On Duels, maybe you never asked for it, but there was definitely people talking about wanting a PVP version of Dungeon Run back when it was first introduced with Kobolds & Catacombs. To say no one asked for it isn't factual nor is it nice.
But yes, Tournament mode would be a nice addition to the game.
2v2 is definitely more difficult to add with how Hearthstone's UI is setup and how it must be mobile-accessible too. Would it make Hearthstone better? Sure. Personally, I'd rather see development time spent on something more innovative that wouldn't be a niche part of the game.
Dean Ayala has mentioned wanting to do a Sandbox mode several times and I agree, Hearthstone would be more awesome with it. It brings that feel of kitchen table card games into the digital world and it kinda blows my mind that no one has really done it in any of the big card games. Being able to force rules on players through that type of mode would tie-in nicely to tournaments!
I know this isn't what you'd like to hear, but I think Hearthstone is one of the cheaper games to play. Considering that the game is a card game, there is a certain amount of money any non-casual player should expect to pay to continue to be a part of the meta. Hearthstone is cheaper now than it used to be (don't include cosmetics), the bundles have even been better if you look at them historically. Hearthstone is a small drop in the bucket compared to what it costs to play Magic competitively, and many players are completely Free to Play and have some great collections. Hearthstone is generous.
You are right though, cheaper Hearthstone has a possibility of being better.
Blizzard has stated in recent times that they are working on Arena and trying to see where they want to go with it. (Source 1) (Source 2)
For the price, is 1thing id really want changed, the tavern pass as the mega bundle instead of the battleground perks. The preorder is primarly for constructed and pass is better then bg perks and the pass actully benefitsd evry type of hs player with the extra exp even if dont care about the cosmetics.
They would all be good, though with humans, draenai and trolls already covered, I think priest would most like a dragon character to use. It's a shame mage got 2 of them in the last 7 months, despite never being nearly as much a dragon class as priest.
It's high time hunter got an actual beast hero too, while rogue has so many themes that the current roster of heroes don't cover it's criminal! Gallywix and Myra Rotspring would be great additions, for example.
As for DH... let's be honest, all DHs are basically the same angry character so I'm not sure what diversity there really is to add there.
Priest a intresting one could be Xala'tath.
Would aslo be first void elf , and warlock has n'zoth so wouldnt be to odd to get her.
Hey, this doesn't look like Pandaria and Monk class. (Joking)
More than expect that Naga will be the next tribe coming. For characters, I know Azshara will come. You cannot have her left out(Mage). Another one would be the Spear Battlemaiden. She was a part of the questline back in Cata in Vashj'ir. She was suppose to also appear in the Throne of Tides raid, but that raid was scrapped. Afaik, she is missing to this day as I quit in WoD. Anyways, I expect her to be a Warrior card. Ozumat, maybe? The fish of N'Zoth and N'Zoth should be around, too. Oh, and Murlocs. Both Naga and Murlocs tend to fight and are usually enslaved by the Naga.
And Neptulon for shaman, escpailyl if ozumat is aslo in
My money is on the keyword Recruit coming back. Put Master Oakheart in the coreset and all of a sudden you have at least 20 different ways to utilize him in the deck building phase. Vandar Stormpike synergizes with him in "big/combo" style decks for all 10 classes, or you could make a hate deck with troggs and outposts without Vandar for starters. There are already some intriguing 1,2 and 3 attack minions to choose from. If the team slowly adds some Legendaries and epics that synergize with Oakheart for each class, they could strengthen class identity through these bridge cards and finishers.
