Y'know, the people who memes and complaints about Paladin having no identity and meanwhile we have Shamans here having absolutely no direction at all in their new cards and I don't see people meming and complaining about Shaman. At least Paladin's stuff, messy as the flavor can be (which I disagree a lot but that's for another day) all converges into one solid gameplan which is Midrange (and sometimes Aggro). What the fuck do you do with Shaman right now? Control? Aggro? Burst combo? Who the hell knows?
I kind of agree with most of what you said. Classes should be different and should have their own strengths and weaknesses but all of this should be taken with a grain of salt.
For the Shaman situation, my only guess is that Thrall was so oppressive for the most part of the Year of the Dragon that people don't really miss him. If there are other classes in dumpster tier, then Shaman is probably the one that will receive less love from the community.
Even though it has been more than a month since I uploaded this list, it still amazes me how Firebat didn't think about including Twin Slice, one of the best Demon cards released (yet).
It is quite normal that an aggro deck (even more if it is the only which didn't receive nerfs) is at the top of the food chain right after a balance patch.
For the first time in a while, there isn't a single (viable) deck in Standard that I'm interested in.
All the classes feel so... lackluster. I just spent 8k dust in Wild just because I wanted to play something different that than the usual, but unfortunately I can't find a single card in the last set (maybe just Evocation and Astromancer Solarian, but I don't want to play Highlander Mage) that turns me on.
And it's not all DH's fault. The next expansion can't come soon enough.
Rogue: 809 - since the rotation hit, I haven't touched the class yet
Priest: 747 - I have tried my take on Highlander Priest, but the lack of tools (card draw and rush above all) is just embarrassing. No way on earth I'll play Res
Hunter: 561 - I haven't found any epics/legs of the class, so... Zixor is so cool though...
Mage: 167 - No Minion Mage is not great, but it's hella flavorful. If the nerfs will make it better, I think I'll craft the pieces I miss (second Apexis Blast, Evocation, second Power of Creation and Puzzle box)
Paladin: 141 - I've tried some Pure Paladin, but unfortunately it doesn't stand a chance right now
Shaman: 136 - Totem Shaman is fun
Warrior: 91 - see Hunter; plus Garrosh is not in a good shape except for Egg Warrior
Warlock: 85 - Discolock is fun
Druid: 82 - I'm currently playing some Big Druid, and I'll stick to the deck until the nerfs hit.
With some luck I'll unpack another legendary with the end-of-the-month rewards and I'll have more deckbuilding choices.
I'm pretty sure DH will survive this second wave of nerfs in a really good shape. I'm so confident that I dare to say Illidan will still be tier 1 after the patch.
Why? Because that's how broken the whole class is right now. Hell, even Iksar had to admit that they released a beast whose strength (in the respective meta, of course) was matched only by old Undertaker Hunter.
Right now the gap between Illidan and the rest is so huge that there's no way DH will end up like Galakrond Shaman in January. No way.
You have to consider that Battlefiend doesn't strictly have an Inspire effect: first of all, Illidan's hero power costs 1, which is much easier to slot in your curve; secondly, DH has a lot of reasonably cheap ways to attack without the need of clicking the button: Twin Slice, [Hearthstone Card (Aldrachi Warbaldes) Not Found], Warglaives of Azzinoth, Umberwing, Shadowhoof Slayer, Chaos Strike.
What I'm trying to say is that if you manage to play Battlefiendand attack in the same turn, you'll have a 1 mana 3/2 on the board, basically a Flame Imp with no downside, that is very likely to scale in the following turns. If its stats will get reduced to be a 1/2, then you'll less likely snowball of out control, or it will take you a bit more.
Consider that Blazing Battlemage is considered to be a very good aggro tool, and it is just a vanilla minion. Battlefiend is not class powercreep: it is just a snowball card that can kill the match (not literally, but I think you can get what I'm trying to say) within the first 4 turns. This is a hard pass for me.
I don't like that card, but I think my change is a lot more reasonable to just make it a worse on average Blazing Battlemage. In the end, Demon Hunter needs to have good cards. Just not blatantly broken.
Battlefiend - most people suggested a health nerf (from 2 to 1), but that would straight up kill the card and severely damage DH's early game, which is not something I would be sad of but it certainly isn't the dev's plan. I think an attack nerf is much more reasonable. In the end, Battlefiend will end up being a 1 mana 1/2
Altruis the Outcast - I agree with the other users here: face damage really looks like an overkill to me. Especially in a class that has access to insane cycle and considerable amounts of damage for not much mana.
