PC Gamer reports that we could be seeing a nerf to Mogu Fleshshaper some time after Descent of Dragons is released.
Quote From Alec Dawson I think with Shaman currently, there's some gameplay patterns that we aren't the most happy with, I think when you do have an eight-Mana minion that you evolved [from] a Mogu Fleshshaper on turn four, that's not a healthy gameplay pattern. I think that's going to be a card going into Descent of Dragons that we're definitely going to keep an eye on.
I think when it comes to some of these effects that cheat Mana and do things like that early on, that's something that we're looking at as a team and we're making sure that these effects aren't ruining your gameplay experience. So, we are definitely aware of it, and we're definitely going to be keeping our eye on a few cards going into the next expansion to see how their power level shakes out.
Comments
As Firebat also said, it'd be good if they balanced the game for fun, not only for balance.
I mean...fun and balance kinda go hand in hand.
A card doesn't need to win most of the time to be unbalanced. Fleshshaper isn't unbalanced because of statistics, but because it can highroll so hard that it creates automatic win situations.
I meant this.
No way this card is hit with a nerf until they see what the new post-Dragons meta demonstrates. $50 says there is some new awful card about to be unleashed which will be the #1 call for nerfs about 2 days into the next expansion.
Mechwarper
Arcane Flakmage
Crystology
These three cards in Wild are far more broken. Not even comparable. Yet two of them are in Standard, basically unnoticed.
That is, without Mutate, nobody would notice about the Fleshshaper.
TL;DR: if they don't take a more aggressive stance against brokenness, in Standard AND Wild, this game will rapidly turn into a meme.
Article idea for the site:
Wild things that need to be nerfed or addressed.
Just a few things off the top of my head:
- Bees! armor shenanigans with Druid
- Endless self-copying Shudderwock
- Something that breaks up Mill Rogue other than bad deck shuffle or misplay on a rogue's part.
I like playing in Wild because it's generally slower -- a real game of Hearthstone sees both players running out of cards to me -- and there's some old fun decks. It's a trade off of going away from the Standard ladder pollution of aggro decks, but substituting that with BS play decks -- Big Priest, Un'Goro Quest Mage, damn near every OTK that ever existed and the like. To some degree, there's tech cards that counter some of this and there's an acceptable curve of BS plays to counter. But some of this stuff has no counter, a one-shot make it count counter (Dirty Ratting a Shudderwock) or goes beyond conventional BS.
/agree with above's call to look at Mechwarper and to a degree Crystology, but Flankmage ... well, I don't play aggro, so it's a whatever card to me.
On Wild everything is taken to an extreme because with all the cards in the pool is always easy to find a broken synergy. On Standard that is far more difficult to achieve because there you have very few options.
Wild's issue is that Blizzard doesn't care about it. It's not considered an extended format, but just a dumpster where they throw whatever may be too hard to balance on Standard. It's such a missed opportunity to expand HS gameplay, but also you've to consider that Wild doesn't bring enough money because once you've got an established collection you (usually) don't need to buy tons of new packs in order to update your decks.
Exactly.
But then their design policy is flawed.
They introduce broken cards that are only kept in check by reduced pool: why not restricting cards extremes instead (ie. prevent extreme extreme powerplays based on (0)-costed cards).
I really can't understand them...
the problem is...once you start trying to balance Wild you go down a rabbithole.
In order to truly "balance" Wild you'd first have to target all the really insane tempo plays, then axe a lot of the overly efficient removals and finally target the OTKs as well.
I don't think they could ever "balance" Wild so they only hit cards when they get completely out of hand or are introducing a broken combo (see Dreadsteed)
that being said, I could see them nerfing Mechwarper because it's just such a broken design anyways.
In fact, Wild just needs only few but clear meachanic/design restrictions. Stuff like:
- no cards discounted to (0) (limit of discount to (1), even for stacked discounts).
- mana-based synergies count the expended mana, not the discounted price.
- no ridiculously cheap summons based on deck or graveyard.
Or similar ones (i didn't consider all the possible cases here).
There is still plenty of design freedom within those boundaries.
Wild should not be properly balanced as Standard, because it will require indeed too much effort. But from being looked at and instead being abandoned in an not-so-healty-situation for months... Well, the difference is pretty clear.
To make a comparision: MtG also has a format where you can use every card ever printed (with limitation and some ban) but they keep it updated with restriction from time to time when something "broke" it. Wild on the other hands it's totally abandoned and when they look at it they just make pointless fixes that will hardly change anything and even those are done so rarely that the whole format often feels pointless.
"Something's always OP"
I love just how blunt and honest they were in that first sentence.
EDIT: Well now this comment just looks stupid because what I was referring to was taken out of the article.
I feel like the Rumble meta was a good example of op done "right". Every class had broken cards and you could pull off a variety of strategies, to the point where even meme decks could compete with meta decks, just on the basis of having some form of pwoerplay that bails them out (example: Quest Discolock did pretty well against the Tier 1 Odd Pally, purely thanks to Defile)
Right now we have the problem that every class is civil and chill while Shaman (and Priest to an extent) are just facerolling with cards that are just way above the average powerlevel.
OP is okay, as long as it's beatable, and a turn 3/4 8-drop that deals 3 damage just isn't beatable