Recruit can be a fair keyword if the cards are designed correctly. Ungoro had a lot variety in its meta and is considered to be the best expansion in hearthstone. I can't think of another card that could rival Oakheart in terms of variety (unless they reprint it). The meta just needs to slow down a bit or maybe just buff Oakheart to 8 or less (also make sure Druid does not get out caontrol). Now I don't think for a second that the team in its current state is capable of giving us another Ungoro but I can dream.
and maybe a new version of marin the fox, for the old/returning characters thing
This is something they've been doing pretty consistently lately: creating effects that should not exist. It doesn't matter what mana cost you slap on top of it. If it's sufficiently broken, it will find a way to be relevant. To list a few:
Hunter Questline - recreating the Raza Anduin effect, which also should not exist, but making it even faster...facepalm Warlock Questline - turning a class' downside into its win condition Warrior Questline - giving infinite value and infinite damage to an aggro deck...facedesk Shaman Questline - doubling from-hand burn damage in a from-hand burn deck...all in favour of interactivity! Darkglare - cause mana cheating was never an issue...facewall Incanter's Flow - cause mana cheating was never...sigh Runed Mithril Rod - cause mana chea....really? You nerfed it twice and it still sees play, devs, doesn't that tell you something? Stealer of Souls - cause mana... Celestial Alignment - cause...HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU NEED TO LEARN THIS LESSON? Parachute Brigand - apparently having Pirates start the game with +1/+1 on their first minion in Neutral wasn't stupid enough, so they doubled down on the stupid (literally, you can run twice the number of Parachute Brigands than you do Patches and they're twice as large)
Then there are the smaller offenders like: Polkelt - tutoring, except it also tutors for the rest of the game if you build your deck right Samuro - one-sided board-clear that generates board presence= so fun Flurgl+Tox - one-sided board-clear that...forget it Snowfall Guardian - board-stall that generates one-sided board presence...what an interesting twist on the formula!
I could go on. Pretty much the only way these effects become balanced is if the meta becomes such that those strategies are either too slow to remain competitive (the problem is not fixed, it's just hidden behind a fast meta...you can expect Questline Shaman to resurface the moment the meta slows down by about 1.5 turns) or there are even more broken ways to achieve the same effect (Darkglare vs Stealer of Souls vs Runed Mithril Rod).
And that's not even talking about the other broken shit that can be fine in theory but not with the mana cost they gave it (e.g. Raise Dead, Animated Broomstick etc.).
And then aslo made guff for druid, tied with thrall with the cheapest hero card with deathseer thrall, and it baislcy rules of the game by being abelto have 20 mana, a betetr wild growth as a hero power (whichb was deemed to good and was nerfed to 3 from 2 ) and guff has it as heor pwoer but even better siince full mana crystal.
Shadowcrafter scabbs is another board wipe with board pressence anda FREE mana cheating hero power
and for raise dead, is aslo taminsin roame (the 3 mana one) and nerfing raise dead to actully cost mana would be sort of buff due her
And parachute brigard is even more nuts in druid, with embiggen they can have 12/13 stats on, turn or even 14/15 on turn 1 width double embiggen, Corsair that pulls patches and 2 parachutes, into coin mark of lotus and all for only 2 mana
You say that now, until you have to deal with unnerfed skull and actual good Demon Hunter cards in the future. Better safe than sorry.
Ontop of Sense already said, other classes have their crazy stuff (and alot mroe dh due just being around for far longer) and get the new crazy cards aswell;
Skull of guldan at 5 + good future dh cards, wouldnt be anything out of the ordinary in wild ,thats what the other classes do.
Like druid with their ramp or the vargoth oaken summons package,priest with their ressuect spells or the mana cheat of radiant or rogues whole idenity of mana cheating basicly,or kingsbane + any future weapon buffs/supports.
SKull would likly be a main stay if unerfed for evry dh practicly, but like other classes have that aswell such cards
May revert nerfs of Sorcerer Apprentice, Kael'Thas (spells cost 0, still 7 mana), Level up and Priestess of Fury?
Apprentice is no chance at all, it was onyl very recently nerfed Because of Wild.
And kael could maybe to 0cost spell, and the 7cost thing may even be better then 6 for druid.
Level up and priestess of fury are completly safe unnerfs, DH is a dead class in wild and priestes nver was op in first place in wild . And odd pally has been dead since conviction nerf and evrythign else has just gotten alot stronger and faster then it.
Aggro Druid is pretty weak now. It’s not even showing up at tier 4.
