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Why Ben Brode Is Wrong About Undertaker

In the recent interview, Ben has stated that he feels undertaker doesn't deserve a nerf yet. We know that the "counters" to deathrattle decks they introduced aren't viable enough, so there's no need to beat that drum anymore. What I want to discuss instead is a good metaphor I feel sums up the problem with undertaker.

We want players to have the confidence that they can use their ingenuity to overcome any they encounter.

That's when Ben had to say about the undertaker and their philosophy towards nerfs. The problem with that answer is that undertaker is not a thinking-man's card. I would like to reference a bit from Bill Burr's stand-up, concerning black/white differences in sporting performance (start at 6 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h5kg5f8Im0). Bill has this to say:

if you read a defense, white or black, that's an intelligent move. But if you take off from the foul line, jump over nine other dudes and throw the shit down, those other nine guys aren't standing there like, "Fuck; why didn't I think of that shit?"

Undertaker is a lot like that. When I get steamrolled by a 5/6 undertaker on turn 3 because I didn't draw the counter turn 1, I'm not thinking to myself about things I could have done differently. There wasn't anything I could do differently. Undertaker doesn't force you to look into the future and think about what might happen because, if you can't answer it on the spot, chance are that answer is that you're going to lose.

Now that's all well and good for contexts like a concealed auctioneer. You can learn how miracle rogue operates; you can hold cards for the future; you can make plans. You can do this because Auctioneer doesn't come down on turn 1. Loatheb, Bomb Lobber, flame cannon, equality combos; these all work, and are indicative of good design. Exorcist and Scarlet Purifier are not.

TL;DR: Undertaker is not a card that rewards good deck construction, smart plays, or anything of sort most of the time; it's a card that rewards the lucky and steamrolls the unlucky. If the philosophy that BB outlined for nerfing cards was used consistently, then it should readily show that undertaker breaks that philosophy and is in need of a change.

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