Glaivebound Adept - not certain on this one. Like most of the other DH cards, it either has very good stats for the cost or a really good effect, again for the cost. This is an Eviscerate that comes with a 7/4 for just 5 mana and requires you to have attacked before (not that big of a deal for Illidan). It will be a stat nerf (6/4? 7/3?) or a cost nerf (6 mana?).
Kael'thas Sunstrider - cool card that unfortunately enables dumb stuff. Since the devs said that they don't want to kill KT's OTK potential yet, I think that they'll either increase its cost (maybe to 8) or change its effect to that getting the free spell will be more difficult ("Every 4th spell you cast this turn costs 0").
Bad Luck Albatross - Albatross is a tech card and, like every other tech card, you shouldn't reasonably include it your deck if you really card about winning. What I'm trying to say is that tech cards are usually bad, while Albatross is just more than ok. It is not a big problem in this meta, but give that everyone runs it archetypes like Pure Paladin and No Minion Mage get the short end of the stick for no reason. It is not a really necessary nerf, but I see the logic behind it and therefore I welcome it. Cost raised from 3 to 4 mana.
Frenzied Felwing - Cost bumped to 5 or 6 mana. Doesn't make the card unplayable, just it just slows it down and prevents scenarios like turn 1 Battlefiend, turn 2 hero power all face and double Frenzied Felwing down for 0 and with 1 leftover mana.
Open the Waygate - I was going to suggest an increase in the number of generated spells you have to play, but then I asked myself "would it really slow the deck down considering all the Mana Cyclone/Evocation stuff we have today?". I think a change to the quest reward would be better. Something on the line "Take an extra turn (can't be stacked)". The nerf I'm the most uncertain about together with Glaivebound Adept
Sacrificial Pact - only targets friendly demons. Now people will have to find other reason to cry about [Hearthstone Card (Lord Jaxarrus) Not Found]' complete uselessness
I had such a headache looking for Lunara, but in the end I got it!
I kind of agree with most of what you said. Classes should be different and should have their own strengths and weaknesses but all of this should be taken with a grain of salt.
For the Shaman situation, my only guess is that Thrall was so oppressive for the most part of the Year of the Dragon that people don't really miss him. If there are other classes in dumpster tier, then Shaman is probably the one that will receive less love from the community.
Even though it has been more than a month since I uploaded this list, it still amazes me how Firebat didn't think about including Twin Slice, one of the best Demon cards released (yet).
It is quite normal that an aggro deck (even more if it is the only which didn't receive nerfs) is at the top of the food chain right after a balance patch.
Well, Novice Engineer costs 2 mana with pretty much the same effect and sees play here and there.
Demon Hunter is a whole class around cards positioning in your hand and Outcast, which means you'll get the bonus more often then not.
So, is 1 mana draw 1 not good? Yes it is, no question about it. Is 1 mana draw 1 on a stick good? Well damn yes it is.
Plus, on the Torrent side: cast's past simple is both "cast" and "casted".
Crimson Sigil Runner's nerf is not pointless (I explained it: otherwise, it wouldn't even be a nerf lol).
What's wrong with Torrent's grammar?
Just add // text="name you want" // like I did in the picture.
Legend with Reno Priest.
Feelsgoodman
That way you would not nerf the card: you would kill it.
You're terribly wrong: 5 damage are much easier to deal than 7.
Plus now it will die to Dragonfire Potion, so I'm quite happy about it.
For the first time in a while, there isn't a single (viable) deck in Standard that I'm interested in.
All the classes feel so... lackluster. I just spent 8k dust in Wild just because I wanted to play something different that than the usual, but unfortunately I can't find a single card in the last set (maybe just Evocation and Astromancer Solarian, but I don't want to play Highlander Mage) that turns me on.
And it's not all DH's fault. The next expansion can't come soon enough.
Well it costs 3, since you also have to play a secret to get the effect.
Conditional cards are (almost) always very good, because it's not guaranteed that you'll get the bonus.
A quick update on my grinding progresses
Rogue: 809 - since the rotation hit, I haven't touched the class yet
Priest: 747 - I have tried my take on Highlander Priest, but the lack of tools (card draw and rush above all) is just embarrassing. No way on earth I'll play Res
Hunter: 561 - I haven't found any epics/legs of the class, so... Zixor is so cool though...
Mage: 167 - No Minion Mage is not great, but it's hella flavorful. If the nerfs will make it better, I think I'll craft the pieces I miss (second Apexis Blast, Evocation, second Power of Creation and Puzzle box)
Paladin: 141 - I've tried some Pure Paladin, but unfortunately it doesn't stand a chance right now
Shaman: 136 - Totem Shaman is fun
Warrior: 91 - see Hunter; plus Garrosh is not in a good shape except for Egg Warrior
Warlock: 85 - Discolock is fun
Druid: 82 - I'm currently playing some Big Druid, and I'll stick to the deck until the nerfs hit.
