Even if they wanted to, is it even possible to nerf Ice Block? The only number on the card is the mana cost and if they'd change that then it would no longer be a secret when played. So any possible nerf would change the card completely. It's much more likely they'll move it into the Hall of Fame.
Note that Ice Block shows up in a lot of mage decks, even decks where it doesn't synergize with the rest of the deck, like in some versions of Aluneth Burn Mage and Big Spell Mage. That is the sign of a card that is too powerful. Few people are complaining about it because Mage isn't oppressive on ladder at the moment, but that could change quickly when a new set comes out.
i disagree with the last paragraph entirely. ice block only used to be run in freeze mage. no other deck ran it. now every mage deck runs it. ice block has not changed, its the cards around it that have, and that's a clear indication that ice block is not too powerful on its own, but other elements in burn/tempo lists that have suddenly made it worth running in the last year or so.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
Corridor Creeper (increase cost to 9, or change it so its only when friendly or enemy minions, or give it the volcanic drake treatment as suggested if they want to keep both), Bonemare (decrease stat buff), and Call to Arms (+1 mana) definitely should, as should Jade Idol (and the jade mechanic in general), but considering that they mind-bogglingly haven't nerfed it yet, they sadly never will. Divine Favor ought to be a candidate as well, as its one of the few classic cards that actually deserved consideration when they made their last two bizarre rounds of nerfs
I'd be fine with Scalebane getting a nerf as well, though I don't think it would be as broken with Creeper and Bonemare getting fixed. maybe Spikeridged Steed or Sunkeeper Tarim, but I think these cards also become a lot more fair if the first set and low drops in general get a deserved kick in the nuts.
Finally, I don't want to see it (partially because they're not nearly as oppressive as the above cards, and partly because any nerf would seemingly make them unplayable), but I would understand if a nerf to Primordial Glyph and Shadow Visions were considered
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
A good balance to Corridor Creeper would be to change his effect from "Whenever a Minion Dies" to "Whenever a Friendly Minion Dies." Corridor Creeper would be removed from most decks that run him now, but he could still see some play in aggressive decks that lose minions to AoE. I know people often argue that Blizzard prefers to change mana cost rather than card text because it's more obvious to someone who isn't aware of the nerf and may try to play the card as though it hadn't changed at all (though, I find this argument kind of lame because if you don't know about a nerf, then you wouldn't know to remove it from a deck and would thus be playing a card with unexpected text regardless).
Cubelock
As for Cubelock, a lot of people are saying that Blizzard should hit Possessed Lackey, and for good reason. He is the main reason why the deck can obliterate Control AND Aggro decks. Ideally, you want a balance of Aggro > Control > Midrange > Aggro and so on and so forth. Making Possessed Lackey 6 mana instead of 5 could give aggro decks that extra turn to pound face, or force the Warlock player to make tougher decisions as far as coin usage. Though, this could easily lead to people including Ren, The First Disciple more consistently as a solid turn 6 before Possessed Lackey shenanigans on turn 7. I would like to see the cost of Dark Pact increased by 1 mana instead of (or along with) Possessed Lackey, as gaining 8 health for 1 mana while also getting to sometimes (often) trigger a deathrattle (Carnivorous Cube, Possessed Lackey, Mistress of Mixtures, Rin, the First Disciple, etc.).
Razakus Priest
On the most recent Omni/Stone (ep. #31), 2014 Hearthstone World Champion Firebat argued three options for nerfing Razakus Priest. The first (which I don't necessarily agree with) was to increase Shadowreaper Anduin to 9 mana. However, it was quickly brought up that this would ruin Shadowreaper Anduin for non-Razakus decks. Turns out, the card makes a lot more since when you can play Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 mana, followed by a 2 mana ping on 10; OR, heal for 2 followed by Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 on 10. The next option was to increase Raza the Chained from 5 mana to 6 mana, thus throwing off the curve and making it an awkward body for the later stages of the game (yes, one extra turn is not crucial but does affect overall win-percentages). However, it was mentioned that this may allow for a cleaner Kazakus on 4, Kazakus Potion of 5, Raza the Chained and heal for 0 on 6. The upside is that the 6 mana slot would become a little more crowded, depending on your list (Gadgetzan Auctioneer, Dragonfire Potion). Lastly, the last (and in my opinion best) option was to change the text on Raza the Chained to "Your Current Hero Power Costs (0)," to which Firebat pointed out that this change would reduce the amount of text on the card overall. This change would force players to make decisions regarding when to play Raza the Chained: early against aggro for free healing, or later against midrange or control decks for free, recyclable damage to the face. The main counter to this change is the standard "Blizzard prefers to change a cards mana-cost rather than change the text" argument, which I (somewhat subjectively) addressed earlier.
