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Major Balance Changes Coming to Hearthstone

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Blizzard have announced major balance changes to Hearthstone, including changes to Yogg-Saron, and Tuskarr Totemic.

Players have been complaining more than usual about the state of the randomness in Hearthstone for some time now, with Tuskarr Totemic and Yogg-Saron, Hope's End being the major targets. On top of that, Shaman has been getting more and more powerful, and difficult to deal with. Blizzard have taken the opportunity to adjust these cards, lower the power level of Shaman, and have tidied up a few other issues. I have outlined the changes with my views below, the official views can be found on Blizzard's blog.

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Tuskarr Totemic allowed for huge swings based on the result of the random effect. The three non-basic Totems, Mana Tide TotemFlametongue Totem, and Totem Golem usually led to substantially better board states then the four basic Totems. The card will still be playable in Totem based decks, but it will no longer win anywhere near as many games just through a lucky roll.

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One of the most controversial cards ever, Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, has been drastically reduced in power. Although the card text stays the same, the way it functions will be different. I'll let the design team's words speak for this one:

Blizzard LogoBlizzard

We didn't want to nerf it so much that it couldn't still be a fun card for players who currently love Yogg. Yogg-Saron will now stop casting spells if, during Yogg-Saron’s battlecry, it is destroyed, silenced, transformed, or returned to its owner’s hand.  We tried a bunch of things and we think this is a significant enough nerf that it could reduce the amount it gets seen (especially in tournaments), while still maintaining the dream for people who love the card.

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Rockbiter Weapon is very powerful. Not only does it combine well with Doomhammer and Al'Akir the Windlord for huge closing damage, but it also allows Shaman to control the early game. Often this early control snowballs so much that there is very little the opponent can do. Stopping this will slow the Class down substantially, and should make Shaman builds a lot less frustrating to play against.

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When I first saw the Preview for Call of the Wild, I speculated that Animal Companion was going to be nerfed. Usually a card in Hearthstone that does the job of two or more cards, costs the total of the casting costs, plus one extra for each addition card that it represents. In the case of Call of the Wild that means it should cost the three threes from Animal Companion, plus two more. Eleven. The way that the game actually flows should mean that a nerf to nine is fine, but I think many people will be glad that Hunter has lost the turn seven coin, Call of the Wild win condition now. Hunter will now have to find a way to bridge the gap from Savannah Highmane on turn six, until Call of the Wild.

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Alongside Shaman, Warrior has also been incredibly powerful and versatile recently. Although this nerf is a surprise to me, I think it is a welcome one. A slower controlling deck should still be able to make good use of Execute, but aggressive decks won't have the luxury of turning their opponent's minions into speed bumps any more. I think this is a good change for the game.

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Another surprising change, but another good one. People don't like losing to decks that they can't interact with, and this kills off One Turn Kill Raging Worgen as a deck. With all the problems that the keyword Charge has given the game over the time, I've mentioned to friends, a little frivolously, if we'll see the keyword change eventually, or if the cards will keep being nerfed one at a time.

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Another surprising, but welcome, change to a card. Blizzard have stated they'd like to see a little less aggro, and that Abusive Sergeant is in nearly every aggressive deck at the moment. Although this seems like a small change, we saw the difference one Attack made to Knife Juggler, and I think we'll find that Abusive Sergeant not trading up the turn after it is played will mean it is far less powerful.

These changes should be in place for the Last Call Qualifiers in October, and it will be exciting to see what the players come up with for those very important tournaments.

Let us know your thoughts as to how these will impact the game!

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I don't like the Rockbiter WeaponExecuteCharge and Call of the Wild ones.

I think they were unnecessary.

Tuskarr Totemic should have been like this since his release

Yogg-Saron, Hope's End's change on the other hand is interesting, cause he can still be useful. Most of the times you want just a board clear and to draw some cards from him, nothing else.

Edit : Charge was completely unnecessary, Worgen OTK warrior decks were there to punish control decks in a control meta. Also they were quite difficult to play correctly and loose to most aggro decks. I can't get my head around this change.

Edited by CodeRazor

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I hate OTK decks and insane damage appearing out of thin air, so I have to say I LOVE these nerfs. 
I don't think Execute needed a nerf that bad, but it was annoying to see your 8-drop killed by 1-mana spell. 

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This is like the worst day of my life. I've never felt that ashamed and unprofessional. I'll quote myself from an hour ago :

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If we are realistic, than there is no way such drastic changes like bans or reworks can happen in the middle of season. R&D is slow response, and this is good in a way - things are more stable. Blizzcon is also not really far away in time, and doing major shake-ups to the game wouldn't be a great idea.

Regarding coding Tuskarr Totemic, what I offered is a very simple half-measure solution that would weaken, not kill the card, which is generally where you'd want to be as a developer. Given the fact card is almost two years old already, and will rotate soon(tm), hardly a big thing as a mechanical rework of such level could happen.

This was before patch announcement was live.

I owe an apology to @klott100 and all you guys too. 

Do you actually want to hear my opinion on the actual changes? Because oh boy, I did screw up the last time.

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I like most of the changes.

The Charge change is pretty interesting. It will give rise to more interesting strategies with Sylvanas, Acolyte of Pain, Grim Patron , pyromancer. I wonder if it can be used in dragon warrior. Due to execute nerf maybe we can cut 1xExecute and add 1xCharge.

Charge synergies pretty well with the high health dragons like Guardian, Book Wyrm for an instant value trade. Heck even you can use it with Blackwing corruptor to remove something like a mana tide totem and a totem golem and leave a 5/1. Overall it synergies with most of the dragon warrior minions as most of them have high health.

