So I've been looking through the old basic and classic card sets to see what cards I would personally want to see buffed but could also be justified. Now I know that blizzards isn't known for buffing cards all that often but there seem to be a few cards that have fallen behind in terms of power, some are just straight up unplayable, which is a shame to be honest.
So here are the results of my attempt to fix a few cards, would love to hear what you think about them or if I missed any. This list is no particular order.
Drain Life was in a good card before the release of Naxx, the game was slower so the 3 mana wasn't that much to pay for the effect. Reducing the cost by one makes it playable again and it would fit in with the other 2 mana damage spells. This would make it playable but not overpowered, at 3 mana you rather play Shadow Bolt than this, and at 2 mana it's still not strictly better than Demonfire.
Guardian of Kings is also a card that used to see decent play in healadin, but it shares the same fate as Drain Life. Now to compensate for that I increased the life gained by 1. This might seem like a negligible change but the card only needs a small buff. But sometimes that's all it needs.
Warsong Commander, now this is one you expected I assume. The number one dumpster card of all nerfed cards. My buff to it partially gives back it's original effect, only it's a less busted. Yes it can give charge to large minions now, but it doesn't give charge to all your Grim Patrons. Also Molten Giant otk is impossible.
Molten Giant, personally I would love to see it at 20 again, but this is a good bridge between what I would like to see and what blizzard wants, right?
Ancient of Lore, now this was a nerf I didn't like. Yes the draw 2 limited what card draw people put in their deck, but they could at least compensate for the nerf. The idea of the nerf was to make people put cards like Nourish in their deck, instead they threw Ancient of Lore in the dumpster. Increasing the heal on it would only be reasonable in my opinion.
Kidnapper. It just doesn't work. It fits nowhere and it never will, so I would like to see it exchanged for a new card. Stealth rogue is missing a few cards, so I felt like giving it one. Now before you say: "OMG, that is so OP, blizzards would never do that you idiot!" let me tell you that I know it's unlikely for blizzards to make this exact card, the idea behind it is still kinda cool. Flavor wise it wouldn't be strange to have your creatures with stealth sneak past taunts, but having only stealth minions sneak past taunts made the card to limited in what deck you want it in, and that is not what you want for a expert set card.
Priestess of Elune, it's just bad, it always was bad. Not enough stats combined with a poor Battlecry effect. If this was a basic card it would be fine, but as a expert card it needs to be at least a bit better. So the increase of the heal from 4 to 6 seems reasonable. The stats a fine, a 6 mana minion with 5 attack is fine, it still contests Sylvanas Windrunner and Emperor Thaurissan. The 4 health is terrible vs the many 4 damage cards but at 5 health it becomes too good.
Blade Flurry, the nerf to this card was just too much. Rogue actually has a very low amount of weapons and most of them have a high amount of durability, for example Assassin's Blade or Cogmaster's Wrench (oh hey, look! A 1/3 weapon that gains +2 attack if you have a specific type of minion that requires you to build an entire deck around and can't be gotten by random chance from your hero power, but it costs 3 mana instead of 1 and is an epic. Spirit Claws makes no bloody sense...)
Headcrack is a card that does something very unique, but it's just bad at it. My change to it amplifies the uniqueness of the effect. I have no idea if this in any good or if it's fully broken, but I like it.
Alarm-o-Bot. This buff is not an attempt to make it constructed worthy, but at 3 health it dies to way to much for a 3 mana minion. Though it is supposed to be easily removed, 3 health is just absurdly easy.
Demolisher, Flavor wise I never understood why it only had 1 attack, if it shoots it deals 2, why not if it attacks? It has a giant ram at the front of it right? It having 2 attack would balance wise been too strong in the past, but currently it would be perfect. A 2/4 for 3 is just below perfect stats. If it get's too shoot once it's worth it, after that it's just pure value. If it get's removed before it shoots it should at least be a 1 for 1. the current Demolisher is likely to get removed without the op losing anything to it.
Battle Rage is the only card on this list which I want to see nerfed. Blizz has already shown that they don't like cards that cycle, the nerf to Flare is an example, it's also why Purify costs 2 and not 1. Battle Rage is the best 2 mana cycler currently available. 99% of the time it draws a card, most of the time it will draw 2 cards. The reason why I feel like this card needs a nerf is because warrior has an insane amount of draw available to them. 4 class cards from basic and expert combined, the only other class with that many is druid. Is it surprising then that otk warrior has been a thing so many times?