With some luck I'll unpack another legendary with the end-of-the-month rewards and I'll have more deckbuilding choices.
I'm pretty sure DH will survive this second wave of nerfs in a really good shape. I'm so confident that I dare to say Illidan will still be tier 1 after the patch.
Why? Because that's how broken the whole class is right now. Hell, even Iksar had to admit that they released a beast whose strength (in the respective meta, of course) was matched only by old Undertaker Hunter.
Right now the gap between Illidan and the rest is so huge that there's no way DH will end up like Galakrond Shaman in January. No way.
You have to consider that Battlefiend doesn't strictly have an Inspire effect: first of all, Illidan's hero power costs 1, which is much easier to slot in your curve; secondly, DH has a lot of reasonably cheap ways to attack without the need of clicking the button: Twin Slice, [Hearthstone Card (Aldrachi Warbaldes) Not Found], Warglaives of Azzinoth, Umberwing, Shadowhoof Slayer, Chaos Strike.
What I'm trying to say is that if you manage to play Battlefiend and attack in the same turn, you'll have a 1 mana 3/2 on the board, basically a Flame Imp with no downside, that is very likely to scale in the following turns. If its stats will get reduced to be a 1/2, then you'll less likely snowball of out control, or it will take you a bit more.
Consider that Blazing Battlemage is considered to be a very good aggro tool, and it is just a vanilla minion. Battlefiend is not class powercreep: it is just a snowball card that can kill the match (not literally, but I think you can get what I'm trying to say) within the first 4 turns. This is a hard pass for me.
I don't like that card, but I think my change is a lot more reasonable to just make it a worse on average Blazing Battlemage. In the end, Demon Hunter needs to have good cards. Just not blatantly broken.
Here are my takes
Battlefiend - most people suggested a health nerf (from 2 to 1), but that would straight up kill the card and severely damage DH's early game, which is not something I would be sad of but it certainly isn't the dev's plan. I think an attack nerf is much more reasonable.
In the end, Battlefiend will end up being a 1 mana 1/2
Altruis the Outcast - I agree with the other users here: face damage really looks like an overkill to me. Especially in a class that has access to insane cycle and considerable amounts of damage for not much mana.
Glaivebound Adept - not certain on this one. Like most of the other DH cards, it either has very good stats for the cost or a really good effect, again for the cost. This is an Eviscerate that comes with a 7/4 for just 5 mana and requires you to have attacked before (not that big of a deal for Illidan). It will be a stat nerf (6/4? 7/3?) or a cost nerf (6 mana?).
Kael'thas Sunstrider - cool card that unfortunately enables dumb stuff. Since the devs said that they don't want to kill KT's OTK potential yet, I think that they'll either increase its cost (maybe to 8) or change its effect to that getting the free spell will be more difficult ("Every 4th spell you cast this turn costs 0").
Bad Luck Albatross - Albatross is a tech card and, like every other tech card, you shouldn't reasonably include it your deck if you really card about winning. What I'm trying to say is that tech cards are usually bad, while Albatross is just more than ok. It is not a big problem in this meta, but give that everyone runs it archetypes like Pure Paladin and No Minion Mage get the short end of the stick for no reason.
It is not a really necessary nerf, but I see the logic behind it and therefore I welcome it. Cost raised from 3 to 4 mana.
Frenzied Felwing - Cost bumped to 5 or 6 mana. Doesn't make the card unplayable, just it just slows it down and prevents scenarios like turn 1 Battlefiend, turn 2 hero power all face and double Frenzied Felwing down for 0 and with 1 leftover mana.
Open the Waygate - I was going to suggest an increase in the number of generated spells you have to play, but then I asked myself "would it really slow the deck down considering all the Mana Cyclone/Evocation stuff we have today?". I think a change to the quest reward would be better. Something on the line "Take an extra turn (can't be stacked)". The nerf I'm the most uncertain about together with Glaivebound Adept
Bloodbloom - cost increased to 4 mana
Sacrificial Pact - only targets friendly demons. Now people will have to find other reason to cry about [Hearthstone Card (Lord Jaxarrus) Not Found]' complete uselessness
I totally feel you.
The only time I've touched DH so far was for the Kael'thas brawl. Nothing more. Not even one game on ladder.
By nature, I'm always sided to root for the underdog, so it is natural for me to play whatever counters the elephant in the room.
By the way, how is your grinding going? Have you got any new golden/1k portraits?
I think "he" is a she ;)
Egg-celent
Imagine still trying to scam people in the 80g quest trade thread in 2020.
Fucking losers.