Edit: Adding more gimmick interactions like with Magnataur Alpha (from reddit) and Boogeymonster :)

Edited by sc47

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Honestly. I think all of these changes are AMAZING.
Especially the Yogg one. He became too much of a no brainer once people learned how to use him. As long as you could survive he was almost certainly giving you a board while wrecking your opponent.
Tuskar has always been too valuable for his drop. Rockbitter is a surprising and wasn't on my radar as a problem card, but makes sense putting it more in line with other spells that deal 3 damage for the early game.

Call of the wild NEEDED a change, and 1 mana will actually make a huge difference by limiting the drop and additional combo with the 2 mana. 1 mana is way harder to use and gives an extra turn to build up the counter without making it out of reach. They cover the typical hearthstone math pretty well. 3+3+3=9...

Execute and abusive sergeant aren't crazy changes, but will slow the aggro just a bit while having both still be used (good example is knife juggler, stat change, still useful but not automatic for every deck).

Charge has always been an issue, and giving it the ice-howl treatment might make it unplayable, but I wouldn't be surprised if they move in this direction for every charge card. OTK Worgen was just stupid. if it made it past about turn 6, the warrior would stabilize and you had no hope (even as another warrior) if they got their combo.

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Call of the wild-I'm sort of on the fence about this one. While i definitely agree that the card itself is broken, it's also most of what hunter has going for it as a class(before standard hit, it was mad scientist), and by nerfing it they might be making the class terrible. We'll just have to wait and see how much this nerf will affect the class as a whole, although I expect it to be quite a lot.

Tuskarr-I'm glad they have finally come to their senses. Easily one of my most hated hearthstone cards.

Yogg-Not sure if the nerf will be enough to prevent yogg from being viable in a competitive deck, as the potential to clear the opponent's board and catch you up on games you have essentially lost already is still there, and is the reason most people put the card in their deck. Again we'll just have to wait and see how much of a difference the nerf makes on average, but I would have prefered to just ban it from ranks 5-legend and tournaments, or just from the standard set altogether.

Rockbiter-Obviously this will make the class less powerful, but there's a ton of other class cards that deserved the nerf more(trogg, totem golem, etc). Plus this will hurt the class even after the upcoming format change next year, and that might not be needed. I think blizzard should really start being more open minded with cards that are MEANT to be used as finishers, and focus more on the sheer power level.

Charge-While I can definitely see the argument for this nerf, I can't help but feel bad that we're losing one of the most fun decks in the game. I guess it did restrict a lot of cards being introduced into the game though, so understandable overall.

Abusive-again I can definitely see the argument for the nerf, as the card is easily one of the best one mana minions in the game since beta, and sees into most minion based aggro decks. But I personally also love the card and the feeling of trading into higher cost minions with it and will hate to see it gone, so I hope the nerf isn't enough to accomplish that, although I highly doubt people will stop running in zoo at the very least.

Edited by JooBatanete

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7 minutes ago, YourGod said:

Should have nerfed Power Overwhelming or another Zoo card

Zoo is anyway not that oppressive nowadays. Shamans with 3-4 AoEs and warriors already keep them in check.

Also abusive's nerf which doesn't impact zoo as much as hybrid hunter is still a downside as you need that 2 power to trade into your opponent's 3/2 or a 2/3 with direwolf.

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I can live with these changes. Kinda sad about Abusive Sergeant and Call of the Wild but I also understand at the same time. I'm laughing at Blizzard though when it comes to Shaman because they wanted Shaman to see more play, now they aren't happy because it sees too much play.  I do however think they need a few more people in the card creating department that actually play the game so we won't need as many nerfs in the future and so we don't end up with a 3 mana 9/9. 

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2 hours ago, YourGod said:

Should have nerfed Power Overwhelming or another Zoo card

Abusive Sergeant is the best card in Zoo arguably and has received the hammer, plus Zoo is barely a tier 2 deck at the moment. Abusive Sergeant is the fundamental definition of a Zoo card and has been in every list since the beginning of time. Cheap, efficient, good body, high tempo ability.

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I think the abusive sergeant nerf won't make much of a difference - look at knife juggler...the effect matters more than the body. But I can see where blizzard is coming from. 

 

Sottle, I agree with your statement. Perhaps to beat zoo I should simply play less Priest... 

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Still recovering from this huge failure of mine. Here is a wrap-up of my thoughts on the changes. For the sake of convenience and for those who (now have a reason to) don't trust me, I'll put them under spoilers.

The Good

Tuskarr Totemic: Yes, please!

Spoiler

This was clearly one of the most oppresive cards in the game and I'm glad to see it go. Now that I think of it, a half measure wouldn't be enough, and nerfing the hell out of Tuskarr is a good way to shake up things for Shaman. Low opportunity cost and high payoff had really reduced the diversity of Shaman decks, basically making them all Midrange variants of the same thing.

Rockbiter Weapon : The Unsung Hero.

Spoiler

Rockbiter change is a huge one, because it's here to transcend the Year of Kraken. It's a long term solution to Shaman Problems that Blizzard don't like : both critical mass of good interaction is suffering and burst potential from Doomhammer is really reduced. It was hell of a good card, and while Rockbiter is sort of the identity card for Shaman, increased cost means that you have to commit if you want to use it, which, once again, would increase the diversity of Shaman decks. Maybe they can finally print a WIndfury card for Shaman - also an identity thing for the class. Now it's easier to attack and counterplay Shaman early game, which should fix some current problems.

Yogg-Saron, Hope's End : Our prayers have been answered!

