the enemy to have the right answers. Let us assume, the control player did really well and protected all 20 of his lifepoints. The reward for this is, that an 8 drop can instantly remove 10 of the well-protected life points and in case the mobilization mark is on the side of the ledros player, attack for potential 8 other hit points. The enemy cannot block it with weak creatures so he has to sacrifice a bigger creature or use a spell. Iconically, that is the point, that you pointed out the most, but in my oppinion is the least problematic. A control player should not have that many creatures of small size or if he has, they should be impactful in some way (otherwise we would not talk about control). Even more ironic is, that that is the good case. If the contol player manages to only protect 15 or only 5 life points and a stabilizing board, then Ledros proves as even more dangerous. The only situation Ledros seems pretty useless is against a sucessful aggro. He may be strong but he cannot block all attackers. Other than that, you have to run a cleanse (very situational card) or some freeze- she who wanders combo (13 Mana).
Ledros Statline is 2 higher in both attack and defense in comparison to Ren Shadowblade and one mayor difference is, that Ledros is an immediate threat, while Ren Shadowblade only has future effects. An 8/6 with an effect to set your Hp to 10 (maximum) is immediate lethal threat. Especially in the Later game where you have some removal, which would completly counter Ren, but not Ledros. Also Ren Shadowblade gets pretty much destroyed by cards that profit from the death of your own stuff (like...again... Rhasa). Also if you and your enemy already have 2-3 cards on the field Ren loses value, because the units on the board are not affected at all. With Ledros I am glad to attack/trade every turn I can, while Ren is card that needs to be protected to be useful. Ren is a card of the type " If you win, win more". Ledros is a gamechanger. That is why Ledros is run in every shadowisland deck (which to my experience is the most used faction) and Ren is as often seen as a unicorn (although Ionia is popular faction as well).
Ledros is one of the reasons that there are no really good contol decks out. It is simply more rewarding to play aggro spiderlings, outdraw your enemy with glimpse beyond and in case of Lategame have Ledros as standalone to deal with the rest of the enemy life.
I would have much less problems with Ledros if he was a card, that would only be good in control decks, which are the only decks that should have a card of his effect in deck. Ledors should reward a control player for surviving and not give aggro/midrange another tool to finish the game.
There are not many cards that have this much unconditional power in the game at all and especially not at this time. The best comparision in my oppinion is Anivia. Anivia is a 7 drop with 2/4 and the relatively unconditional effect to deal 1 damage to every enemy when attacking. Anivia can level up upon becoming awakened, becoming a 3/5 with 2 damge to everything every attack. Also when Anivia dies she becomes an egg 0/2 and at the start of every turn if awakened, she turns back into the 3/5. So Anivia is easier to remove than Ledros and has a much weaker statline. If you play her before turn 10, you risk to lose her for nothing. And she rewards you with power after turn 10 especially power to deal with the aggro and midrange board.
So in comparison, Anivia needs 2 turns longer to be useful, has much less of an immidiate threat (although in the long run she can take over your board consistantly), can be contested easier than ledros. since her effect requires her to attack, you can kill her once by blocking and then with a spell, which is not card efficient but adequate for a lategame card, which is a brick for 9 consecutive turns. For her strong effect she hs to pay with a waek statline.
actually, I don't think there is a reference function at all for any stats balance and keywords: designers just go by custom, their guts, and ultimately statistics...
Nothing is balanced or broken on paper in their minds. So we can hardly make any point here.
If by what you're saying is true, there lies Hearthstone problems with overpowered cards, (hence all the nerfs). For example like Corrupt Elementalist nerf, that it should show you how his stats and battlecry so strong in 5 drops, and I agree that it should be balanced at 6 drops.
If there is some ground rules about making minions, I believe it should be pretty balance, and there would be no need for all that nerfs.
I could be wrong too. But if it were up to me, I do think it's important to have rules about how minion stats should be.
I totally agree, but sadly, that's not how the game is designed...
I didn't say it wasn't the entire population, but that doesn't mean it's a reasonable sample size. It just means the cards don't exist to compare it to yet.