Yes, this is all hypothetical, I know some of these changes are likely never to happen, but I felt like talking about some of these forgotten cards. Otherwise they might never see the light of day again.
Hello! The Fan Creations forum is for fan creations only. Buff and nerf threads are not fan creations and belong elsewhere, so I've moved this to Card Discussion. =)
and that's just one of the tons stupid combos a card worded like that would lead up to.... I haven't checked the cost with just 1 thick of ET but if it was like you're suggesting it would probably enable Worgen OTK again... So just no..... Also please if Blade Flurry needs to be 4 mana just gimme the damn face damage back! C'mon Oil isn't even in Standard anymore and it's clear they refuse to print actually good weapons for the classes that need them the most so just let the poor card be...
and that's just one of the tons stupid combos a card worded like that would lead up to.... I haven't checked the cost with just 1 thick of ET but if it was like you're suggesting it would probably enable Worgen OTK again... So just no..... Also please if Blade Flurry needs to be 4 mana just gimme the damn face damage back! C'mon Oil isn't even in Standard anymore and it's clear they refuse to print actually good weapons for the classes that need them the most so just let the poor card be...
Nahh, the face damage limited their design space for all the good weapons rogue received following the nerf.
Warsong commander will give charge to itself if it's the first minion you play on your turn, otherwise it will not give charge to any minion the same turn you play it. Same way like how pint-sized summoner works. This warsong commander can't be used in an otk, only if you played it the turn before and it didn't get removed.
In my opinion, most of these buffs aren't great ideas. Nerfs are ways to shake up the meta, and correcting nerfs isn't a great idea. In addition, a lot of these cards see play in Arena, and are powerful there. Not every card is meant for Standard or Wild. In addition, the truth is that Blizzard prints bad cards to balance out pack value, so you have to open more packs before you get playable cards. Some of these buffs have merit, but I don't think it' s conventional to buff cards.
Blizzard doesn't buff cards for a reason. If Hearthstone was like League of Legends where you see balance changes that end up changing the entire metagame every few weeks, Hearthstone would just be way too unfun as a game where it takes time to grind up for the cards you want and see how well they fit together in a certain deck, only to realize a week later that one or more of the cards you were using are now garbage and then you have to change the whole deck or delete it entirely. For Hearthstone, the best direction is forwards, not backwards. Blizzard needs to focus on adding new, skill-intensive mechanics for cards and not just rehashing old filler cards used as the groundwork for the game.
The Warsong change is (unfortunatley - in my opinion) never going to happen simply because it would make Worgen and Patron good again. (and also Blizzard won't rework a nerfed card after making it unplayable, they'd rather release new ones)
Warsong commander will give charge to itself if it's the first minion you play on your turn, otherwise it will not give charge to any minion the same turn you play it. Same way like how pint-sized summoner works. This warsong commander can't be used in an otk, only if you played it the turn before and it didn't get removed.
However, before the Charge nerf, Raging Worgen OTK was a real thing. Giving charge to cards is something they stopped doing when they nerfed Warsong and Charge, because it allows you to combo off with minions that would otherwise die easily to removal because it happens all on your turn.
Most of these buffs are not ment to shake up the meta. The buff to Priestess of Elune, Demolisher, Drain Life, Guardian of Kings and Alarm-o-bot are not to turn them in staples, but to make them a bit more viable. Cards in the expert set are the base of every standard format, because of that the cards should be on a equal power level, and these 5 just need a little bit of a power bumb.
Warsong commander will give charge to itself if it's the first minion you play on your turn, otherwise it will not give charge to any minion the same turn you play it. Same way like how pint-sized summoner works. This warsong commander can't be used in an otk, only if you played it the turn before and it didn't get removed.
However, before the Charge nerf, Raging Worgen OTK was a real thing. Giving charge to cards is something they stopped doing when they nerfed Warsong and Charge, because it allows you to combo off with minions that would otherwise die easily to removal because it happens all on your turn.