Psychic Scream
Now, it's time to address the elephant in the collection: Psychic Scream. I'm not going to discuss whether or not the card should have been printed, or if the timing could been better (short answers: no it shouldn't have, and yes, if it had to be printed, the timing was undoubtedly bad). Instead, I'm going to try to identify the issues with the card, as well as attempt to pose a rational solution. So yeah, the card is pretty much a combination of silence, removal, and opponent deck manipulation, all for 7 mana. This amount of value is insane. So, what can be done? Well, a less obvious (and even less likely) plan of action could be to alter the text to: a.) "Shuffle All Minions and Psychic Scream into your opponent's deck"; b.) "Shuffle All Minions into your opponent's deck. They draw a card for each minion shuffled this way"; or c.) a combination of both. My other, more conventional suggestion is for Blizzard to increase the card's mana cost, which is a lot more realistic of Psychic Scream balance change. I believe if the card text remains the same, the cost of Psychic Scream should increase from 7 to 9. This would allow aggro, hybrid, midrange, and tempo decks more time to smack face and potentially close out the game before things get out of hand, as well as crowd the 9 mana slot for a deck such as Big Priest (Ysera, Obsidian Statue). The only downside I could see to increasing Psychic Screams mana cost to 9 would be the slight buff to Big Spell Priest; though, if your goal with Big Spell Priest is to establish a big board through the use of Spiteful Summoner, as well as buff your board with cards like Bonemare, odds are you aren't trying to give it away to your opponent.
Honorable Mention: Bloodreaver Gul'dan
Bloodreaver Gul'dan was mentioned earlier in this thread, and for good reason: 1.) the ability to resummon all of your demons that died during a game is an insane amount of value, 5 armor can easily heal you out of lethal range in certain aggro/ hypbrid, midrange and tempo decks. One option was to reduce the amount of LifeLink damage dealt by Bloodreaver Gul'Dan's hero power from 3 to 2. This would prevent Warlock from being able to easily outrace a faster opponent (e.g. Hunter can deal 2 every turn, Bloodreaver Guldan' allows one to deal 3 damage and gain 3 life. , while still retaining elements of the Warlock flavor. Another interesting option would be to change the text on Bloodreaver Gul'dan to say, "Summon all friendly demons that died this game, that you summoned before." This would prevent cards that were pulled from the deck by Possessed Lackey (Voidlord, Doomguard), to come back as a result of Bloodreaver Gul'dan as they would have never been officially summoned and would not be sent to the grave. I could see either of those balances working, though I don't have a fully formulated opinion as far as which I think is the better option of the two.
And that's it pretty much. There may a be a few other sus cards to evaluate, but this'll do for now.
Even if they wanted to, is it even possible to nerf Ice Block? The only number on the card is the mana cost and if they'd change that then it would no longer be a secret when played. So any possible nerf would change the card completely. It's much more likely they'll move it into the Hall of Fame.
Note that Ice Block shows up in a lot of mage decks, even decks where it doesn't synergize with the rest of the deck, like in some versions of Aluneth Burn Mage and Big Spell Mage. That is the sign of a card that is too powerful. Few people are complaining about it because Mage isn't oppressive on ladder at the moment, but that could change quickly when a new set comes out.
i disagree with the last paragraph entirely. ice block only used to be run in freeze mage. no other deck ran it. now every mage deck runs it. ice block has not changed, its the cards around it that have, and that's a clear indication that ice block is not too powerful on its own, but other elements in burn/tempo lists that have suddenly made it worth running in the last year or so.
I think other control mage decks also had it, but you are right that it wasn't in every mage deck until Arcanologist. Arcanologist is from Un'Goro, so it will be in Standard for another year. I think it's more likely that Ice Block will be Hall-of-Famed than that Arcanologist will be nerfed.
