Its appearance on the official roapmap doesn't count as confirmation? If you just want confirmation of the pricing, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. They are aware that the Races mini-expansion pricing was very well-received.
I'm already using it in two of mine, and it's fantastic.
At the very least, it's a strong tech against Paladin for decks that struggle in that match-up. When you're not against Paladin, you can still use it to cheat out your own big boys or even just to replay a good Battlecry.
Because a lot more decks have ways to deal with Hunter cards and Nitroboost. A turn 4 Alura + Coin was an unstoppable game-winner the vast majority of the time. Nitroboost doesn't even come close to that.
For Core cards that are brand-new to the game, I believe the plan is to remove them completely if they don't make the cut for next year's Core. The whole point of Wild is to let you keep using the cards you've actually bought so that no one can accuse Blizzard of stealing or rendering your collection worthless. Balance and continuity in that mode are a distant second and third priority.
This is exactly what needed to be done -- look at Classic cards and fearlessly redesign them with the benefit of six years of Hearthstone under their belts.
In every case, the new dragon fills the same purpose as the original, but it a way that makes more sense.
Ysera is still a massive value generator, but no longer random, slow, or theoretically infinite -- all different reasons she was bad.
Malygos is still a terrifying bomb in a spell-heavy deck and is especially good in combo decks -- and a lot easier to use.
Deathwing is still a neutral board clear with a stiff drawback, but the new drawback is not so painful that you'd simply never play him.
If this is any indication of the Core set as a whole, I'm very excited for the Year of the Gryphon. Maybe a reworked Warrior will actually be fun to play against. Dare we dream?
It would be wise of Blizzard to inform us soon about what the for-pay option(s) will be. (You are dreaming if you think it's going to be totally free.)
The longer they wait, the more butt-hurt the community whiners are going to act when we find out the new mode is more fun if you pay.
That said, Slay the Spire itself is probably the worst iteration of the genre it created. Most of its copycats are a lot better than Slay the Spire. And since we all know Blizzard's greatest talent lies in "borrowing" good ideas and making them better, I suspect Mercenaries will be decent.
It's bound to be a bigger hit than Duels since it seems far less prone to balance errors (one of Team 5's biggest weaknesses).
There is nothing sad about this. Cards that have tutor functionality tend to break the meta. It has happened too many times. Team 5 needs to learn to be a lot more careful when designing cards that are so obviously prone to abuse.
I will never shed a tear over a nerf to a card that tutors or cheats mana, and this one does both.
No Core set card is a direct replacement of any Classic or Basic card. ALL Legacy cards are moving out, and only a small number are immediately returning as Core. This change is much bigger than "Edwin is out and Vanessa is in."
All classes are going to feel and play differently than they used to, and the difference will be more noticeable for some classes than for others.
If you truly believe Rogue cannot function without Edwin, you can always play Wild or Classic. (You'd be wrong, of course. The top Rogue decks at this very moment are extremely strong without Edwin.)
I don't think anyone ever stated or implied that they were buffing it. They said they were reworking the class, including the hero power.
The spell damage totem was a LOT worse than Searing Totem if you weren't using damage spells. It's better to have every basic totem be somewhat useful in every deck style. (Even if you are somehow a no-minion Shaman, you will always have totems, so the new totem will theoretically always have something to buff.)
I don't think you understand what "stealing" and "forced" actually mean.
2000 gold for a guaranteed set of 37 cards is about a million times better than opening 20 randomized packs. If you don't see that, you are very bad at money and I'm not surprised you have to be f2p.
Instead of complaining about it, you should be asking Blizzard to do it this way more often -- say, with full expansions.
I think maybe the watermarks are changing? I wouldn't worry about it too much. Everyone gets all the Core cards for free.
If a card was in the Classic (or Basic) set at launch, it will be obtainable in Classic packs. Otherwise, it will not. (Exceptions are the two cards that used to come from hidden quests. They will now come from achievements that mirror those old quests.)
Yes, yes, but they had to TIME the things so they would happen simultaneously, so that when the guy in the video says, "Log in today to get these bonuses," people are actually able to do that. This did not happen.
No. I'm not sure why Blizzard is pretending to be able to do two things at once. There's no way in hell they can run BlizzConline and release a patch at the same time.
(EDIT: "Run" in the sense of "present," even if it's something that was technically prepared beforehand.)
I would not be able to select the best cards because I don't know what's in upcoming expansions and have no idea what the meta will be like. The whole point of the Core set is that it complements the current expansions. However, as I mentioned above, Primal Talismans might be a good fit because Totem Shaman is already pretty decent. If that archetype remains playable after rotation, it would be enhanced by having more totem support in Core.
What Core is not, is an excuse to bring stuff back just because you used to enjoy playing it.
For example, any card that significantly warped the meta during its original run would not be a good choice for Core. We already spent two years seeing such cards shape the game, so it's not exactly fresh or even interesting to bring them back. Examples would be Justicar Trueheart, King's Elekk, Anyfin Can Happen, Unstable Portal, Patches the Pirate.
Cards that should come back are the ones that seemed interesting but saw little play because they didn't really fit the meta or didn't receive enough support in the expansions. These would be cards like Moorabi, Frost Giant, or Primal Talismans. In some cases, they may need a buff (because they were honestly just bad), but some (like Primal Talismans) would actually be a lot stronger now than they originally were, simply because the environment is more suitable.