Spoiler

While there is no point in denying the fact Yogg was taken down a peg in pure power level, he still has a lot of potential, so case is not exactly closed as it is. I believe it was a good notion, but decks that have usually utilized it - namely Druid and Mage - have not been exactly reliant on him, he was a back-up plan Y. Plans A, B, C and all the way up to X are still the same - it's not like Druids are going to run less spells all of a sudden. Some decks, like the new Control Warrior, however, wouldn't be able to get away with small Yoggs now, and that's good news. We're going to see a decline in Yoggs, but not a complete absence. Don't dust your copies.

Call of the Wild : They did the math, finally.

Spoiler

The 3-for-1 nightmare of a spell was a horrible undercosted mashup of 3 already undercosted spells, and this is a recipe for disaster. Even though Hunter is not exactly the best class right now - average power, plus some popular good matchups - it enjoys huge popularity because it's pretty cheap and easy to play, A change to Call is welcome from my point of view, because it's really hard to normally interact with, especially on 7-8 mana mark. Now Hunter's opponents can have more options to even think of, for starters - like Deathwing, for example.

The Bad

Disclaimer : Next I'm going to voice something that can look like an unpopular opinion. Feel free to disagree. I'm a False Prophet after all.

Execute : Totally uncalled for.

Spoiler

I think that Execute is a brilliant card. It makes a ton of flavorful sense, and the biggest part of the fun is that it is balanced. What looks like a small mana investment is actually a huge trap, because Execute is card disadvantage. You have to commit something else in order to enable it. Perhaps it is another card, then you 1-for-2 yourself; perhaps it's a spare body or some spell that you don't mind paying for, like Blood To Ichor. But you have to get that other body or spell to pair with Execute, too! And that is in a class that has traditional problems with card advantage and card selection. Even if you can make it breaking even on cards, it still would be pretty awkward, because of that strategical "have two special cards against their one threat" thing, which is undesirable for Control Strategies. Compare it to clean answers like Hex and you'll see the difference and how Execute is worse here. But that's if we talk about Control Warrior.

Anything Warrior that did not plan to armor up in double digits and spend 30 minutes playing a single game utilizes Execute pretty efficiently, but I cannot see that as an issue. A lot of threats in the format are fast and tall, like a certain 4 mana 7\7, for example, and to keep such bad boys in check you have to have a good removal spell. And that's Execute police. A good catch-all answer actually produces diversity in a way, because less cards can cause problems, and the whole environment is more balanced. That's Execute police.

An explaination I can get behind is that Execute reduces design space, but not in removal department. A Control strategy needs not just means to answer a thread, but also means to find the right answer. If you give them 15 removal spells, a game will be over when opponent plays "draw 2" card. And Blizzard have been shoving healing down our throats, not actual card advantage or card selection. I think it's because it can create a dangerous consistency if you pair it with small deck size in Hearthstone. Draw 2 means much more for Warrior because you can't really brick and draw a land like in Magic with its 60-card decks. If removal options would be less efficient, like Druid has, for example, it would be much safer to print a draw spell and help Control that way.

Abusive Sergeant : The Good Guy of the format.

Spoiler

Sergeant is another classical staple that has been proven times and again to be good. Not great, not op, just where you'd want your good card to be. I like him a lot because what he does it helps policing a lot of stuff in the format, like 1\3 creatures, and he does it in a fair way - interacting through good old combat damage. When pumps are around, you can have more power level assigned to creatures and still feel fine about it, and it makes creatures-on-creatures matchups really interesting.

I would attribute the size nerf to the amount of Bloodfen Raptor in the meta, that Murloc Raider punishes so badly : Huge ToadKing's ElekkCult SorcererSorcerer's Apprentice. Raptors in their turn are formidable against popular 1\3s, and 1\3s are good against Murloc Raiders, so I'm not really sure what the fuss is all about because Rock-Paper-Sciccors is the most fair game ever.

As uncalled and not great I put it, the change would probably be more pros than cons. Probably.

The Ugly

Charge : Combo Tolerance Level : Zero.

Spoiler

As a combo enthusiast and a Johnny player, I'm taking this one personally, much like Warsong Commander and Force of Nature.

Why? Why can't Blizzard accept an idea of converting cards to damage directly without hypocrisy? 

Why do we still have Freeze Mage that violates everything Blizzard claim to hold dear in Hearthstone, why do we still have Miracle Rogue who can get out of hand as soon as turn 3, why Malygos is a normal thing, but it's Worgen who takes one for the team?

It was not a top performing deck. It killed things using damage coming out of some staples and then some weird fringe cards. It had a ridiculous skillcap. It made flashy plays worthy of E-Sports fame. It had free losses when you never saw your combo piece. You could counter it with a freaking Taunt.

Worgen OTK deck had nothing that you can find offensive and metagame health threatening, because it was not consistent enough to actually make wide impact. It's a reccuring problem that i come back to : Blizzard can't stand Combo because the game is "simple" and there is no way to interact with it properly. 

Change it. Add a Loatheb back or something. Bring Sciccors to the table. Because without Combo as a thing, there would be impossible to create balance - whether you position it to be a Control punisher or an Aggro punisher.

But of course, instead of solving the problem, you can change an enabler into a worthless piece much like you did to Warsong Commander, and cover it up with "restricts future cards". Invent a card that would be busted with the old Charge and is not Raging Worgen, then we can talk.

I apologize for the inconvenient explaination of my dissapointment with this change. I'm just feeling like a Raging Worgen right now.