I don't think control as a whole is too strong, just priest and warlock. Control warrior, mage and paladin aren't played much at the moment, while those classes did have successful control decks in the past.
If priest and warlock are hit with nerfs, I think it's likely Corridor Creeper and Call to Arms become the next problem cards. So I'd rather see Blizzard nerf all of them at once instead of going from one unbalanced meta to the next.
Velen is no OP. He is better since the interaction between Raza and DK hero power. Since Raza will be out in March-April, Velen will no be fixed.
Doomguard is also not OP. The cost for dropping is high, the main issue is Skull of Manari (that will not be nerfed). The only way you can change the card is by adding more card text (when it is played, not summoned gains charge). Yet, we know it will ne confusng for new players.
Call to Arms: not a problem. The problem is that control and mid-range decks can't deal with swarm. If the nerf-hammer hits that it will be unprecedent. New expansion cards don't get nerfed.
Corridor Creeper: the nerf shoulg either to the attack/defense stats or the mana cost. Blizzard likes trading and board control.
Yet, I think the game is healthy right now (unless you are a warrior or shaman main). Every class has at least three ways to play it, not all are tier 1. Nerf season is nice, but we need clear explanations of why.
Cobalt Scalemane and Bonemare are good stand alone card. They get insanely powerfull when there are more minions on board. The nerf could go: +1 mana crystal (nearly unplayable), or add more text (only dragons, this turn, dies after attacking).
Ice Block will go to Hall of Fame. The pirnt of the 1 mana 1/2 elemental that gives armor will atone for that loss. I least I hope so, I have 2 golden Ice Block form the time I played freeze mage.
A good balance to Corridor Creeper would be to change his effect from "Whenever a Minion Dies" to "Whenever a Friendly Minion Dies." Corridor Creeper would be removed from most decks that run him now, but he could still see some play in aggressive decks that lose minions to AoE. I know people often argue that Blizzard prefers to change mana cost rather than card text because it's more obvious to someone who isn't aware of the nerf and may try to play the card as though it hadn't changed at all (though, I find this argument kind of lame because if you don't know about a nerf, then you wouldn't know to remove it from a deck and would thus be playing a card with unexpected text regardless).
Cubelock
As for Cubelock, a lot of people are saying that Blizzard should hit Possessed Lackey, and for good reason. He is the main reason why the deck can obliterate Control AND Aggro decks. Ideally, you want a balance of Aggro > Control > Midrange > Aggro and so on and so forth. Making Possessed Lackey 6 mana instead of 5 could give aggro decks that extra turn to pound face, or force the Warlock player to make tougher decisions as far as coin usage. Though, this could easily lead to people including Ren, The First Disciple more consistently as a solid turn 6 before Possessed Lackey shenanigans on turn 7. I would like to see the cost of Dark Pact increased by 1 mana instead of (or along with) Possessed Lackey, as gaining 8 health for 1 mana while also getting to sometimes (often) trigger a deathrattle (Carnivorous Cube, Possessed Lackey, Mistress of Mixtures, Rin, the First Disciple, etc.).
Razakus Priest
On the most recent Omni/Stone (ep. #31), 2014 Hearthstone World Champion Firebat argued three options for nerfing Razakus Priest. The first (which I don't necessarily agree with) was to increase Shadowreaper Anduin to 9 mana. However, it was quickly brought up that this would ruin Shadowreaper Anduin for non-Razakus decks. Turns out, the card makes a lot more since when you can play Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 mana, followed by a 2 mana ping on 10; OR, heal for 2 followed by Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 on 10. The next option was to increase Raza the Chained from 5 mana to 6 mana, thus throwing off the curve and making it an awkward body for the later stages of the game (yes, one extra turn is not crucial but does affect overall win-percentages). However, it was mentioned that this may allow for a cleaner Kazakus on 4, Kazakus Potion of 5, Raza the Chained and heal for 0 on 6. The upside is that the 6 mana slot would become a little more crowded, depending on your list (Gadgetzan Auctioneer, Dragonfire Potion). Lastly, the last (and in my opinion best) option was to change the text on Raza the Chained to "Your Current Hero Power Costs (0)," to which Firebat pointed out that this change would reduce the amount of text on the card overall. This change would force players to make decisions regarding when to play Raza the Chained: early against aggro for free healing, or later against midrange or control decks for free, recyclable damage to the face. The main counter to this change is the standard "Blizzard prefers to change a cards mana-cost rather than change the text" argument, which I (somewhat subjectively) addressed earlier.
