ROGUES ARE GETTING NERFED! 4 Card Changes Coming May 22
In a blog post from Blizzard this afternoon, they have announced changes to Rogue cards and Archivist Elysiana. The patch comes out May 22.
- EVIL Miscreant - Now has 4 Health (Down from 5)
- Raiding Party - Now costs 4 Mana (Up from 3)
- Preparation - Next spell cast cost is now reduced by 2 (Down from 3)
- Archivist Elysiana - Now costs 9 Mana (Up from 8)
Quote from BlizzardAfter evaluating game data and working through internal and external feedback on the most popular decks currently in the meta, we’re looking to address the power level and overall pervasiveness of Rogue decks, alongside a specific interaction with Archivist Elysiana. Look for these changes in an update slated for May 22.
We chose to focus primarily on Rogue in this update due to seeing the meta stabilize around the class’s most popular decks. Currently, if you want to build a deck that is strong against Rogue, you have just one reasonable option: Warrior. If you compare Rogue to Warrior, however, you’ll find that the latter class has a wide variety of good and bad matchups, which makes it unlikely that it’ll overtake Rogue in popularity in the current meta.
While we recognize that there are other powerful and popular decks (like Token Druid, Conjurer Mage, and Mech Hunter), we decided to not address them in this update because they all have varied matchups. If any of these decks were to emerge as the new prominent strategy, there are plenty of decks available to combat them, which would allow the meta to continue shifting.
As always, we’ll be evaluating the results of these changes over the coming weeks and look forward to your feedback. Read on for details on these changes, our thought process around them, and our goals for each of the cards we adjusted.
- EVIL Miscreant - Now has 4 Health. (Down from 5)
- EVIL Miscreant is meant to be a value-generating card that creates future swing turns, but having 5 Health on this minion means Rogue players sacrifice very little to set up those turns. We expect that EVIL Miscreant will continue to be a great option for Rogue decks, just at a power level that is more in line with other available cards.
- Raiding Party – Now costs 4 mana. (Up from 3)
- Rogue already excels at drawing cards, so having another powerful option that offers consistent results has resulted in Rogue games that play out a little too similarly than we think is fun. We’re making this change to better represent the power level of drawing from a very specific subset of cards.
- Preparation – Now reads: The next spell you cast this turn costs (2) less.
- All changes we make to the Basic and Classic sets are aimed at ensuring Hearthstone’s long-term health. Preparation is currently seen as such a powerful card that it appears in nearly all Rogue deck archetypes. That said, the change we’ve landed on is a small one. While we do want the card’s power to decrease, we also think it’s important for Preparation to remain a reasonable option, since it fits the Rogue class fantasy so well.
- Preparation is regularly used to reduce the cost of cards like Sap or Eviscerate, and those interactions will remain unchanged. Reducing the cost of your next spell by 2 as opposed to 3 opens our design options up a little more to create higher cost Rogue spells without having to balance so closely around the assumption that they’ll be cast alongside Preparation.
- Archivist Elysiana – Now costs 9 mana. (Up from 8)
- Our goal here was to preserve the feeling and power level of Archivist Elysiana when it comes to general use, while making much more difficult to play her multiple times in the same game. Shaman will still be able to replay Elysiana through Shudderwock, but this is not as common or problematic as what we’ve seen in control Warrior decks. Now, playing Elysiana alongside cards like Baleful Banker or Youthful Brewmaster should be a less consistent strategy.
Yeah, Preparation limited space and Rogue spells were made with that in consideration.
Now, especially nerfing Raiding Party at the same time, where will Rogue be? Shouldn't all the big spells be buffed?
This is why nerfs suck! People keep asking cards and classes to be destroyed, and then, after a month, more nerfs and more dust to the trash.
I don't understand why most of the community doesn't understand this, maybe limited designed brain...
When was the last time any card was buffed? NSW, and then, instead of just reverting the buff, no, NERF IT TO 8!!!
Disapointing!!!
@FuRenz Blizzard has a stance on card buffing. They don't do it at all period. they only nerf. If you can get them to change that stance be my guess but it's how it has always been.
@ FuRenz
I agree with you, that with the nerf to Preparation the devs should have considered buffing some overcosted spells (like WANTED!). I understand your frustation and allow me to say that I don't always accept Blizzard's approach when nerfing cards (especially their cost). I will never forget how Giggling Inventor's cost was increased to 7 mana, but her stats were left as they were.
Sadly, people are right that Blizz doesn't have a policy in buffing cards. Imho you should open a thread in the official forums and bring up this topic again. You will have more luck there, cuz' the devs don't read the hearthpwn articles.
[edit] I'm not familiar with some abbreviations. What does NSW stand for?
but you need PREP for that. not any other card.
i mean think about it. you play lets say one drop, then raiding party. 5 mana 3 three sounds good maybe but camt see how rogue supposed to survive? you already lose so much health to gain mana advantage and you may not even get a board control in the end.
then what? heal? nope you are rogue.
aoe? nope you are rogue.
whats the point? are they gonna print 1 mana wanted? 1 mana deal 3 damage and get a coin?
@ Kovachut
One of these days I'll try to open that discussion, but from what I see here, people just like spending dust and get sand on their eyes...
NSW is Naga Sea Witch, one card from wild, that they altered without disclaiming it, turning it a bit of a problem in wild. Answer, as everyone started asking for a nerf, I will never understand why, they nerfed it from 5 to 8 mana, instead of just reverting their mistake and keep it as it was before they screw up.