How I believe these changes would affect the meta:

Spoiler
  • Druid is going to be the public enemy #1. He already is, it just feels less oppressive and weaker to aggro than Shaman. That would make a more powerlevel closer metagame, but Druid is going to be the best deck. He loses almost nothing, while his opposition does. Malfurion should be the next blip on Blizzard's radar.
  • Shaman would be dissolved further, and Aggro will finally part with Midrange. Ultimately it would come to whether Shamans want to commit to Doomhammer+Rockbiter, or be more focused on the remaning interaction in form of Spirit Claws and Maelstrom Portal. Second option feels like a weapon of choice, and it's reduced power level will make Shaman actually tolerable.
  • Hunter would become weaker, but remain popular because of its artificial features - simplicity and cost. Hybrid versions are taken down, and I think we can expect a shift towards more heavier approach.
  • Zoo Warlock and Warrior, specifically Dragon Warrior, look promising, even though they are nerfed in a way. Both archetypes are well positioned against Druid and are sort of soft to Shaman, who would decrease. Dragon Warrior would have a closer Hunter matchup which benefits it a lot, and Zoo would feel more confident going there, too.
  • Rogue already grows popular as a Druid counter in the tournament scene, and with more Druids, more Rogues would be around as well. It's the Control Punisher we deserve.
  • Control Paladin is also a thing that gets bumped in the matchups, but it's weak against Druid, so I'd call an expanded niche, not ladder dominance for it. Same goes for Priest, probably.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Paracel said:

This is like the worst day of my life. I've never felt that ashamed and unprofessional. I'll quote myself from an hour ago :

This was before patch announcement was live.

I owe an apology to @klott100 and all you guys too. 

Do you actually want to hear my opinion on the actual changes? Because oh boy, I did screw up the last time.

All good my man.  At least you admitted when you made a mistake if the whole world did that we'd be in an amazing place. :)

 

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@ParacelTo play win against OTK Raging Worgen, you would have to play the BEFORE he launches the combo, which is why they decided to nerf it (and Warsong Commander and Force of Nature). 
Freeze mage isn't a true OTK - it can't bash you from 30 to 0 in one single turn, unlike Raging Worgen or Patron Warrior. [Edit: Forgot double Frostbolt+Ice Lance, I could see Ice Lance nerfed to 3 dmg] That means you can [often] disrupt their combo by healing. If you heal back up after freeze mage drops Alexstrasza, you win almost every time. However, the issue with healing in standard is that there are just not enough good healing effects, apart from Reno Jackson, but he limits the deckbuilding options a lot. That's why I think we will see new heals in the upcoming expansion. (Defending freeze mage feels so disgusting)
Malygod is a problem, and I hope he sees a nerf. 26 damage after one turn of Emperor Thaurissan is an issue and should be resolved.

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38 minutes ago, positiv2 said:

Reno Jackson limits the deckbuilding options a lot.

And yet at the same time not enough. Reno decks are powerful and consistent enough, you just need a huge collection (or a lot of dust to burn) to create one.

Quote

(Defending freeze mage feels so disgusting)

Doubly so when you see the amount of them. Seriously...

Quote

Malygod is a problem, and I hope he sees a nerf. 26 damage after one turn of Emperor Thaurissan is an issue and should be resolved.

 Thaurissan will rotate out soon. A correctly timed Loatheb will throw a huge wrench in that well-oiled gears in Wild.

You'd still be able to Malygos + Moonfire + Moonfire for 12 damage on turn nine as a burst/finisher/emergency clear (Considering Living Roots will rotate out as well), but that's nothing a Mage can't do. With less cards and less mana, I might add.

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I think all the nerfs are good except maybe Charge, I never see worgon otk on the ladder. Tuskar could be 3/3 that summons a basic totem, lots of other 3/3 3mana minions with effect. Yogg should just be removed from the game, it is so random, it's bad for the game. I'm kind of sad for abusive, it will probably not see much play now like lepergnome. 

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Worgen had to go in my opinion. I'm not the biggest fan of OTK decks (and if I'm not mistaken neither is Blizzard) and I felt it was kinda cheap especially when you've been playing a good game and lose it in one fell swoop to something you cannot counter. In regards to Yogg, I like the change. It has balanced the risk vs reward (considering my Yoggs tend to kill themselves) but has left it viable.

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I guess I will throw in my 2 cents here.

Tuskarr totemic: Represented some of the very worst of RNG.  I hated losing to stuff like trogg > golem > coin tuskarr + golem/flame tongue.  Dealing with some 11/13 worth of stats by turn 4 is somewhat nightmarish, and getting flame tongue is even worse, you basically lose the game if you don't have an on point answer.

 

Yogg:  Little sad to see this, I personally love the wackiness it brings, but it needed to be done.  I also doubt it will be viable anymore.  After this nerf it will be much less consistent, which will pretty much mean it will only be played in like yogg-n-load decks.  Not much more to say about this.

 

Rockbiter: Eh, I honestly don't think this was the right card to nerf.  Yes it enables some pretty silly combos, but honestly, shaman has a really weak core set, and this was one of the best cards.  At 1 mana it was strong, at 2 mana, it will probably only see very marginal play.  Plus, this card really wasn't the problem with shaman (Or maybe a better way to say this is that shaman has 2 problems, cheap efficient removal and cheap efficient minions, neither of which are bad on there own but together become problematic), totem golem and thing from below are both much more problematic, and from the way things are shaping up, spirit claws should probably be on that list of incredibly broken shaman cards.  In general, shamans lack strong 2 drops aside from totem golem, so I would think thing from below should have been the card nerfed over rockbiter.  Although, there is something to be said for rockbiter limiting design space with things like windfury minions, but lets be honest, blizzard say things like "Blade flury is problematic and limits design space for good rogue weapons so we are nerfing it to the ground so we can print better rogue weapons".  Then only give rogues an over-costed fiery winaxe that is a death rattle from an over-costed bloodfen raptor.  So I really don't think that is a good reason to nerf things.

