Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.
Fibonacci on War Axe nerf: "nerfing war axe around aggro deck that rotates out in 8 month but crippling all other archetypes forever. also reasoning is just insulting"
For players who like constant change, Standard is meant to be a format that changes dramatically when new sets are released. We've been very open that the evergreen sets pose a great challenge to that dream - if you're playing against the same cards year after year for many years, it is more difficult to create an always-changing format. Our Hall of Fame solution helped us to make small changes each year to push us a little closer to a format more defined by the things that change.
Right now many of the top decks still run a huge percentage of basic and classic cards. We think that percentage is a little too high right now, and that ends up making new sets and rotations less fun than they could be.
Our goal isn't to cripple archetypes. Control Warrior needs control cards, yes, but is it fun to play the same cards every year? Wild is an option for players who want a format with less change, but Standard should be all about change. We'd rather create new and different cards that present new challenges and new options to Control Warrior players.
They only share 9 cards, and yet, it feels like the same Archetype. If we love an archetype, we can continue to support it with new cards. Having archetypes come in and out (and in again) with different metas can also help keep Standard fresh.
Ben Brode
For players who like constant change, Standard is meant to be a format that changes dramatically when new sets are released. We've been very open that the evergreen sets pose a great challenge to that dream - if you're playing against the same cards year after year for many years, it is more difficult to create an always-changing format. Our Hall of Fame solution helped us to make small changes each year to push us a little closer to a format more defined by the things that change.
Right now many of the top decks still run a huge percentage of basic and classic cards. We think that percentage is a little too high right now, and that ends up making new sets and rotations less fun than they could be.
Our goal isn't to cripple archetypes. Control Warrior needs control cards, yes, but is it fun to play the same cards every year? Wild is an option for players who want a format with less change, but Standard should be all about change. We'd rather create new and different cards that present new challenges and new options to Control Warrior players.
The difference between these zoo decks is a good example of how archetypes can change over time. http://i.imgur.com/xN0KYGy.png (from Tempo Storm Meta Snapshot, Jan 2015) https://tempostorm.com/hearthstone/decks/zoolock-standard-meta-snapshot-june-5-2017
They only share 9 cards, and yet, it feels like the same Archetype. If we love an archetype, we can continue to support it with new cards. Having archetypes come in and out (and in again) with different metas can also help keep Standard fresh.
Regarding the reasoning for change, please check out this post I made in another thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/6ya6t9/blizzards_design_priority_being_on_players_that/dmlxdz3/