You are correct on that one, but the difference here is that because you need the commander to survive your opponents turn, therefor there is a form of interaction that didn't exist with the pre nerf charge and commander.
Warsong commander will give charge to itself if it's the first minion you play on your turn, otherwise it will not give charge to any minion the same turn you play it. Same way like how pint-sized summoner works. This warsong commander can't be used in an otk, only if you played it the turn before and it didn't get removed.
However, before the Charge nerf, Raging Worgen OTK was a real thing. Giving charge to cards is something they stopped doing when they nerfed Warsong and Charge, because it allows you to combo off with minions that would otherwise die easily to removal because it happens all on your turn.
You are correct on that one, but the difference here is that because you need the commander to survive your opponents turn, therefor there is a form of interaction that didn't exist with the pre nerf charge and commander.
True, however I think that charge is a keyword that you shouldn't be allowed to give without limitations.
They aren't going to buff cards, just print new cards so they can sell more packs. I did hear Blizzard say they will print powerful heals for paladin and priest :)
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So I've been looking through the old basic and classic card sets to see what cards I would personally want to see buffed but could also be justified. Now I know that blizzards isn't known for buffing cards all that often but there seem to be a few cards that have fallen behind in terms of power, some are just straight up unplayable, which is a shame to be honest.
So here are the results of my attempt to fix a few cards, would love to hear what you think about them or if I missed any. This list is no particular order.
Drain Life was in a good card before the release of Naxx, the game was slower so the 3 mana wasn't that much to pay for the effect. Reducing the cost by one makes it playable again and it would fit in with the other 2 mana damage spells. This would make it playable but not overpowered, at 3 mana you rather play Shadow Bolt than this, and at 2 mana it's still not strictly better than Demonfire.
Guardian of Kings is also a card that used to see decent play in healadin, but it shares the same fate as Drain Life. Now to compensate for that I increased the life gained by 1. This might seem like a negligible change but the card only needs a small buff. But sometimes that's all it needs.
Warsong Commander, now this is one you expected I assume. The number one dumpster card of all nerfed cards. My buff to it partially gives back it's original effect, only it's a less busted. Yes it can give charge to large minions now, but it doesn't give charge to all your Grim Patrons. Also Molten Giant otk is impossible.
Molten Giant, personally I would love to see it at 20 again, but this is a good bridge between what I would like to see and what blizzard wants, right?
Ancient of Lore, now this was a nerf I didn't like. Yes the draw 2 limited what card draw people put in their deck, but they could at least compensate for the nerf. The idea of the nerf was to make people put cards like Nourish in their deck, instead they threw Ancient of Lore in the dumpster. Increasing the heal on it would only be reasonable in my opinion.
Kidnapper. It just doesn't work. It fits nowhere and it never will, so I would like to see it exchanged for a new card. Stealth rogue is missing a few cards, so I felt like giving it one. Now before you say: "OMG, that is so OP, blizzards would never do that you idiot!" let me tell you that I know it's unlikely for blizzards to make this exact card, the idea behind it is still kinda cool. Flavor wise it wouldn't be strange to have your creatures with stealth sneak past taunts, but having only stealth minions sneak past taunts made the card to limited in what deck you want it in, and that is not what you want for a expert set card.
Priestess of Elune, it's just bad, it always was bad. Not enough stats combined with a poor Battlecry effect. If this was a basic card it would be fine, but as a expert card it needs to be at least a bit better. So the increase of the heal from 4 to 6 seems reasonable. The stats a fine, a 6 mana minion with 5 attack is fine, it still contests Sylvanas Windrunner and Emperor Thaurissan. The 4 health is terrible vs the many 4 damage cards but at 5 health it becomes too good.
Blade Flurry, the nerf to this card was just too much. Rogue actually has a very low amount of weapons and most of them have a high amount of durability, for example Assassin's Blade or Cogmaster's Wrench (oh hey, look! A 1/3 weapon that gains +2 attack if you have a specific type of minion that requires you to build an entire deck around and can't be gotten by random chance from your hero power, but it costs 3 mana instead of 1 and is an epic. Spirit Claws makes no bloody sense...)
Headcrack is a card that does something very unique, but it's just bad at it. My change to it amplifies the uniqueness of the effect. I have no idea if this in any good or if it's fully broken, but I like it.