I think you may be right about Inner Fire Priest though, that’s the main thing I saw mentioned where it could really be a big problem in.
Maybe it’s better to not unnerf Crabrider just to avoid buffing that deck.
its weak now, but gibberling unnerf could easly change that, and crabrider could then be the cherry on top to push it to tier 1.
But the deck aslo wouldnt need that much to be competive again, if the early highroll boards are a bit more common/Consistent (with gibberling) it could be competive again and be tier 2/high tier 3
And personaly i feel it may be a bit underrated atm (stil not great, but maybe better then most people think it is), ive played 170 something games with it thiis expansion and held a 60% winrate with it. but that may be due people not expecting it.
If you look at some old vicious syndicate data reports handbuff paladin was performing at a tier s level, it just was for a very short period of time as it got 3 of its main cards nerfed in a week or less.
Caverns Below Rogue might be a reason to not revert it though, sure. Not sure if they would actually run it since they seem to run mostly 1 drops and the 2 drop that adds 1/1s to hand to help complete quest easier. If you look at the recent meta list they even cut the 2 mana rush lifesteal minion.
I checked and its not listed as tier s/0 in the tierlist, but is talked about how perpahs should be labaled as so in the commmentary.
And i think the biggest reason to not unnerf crabrider isnt due a single deck, put that are multiple decks where could be problematic, Might be in handbuff pally or tax with call to arms and Drek'thar, (or even aggro druid with embiggen and drekthar, more so if they aslo get reverted gibberling), Caverns Below, and aslo innerfire priest, which is tier 1 according to tempo storm, behind hunter and mechathun warlock only and can already kill very quikly.
Like really is, ok maybe its fine in 1deck,, but is it really fine in All of them?
For unnerfing i think anythig but illucia, og darkglare (refresh 2 mana) Hysteria to any minion , Incantarers to 2, Kaelthas to 0 cost spell and flesh giant, will not break the format in half/be super oppresive .
Though still are others to be wary off if fully unnerfed, like Ilgynoth it never was an issue in wild. But if unnerf it, mo'arg, skull of guldan, lorekeeper, and even kaelthas possibly , it most likly will be fine, but ilgynoth and rest of stuff unnerfed never where a thing at the same time so its a bit harder to say just how good it woulld be, and is the possibility it could lead to a another flamewaker/Mozaki mage style deck thats just very early combo/OTK, but again could very well just be to frail against disruption or aggro or not consistent enough to be high tier.
Not a obvious card per se, but 0 mana first day of school, had some very very high winrate, and if combine it with other unnerfs could be something to keep an eye on.
Fungal fortunes while probbaly wouldnt break the format in half, i dont think needs the unnerf as druid is good already atm, and the card still sees a good amount of play as it, and could be problematic with a possible kaelthas unnerf.
Darkglare as 2 mana would be very scary, but the deck has fallen of a good bit latly, and we have quest hunter being stronger then ever and just evrything else having gotten stronger id say its fine now
(providing flesh giant isnt unnerfed, and as i see it you either unnerf none of them, or only darkglare or only Giant, never both). And it could have some other warlock decks aswell, with discard which ran it as a package and even warlock, may posisbly use it aswell as essentialy free lifetaps. But if is unnerfed it could quite easly be problematic in future again, but if needed could always be adjusted again.
Gibberling, balance wise would be fine i feel like, but id aslo something id personaly prefer not to see as its a very highrolly card , super early in the game
Skull of gul'dan is maybe scary? it would be very good, and it would push odd hunter alot, but even then im not convicned it would be all that provblematic, Wild has gotten alot faster and stronger since it was nerfed, and Odd would appereticate some extra draw for sure but i feel like might not be fast enough skull to matter vs odd hunter, though with altruis if he also gets unnerfed it could be still enough to matter before the DH dies.
And i just feel like Ilgynoth is scarier with skull then odd dh. And if would become problematic i think would be better to nerf the cost reduction effect then increase its mana cost again.
And pen flinger , raza priest isnt veyr relevant anymore, but darkglare could use it, and maybe it makes librams better, so i think would be fine nowdays, albeit it would still be a very annoying card to face.