Psychic Scream
Now, it's time to address the elephant in the collection: Psychic Scream. I'm not going to discuss whether or not the card should have been printed, or if the timing could been better (short answers: no it shouldn't have, and yes, if it had to be printed, the timing was undoubtedly bad). Instead, I'm going to try to identify the issues with the card, as well as attempt to pose a rational solution. So yeah, the card is pretty much a combination of silence, removal, and opponent deck manipulation, all for 7 mana. This amount of value is insane. So, what can be done? Well, a less obvious (and even less likely) plan of action could be to alter the text to: a.) "Shuffle All Minions and Psychic Scream into your opponent's deck"; b.) "Shuffle All Minions into your opponent's deck. They draw a card for each minion shuffled this way"; or c.) a combination of both. My other, more conventional suggestion is for Blizzard to increase the card's mana cost, which is a lot more realistic of Psychic Scream balance change. I believe if the card text remains the same, the cost of Psychic Scream should increase from 7 to 9. This would allow aggro, hybrid, midrange, and tempo decks more time to smack face and potentially close out the game before things get out of hand, as well as crowd the 9 mana slot for a deck such as Big Priest (Ysera, Obsidian Statue). The only downside I could see to increasing Psychic Screams mana cost to 9 would be the slight buff to Big Spell Priest; though, if your goal with Big Spell Priest is to establish a big board through the use of Spiteful Summoner, as well as buff your board with cards like Bonemare, odds are you aren't trying to give it away to your opponent.
Honorable Mention: Bloodreaver Gul'dan
Bloodreaver Gul'dan was mentioned earlier in this thread, and for good reason: 1.) the ability to resummon all of your demons that died during a game is an insane amount of value, 5 armor can easily heal you out of lethal range in certain aggro/ hypbrid, midrange and tempo decks. One option was to reduce the amount of LifeLink damage dealt by Bloodreaver Gul'Dan's hero power from 3 to 2. This would prevent Warlock from being able to easily outrace a faster opponent (e.g. Hunter can deal 2 every turn, Bloodreaver Guldan' allows one to deal 3 damage and gain 3 life. , while still retaining elements of the Warlock flavor. Another interesting option would be to change the text on Bloodreaver Gul'dan to say, "Summon all friendly demons that died this game, that you summoned before." This would prevent cards that were pulled from the deck by Possessed Lackey (Voidlord, Doomguard), to come back as a result of Bloodreaver Gul'dan as they would have never been officially summoned and would not be sent to the grave. I could see either of those balances working, though I don't have a fully formulated opinion as far as which I think is the better option of the two.
And that's it pretty much. There may a be a few other sus cards to evaluate, but this'll do for now.
what a great, thoughtful post!! right on dude. I agree with a lot of your ideas. thx for the effort you put into writing this for us all. cheers!
Thanks for the kind words! I love discussing Hearthstone theory and balancing logic. Apologies for the errors above tho, kinda late writing it last night
The nerfs aren’t really all that necessary, You need to look at the game in a logical way to see that these cards are fine the way they are and any change would affect decks related to them greatly in the future.
Believe it or not aggro decks are quite hard to play (unless you curve out perfectly then its rather straight forward) you need to be able to manage your resources so that you aren’t knocked straight of the game by a board clear, yet at the same time you need to apply enough pressure so that your opponent doesn’t just straight outvalue you in the late game
Control decks need to either draw board clears early through their mulligan or somehow keep up with the tempo plays of an aggro deck in order to create large swings in the board state or hp between heroes, or more simply play to their win condition. They also need to be able to adapt to other control decks in order to win against them.
And combo decks require a lot of card draw in order to cycle as fast as possible, if they dont hit said card draw then they’ve lost (unless of course they already have their combo), this creates a rather uninteractive experience due to the opponent either winning early on or just losing out of no where.