You have to make comparison with what we have now, not what we could have in the future. Actually Ledros stats are on pars with all others 8-mana drops, on top of all his other abilities (which make him pretty strong).
Is Control Warrior viable?
Isn't the Galakrond or Highlander version of Control Warrior more viable? I play neither myself, but those are the ones I usually face.
Is Control Warrior viable?
I managed to hit rank 10 for the second month in a row (3rd month playing) with Control Warrior that is heavily teached towards my meta (various Dragon, Face and Highlander Hunters, Galakrond Rogues, Token and Embiggen Druids, Mech Paladins etc).
Do you think it's viable in the higher ranks, I'm trying to reach rank 5.
Wild · Control Warrior · by troY · 6 years, 7 months ago
My predictions for changes we are going to see this Tuesday
I don't know specifically which cards would be hit with a nerf, but there will certainly be nerfs coming in soon for the Shadow Isles. I've played games where my opponent was running Shadow Isles without any champions and still beat me because of how OP their numerous last breath and card draw effects are.
It's fine to run a deck without a full 6 champions, but it's silly that the available cards in Shadow Isles are so good that running zero champions can be a reasonable idea in a game to centered around champion cards.
MTG Arena - World Championship XXVI Day 2
Thanks for the great summary! I love your Hearthstone content and I think it's super cool that you branched out into other games as well. Keep up the great work.
1000 wins hero rewards
Just unlocked King Anduin and I'm glad they released rewards for 1000 wins, but I'm a little underwhelmed.
I was hoping there would be new voice lines and a unique entrance since it takes a lot to unlock these, what are your thoughts?
Maybe I'm just spoilt from playing with Tyrande!
Blizzard May be Reverting Card Nerfs on the Next Set Rotation
Unnerf yogg or I kil.
Patches can also be unnerfed, by adding it rush.
Magic's Secret Lair Returns this Weekend to Celebrate the Gods of Theros and the Magic World Championship
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I was wondering why they were so expensive for digital cards, lol.
Which card are you going to miss the most from the upcoming rotating sets and how would you replace it?
Mine is just a list of bad legendaries lol
I'll miss these the most because I enjoy experimenting with non-meta decks and these have given me the most fun. These cards started my love for Combo decks, Thief decks and for Priest and Rogue decks in general.
The Witchwood:
Lifedrinker, Prince Liam, Face Collector, Chameleos, Lady in White, Blink Fox, Witch's Cauldron
The Boomsday Project:
All the Rogue cards except Crazed Chemist, Zilliax, Flobbidinous Floop, Spider Bomb, Zerek, Master Cloner, Soul Infusion, Mecha'thun
Rastakhan's Rumble:
Seance, Spirit of the Shark, Zentimo, Hir'eek, the Bat, Hakkar, the Soulflayer, Mass Hysteria
These cards I absolutely won't miss because I had frustrating experiences with them either through gameplay or getting them in a pack not only once, but even twice:
The Witchwood:
Duskfallen Aviana, Shudderwock
The Boomsday Project:
Harbinger Celestia
Rastakhan's Rumble:
Griftah
RDQM-The Superior Reno deck(Top 44)
Research Project instead of Book of Specters, is it viable?
Magic's Secret Lair Returns this Weekend to Celebrate the Gods of Theros and the Magic World Championship
They are physical cards. They include a promo-code to redeem a special sleeve for MTG Arena.
Magic's Secret Lair Returns this Weekend to Celebrate the Gods of Theros and the Magic World Championship
I'm confused. Are these digital for MTGA or physical for the main non-digital card game?
Which card are you going to miss the most from the upcoming rotating sets and how would you replace it?
The Witchwood:
Lifedrinker - Such a good neutral card. All the shenanigans I did with it especially with Shadowstep and Spirit of the Shark will be missed.
Prince Liam - I'm sad that this didn't see much play outside of Hakkar decks, but I had much fun with it.