Cloak of shadows i guess could be problematic in future with pillager, but that deck isnt that good or common atm , and was bit more common before the nerf but not something problematic, though could be in future, but thats wild. I think for now its still safe to unnerf it.
Allura could have the tip the scales again and is highrolly, but it comes out alot later then gibberling so is easier to deal with. But it does dependt on what blizz does with paladin spells but overall i dont see it having much of a impact on wild.
Crab rider is something im against personaly, but im aslo not entierly convinced it would lead to a tier 0 deck/break the game, but its certainly a risky card and said by others here in hadnbuff was one of the strongest decks, but is aslo caverns below (which shouldnt be tier 1/high tier and common for the health of the meta), innerfire priest, tax pally with call to arms reverted and nowdays drekthar, and embiggen aggro druid with Drek'thar, even more so if they get gibberling unnerfed aswell,, so maybe it would be fine in 1 of those decks , but its aslo like would it be fine in all of them? and is it worth the risk to have it around with how easly it can snowball out of control when are multiple decks atm where Could be potentialy problematic already.
So if it does get reverted it should certainty be kept an eye out and is one of the higher risk unnerfs id say.
The rest i think is 100% safe to fully unnerf.
Also i hope they do unnerfs to already rotated cards (like faceless corrupter or level up among others) and dont leave it at just the rotating cards.
Crabrider handbuff paladin was basically the strongest deck the format ever saw, super underrated right up until its nerf, not sure I wanna see a deck like that again. Iksar confirmed it was preforming extremely highly and was even holding prenerf darkglare down
Also woudl fit in caverns below quest rogue, and that deck is quite good (not tier 1 but tier 2-ish) right now, and its not the type of deck that really should be high tier/tier 1 aswell
Also handbuff never was the strongest, one of them yeah, but it never was tier 0/ Tier S, it was no demon seed or snipsnap.
Murlocs are better off as the theme of a miniset rather than a full expansion, like Pirates were in the Deadmines. There's just not a lot of mechanical complexity to them, and Murloc Knight, [Hearthstone Card (Scargill) Not Found], and Underbelly Angler are pretty significant design space limiters.
As much as it pains me to admit that. If I'm saying it, you know it's true.
Or be only part of a expansion. Like if got a south seas expac with mostly Like Naga and then some pirates and murlocs for like warrior/Shaman as a class theme.
just becouse there are some problems they can do changes to make Loatheb more a tech card instead of aggro/tempo , like remove attack/hp stats so it gives less help to aggro but helps fight an antiburst round like vs Imprisoned Phoenix or Mozaki, Master Duelist , if they dont want to change card too much they can create a new one, they can create some sort of neutral Rebuke
I know you dont like neutral spells, i just want something that does that, so it can be a neutral minion
Loatheb doesnt need to be changed, he is fine for WILD and is a better fititng for standard/core set in the necrolyte (2 3/2).
And i dont think HS should nerf cards that have been wild for like 5+years just for standard, when are otehr option.
And if chaneg all about it,oculld just as well make a new card rather then nerf soemthing thats totally fine in wild just cause standard
They should increase the starting health and deck size to 40. I'd love to have longer games where I have a chance to play bigger cards.
if by that you mean control, it wouldnt happen. youd just see more combo as now thye can put even more draw and reduancies in that draw in their deck adn got 10 more hp to outlast any aggro that is meant to counter them.
For the price, is 1thing id really want changed, the tavern pass as the mega bundle instead of the battleground perks. The preorder is primarly for constructed and pass is better then bg perks and the pass actully benefitsd evry type of hs player with the extra exp even if dont care about the cosmetics.
Poor finley hit his head to hard on one of his adventure
or maybe he fills your hand with murlocs instead of only 4, so its more a second chance/Refill card. or veen both
Priest a intresting one could be Xala'tath.
Would aslo be first void elf , and warlock has n'zoth so wouldnt be to odd to get her.
Imagine a n'zoth hero card (maybe in mini set).
