This is the first time Blizzard is buffing old cards in standard after the release of Naxx, and all game design theory and direction seems to be shaken this time. With 18 old cards from a single expansion gets buffed and a new legendary comes in, it's pretty sure that the meta would be changed a lot after the balance changes are live. It can be pretty exciting to expect the new meta incoming, but can also bring concerns about the future of Hearthstone.
So what do you think about the new card buffs incoming?
In practice, buffing holds a set of problematic consequences.
One of many is the fact that one is never sure what to disenchant, based on one's own judgement of card potential. Changing mana is subtle, but some may have dire implications and suddenly turn a card from trash to keycard.
What they should do is making smalls sets of NEW cards (even just 10 new cards) as Midterm releases.
In practice, buffing holds a set of problematic consequences.
One of many is the fact that one is never sure what to disenchant, based on one's own judgement of card potential. Changing mana is subtle, but some may have dire implications and suddenly turn a card from trash to keycard.
What they should do is making smalls sets of NEW cards (even just 10 new cards) as Midterm releases.
Disenchant cards was never a great idea though. Unless a cards is completely useless, there's always potential for a card to enter the meta since it might have synergy with news expansion cards in the future. Most of cards that gets buffed this time are potential cards has chance to be strong even without these changes, and blizzard would probably do buffs in this way next time, if they would still buff cards in the future.
I always appreciate changes to the meta. Card buffs are surely a way to change the meta, in particular if the cards are not played at all. The buffs are small (1 stat deviation) so that nothing overwhelmingly surprising should happen. But if something oppressive should arise out of the mixture of nerf and buff, they also should not hesitate to take the buff back.
I really like the buff idea. Its good way for shaping new meta and keeping it fresh. I would love to see short period of time when crafting cost of buffed cards is decreased, so more players can catchup.
If buffed Luna's Pocket Galaxy would cost 800 dust, i might consider crafting it. If it turns to be bad I would be 400 dust behind (considering disenchant value) instead 1200 dust.
Unfortunately I don't think blizzard would ever do that.
Good as a whole. I applaud Team 5 for at least trying to make some cards playable. Except Dr Morrigan. Even after dropping the Mana cost that card is trash.
I'd have preferred to see a buff to my girl Harbinger Celestia. Doesn't stop me putting her into every deck I make but still....
Some don't really matter. Cloning Device is still a card without a real use, for example. Mulchmuncher's buff hardly matters considering how the card works.
Some have turned cards into really good or great cards. Necromechanic and Thunderhead are excellent cards now. Extra Arms is amazing. Unexpected Results might actually just be a good card now, although I doubt it sees play outside of a Magic Trick discover.
Some have turned cards into things that are certainly more interesting now than before. Gloop Sprayer makes Psychmelon more appealing. Luna's may actually be playable now.
they added a fucking awesome solo adventure,good expansion, good nerfs and now a fucking good buff
so excited
The point is that exciting things are not always good things, examples like Odd and Even decks made most players excited once they came out, but the truth is they were problematic decks and Blizzard sent them to Hall of Fame at the end.
They may buff more cards, but I believe this was an experiment to see if this works first.
They are ONLY buffing cards from one expansion and those changes and this new 'free' legendary mech will be in the boomsday set. So when rotation happens, these cards all go away in the same sweep.
If this works, you will see other changes like this in the future. Especially if these cards make Blizzard money.
In the case of Dr. Morrigan, in my opinion Blizzard should just admit, that they designed it while being drunk and let it rotate out in piece... It could (maybe) see some play for 5 mana, however even then, you would have to build your deck in a very specific way, because otherwise it would still be worse than a Cairne Bloodhoof (Imagine playing her for 5 mana to get Acidic Swamp Ooze). Maybe if it was a common neutral card, someone could find some use for it. As a class legendary (especially Warlock's who has 0 synergies with that kind of mechanic), it's like a drunk joke...
In the case of Dr. Morrigan, in my opinion Blizzard should just admit, that they designed it while being drunk and let it rotate out in piece... It could (maybe) see some play for 5 mana, however even then, you would have to build your deck in a very specific way, because otherwise it would still be worse than a Cairne Bloodhoof (Imagine playing her for 5 mana to get Acidic Swamp Ooze). Maybe if it was a common neutral card, someone could find some use for it. As a class legendary (especially Warlock's who has 0 synergies with that kind of mechanic), it's like a drunk joke...
How about Darkest Hour in wild? I think that she would still be pretty underwhelming there, but she enables some synergies, which are worth noting.
