Do you think Blizzard would actually do something like that? For example to keep winrates of certain decks in control.
Occam's Razor.
Is it bad luck? Or is there a secret algorithm designed to pit only you against your worst match up.
Keep in mind, that would mean that there's an algorithm designed to give someone else all of their best match ups.
What would be the purpose of such a system? Why is it only giving you bad matches, but other people good ones? Why would resources be dedicated to design and implement that system?
I'm apparently in the minority here, but I really dislike the balance strategy of late. I used to admire what a lot of people have whined about previously - back in the vanilla days, Blizzard were very reluctant to perform any direct balance changes.
That, in my opinion, is the desirable state of affairs. It is a source of continual frustration to me that so many cards have been nerfed - and often not because of any actual balance reason, but because people continually whine about them. The biggest example is probably Quest Rogue on release - barely got above a 50% winrate at any time, and yet got nerfed into non-viability just because people were whining about it. And then ate multiple other nerfs over time, too.
The desirable state of affairs in any card game - hell, any game at all - is for players to find their own solutions. I've gotten to Legend multiple times almost entirely off the back of hating on the most popular decks. Let the meta resolve balance issues, don't just nerf anything that looks like it's doing well before players can react to it.
Unfortunately, that state of affairs is not directly conducive of more people playing (and therefore more money being spent), because people like to whine about things that aren't really problems.
So I was beginning to reply and was intending to say something like "I usually agree with you but in this case Galakrond Shaman according to HSReplay has winrates over 60% which is really oppressive", except then I went there to confirm that it was still the case. It is but... it is steadily trending down. 64.61% on launch (which sounds ridiculous), down to 60.02% now. Still crazy high, but a) early season meta is full of all sorts of homebrew and decks that people are trying to make work but are simply terrible (not sure what the current equivalents are, but many times that Blizzard have pushed Discolock for example and people have tried it to no success at all) so a strong deck will feast on those.
So yeah, I agree with you, it's too early and the meta is finding a way it seems.
That said, I have played with it, and I have played against it, and in both cases I'm no sure how I would have beaten it, it seems to be strong all game long. I really REALLY hope they don't take it to the ground though because it's fun. 1/1 rushing dudes on Invoke would be an option but that would feel SO bad. Capping the battlecry minions to 6/6? Might feel fairer but might also take it to the ground.
The w/r is dropping from 65% to 60% (and right now about 55%) isn't painting the full picture. With the entire metagame designed to stop it, Galakrond Shaman is still at a 57% w/r.
For comparison, Aggro Evolve Shaman (that one we all were sick of and hated) had a 54% w/r as of the last vS report.
Assuming it continues to drop to be right around 55%, a nerf is still certainly warranted.
GalyLock is better than I gave it credit for, but I don't believe it will ever be able to be better than T2. (And I didn't even think it could be a T2 deck before).
Sometimes, spamming 3 minions multiple turns in a row just gets there against bad starts. Even when those minions are trash and cost 3+ mana.
But it's Galakrond battlecry is still garbage because of the extreme RNG involved.
I've had success with Vault Hunter and Control Warrior (feat. a small dragon package).
I suspect that Faceless Corruptor will be nerfed. And somehow Galakrond Shaman will be balanced. It may be as simple as making the Double Invoker cost 6 mana.
Great tips. And just a small expansion on your first point - your control deck is probably not going to do well. You don't know what you're trying to control yet. If you can accept that and just love playing Galakrond priest, then go for it!
You'll probably need to play ramp alongside this and I don't know if Token can afford doing that. On the other though it's a HUGE Buff, so might be worth it? Big Druid will definitely play this.
Because the "+1 attack" comes first, you need a valid target first before you play the card. If there's no target, there's no Invoke. Notice that Warlock's Fiendish Rites has them in the opposite order.
The effect looks outrageous, but I'm not sure if the increased hand size is actually relevant. You still need to draw like mad to keep your hand full or play one card at a time and all that just do discount a mountain giant or play a huge demon. I'm not entirely certain of the intended direction for handlock in the future, but it sure seems interesting.
I actually think the handsize thing is really relevant. Overflow is a card that Druid would want to play a lot, but handsize issues make it very hard.
Galakrond Control Warlock has been surprisingly not bad.
Occam's Razor.
Is it bad luck? Or is there a secret algorithm designed to pit only you against your worst match up.
Keep in mind, that would mean that there's an algorithm designed to give someone else all of their best match ups.
What would be the purpose of such a system?
Why is it only giving you bad matches, but other people good ones?
Why would resources be dedicated to design and implement that system?
The w/r is dropping from 65% to 60% (and right now about 55%) isn't painting the full picture. With the entire metagame designed to stop it, Galakrond Shaman is still at a 57% w/r.
For comparison, Aggro Evolve Shaman (that one we all were sick of and hated) had a 54% w/r as of the last vS report.
Assuming it continues to drop to be right around 55%, a nerf is still certainly warranted.
I had the same thought as well.
GalyLock is better than I gave it credit for, but I don't believe it will ever be able to be better than T2. (And I didn't even think it could be a T2 deck before).
Sometimes, spamming 3 minions multiple turns in a row just gets there against bad starts. Even when those minions are trash and cost 3+ mana.
But it's Galakrond battlecry is still garbage because of the extreme RNG involved.
Any version of Galakrond Shaman is the nuts.
I've had success with Vault Hunter and Control Warrior (feat. a small dragon package).
I suspect that Faceless Corruptor will be nerfed. And somehow Galakrond Shaman will be balanced. It may be as simple as making the Double Invoker cost 6 mana.
Great tips. And just a small expansion on your first point - your control deck is probably not going to do well. You don't know what you're trying to control yet. If you can accept that and just love playing Galakrond priest, then go for it!
or you could just keep your curve low.
Bombs, Albatross, Hakkar, etc.
There are incredibly niche uses, but uses nonetheless. Good for cards like this to exist. Even if they almost never see constructed play.
Because the "+1 attack" comes first, you need a valid target first before you play the card. If there's no target, there's no Invoke. Notice that Warlock's Fiendish Rites has them in the opposite order.
Not sure what kind of comment this is?
"If not for the effect of the card, this would be a terrible card."
You can literally say that about anything.
This is basically a highlander tech card and little else, absent some combo that emerges.
People always forget to consider that cards cost spots in your deck. That's the opportunity cost.
This is usually River Croc. Occasionally good River Croc is still basically always River Croc. You very rarely want River Croc.
Also packs for the tavern brawl being borked a few weeks ago.
That's great. The more win cons for the highlander decks, the better. Especially for something like Highlander mage, who wasn't doing much anymore.
This card is excellent.
Meh. I'm surprised people think this card is good.
Why is this an effect that you want?
It's not a good egg. But it's an egg. They almost always see play somewhere.
This card scales really well.
(1) Will Warrior Galakrond be good?
- I think it has a good shot. I like that one quite a bit
(2) Will Warrior Galakrond want something like this?
- Harder to say until the whole set is fleshed out, but it seems reasonable.
I actually think the handsize thing is really relevant. Overflow is a card that Druid would want to play a lot, but handsize issues make it very hard.
This seems like it goes in every single archetype of warlock.