As we enter the second week following the release of Hearthstone's newest Mini-Set with Maw and Disorder, it's probably a good time to catch up on some of this past weekend's news and set clear expectations for what's to come in the most immediate future. And while there isn't anything entirely surprising to report, players have still kept wondering what might happen next.
Around the same time as the most recent hotfix patch was being deployed, renowned competitive player Lunaloveee tweeted at Alex “Abar” Barhorst, Product Manager for Hearthstone Esports. The reason behind that inquiry was to find out about any potential balance changes, fixes, or card bans for the upcoming (October 7-9) final Masters Tour tournament of the year. It was met with the following answer:
Quote From Abar Theo fixed. Chakki confirmed no balance patch before the MT. Dew is expected to be fixed next week before the tournament starts (I will make sure the admins comm this in the Discord server).
Keaton "Chakki" Gill being Senior Game Designer for Hearthstone, featured prominently in the latest large developer Q&A session that we happened to cover meticulously. Theotar, the Mad Duke has now been subjected to two separate hotfixes, and all should be well with the suspect (even though he isn't exactly a fan favorite, and many of the competitors wouldn't mind a tournament without). Dew Process is one of the new Mini-Set cards which currently still remain bugged (we have a whole list of them here), but it sounds like not for much longer.
As you might recall, there has already been a precedent when then-bugged Shaman cards Snapdragon and Bioluminescence drew forced bans going into the Summer Championship, which definitely hurt that tournament as a whole. So any such concerns are at least warranted.
Besides that, it should be all business as usual. We'll most likely see the balance changes discussion begin anew as soon as this 6th Masters Tour concludes, for there is also the Fall Championship scheduled for the end of October. Meanwhile, Hearthstone team will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on potentially overperforming cards or any interactions that might be deemed 'too broken'.
Where do you stand personally, having had close to a week to play with the new Mini-Set cards? Anything in particular comes to mind that might warrant immediate balance attention?
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Comments
Unfortunately it looks like the Mini Set has made Wild worse again after the format had finally overcome the bullshitty Questline era. Nobody asked for a Secret Mage comeback, Mill Druid is just plain stupid and The Jailer should be straight out banned imo. Add all this to the ongoing Big Priest issue and you get an unhealthy cocktail of uninteractive stuff that's just no fun to play against. I'm not really sure how to solve this situation either other than banning The Jailer and nerfing Neptulon but I'm sure someone will come up with a good idea.
I have seen very little impact from the Miniset cards. Almost all opponent decks were as previously
Well this statement would be true for every mini-set release, as no mini-set has created a brand new archetype in the past.
What Maw and Disorder has done is raised Paladin from the dumpster (slightly) so it's a fun class to play again. It's also given Hunter more efficient tools to beat everyone else, thus increasing the class' win rate. Expect Hunter to take a hit in the next round of nerfs.
You may be facing the same archetypes, but that doesn't mean your opponents aren't using new cards. To be fair, most classes are only using 1 or 2 new cards, so the chances of seeing those cards in every game is slim.
Kazakusan had a massive impact. Both druid and priest had decks that rushed out Kazakusan.
Onyxia's Lair also gave us Scale of Onyxia - which is a crucial card for all ramp druid decks - and Drakefire Amulet. Most of the big spell mage core comes from mini sets - Grey Sage Parrot and Deepwater Evoker are from Deadmines. The Wailing Caverns included Wailing Vapor and Primal Dungeoneer which made Elemental Shaman a real deck.
My early impression is that Maw and Disorder is a lower impact mini-set than all 3 of last years' mini-sets.
While I definitely agree with your sentiment, I'd probably say the same thing with Throne of the Tides min-set. The overall power level for the last 2 mini-sets feel tame compared to last year's releases. But ofc this is my opinion, I haven't looked at any stats.
Yeah, Throne of the Tides mini-set also felt a bit weak compared to last years'. I don't know if that's good or bad though. Last year had incredibly strong mini-sets.