Alarm-o-Bot. This buff is not an attempt to make it constructed worthy, but at 3 health it dies to way to much for a 3 mana minion. Though it is supposed to be easily removed, 3 health is just absurdly easy.
Demolisher, Flavor wise I never understood why it only had 1 attack, if it shoots it deals 2, why not if it attacks? It has a giant ram at the front of it right? It having 2 attack would balance wise been too strong in the past, but currently it would be perfect. A 2/4 for 3 is just below perfect stats. If it get's too shoot once it's worth it, after that it's just pure value. If it get's removed before it shoots it should at least be a 1 for 1. the current Demolisher is likely to get removed without the op losing anything to it.
Battle Rage is the only card on this list which I want to see nerfed. Blizz has already shown that they don't like cards that cycle, the nerf to Flare is an example, it's also why Purify costs 2 and not 1. Battle Rage is the best 2 mana cycler currently available. 99% of the time it draws a card, most of the time it will draw 2 cards. The reason why I feel like this card needs a nerf is because warrior has an insane amount of draw available to them. 4 class cards from basic and expert combined, the only other class with that many is druid. Is it surprising then that otk warrior has been a thing so many times?
Yes, this is all hypothetical, I know some of these changes are likely never to happen, but I felt like talking about some of these forgotten cards. Otherwise they might never see the light of day again.
That warsong commander change is brainlessly broken.
In what way if I may ask?
Hello! The Fan Creations forum is for fan creations only. Buff and nerf threads are not fan creations and belong elsewhere, so I've moved this to Card Discussion. =)
"この 先は 暗い 夜道 だけが も 知らない それでも信じて 進むんだ 星が その道 を 少し でも 照らしてくをるのを"
The warsong commander buff makes it an even better card than it was pre-nerf. Just consider Faceless Manipulator
Guardian of kings was rarely run and if it was, it was because of lack of a better alternative. the buff is too small to make it even relevant.
I do like molten giant though.
Also if you consider it, Drain Life makes no sense when compared to Bash, but warrior is team5's sweet princess
Right how could I forget Poisoned Blade and Deadly Fork? Shame on me...
"この 先は 暗い 夜道 だけが も 知らない それでも信じて 進むんだ 星が その道 を 少し でも 照らしてくをるのを"
Warsong commander will give charge to itself if it's the first minion you play on your turn, otherwise it will not give charge to any minion the same turn you play it. Same way like how pint-sized summoner works. This warsong commander can't be used in an otk, only if you played it the turn before and it didn't get removed.
In my opinion, most of these buffs aren't great ideas. Nerfs are ways to shake up the meta, and correcting nerfs isn't a great idea. In addition, a lot of these cards see play in Arena, and are powerful there. Not every card is meant for Standard or Wild. In addition, the truth is that Blizzard prints bad cards to balance out pack value, so you have to open more packs before you get playable cards. Some of these buffs have merit, but I don't think it' s conventional to buff cards.
LEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!
Blizzard doesn't buff cards for a reason. If Hearthstone was like League of Legends where you see balance changes that end up changing the entire metagame every few weeks, Hearthstone would just be way too unfun as a game where it takes time to grind up for the cards you want and see how well they fit together in a certain deck, only to realize a week later that one or more of the cards you were using are now garbage and then you have to change the whole deck or delete it entirely. For Hearthstone, the best direction is forwards, not backwards. Blizzard needs to focus on adding new, skill-intensive mechanics for cards and not just rehashing old filler cards used as the groundwork for the game.
I like the Molten Giant change.
The Warsong change is (unfortunatley - in my opinion) never going to happen simply because it would make Worgen and Patron good again. (and also Blizzard won't rework a nerfed card after making it unplayable, they'd rather release new ones)
LEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!
Most of these buffs are not ment to shake up the meta. The buff to Priestess of Elune, Demolisher, Drain Life, Guardian of Kings and Alarm-o-bot are not to turn them in staples, but to make them a bit more viable. Cards in the expert set are the base of every standard format, because of that the cards should be on a equal power level, and these 5 just need a little bit of a power bumb.
LEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!
They aren't going to buff cards, just print new cards so they can sell more packs. I did hear Blizzard say they will print powerful heals for paladin and priest :)