Its appearance on the official roapmap doesn't count as confirmation? If you just want confirmation of the pricing, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. They are aware that the Races mini-expansion pricing was very well-received.
I'm already using it in two of mine, and it's fantastic.
At the very least, it's a strong tech against Paladin for decks that struggle in that match-up. When you're not against Paladin, you can still use it to cheat out your own big boys or even just to replay a good Battlecry.
It might be fun to bring back Wrath of Air Totem as a Core card someday, maybe with the cost buffed to 0 mana.
Because a lot more decks have ways to deal with Hunter cards and Nitroboost. A turn 4 Alura + Coin was an unstoppable game-winner the vast majority of the time. Nitroboost doesn't even come close to that.
Slowly moving toward the few portraits I don't have. I can wait, Blizzard. I can wait.
They confirmed during the reveal that there will be a PvP aspect to Mercenaries even though its primary focus is PvE.
For Core cards that are brand-new to the game, I believe the plan is to remove them completely if they don't make the cut for next year's Core. The whole point of Wild is to let you keep using the cards you've actually bought so that no one can accuse Blizzard of stealing or rendering your collection worthless. Balance and continuity in that mode are a distant second and third priority.
Which hero has a power you'd actually consider "interesting," though? (Other than Warlock, which everyone agrees has always been too strong.)
This is exactly what needed to be done -- look at Classic cards and fearlessly redesign them with the benefit of six years of Hearthstone under their belts.
In every case, the new dragon fills the same purpose as the original, but it a way that makes more sense.
If this is any indication of the Core set as a whole, I'm very excited for the Year of the Gryphon. Maybe a reworked Warrior will actually be fun to play against. Dare we dream?
It would be wise of Blizzard to inform us soon about what the for-pay option(s) will be. (You are dreaming if you think it's going to be totally free.)
The longer they wait, the more butt-hurt the community whiners are going to act when we find out the new mode is more fun if you pay.
That said, Slay the Spire itself is probably the worst iteration of the genre it created. Most of its copycats are a lot better than Slay the Spire. And since we all know Blizzard's greatest talent lies in "borrowing" good ideas and making them better, I suspect Mercenaries will be decent.
It's bound to be a bigger hit than Duels since it seems far less prone to balance errors (one of Team 5's biggest weaknesses).
There is nothing sad about this. Cards that have tutor functionality tend to break the meta. It has happened too many times. Team 5 needs to learn to be a lot more careful when designing cards that are so obviously prone to abuse.
I will never shed a tear over a nerf to a card that tutors or cheats mana, and this one does both.
No Core set card is a direct replacement of any Classic or Basic card. ALL Legacy cards are moving out, and only a small number are immediately returning as Core. This change is much bigger than "Edwin is out and Vanessa is in."
All classes are going to feel and play differently than they used to, and the difference will be more noticeable for some classes than for others.
If you truly believe Rogue cannot function without Edwin, you can always play Wild or Classic. (You'd be wrong, of course. The top Rogue decks at this very moment are extremely strong without Edwin.)
I don't think anyone ever stated or implied that they were buffing it. They said they were reworking the class, including the hero power.
The spell damage totem was a LOT worse than Searing Totem if you weren't using damage spells. It's better to have every basic totem be somewhat useful in every deck style. (Even if you are somehow a no-minion Shaman, you will always have totems, so the new totem will theoretically always have something to buff.)
I don't think you understand what "stealing" and "forced" actually mean.
2000 gold for a guaranteed set of 37 cards is about a million times better than opening 20 randomized packs. If you don't see that, you are very bad at money and I'm not surprised you have to be f2p.
Instead of complaining about it, you should be asking Blizzard to do it this way more often -- say, with full expansions.
I think maybe the watermarks are changing? I wouldn't worry about it too much. Everyone gets all the Core cards for free.
If a card was in the Classic (or Basic) set at launch, it will be obtainable in Classic packs. Otherwise, it will not. (Exceptions are the two cards that used to come from hidden quests. They will now come from achievements that mirror those old quests.)
Yes, yes, but they had to TIME the things so they would happen simultaneously, so that when the guy in the video says, "Log in today to get these bonuses," people are actually able to do that. This did not happen.
But the patch is live now, so who cares.
No. I'm not sure why Blizzard is pretending to be able to do two things at once. There's no way in hell they can run BlizzConline and release a patch at the same time.
(EDIT: "Run" in the sense of "present," even if it's something that was technically prepared beforehand.)
I would not be able to select the best cards because I don't know what's in upcoming expansions and have no idea what the meta will be like. The whole point of the Core set is that it complements the current expansions. However, as I mentioned above, Primal Talismans might be a good fit because Totem Shaman is already pretty decent. If that archetype remains playable after rotation, it would be enhanced by having more totem support in Core.
What Core is not, is an excuse to bring stuff back just because you used to enjoy playing it.
For example, any card that significantly warped the meta during its original run would not be a good choice for Core. We already spent two years seeing such cards shape the game, so it's not exactly fresh or even interesting to bring them back. Examples would be Justicar Trueheart, King's Elekk, Anyfin Can Happen, Unstable Portal, Patches the Pirate.
Cards that should come back are the ones that seemed interesting but saw little play because they didn't really fit the meta or didn't receive enough support in the expansions. These would be cards like Moorabi, Frost Giant, or Primal Talismans. In some cases, they may need a buff (because they were honestly just bad), but some (like Primal Talismans) would actually be a lot stronger now than they originally were, simply because the environment is more suitable.
Frenzy activates when the minion survives damage.