The Glass Knight Of course the free legendaries I got from Witchwood were the niche Paladin ones, but this card along with Val'Anyr made me enjoy playing Even Pally.
Chameleos + Lady in White - Of course the other free legendaries I got were also the niche Priest ones. These two is what started my love for Thief and Combo decks. I'll miss them very much.
Face Collector - I'm one of those few players who like the RNG aspect of Hearthstone and I used to include this card in every single Rogue deck I played. It was my Edwin Vancleef as I did not (and still don't) have him.
The Boomsday Project:
Spider Bomb - I adored the egg version of Deathrattle Hunter so getting to use this in Mech Hunter was fun.
Zerek, Master Cloner - Another card I spent hours on making it work. Zerek is my favorite card ever; I love his art and I love his name. Long live our immortality-seeking ethereal.
The entire Rogue set - Deathrattle Rogue, Pogo Rogue, Thief Rogue, Miracle Rogue, Tempo Rogue. Rogue is now my favorite class to play because of these decks.
Zilliax - One of the best cards ever printed. I hope we get a similar card in the next year.
Mecha'thun - I was absolutely gutted when Naturalize was hall of famed because it meant the death of Mecha'thun Druid in Standard. I still have fun playing this card in Wild and getting to pull off its win condition is so satisfying.
Rastakhan's Rumble:
Seance - The most enjoyable games I've played were with Thief Priest. There's just something about beating your opponent with their own cards that feels exhilarating.
Mass Hysteria - I'm frenemies with this card. The amount of times I hoped it would clear the board but didn't are countless, but the amount of times it actually did save my ass are also countless.
Spirit of the Shark - My favorite Loa spirit. I've done so many combos and burned so many cards due to a full hand with this card.
Zentimo - It seems like a long time ago when I would get Wow reacts when I played Hex or old evolve cards with Zentimo on board before Galakrond Shaman was a thing.
Hir'eek, the Bat - Yes, it's a horrible card, but did I spend hours trying to make it work? Of course! I lost more times than I won, but winning with a board full of 15/15 bats was very satisfying.
Hakkar, the Soulflayer - Another one of my favorite Combo cards. I hoped it would be a viable card, but oh well.
Happy Singles Awareness Day, Hearthstone! Highlander Decks to Celebrate Love is in the Air
Some people do. Highlander is just more popular.
Darkseeker's channel - 13th November update: KOtsosKOtsos' Reno Evolve Shudderwock Shaman - ft. Archivist Elysiana
15th February update: Chilling with Corbett's Jade Dragon Druid to Rank 1: UI to the face wins games!
Rank 1. Dragons. Jade Golems. Chilled out soundtrack. Ultimate Infestation to the face. Amazing.
Thanks to Corbett (https://twitter.com/corbettgames) for the deck. I have featured this deck before - but this is my first time using it consistently to get to rank 1. Armour deals with aggro. Shuffled Jade Idols help you out-value slow control decks. Mecha'thun is a problem. Darkest Hour on turn 5 can also be an issue (if you don't have Poison Seeds). Otherwise, this deck has a good chance of matching up against a range of tier 1 decks.
On a number of occasions, I have out-valued Reno Quest Mages - with enough armour gain and taunts helping to withstand the damage from giants.
Deck code: AAEBAZICBJS9ApnTAtaZA/atAw2KDrS7Asu8AqDNAofOApjSAp7SAoTmAr/yAuyJA/2tA4yuA/awAwA=
https://youtu.be/sWLOqqc3GHQ
Which card are you going to miss the most from the upcoming rotating sets and how would you replace it?
Hadronox memories! Make them stop!
Blizzard May be Reverting Card Nerfs on the Next Set Rotation
Hence your profile pic?
Also how do I change mine?
Edit: found it. My phone was causing issues with the layout.
How did Anivia win that game?
Well that would explain it.
Its the first time i play a game in beta i think :)
So ill close an eye or rwo about stuff like that
But i really thought something went very wrong here
My predictions for changes we are going to see this Tuesday
I don't see why they would rework Deny. The only problem it has is being too mana efficient for its cost. Put it at 4 or 5 mana and it still becomes viable for decks who need to protect key minions but less universal in any deck.
