Alec Dawson has shared more insight into the world of card unnerfs in another series of tweets. This builds upon the list from yesterday which contained cards for Druid, Hunter, and Mage. Today, we have the info on Paladin, Priest, and Rogue changes.
- Nerf reverts are taking place in Patch 20.0 which is live later this month.
- The reverts will come shortly before the expansion launches. Huge meta swing!
- Some cards were not fully reverted but were instead "soft" reverted. This is because these cards may come back to Standard in the future.
- Cards like Level Up!, which would only add strength to archetypes already doing well are not being unnerfed.
Read on for all the newly announced changes, divided by class. If you're looking for the new core set that is coming this year, head on over to our Core Set 2021 guide. If you are interested in the new expansion, you can find the currently revealed cards in our Forged in the Barrens guide.
Paladin
- Call to Arms cost decreased back to 4 (Down from 5).
Priest
- Power Word: Shield cost increased back to 1 (Up from 0). Now Draws a card again.
Rogue
- Blade Flurry cost decreased back to 2 (Down from 4). Still cannot hit the enemy hero.
- The Caverns Below requires you play 4 minions (Down from 5). Minions are now 5/5 (Up from 4/4).
- Necrium Apothecary costs 4 mana (Down from 5).
- Edwin VanCleef cost decreased back to 3 (Down from 4).
- Galakrond's cards drawn cost 0 (down from 1).
Quote From Alec Dawson 20.0 nerf reverts. Paladin, Priest, and Rogue.
Paladin:
Call to Arms (4 mana)Priest:
Power Word: Shield (1 mana, draws a card)Rogue:
Blade Flurry (2 mana, no face dmg)
Caverns Below (4 minions, 5/5 stats)
Necrium Apothecary (4 mana)
Galakrond (cards cost 0)
Edwin (3 mana)
Is the Blade Flurry because it could go back to Standard?
Most likely not, but did a soft revert because of potential damage output (we think it would be too much) (Source)
Comments
The Caverns Below unnerfed? Cancer is back.. yay..
Quest Rogue no longer has access to boar or bluegill for its charge shenanigans but they aren't changing Southsea Deckhand, are they? This is a lot less consistent because it requires a weapon equipped and that can be easily removed but Rogues do have access to a variety of cheap weapons. I don't think the deck will break Wild as it's too vulnerable to aggro but the toxic playstyle isn't completely gone.
And Priest only got Power Word: Shield back, huh? A little bit of support for other archetypes would be highly appreciated but i guess that is pointless until they finally deal a killing blow to Raza Priest as no other archetype Priest has access to can compete against that. I guess they didn't do anything about Extra Arms because the card's original cost is 3 and they don't want to do a double revert (buff, revert the buff, revert the revert)?
Nothing much to say about Call to Arms. It just revives Even Paladin. Maybe the deck will be strong enough to be competitive but the field has changed a lot and the competition is fiercer than ever.
Compared to 3 mana Blade Dance, Blade Flurry at 2 mana seems reasonable, since you lose the weapon.
I don't know how it would impact the wild. Is Kingsbane Rogue still a thing?
I think Kingsbane Rogue is a full on aggro deck now, so I doubt it would use this (although you could justify running one copy as some form of insurance)
This must be mistake, I don't see Extra Arms
does it mean pw:s draws a card in standard too? WOW!
edit: oh nvm, i thought its in the core set...:(
Blade Flurry gets what it deserves.
Didn't expect The Caverns Below to be unnerf. This just confirms that Bluegill and Boar will just remain Rush. Kinda sad since meme OTKs using them are now dead. However, now finally I hope I can get my Galakrond Quest Rogue to work! 5/5 Lackeys here they come! Who needs Dark Pharaoh Tekahn when you have The Caverns Below? xD
I am most excited about the reversions on:Call to Arms and Necrium Apothecary. I love playing versions of Dane's Big Rogue (not the dragon version), and I love(d) Even Paladin.
Apothecary was the 1 card I was most hoping to get reverted for this reason, can't wait to get Sneeds out again
i think the caverns below revert confirms that boar and bluegill will remain rushers.
Call to Arms is exciting! I’ve been playing Even Paladin recently anyway, so this could shake up the list I put together.
I'm so looking forward to the havoc and chaos that will ensue with the unnerfs
FWIW - VS started doing Wild meta-reports when Un'Goro launched. Quest Rogue wasn't viable in Wild pre-nerf (it placed only 24th-best on the VS report), and disappeared completely after the nerf. Its game-plan of "do nothing but bounce, then suddenly win" left it vulnerable to aggro decks. Needless to say, the pace of aggro hasn't slowed down in the past four years, so my guess is the card is fine in Wild.
Some folks continued playing Deathwing Rogue after the nerf to Apothecary - the deck has consistently posted a win-rate between 46-47% on HSReplays, and around 43% on VS. In order for either "new-ish" Rogue deck to see play, it's a safe bet that they will have to perform better on ladder than either Kingsbane or Odd Rogue, both of which have win-rates around 53%. My guess is that neither deck will make the cut - aggro finds a way.
well, there was no Bloodsail Flybooters in those times.
I was playing some non-combo Quest Rogue in wild for 4/4 lackeys and believe me you don't even need bounce with Bloodsail Flybooter and with lackeys anymore to complete the quest. If you are lucky enough, 2 copies of it will complete it for you and that's not that hard, i know that because i played a lot in wild.
In my opinion, it should be reverted because of Bluegill and Boar nerfs. I really think that the unnerf of The Caverns Below is fair enough with charge nerfs but i'm repeating again, you don't even need bounce to complete it with Bloodsail Flybooter now.
I respectfully mention again - bouncing a lot in the early game doesn't really work in Wild, leaving the deck wide open to aggro. I congratulate you on your success, and agree that "if you are lucky" Flybooter will solo the quest - though aggro typically goldfishes an inactive opponent by turn four in the older format. HSReplays currently has the deck posting a 43% win-rate. The 5/5 buff won't matter too often - I'm not sure if the revert to four bounces, rather than five, will make up the distance between Quest Rogue and the other top-tier Rogue decks (Kingsbane is currently 57%, and Odd Rogue is 58%.) In any event, GLHF.
statistics junkies..
I wish you could also enjoy all parts of games but winrates matter more than enjoyement.
Power Word: Shield
Love this card. Love priest but not what it's become with Raza or Res in wild. At least I can add PW: S to my Dragon deck which might not be a high tier deck but, well, dragons.....
I for one accepts quest rogue back to its full power. It's been a while since I see that deck in action and it should be fun (at least for the first week).
Also, I love you Blizzard for unnerfing Necrium Apothecary.
Also nobody talks about Call to Arms? It's the most worrying one IMO. Call to Arms while not as effective, still feels very powerful at 5. It has the potential to create a tier one deck at 4.