In the case of Dr. Morrigan, in my opinion Blizzard should just admit, that they designed it while being drunk and let it rotate out in piece... It could (maybe) see some play for 5 mana, however even then, you would have to build your deck in a very specific way, because otherwise it would still be worse than a Cairne Bloodhoof (Imagine playing her for 5 mana to get Acidic Swamp Ooze). Maybe if it was a common neutral card, someone could find some use for it. As a class legendary (especially Warlock's who has 0 synergies with that kind of mechanic), it's like a drunk joke...
How about Darkest Hour in wild? I think that she would still be pretty underwhelming there, but she enables some synergies, which are worth noting.
In wild? Maybe, but wild is just a "fun mode", where nobody cares about balance and broken plays. In standard it probably will never see any play, unless someone really smart finds some awesome combo with it.
This is the first time Blizzard is buffing old cards in standard after the release of Naxx
No it isn't. Y'all just completely missed the memos or have such tight definitions for "buff" as to not be applicable to literally ANY reasonable conversation.
A list of buffs they have done since Nax's release:
Bane of Doom, used to not be able to summon any legendary Demon, Doomguard, or Void Terror. Adding all those demons is a serious buff to the mechanics of the card.
Tess Greymane used to have the Yog limitation of "if died, stop activating". She no longer does.
North Sea Kraken was not a beast until the Witchwood. That is a HUGE buff since the only "anti beast" card is Hemmet (who is awful) but it now interacts with all of the beast synnergy cards as a target for houndmaster, tundra rhino, and any beast generation effect.
Murloc Warleader used to buff enemy murlocs (to balance the +2/+1 vs south sea captains +1/+1 ALLIED pirates).
Deathstalker Rexxar didn't get Kobolds and Catacombs added to the beast pool (so cave hydra and dire mole, two of the more powerful results) until the witchwood.
(And to those saying "adding cards to X pool isn't a buff", these cards were designed specifically to have a specific set of cards available in their pools. We see the same thing with Kabal Chemist who DIDN'T get Potion of Heroism added to it's potion pool explicitly. Cards being excluded from those pools are conscious decisions on blizzards part, and adding to that pool is also a conscious decision)
Difference is Paladin is in total dumpster and Rogue was completely broken. If anything they should also have buffed Warlock and Priest more aggressively like Paladin.
I'm super delighted that they buffed a bunch of cards. It also looks like they could make a pass at Rastakhan too since the cards were all Boomsday and Rastakhan is underpowered too. That would be amazing!!
I gasped when I saw Dr. Morrigan. That was always a card for me where I just couldn't see a good reason why they shouldn't buff it! And they did!! Unbelievable. If it can find its way into a big/deathrattle/?? Warlock deck it is a solid card now at 6 mana.
Kibler's gonna go nuts with Crystology and Glowstone Technician. If this deck is strong then with Mech Hunter getting better as well we're definitely entering a silence meta.
This is the first time Blizzard is buffing old cards in standard after the release of Naxx, and all game design theory and direction seems to be shaken this time. With 18 old cards from a single expansion gets buffed and a new legendary comes in, it's pretty sure that the meta would be changed a lot after the balance changes are live. It can be pretty exciting to expect the new meta incoming, but can also bring concerns about the future of Hearthstone.
So what do you think about the new card buffs incoming?
On paper, i like it.
In practice, buffing holds a set of problematic consequences.
One of many is the fact that one is never sure what to disenchant, based on one's own judgement of card potential. Changing mana is subtle, but some may have dire implications and suddenly turn a card from trash to keycard.
What they should do is making smalls sets of NEW cards (even just 10 new cards) as Midterm releases.
this is the best time of blizzard since Ungoro
they added a fucking awesome solo adventure,good expansion, good nerfs and now a fucking good buff
so excited
Favorite Cards: 1. Lord Jaraxxus | 2. Malygos| 3. Edwin VanCleef | 4. Zephrys the Great| 5. Deathwing
Disenchant cards was never a great idea though. Unless a cards is completely useless, there's always potential for a card to enter the meta since it might have synergy with news expansion cards in the future. Most of cards that gets buffed this time are potential cards has chance to be strong even without these changes, and blizzard would probably do buffs in this way next time, if they would still buff cards in the future.
I always appreciate changes to the meta. Card buffs are surely a way to change the meta, in particular if the cards are not played at all. The buffs are small (1 stat deviation) so that nothing overwhelmingly surprising should happen. But if something oppressive should arise out of the mixture of nerf and buff, they also should not hesitate to take the buff back.
But generally, I like it.
I really like the buff idea. Its good way for shaping new meta and keeping it fresh. I would love to see short period of time when crafting cost of buffed cards is decreased, so more players can catchup.
If buffed Luna's Pocket Galaxy would cost 800 dust, i might consider crafting it. If it turns to be bad I would be 400 dust behind (considering disenchant value) instead 1200 dust.
Unfortunately I don't think blizzard would ever do that.