 

Call of the wild:  Well it really ins't that problematic right now, simply because hunter isn't that strong right now, but a good measure of a cards power is to consider how playable the card is at a 1 mana increase, and if the answer is still "this card will be an auto 2 of in almost every single deck", then something is the matter.  All and all, a good nerf, but a bit depressing considering the state of hunter in general.

 

Execute:  I actually really like this nerf.  It really doesn't hurt control warrior that much, but it makes execute much less viable in tempo based warrior decks.  Being able to do stuff like play a 4 drop on turn 5 and remove the damaged minion your opponent used to trade into your 3 or 4 drop was very strong, and is a lot of what made these sort of warrior builds incredibly strong.

 

Charge:  Eh I mean this nerf is what it is.  No one is surprised by this nerf, and while it probably wasn't necessary, very few people have the skill to really play the decks based around this card, and it often feels unfair to lose to them (even though it really isn't unfair).  While I am saddened to see combo decks go, I don't play the raging worgen deck, nor do I see many of them on ladder, so it barely effects me (or over 95% of the community for that matter).

 

Abusive sergeant:  I also really like this nerf. Abusive is by far the strongest neutral 1 drop in the game for aggressive decks, and the power level of 1 drops effects the power level of decks far more then people seem to realize (especially for aggressive decks).  I still think this card will be seen in zoo, but it might not be an auto include for almost every aggressive deck out there.  Most of the problem with this card lies in the current state of the game.  Tempo swings don't really happen as often anymore, The deck who gains tempo early tends to keep tempo and decks that keep tempo tend to win.  Cards like abusive sergeant help you snowball a small tempo lead into a large one by allowing you to trade up by 1-2 mana, the letting you play a minion that is off curve by 1, along with the 2/1 body.

 

Overall, I feel like this was a great set of nerfs, my only real problem with the nerfs themselves is with rockbiter (and the a lesser extent charge), but really it still helps.  However, from a macro prospective, shaman might have actually gotten stronger after these nerfs considering all the other strong decks (tempo mage, druid, and tempo/dragon warrior) all got nerfed harder then shaman did, making them less relevant comparatively.  Only time will tell if this is actually the case, however.

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59 minutes ago, PaasHaaS said:

And we're live!

FYI Mobile iOS is not yet. Still rocking my Shaman cheese!

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      What a way to kick things off; this card looks insane! The dream is that Drakuru takes out two of your opponent’s minions, resurrects them on your side, and survives combat somehow. You’re looking at a 5-for-1 exchange on board.
      In the more likely scenario that it doesn’t survive, that’s still a complete flip of the board state. Even if it’s trading into a single big minion on the opponent’s side, that’s still a 2-for-1, with that 1 on your side being a big tough-to-kill minion. The only worry is that there will sometimes be late-game scenarios where the 6/8 stat line won’t be enough to get you any resurrections, but I’m hopeful those are few and far between.
      Still, even if the Big Shaman archetype doesn’t catch on for Shaman, I expect this card, in particular, to find a home in Renathal Control Shaman lists. This card is doing much of the same work that Sylvanas and Insatiable Devourer are without having to run through the trouble of infusing first.

      Once again, another big expensive card and a solid showy effect to go along with it. Obvious deathrattle/reborn synergy, as well as good with big minions in general. At 10 cost, it will take up your entire mana pool for the turn, though there are things you can do to play around that as a shaman.
      We’ve gotten some clarification from the devs on the mechanics of this one:
      All the copies summoned die at the end of the effect trigger after having attacked. Unfortunately, it won’t be some corruption-style aura effect that a cheeky Showstopper effect can silence off. Your copies are made from your hand from left to right until no more board spaces are available. Beware that Colossals will summon their appendages and take up potential board space from your other copies. Windfury minions will only attack. Sorry Drakuru, no double freebies for you ? Minions that enter Dormant won’t attack, but they won’t die either! The interaction of getting free dormant minion copies on board is interesting, but is there enough to build a deck around? In standard, there is Gangplank, Slimescale, and Pelican Divers, but outside of From De Other Side “synergy,” they might not be worth it. In Wild, at the very least, there is meme potential with getting Magtheridion and The Darkness out with this and getting their battlecries to awaken both copies when you play them out the turn after.
      There’s obvious synergy with the other big cards revealed here, with Prescience loading up your hand with some beefy bois, getting get off reborn, lifesteal and deathrattle value, summon a minion from Overlord Drakuru.

      That’s a lot of keywords for a single card, but they work together to become the stuff of nightmares for any board-based aggro deck. Taunt and lifesteal make this a nightmare to trade into, and even with enough removal to clear the main body and the reborn one, the deathrattle effect still will hit for 3 twice and heal you for 6. So while the 3 attack won’t be anything to write home about, plopping this down will buy you a good deal of time. There’s also the possibility to make use of the leftover reborn 3/1 body to evolve into a 9 or 10 drop.