I also don't see most of your buffs happening.
Poro Snax is pretty crazy if it works, it's just that very few people actually play Poro decks these days.
Trueshot wouuld also be kind of ridiculous as a fast spell, given that it essentially acts like Avalanche in most cases.
Kalista is actually pretty decent I'd say...she's just not really main champion material, more like an additional 3-drop that gives you benefits if you can keep her alive, but at worst works as a removal magnet for very little risk. I currently run two copies in my Spider decks, and she performs fine.
Your Nerf suggestions seem likely. The biggest problem with Elusives at the moment is the mount of handbuff and burst buffs they have access too. Kinkou Lifeblade should not exist at all with Lifesteal, it's ridiculous to get something like a 5/6 that you can't even efficiently block and removes the possibility of a face race. I generally think Lifesteal is way too undercosted in this game, especially considering that via blocking you can proc lifesteal every round and it completely invalidates the relevance of early chip damage.
I think you should also include Jeweled Protector. If that card hits any Elusive unit and you don't have big removal ready you're probably gonna die within the next few rounds.
Need Help on Completing Recruit A Friend
I have passed the max level, but if desperate you can do as I did and create a new account if you have acces to two mail accounts. You can even play against yourself and concede, as every hero unlocked = 1 level and leveling up is fast at that stage.
Just did this for morgl and then got like 7 friends recruited. But it worked out wonders and very fast. Th only con would be redoing the tutorial wich is nice, but can get repetitive if doing it a lot
Which card are you going to miss the most from the upcoming rotating sets and how would you replace it?
My predictions for changes we are going to see this Tuesday
There will be a balance change patch this Tuesday in runeterra which cards do you think will be changed (buffed/nerfed/reworked)?
Disclaimer: Those changes are suggestions/my opinion, also it doesn't mean I am salty for losing to the "op cards" nor I meme with the cards I suggest to buff.
My list:
Buffs:
Poro Snax, Kalista, Trueshot Barrage (from slow to fast),Funsmith(from 5 to 4, not enough fun as it is),Midenstokke Henchmen(cost reduced, stats too),Shady Character, from 1/1 to 1/2 (harder to just kill), Lux (didn't see her at all..), Emerald Awakener (+0/+1 , base, +0/-1 on the buff still the same on turn 10 but sucks much less when played on curve), Scuttlegeist (5/5->6/6)
Reworks:
Deny.
ramp tools(overnerfed, nobody consider playing them).
Battering Ram - not broken in constructed but is in expeditions.
Nerfs:
Commander Ledros (+1 cost, remove fearsome),Fiora (3 targets required for level up, doesn't keep count with new copies), Elise (2/3-> 2/2),Shadow Assassin (2/2->2/1 OR 3->4 mana cost), Kinkou Lifeblade(4->5 mana or 2/3->2/2 maybe both),Navori Conspirator (3/2->2/2),Inspiring Mentor (on buff +1/+1->+1/+0), Rhasa the Sunderer (cost +1), Hecarim (Cost +1), Wraithcaller(4/3->3/3 no longer has fearsome),Frenzied Skitterer (cost 3->4), Cursed Keeper (token is 3/3 instead of 4/4).
Expecting changes to some frostbite cards they are too efficient.
OK I probably missed some stuff that is clear that it needs changes and Riot will surprise us with cards we did not think were problematic or cards that we didn't think were too good but they got the big data, the win rates the play rates..
Commander Ledros ought to round down
Removing Fearsome doesn't make blocking interesting, it makes it obvious. If Ledros didn't have Fearsome, you'd always chump block him to ensure he takes very little damage over time. This would be the best play every time to delay the inevitable bounce back to your opponent's hand.