But this community got very happy with it, and got another card of their collection made useless.
Whith Prep it's the same, as it was with the cold blood and then sending the real problems to HoF, but not reverting cold blood, and the doomguards being cast away to HoF also... If they kept good cards running, you would have answers to problematic decks, this way, no, always creating more problems, at the expense of dust.
And yeah, of course Kiebler likes this, he has all of the cards, in golden, he doesn't care about collections being slashed. But for one point, I can almost agree with him, instead of slashing cards, send classic set to wild for once, it would be better. Then again, can anyone imagine how a f2p new player must feel, what decks can he do? Also, if he spends the dust on a unique deck, that he will have to grind to construct, and then gets obliterated, will he still play after 6months? I payed a lot of money to this game, but EVERY SINGLE PERSON that started with me, gone. Why? It's impossible to be any consistent without spending loads of money and see it being cast away regardless. They now play MTG, and say to me, "in here they don't nerf cards, you get what you get".
This game without the f2p community will loose about 50% of the players on ladder, and that will eventually destroy the game :(
@ Dallaen
What I've written before....
These seem to be surprisingly fair nerfs. Finally Preperation is getting hit, that is such a problematic card. I am a bit surprised they left Warrior untouched as that card has a couple of unfair interactions aswell. I am frustrated about that Big Priest *again* dodges the nerf hammer in wild. C'mon Blizz, you have nerfed Aviana Druid and Giantlock into the ground, surely you can also nerf the seemingly most hated deck in wild?
Barnes dodged nerfs again, so easy for him this time, Omegalul
Well Rogue was nerfed a lot of times lately... Valeera always finds the way though...
there's always Captain Hooktusk
Well not being able to return Elysiana is good at least matches will not go forever anymore... Will people still run bounce effects just in case they are on coin or Elysiana sticks?
Don't get me wrong guys, but I legit got an erection Kappa
Jokes aside, I am a tad worried about Miracle Mage now: I was really hoping to see Conjurer's Calling being bumped to 4 mana but yeah, no complaints since they actually did something for the meta.
Let's see how this works out
Preparations nerf is stupid. I dont like when they put over powered cards and than nerf good working basic/classic cards. Other nerfs are fine imo.
you are completely missing there, Those cards are not overpower alone, is just some clasic cards. PREPARATION. make almost everithing work.
What is the problem of preparation? The problem is of raiding party and even not of raiding party, but of Waggle Pick. And even not Waggle pick is that big problem as its combo with leeroy. Neither Evil Miscreant is that powerful. The fact that they changed its hp from 5 to 4 will make almost no difference. I never cared that it has exactly 5 hp. Two lackeys are good enough. I even would say that maybe with 3 hp would be good enough. Raiding Party by itself with preparation is only good for combo activation. Yes it is 3 card draw, but in general you still need to pay mana for your minions and you GIVE 2 Cards to DRAW 3... Instead of having some useful card in your hand, you have preparation, which is mainly good only to do some combo activation. And we come in the end to the real problem Waggle Pick. Leroy was never that good with shadow step. But now, we don't have only 2 leroys, we have 8 damage in the face. If we remove Waggle pick from rogue, suddenly this deck will not be that over powered anymore. As well I don't think that Edwin is a problematic card. Problems comes from all possible combinations which by some reason may do Edwin 14/14. But as you said... preparation alone is not that OP too. Why do you decide that preparation make everything work, not Waggle Pick or Leeroy?
And again here is Elysiana nerf, which catch exactly the problem. Infinity deck... and why 9 mana? It should be 10 mana. Now warriors can just gamble for the coin. Brewmaster may be useful in other situation, not only with Elysiana, so it is worth keeping it. But on mirrors you would have 50 cards, while your opponent only 40.
I agree with the nerfs to EVIL Miscreant and Raiding Party, but not to Preparation. They could have nerfed Waggle Pick if they needed another way to balance Tempo Rogue's power. Why nerf every Rogue deck just to slow down Tempo Rogue? So what that Preparation is nearly all Rogue decks ... so is Backstab and Eviscerate. Edwin VanCleef and Shadowstep are in most decks too. Many classes have auto include cards ... most druids run Swipe, most paladins run Consecration and Truesilver Champion, most priests run Power Word Shield and Northshire Cleric, and warriors run Shield Block and Shield Slam. I'm not sold on the auto-include nature of Prepartion being a problem, and I'm not convinced this really opens up design space for Rogue spell either. If you didn't want to give rogues any 7 or 8 cost spells because you were afraid they would be cast on turn 4 or 5, is it really better now that they can be cast on turn 5 or 6? The same effect could have been granted by budgeting these spells as 8 or 9 cost spells (or even 10 or 11 cost if necessary).
Not nerfing Dr.Boom OMEGALUL
Solid nerfs that don't destroy the cards. Good work. They could've given Elysiana +1/+1 to compensate for the cost increase but oh well.
My only dislike is that Omega Devastator stays untouched. Ran into a Warrior yesterday that got three of them from Omega Assembly and Delivery Drone on top of the two in his deck. Completely turned the game around. Hopefully we'll see a few less Warriors now that Rogue is getting changed.
Why only rogue nerfs?
I can't believe they didn't nerf Dr. Boom... which is the most broken card around and pretty obvious to be nerfed as the prime target. Nerfing Prep hurts Rogue a lot. The other changes are fine though.