      This card will get you 2 Mana 2/3 Ghostly Apparitions with the Undead minion type, which can matter for cards like Unliving Champion, or Invincible, for instance. Suppose you trigger the secondary ability here both times. In that case, that’s a pretty sweet deal right there, advancing a Big Shaman win con in 2 ways: The taunt on the Ghostly Apparitions advances your gameplan of stalling the game out until you can stabilize on board enough to play the 5+ Mana minions you’ve tutored out of the deck.
      We’ve theory crafted 3 potential builds that can use this package of Shaman cards.
      First, consider diving head first into the Big Shaman theme, bringing in Vanndar Stormpike and forgoing all other sub-5 cost minions to get max value out of Prescience and From De Other Side. We’re also going to run with the evolve subtheme to take advantage of any leftover bodies that we might get from Stoneborn General, Overlord Drakuru, or Blighblood Berserkers. The departure of the Knights of the Frozen Throne set will make evolving 10 drops better again now that there are no more Snowfury Giants in the Evolve pool, and we get to re-roll for the generally better bodies from the 10 costs. We’re adding in some early-game removal to compensate for the lack of early drops so we can better survive the early game.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoICunQBMORBKeNBK/ZBNnsA/rsA4qSBfuRBYfUBKrZBArG+QOs7QS12QTgtQS22QTblATGzgTj9gOGoQX4oAUA
      Next, let’s try to use the standard Renathal Control Shaman archetype that’s doing rather well in the meta as a starting point. One safe idea is to look at slotting Overlord Drakuru and potentially Brightblood Berskerker and From De Other Side into this standard XL Renathal Control Shaman as ways of fighting back on board while getting your infuse cards stacked up.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoIFKjuA6bvA4b6A6SBBMORBMeyBOm2BOnQBJjUBLjZBJfvBKTvBNWyBODtBIqSBdWyBPuRBfSgBbzwBODtBArG+QPTgASVkgTblATgtQSWtwSywQTFzgS12QS22QQA
      We could instead also try and drop all the duplicates from the list and convert it into a Reno deck, as the deck was already playing a lot of one-offs. That gives us just enough room for one of each of these bad boys, which together with Reno will up the turnaround potential of the deck at the cost of a little bit of consistency. Doing so we can end up with this list:
      Deck code / link: 
      AECAaoICunQBMORBKeNBK/ZBNnsA/rsA4qSBfuRBYfUBKrZBArG+QOs7QS12QTgtQS22QTblATGzgTj9gOGoQX4oAUA
      Why not use both and make it a Reno-thal deck? Prescience and Windchill will try to compensate for the loss of card draw from droping one copy of Gorloc Ravager and Famished fool. We are adding in Convincing Disguise to have still enough evolve effects around. The idea of including Bracing Cold and Far Sight is to hopefully discount From De Other Side or the evolve cards so we make use of any leftover bodies in the same turn. Ozumat’s in here not just to get us up to 40 cards, but because it’s a near guaranteed board clear combo with From De Other side, if you manage your hand and board space just right, that leaves you with all its appendages afterward.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoIKKjuA6bvA6SBBMORBMeyBOm2BOnQBJjUBLjZBJfvBKTvBMb5A9OABJWSBNuUBNWyBOC1BJa3BLLBBMXOBMbOBLXZBLbZBODtBLzwBIb6A6/ZBPrsA/SgBcSsBNnsA4fUBIXUBLGwBJrUBLzOBIahBfigBYqSBfuRBQAA
       
    • By HSEnthusiast
      March of the Lich King, set to release on December 6th, is Hearthstone's third expansion in the Year of the Hydra. Blizzard gave us an early sneak peek at some of the Warrior cards revealed today that we discuss in our latest post.
      Today, we'd like to dive into the Warrior cards revealed by Inven Global.

      Pretty straightforward card. The effect gives us much more value the larger the minion is. It gets really scary with the potential follow-up with Bulk Up giving you this massively overstated minion in hand twice. Or If you can get this on Mor’shan Elite, that’s another nice double dip of value.

      Honestly, this feels like it was tailor-made to be the ideal target of Last Stand, as your opponent can’t easily get rid of it with cheap removal. It lets you use your stats immediately by letting you trade in and stabilize with a big taunt. It might not be too shabby on its own, as the 3 effects make it an annoying wall most opponents will be forced to trade into.

      Wow, they’re really not holding back with hand disruption this set. One (nearly) guaranteed discard is pretty impactful and becomes a must-remove card in any control matchup. This card will absolutely crush the hearts of some Big Spell Mages in the coming months, that’s for sure.
      It should be noted that this discard, the devs have confirmed to us that it will trigger your opponent’s “Whenever you discard a card” effects. So try and clear a Discard Warlock's Tiny Knight of Evil and perhaps try to play around having Suffocating Shadows or Soul Barrage trigger in that matchup. 

      To round off the control toolbox from this expansion, we’ve got a pretty unique effect here. Hopefully, this doesn’t end up being too easy to play around for savvy opponents. You could pre-empt this by running out a Blademaster Okani first and baiting out your opponent into playing a small spell first. But still, while the effect will only be as game-changing as your opponent’s last spell, getting any meaningful spell off seems pretty nice.
      Putting it all together, we have put together an interesting Taunt Control Warrior decklist to try out:  AAECAQcMmu0D784EvIoE2fkDqIoEiN8E784E0qwEmu0DlJUEzJIFiKAECcWSBZTtA47tA5+fBImgBIagBJDUBMSSBcuSBQA= . Slotting in Varian seems like a natural addition to any deck with Silverfury Stalwart and Tealan hops along to be the one divine shield minion you might want to have in your control deck. Rokara and Remornia are just good cards and they’ll go a long way to having your Mor’shan Elite’s active. The rest of the deck is the classic Control Warrior shell that will hopefully give you the armor and removal needed to live long enough to throw down your double-stated taunted win conditions.
      https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/deckbuilder?deckcode=AAECAQcMmu0D784EvIoE2fkDqIoEiN8E784E0qwEmu0DlJUEzJIFiKAECcWSBZTtA47tA5%2BfBImgBIagBJDUBMSSBcuSBQA%3D
    • By Staff
      Murder at Castle Nathria is Hearthstone's latest expansion. It adds a new Infuse keyword that absorbs anima from your friendly minions, a new card type named Locations, and more.  
      (Source)
      .blog-detail .gallery figure { width: 100%; max-width: calc((100% / 3) - 6px); } @media screen and (max-width: 600px){ .blog-detail .gallery { justify-content: center; } .blog-detail .gallery figure { width: 100%; max-width: 250px; } .blog-detail h4 { text-align: center; } } Announcing
      Murder at Castle Nathria
      Hearthstone’s Newest Expansion