Good as a whole. I applaud Team 5 for at least trying to make some cards playable. Except Dr Morrigan. Even after dropping the Mana cost that card is trash.
I'd have preferred to see a buff to my girl Harbinger Celestia. Doesn't stop me putting her into every deck I make but still....
4/3/19 RIP Keith Flint. 😔
Some don't really matter. Cloning Device is still a card without a real use, for example. Mulchmuncher's buff hardly matters considering how the card works.
Some have turned cards into really good or great cards. Necromechanic and Thunderhead are excellent cards now. Extra Arms is amazing. Unexpected Results might actually just be a good card now, although I doubt it sees play outside of a Magic Trick discover.
Some have turned cards into things that are certainly more interesting now than before. Gloop Sprayer makes Psychmelon more appealing. Luna's may actually be playable now.
Good buffs, all around.
I'm ok with it, except I don't think warrior needs anymore help.
Why not buff a few cards from witchwood or rumble as well?
The point is that exciting things are not always good things, examples like Odd and Even decks made most players excited once they came out, but the truth is they were problematic decks and Blizzard sent them to Hall of Fame at the end.
They may buff more cards, but I believe this was an experiment to see if this works first.
They are ONLY buffing cards from one expansion and those changes and this new 'free' legendary mech will be in the boomsday set. So when rotation happens, these cards all go away in the same sweep.
If this works, you will see other changes like this in the future. Especially if these cards make Blizzard money.
In the case of Dr. Morrigan, in my opinion Blizzard should just admit, that they designed it while being drunk and let it rotate out in piece... It could (maybe) see some play for 5 mana, however even then, you would have to build your deck in a very specific way, because otherwise it would still be worse than a Cairne Bloodhoof (Imagine playing her for 5 mana to get Acidic Swamp Ooze). Maybe if it was a common neutral card, someone could find some use for it. As a class legendary (especially Warlock's who has 0 synergies with that kind of mechanic), it's like a drunk joke...
How about Darkest Hour in wild? I think that she would still be pretty underwhelming there, but she enables some synergies, which are worth noting.
In wild? Maybe, but wild is just a "fun mode", where nobody cares about balance and broken plays. In standard it probably will never see any play, unless someone really smart finds some awesome combo with it.
No it isn't. Y'all just completely missed the memos or have such tight definitions for "buff" as to not be applicable to literally ANY reasonable conversation.
A list of buffs they have done since Nax's release:
Bane of Doom, used to not be able to summon any legendary Demon, Doomguard, or Void Terror. Adding all those demons is a serious buff to the mechanics of the card.
Tess Greymane used to have the Yog limitation of "if died, stop activating". She no longer does.
North Sea Kraken was not a beast until the Witchwood. That is a HUGE buff since the only "anti beast" card is Hemmet (who is awful) but it now interacts with all of the beast synnergy cards as a target for houndmaster, tundra rhino, and any beast generation effect.
Murloc Warleader used to buff enemy murlocs (to balance the +2/+1 vs south sea captains +1/+1 ALLIED pirates).
Deathstalker Rexxar didn't get Kobolds and Catacombs added to the beast pool (so cave hydra and dire mole, two of the more powerful results) until the witchwood.
(And to those saying "adding cards to X pool isn't a buff", these cards were designed specifically to have a specific set of cards available in their pools. We see the same thing with Kabal Chemist who DIDN'T get Potion of Heroism added to it's potion pool explicitly. Cards being excluded from those pools are conscious decisions on blizzards part, and adding to that pool is also a conscious decision)
Blizzzard to Raiding Party nerf: "We’re making this change to better represent the power level of drawing from a very specific subset of cards."
Also Blizzard: We'll buff Crystology!
Difference is Paladin is in total dumpster and Rogue was completely broken. If anything they should also have buffed Warlock and Priest more aggressively like Paladin.
"this time"??? LOL
I'm super delighted that they buffed a bunch of cards. It also looks like they could make a pass at Rastakhan too since the cards were all Boomsday and Rastakhan is underpowered too. That would be amazing!!
I gasped when I saw Dr. Morrigan. That was always a card for me where I just couldn't see a good reason why they shouldn't buff it! And they did!! Unbelievable. If it can find its way into a big/deathrattle/?? Warlock deck it is a solid card now at 6 mana.
I am VERY scared about Necromechanic.
Extra Arms, Unexpected Results, The Storm Bringer and Luna's Pocket Galaxy are much more playable now, though they still need the right decks and those don't exist yet.
Kibler's gonna go nuts with Crystology and Glowstone Technician. If this deck is strong then with Mech Hunter getting better as well we're definitely entering a silence meta.
Extra Arms buff is a ninja buff to Zerek, Master Cloner. Feelsgoodman!!