You play warlock as n'zoth, then can play n'zoth twice
and then you can play n'zoth to turn from n'zoth into n'zoth.
N'zoth-ception !
And Neptulon for shaman, escpailyl if ozumat is aslo in
So Vasjir or Naijzatar
and maybe a new version of marin the fox, for the old/returning characters thing
And then aslo made guff for druid, tied with thrall with the cheapest hero card with deathseer thrall, and it baislcy rules of the game by being abelto have 20 mana, a betetr wild growth as a hero power (whichb was deemed to good and was nerfed to 3 from 2 ) and guff has it as heor pwoer but even better siince full mana crystal.
Shadowcrafter scabbs is another board wipe with board pressence anda FREE mana cheating hero power
and for raise dead, is aslo taminsin roame (the 3 mana one) and nerfing raise dead to actully cost mana would be sort of buff due her
And parachute brigard is even more nuts in druid, with embiggen they can have 12/13 stats on, turn or even 14/15 on turn 1 width double embiggen, Corsair that pulls patches and 2 parachutes, into coin mark of lotus and all for only 2 mana
Ontop of Sense already said, other classes have their crazy stuff (and alot mroe dh due just being around for far longer) and get the new crazy cards aswell;
Skull of guldan at 5 + good future dh cards, wouldnt be anything out of the ordinary in wild ,thats what the other classes do.
Like druid with their ramp or the vargoth oaken summons package,priest with their ressuect spells or the mana cheat of radiant or rogues whole idenity of mana cheating basicly,or kingsbane + any future weapon buffs/supports.
SKull would likly be a main stay if unerfed for evry dh practicly, but like other classes have that aswell such cards
Apprentice is no chance at all, it was onyl very recently nerfed Because of Wild.
And kael could maybe to 0cost spell, and the 7cost thing may even be better then 6 for druid.
Level up and priestess of fury are completly safe unnerfs, DH is a dead class in wild and priestes nver was op in first place in wild . And odd pally has been dead since conviction nerf and evrythign else has just gotten alot stronger and faster then it.
its weak now, but gibberling unnerf could easly change that, and crabrider could then be the cherry on top to push it to tier 1.
But the deck aslo wouldnt need that much to be competive again, if the early highroll boards are a bit more common/Consistent (with gibberling) it could be competive again and be tier 2/high tier 3
And personaly i feel it may be a bit underrated atm (stil not great, but maybe better then most people think it is), ive played 170 something games with it thiis expansion and held a 60% winrate with it. but that may be due people not expecting it.
I checked and its not listed as tier s/0 in the tierlist, but is talked about how perpahs should be labaled as so in the commmentary.
And i think the biggest reason to not unnerf crabrider isnt due a single deck, put that are multiple decks where could be problematic, Might be in handbuff pally or tax with call to arms and Drek'thar, (or even aggro druid with embiggen and drekthar, more so if they aslo get reverted gibberling), Caverns Below, and aslo innerfire priest, which is tier 1 according to tempo storm, behind hunter and mechathun warlock only and can already kill very quikly.
Like really is, ok maybe its fine in 1deck,, but is it really fine in All of them?
For unnerfing i think anythig but illucia, og darkglare (refresh 2 mana) Hysteria to any minion , Incantarers to 2, Kaelthas to 0 cost spell and flesh giant, will not break the format in half/be super oppresive .
Though still are others to be wary off if fully unnerfed, like Ilgynoth it never was an issue in wild. But if unnerf it, mo'arg, skull of guldan, lorekeeper, and even kaelthas possibly , it most likly will be fine, but ilgynoth and rest of stuff unnerfed never where a thing at the same time so its a bit harder to say just how good it woulld be, and is the possibility it could lead to a another flamewaker/Mozaki mage style deck thats just very early combo/OTK, but again could very well just be to frail against disruption or aggro or not consistent enough to be high tier.
Not a obvious card per se, but 0 mana first day of school, had some very very high winrate, and if combine it with other unnerfs could be something to keep an eye on.
