Its a fairly common opinion that there is an unbalance in HS between going first and second, however most changes would significantly alter the game, which is something I'm sure blizzard does not want to do.
There is however, one fix that is relatively minor that I think could balance up the game a little more - nerf the coin so it doesn't count as a spell.
I think it's ridiculous that a rogue can get a turn 2 4/4 off if they went second but nowhere near that if they went first, same benefit with all of the other combo cards. Mage's get huge benefits with the coin with Mana Wyrm and Flamewaker, and hunters can activate Cat Trick on it. I'm sure there are numerous other interactions, but they are all one sided, you gain benefit depending on whether you went first or second and ideally that should matter as little as possible.
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
Are you arguing then that the coin being a spell contributes to close to 50-50 win rates? I feel like they are close in spite of it, and it limits design space in regards to combo and cards that activate on spells being cast
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
Are you arguing then that the coin being a spell contributes to close to 50-50 win rates? I feel like they are close in spite of it, and it limits design space in regards to combo and cards that activate on spells being cast
Combo would activate regardless of whether or not the coin is a spell.
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
Are you arguing then that the coin being a spell contributes to close to 50-50 win rates? I feel like they are close in spite of it, and it limits design space in regards to combo and cards that activate on spells being cast
Combo would activate regardless of whether or not the coin is a spell.
So I guess what I'm proposing is that the coin become its own class of card that does not trigger any other type of card
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
Are you arguing then that the coin being a spell contributes to close to 50-50 win rates? I feel like they are close in spite of it, and it limits design space in regards to combo and cards that activate on spells being cast
More of an "ain't broke don't fix it" argument. They tried a bunch of different methods to close the gap between going first and second and they settled on giving the second player a spell that gives them one extra mana for one turn. I also don't believe it limits design space in a negative way. Cards that produce so much tempo and/or swing that they can win a game with the playing of a single 0-mana spell shouldn't be in the game anyway imo. Besides the fact that they printed Flamewaker (which is pretty much one of the best Mage cards) despite The Coin's existence and status as a spell so I really don't see how it's limiting design space. As for the combo thing, it doesn't matter if The Coin is a spell or not. It would still allow combos to trigger earlier and easier than they would otherwise.
Its a fairly common opinion that there is an unbalance in HS between going first and second, however most changes would significantly alter the game, which is something I'm sure blizzard does not want to do.
There is however, one fix that is relatively minor that I think could balance up the game a little more - nerf the coin so it doesn't count as a spell.
I think it's ridiculous that a rogue can get a turn 2 4/4 off if they went second but nowhere near that if they went first, same benefit with all of the other combo cards. Mage's get huge benefits with the coin with Mana Wyrm and Flamewaker, and hunters can activate Cat Trick on it. I'm sure there are numerous other interactions, but they are all one sided, you gain benefit depending on whether you went first or second and ideally that should matter as little as possible.
What do you guys think?
Pretty much all the stats both released by Blizzard and compiled by players point to the first player having a higher chance of winning regardless of the fact that The Coin is a spell. Something like 51% to 49% iirc. Although Brode said a little under a year ago that the numbers were getting closer to 50/50. Taking away the spell aspect would likely do nothing more than tilting those numbers back in the first player's favor.
The imbalance complaint is that the player with the coin is at a disadvantage...
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/182641-is-the-coin-too-strong
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/182642-does-your-win-rate-is-effected-by-who-goes-first
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/the-arena/180792-difference-between-going-first-and-second-win-rate
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/174187-coin-winrate-discrepancy
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/167144-how-to-fix-the-coin-to-better-balance-going-first
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/105024-coin-advantage-is-ridiculous