      The Shadowlands is normally where souls go after they die, so when someone dies in the Shadowlands, that’s a special kind of mystery. Sire Denathrius invited 10 of his counterparts and enemies to Castle Nathria for a dinner party so that he could address the malicious rumors that he is hoarding anima, the life-energy that is drained from tortured souls and used to power the Shadowlands. But just after the festivities started, Sire Denathrius was found dead! It seems a gaggle of enemies does not a good dinner party make. Now the illustrious Murloc Holmes, and his trusty sidekick Watfin, have been called to solve the case. Scour new Location cards, follow the trail of Infused minions, question the 10 Legendary suspects, and help determine who committed Murder at Castle Nathria!   

      Murder at Castle Nathria will launch worldwide on August 2 with 135 new collectible cards! You can find the full Murder at Castle Nathria reveal schedule, and all cards that have already been revealed, by visiting the card library here. Check back frequently—the list will be updated with new cards as they’re revealed!
      Ten Suspicious Suspects
      Sire Denathrius had a lot of enemies. And it just so happens that 10 of them were under his roof at the time of his demise! Each class will have a Legendary minion that is a prime suspect in Sire Denathrius’s murder. They all have the means and the motive, but it is up to you and Murloc Holmes to determine who is guilty.



      New Keyword: Infuse
      Anima, drawn from wayward souls, powers all the Shadowlands—and those who consume it! Cards with the Infuse keyword sit in your hand and absorb anima from your friendly minions as they die. After the specified number of friendly minions die while the Infuse card is in your hand, the Infuse card transforms into a more powerful version. Infuse your cards to unlock their full power!

      New Card Type: Locations
      Castle Nathria is like no place Hearthstone has ever been before. Explore the castle grounds through the all-new Location card type! Locations are played onto the battlefield for an initial cost, and then have an ability that can be activated for free on your turns, each time for a powerful effect. Each activation costs 1 Durability and has a 1-turn Cooldown. Every class gets their own Location card in Castle Nathria which represents where they claim their suspect was at the time of the murder, and synergizes with the themes of the class.

       
      Locations Gameplay Preview with Brian Kibler and Designer Leo Robles Gonzalez
      Want to get a longer look at the new Location card type? Join Brian Kibler and Game Designer Leo Robles Gonzalez as they explore the new Location card type, try them out in a couple games, and reveal some more new cards! Join them on Friday, July 1, at 11 a.m. (Pacific) on Twitch and Youtube!

      Prince Renathal Login Reward Available Now!
      Log in to Hearthstone to get your first hint at what Castle Nathria holds with the complimentary Prince Renathal Legendary minion!* Grow more powerful as you draw more souls to your cause with 40 life and a 40-card starting deck! Add him to your collection and see what you can do when you have more space to work with.

      * Limited one per account. After Patch 24.6, Prince Renathal will be granted upon opening your first Murder at Castle Nathria card pack instead of upon logging in.
      Pre-Purchase Murder at Castle Nathria
      The Murder at Castle Nathria Mega Bundle includes 80 Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, 5 Golden Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, two random Murder at Castle Nathria Legendary cards, the Sire Denathrius Warrior hero skin, the Denathrius card back, the Sandy Shores Battlegrounds Board, and 10 Mercenaries Packs!*

      The Murder at Castle Nathria Bundle includes 60 Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, 2 random Murder at Castle Nathria Legendary cards, and the Denathrius card back!

      Pre-purchase
      * Battleground Perks are not included in the Mega Bundle pre-purchase this time. We’re reworking how Battlegrounds Perks and rewards work for next Battlegrounds season. Until then, some of the current Perks are being extended. Check out the Patch Notes and stay tuned for more details.