Commander Ledros ought to round down
You usually draw one card per turn, so your hand becomes empty pretty fast. So if you trade the board, the return value of Ledros is immense, because now you have 2 cards next turn to play from hand while your opponent has only 1. Also if you draw a spell, you can spend 2-5 mana instead of 2, depending on your extra mana. If on the other hand the enemy draws a spell, Ledros presents a vicious threat to his life. Most cards that would draw you extra stuff, are not suited to do anything against Ledros, because you have to pay highly for extra draws (shadow assasin and avarosan sentry cannot even block ledros) and the best drawing card is glimpse beyond, which is mostly run by aggro decks.
Next is Ledros rewards aggro decks for the enemy to have the right answers. Let us assume, the control player did really well and protected all 20 of his lifepoints. The reward for this is, that an 8 drop can instantly remove 10 of the well-protected life points and in case the mobilization mark is on the side of the ledros player, attack for potential 8 other hit points. The enemy cannot block it with weak creatures so he has to sacrifice a bigger creature or use a spell. Iconically, that is the point, that you pointed out the most, but in my oppinion is the least problematic. A control player should not have that many creatures of small size or if he has, they should be impactful in some way (otherwise we would not talk about control). Even more ironic is, that that is the good case. If the contol player manages to only protect 15 or only 5 life points and a stabilizing board, then Ledros proves as even more dangerous. The only situation Ledros seems pretty useless is against a sucessful aggro. He may be strong but he cannot block all attackers. Other than that, you have to run a cleanse (very situational card) or some freeze- she who wanders combo (13 Mana).
Ledros Statline is 2 higher in both attack and defense in comparison to Ren Shadowblade and one mayor difference is, that Ledros is an immediate threat, while Ren Shadowblade only has future effects. An 8/6 with an effect to set your Hp to 10 (maximum) is immediate lethal threat. Especially in the Later game where you have some removal, which would completly counter Ren, but not Ledros. Also Ren Shadowblade gets pretty much destroyed by cards that profit from the death of your own stuff (like...again... Rhasa). Also if you and your enemy already have 2-3 cards on the field Ren loses value, because the units on the board are not affected at all. With Ledros I am glad to attack/trade every turn I can, while Ren is card that needs to be protected to be useful. Ren is a card of the type " If you win, win more". Ledros is a gamechanger. That is why Ledros is run in every shadowisland deck (which to my experience is the most used faction) and Ren is as often seen as a unicorn (although Ionia is popular faction as well).
Ledros is one of the reasons that there are no really good contol decks out. It is simply more rewarding to play aggro spiderlings, outdraw your enemy with glimpse beyond and in case of Lategame have Ledros as standalone to deal with the rest of the enemy life.
I would have much less problems with Ledros if he was a card, that would only be good in control decks, which are the only decks that should have a card of his effect in deck. Ledors should reward a control player for surviving and not give aggro/midrange another tool to finish the game.
There are not many cards that have this much unconditional power in the game at all and especially not at this time. The best comparision in my oppinion is Anivia. Anivia is a 7 drop with 2/4 and the relatively unconditional effect to deal 1 damage to every enemy when attacking. Anivia can level up upon becoming awakened, becoming a 3/5 with 2 damge to everything every attack. Also when Anivia dies she becomes an egg 0/2 and at the start of every turn if awakened, she turns back into the 3/5. So Anivia is easier to remove than Ledros and has a much weaker statline. If you play her before turn 10, you risk to lose her for nothing. And she rewards you with power after turn 10 especially power to deal with the aggro and midrange board.
So in comparison, Anivia needs 2 turns longer to be useful, has much less of an immidiate threat (although in the long run she can take over your board consistantly), can be contested easier than ledros. since her effect requires her to attack, you can kill her once by blocking and then with a spell, which is not card efficient but adequate for a lategame card, which is a brick for 9 consecutive turns. For her strong effect she hs to pay with a waek statline.
Discussing Vanilla Body Stats
I totally agree, but sadly, that's not how the game is designed...
Commander Ledros ought to round down
You have to make comparison with what we have now, not what we could have in the future. Actually Ledros stats are on pars with all others 8-mana drops, on top of all his other abilities (which make him pretty strong).