Fungal fortunes while probbaly wouldnt break the format in half, i dont think needs the unnerf as druid is good already atm, and the card still sees a good amount of play as it, and could be problematic with a possible kaelthas unnerf.
Darkglare as 2 mana would be very scary, but the deck has fallen of a good bit latly, and we have quest hunter being stronger then ever and just evrything else having gotten stronger id say its fine now
(providing flesh giant isnt unnerfed, and as i see it you either unnerf none of them, or only darkglare or only Giant, never both).
And it could have some other warlock decks aswell, with discard which ran it as a package and even warlock, may posisbly use it aswell as essentialy free lifetaps. But if is unnerfed it could quite easly be problematic in future again, but if needed could always be adjusted again.
Gibberling, balance wise would be fine i feel like, but id aslo something id personaly prefer not to see as its a very highrolly card , super early in the game
Skull of gul'dan is maybe scary? it would be very good, and it would push odd hunter alot, but even then im not convicned it would be all that provblematic, Wild has gotten alot faster and stronger since it was nerfed, and Odd would appereticate some extra draw for sure but i feel like might not be fast enough skull to matter vs odd hunter, though with altruis if he also gets unnerfed it could be still enough to matter before the DH dies.
And i just feel like Ilgynoth is scarier with skull then odd dh. And if would become problematic i think would be better to nerf the cost reduction effect then increase its mana cost again.
And pen flinger , raza priest isnt veyr relevant anymore, but darkglare could use it, and maybe it makes librams better, so i think would be fine nowdays, albeit it would still be a very annoying card to face.
Cloak of shadows i guess could be problematic in future with pillager, but that deck isnt that good or common atm , and was bit more common before the nerf but not something problematic, though could be in future, but thats wild. I think for now its still safe to unnerf it.
Allura could have the tip the scales again and is highrolly, but it comes out alot later then gibberling so is easier to deal with. But it does dependt on what blizz does with paladin spells but overall i dont see it having much of a impact on wild.
Crab rider is something im against personaly, but im aslo not entierly convinced it would lead to a tier 0 deck/break the game, but its certainly a risky card and said by others here in hadnbuff was one of the strongest decks, but is aslo caverns below (which shouldnt be tier 1/high tier and common for the health of the meta), innerfire priest, tax pally with call to arms reverted and nowdays drekthar, and embiggen aggro druid with Drek'thar, even more so if they get gibberling unnerfed aswell,, so maybe it would be fine in 1 of those decks , but its aslo like would it be fine in all of them? and is it worth the risk to have it around with how easly it can snowball out of control when are multiple decks atm where Could be potentialy problematic already.
So if it does get reverted it should certainty be kept an eye out and is one of the higher risk unnerfs id say.
The rest i think is 100% safe to fully unnerf.
Also i hope they do unnerfs to already rotated cards (like faceless corrupter or level up among others) and dont leave it at just the rotating cards.
Also woudl fit in caverns below quest rogue, and that deck is quite good (not tier 1 but tier 2-ish) right now, and its not the type of deck that really should be high tier/tier 1 aswell
Also handbuff never was the strongest, one of them yeah, but it never was tier 0/ Tier S, it was no demon seed or snipsnap.
Or be only part of a expansion. Like if got a south seas expac with mostly Like Naga and then some pirates and murlocs for like warrior/Shaman as a class theme.
Loatheb doesnt need to be changed, he is fine for WILD and is a better fititng for standard/core set in the necrolyte (2 3/2).
And i dont think HS should nerf cards that have been wild for like 5+years just for standard, when are otehr option.
And if chaneg all about it,oculld just as well make a new card rather then nerf soemthing thats totally fine in wild just cause standard
Loatheb as said by an earlier comment here, really shouldnt be in core, and impbalming a neutral spell isnt a thin
if by that you mean control, it wouldnt happen. youd just see more combo as now thye can put even more draw and reduancies in that draw in their deck adn got 10 more hp to outlast any aggro that is meant to counter them.
is only 1epic in the mini set and was already revealed (whelp bonker)