    • By Damien
      This thread is for comments about our Handbuff Paladin Deck.
    • By Staff
      A new Hearthstone update prepares the Tavern for United in Stormwind, launching August 3. Here are the official patch notes.
      (Source)
      The 21.0 patch prepares the Tavern for United in Stormwind, launching August 3. It also brings a new Hero and cosmetics for Battlegrounds, a major update for Duels, an Arena rotation, and more.
      You can check out all 135 new cards included in United in Stormwind on the card library here.
      Battlegrounds Updates
      NEW HERO
      Galewing Dungar’s Gryphon Choose a flightpath. Complete it to get a bonus!
      Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Galewing before it's formally released on August 10.
      Duels Updates
      When the 21.0 patch goes live on July 27, all players’ Duels ratings will be reset and the pool of eligible cards you can use to build your 15-card start deck will be updated as follows:
      (NEW) United in Stormwind Wailing Caverns Mini-Set Forged in the Barrens The Darkmoon Races Mini-Set Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Scholomance Academy (NEW) Kobolds & Catacombs Journey to Un’Goro One Night in Kharazan Whispers of the Old Gods Curse of Naxxramas Legacy (Basic/Classic) Core NEW PASSIVE TREASURES
      Party Replacement At the start of your turn, summon a 2/2 Adventurer with a random bonus effect.
      Inspiring Presence After you play a Legendary minion, reduce the cost of a random minion in your hand by (1).
      Greedy Gains Your minions have +2/+2 but cost (2) more (up to 10).
      Meek Mastery Your Neutral minions cost (1) less and have +1/+1.
      Legendary Loot At the start of the game, equip a random Legendary weapon.
      Deathly Death! After a friendly Deathrattle minion dies, destroy the minion with the lowest Health.
      Ooops, All Spells! At the start of the game, destroy all minions in your deck. Your spells cost (1) less and gain +2 Spell Damage.
      BANNED CARDS & BUCKETS
      The following cards have been banned from between-game card buckets and will not be Discoverable:
      Final Showdown              Lost in the Park Defend the Dwarven District       Sorcerer's Gambit            Rise to the Occasion        Seek Guidance  Find the Imposter            Command the Elements The Demon Seed             Raid the Docks  Other Banned cards:
      Unstable Evolution is banned from card buckets but will still be Discoverable. Maestra of the Masquerade is banned from deckbuilding, card buckets, and will not be Discoverable. Seven new designer card buckets have been added as well:
      Furious Fel (Demon Hunter) AHHHH RATS!!!! (Hunter) Fire!!! (Mage) SI:7 (Rogue) ARRRRRRG! (Warrior) Auction House (Neutral) Live to Win (Neutral) Smart buckets have also been updated to include the two new card sets, and two previously missed card sets: Legacy (Classic/Basic) and Demon Hunter Initiate. Lastly, you’ll be able to find United in Stormwind cards in Duels card buckets after the patch goes live and before the expansion launches.
      Arena Rotation

      When United in Stormwind launches on August 3, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:
      United in Stormwind Forged in the Barrens Wailing Caverns Mini-Set Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Darkmoon Races Mini-Set The Witchwood Saviors of Uldum Rastakhan's Rumble Core Book of Heroes Illidan – Coming August 10

      After regaining his freedom, Illidan was eager to prove himself once and for all. But even as he journeyed far from his homeland and joined forces with new allies, the thirst for power never left him. It was only a matter of time before it interfered with his judgment, resulting in more dire consequences than ever before…Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Demon Hunter pack, containing only Demon Hunter cards from Standard.
      United in Stormwind Rewards Track & Tavern Pass
      When the Rewards Track refreshes when United in Stormwind launches, all players will automatically be granted any unclaimed rewards on both the free track and the Tavern Pass track (if purchased), and a completely new Rewards Track of unlockable loot will take its place.

      The Forged in the Barrens Tavern Pass will expire with the launch of United in Stormwind and a new Tavern Pass will be made available for purchase—offering a host of brand-new cosmetic rewards and XP boosts.

      Learn more about the United in Stormwind Rewards Track and Tavern Pass here.
      As a reminder, Battlegrounds Perks are now available as a standalone purchase, separate from the Tavern Pass.
      New Cosmetic Coins
      Two new Cosmetic Coins are being added with United in Stormwind, the Stormwind coin and the Lordaeron coin. The Stormwind coin is obtainable by completing the first 90 levels of the Rewards Track with the Tavern Pass. The Lordaeron coin is obtainable by collecting 135 unique United in Stormwind cards.

      Keep in mind that United in Stormwind will have a 35-card Mini-Set that will make it easier to reach both the 25 total United in Stormwind Legendary cards for the Archbishop Benedictus Diamond card reward and the 135 total United in Stormwind cards for the Lordaeron Cosmetic Coin. We’ll have more information to share about the United in Stormwind Mini-Set in the coming months.
      Bug Fixes & Game Improvements
      Fixed a bug where Shenanigans would not transform Soul Fragments into Bananas. Fixed a bug where Wicked Stab could be upgraded by cards that temporarily increase mana. Fixed a bug where Shan’do Wildclaw would not lay flat on the board. Fixed a bug where Defender would not play its VO when summoned by Noble Sacrifice. Fixed a bug where golden Soul of the Forest would not summon golden Treants. Fixed a bug where golden Ancestral Spirit would not summon a golden minion. Fixed a bug where golden Grave Rune would not summon golden minions. Fixed a bug where golden Primal Talisman would not summon golden minions. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Y’shaarj’s Battlegrounds Hero Power would not take its newly summoned minion into account when deciding which warband attacked first. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Baron Rivendare was causing visual issues when in a warband with golden Kaboom Bot. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Galakrond’s Greed was missing a tooltip for Discover. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Come One, Come All! Was missing a tooltip for Discover. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Avatar of N’Zoth was missing a tooltip for Deathrattle. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Sprout It Out! Was missing a tooltip for Taunt. Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Hero Powers for Aranna Starseeker, Infinite Toki, Millhouse Manastorm, Nozdormu, and Tess Greymane were missing a tooltip for Refresh. Fixed a Duels bug where Diamond cards would only be Diamond in appearance for the first game of a run. Fixed a Duels bug where Lone Champion and minions summoned by Gift of Luminance were not buffed by Hold the Line. Updated the description of the Roguish Maneuvers Hero Power in Duels to be more accurate. Fixed a bug with Book of Mercenaries Guff where A Party of Adventurers will cast Against All Odds, even if they have board control. Fixed a bug where one of Lady Katrana Prestor’s emotes was showing incorrect text. Searching “Refund” in the Collection will now populate with cards eligible for a dust refund. Pressing and holding on the Rewards Track page arrows will now flip through the pages quickly. Fixed a bug where if a player disconnected from a ranked match, they’d get a message stating they won their last ranked game upon relogging.  


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