Now to look at the cards:
Velen - Does not see play outside of combo priest decks such as Highlander or Temporus priest, the latter deck being just about non existant in competitive play. As such any nerf would make the card even more unplayable than it is atm.
Doomguard - This is the only card I can see getting a nerf, the nerf to this card would only affect evolution effects, summon a random 5 drop and Cubelock, leaving Zoo untouched, but rather than bring Cubelock down should other decks not be raised up to its level? I mean Control Warlock went from trash to tier one in an expansion just because two cards enabled it to.
Call to arms - Aggro desperately needs the ability to reload the board, its what the class thrives on as such I think this card being 4 mana is perfectly acceptable at least until Paladin gets another semi decent card to fill the board with cheap minions.
Corridor creeper - Same point as above, this being a reload tool for aggressive decks is entirely fair, the only unfair thing about this is facing two of them on turn 4, but thats unlikely due to it not being the greatest to keep two of them unless you also have a 1 drop pirate that isnt patches.
Cobalt scalebane - Needs another card on board that doesnt trade into something weak to be good otherwise its a 5 mana 5/5 which in this meta is rather weak due to the whole Voidlord on turn 5 or 0 mana 5/5s. Its only good in a position where you have the advantage and against control you want to hold back on dumping your hand onto the board around turn 5-6.
They are going to make soft nerfs, like Dark Pact to 2 mana or like 'only your minions' Corridor Creeper . The other proposed nerfs would kill corresponding cards and / or archetypes
No chance Cubelock gets nerfed, the deck is both inconsistent and soft countered by weapon removal and silence, the deck was literally dead the moment Priests started teching for it.
It's the root of all evil regarding any kind of Exodia mage deck, not to mention there is not a single mage deck not including it, and besides that, Sorcerer's Apprentice also considerably limits the development of new mechanics in the future (for example, try to imagine "something" that, when in play, considers the Mage's Hero Power as a Spell so it could synergize with everything... well, Sorcerer's Apprentice wouldn't allow that for obvious reasons).
And what it's more, do you remember the always pleasant Pint-Sized Summoner? Despite being also a basic card, but with a Rare quality, it currently sees no use. Why not interchanging the effects of both young gnome girls? (See attached files)
I don’t think people are talking about ice block because it’s widely assumed it’s rotating in a couple months anyways.
maybe a raza nerf cause they probably will not nerf the dk
Control needs a nerf. Not aggro
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
Corridor Creeper (increase cost to 9, or change it so its only when friendly or enemy minions, or give it the volcanic drake treatment as suggested if they want to keep both), Bonemare (decrease stat buff), and Call to Arms (+1 mana) definitely should, as should Jade Idol (and the jade mechanic in general), but considering that they mind-bogglingly haven't nerfed it yet, they sadly never will. Divine Favor ought to be a candidate as well, as its one of the few classic cards that actually deserved consideration when they made their last two bizarre rounds of nerfs
I'd be fine with Scalebane getting a nerf as well, though I don't think it would be as broken with Creeper and Bonemare getting fixed. maybe Spikeridged Steed or Sunkeeper Tarim, but I think these cards also become a lot more fair if the first set and low drops in general get a deserved kick in the nuts.
Finally, I don't want to see it (partially because they're not nearly as oppressive as the above cards, and partly because any nerf would seemingly make them unplayable), but I would understand if a nerf to Primordial Glyph and Shadow Visions were considered
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
Corridor Creeper
A good balance to Corridor Creeper would be to change his effect from "Whenever a Minion Dies" to "Whenever a Friendly Minion Dies." Corridor Creeper would be removed from most decks that run him now, but he could still see some play in aggressive decks that lose minions to AoE. I know people often argue that Blizzard prefers to change mana cost rather than card text because it's more obvious to someone who isn't aware of the nerf and may try to play the card as though it hadn't changed at all (though, I find this argument kind of lame because if you don't know about a nerf, then you wouldn't know to remove it from a deck and would thus be playing a card with unexpected text regardless).
Cubelock
As for Cubelock, a lot of people are saying that Blizzard should hit Possessed Lackey, and for good reason. He is the main reason why the deck can obliterate Control AND Aggro decks. Ideally, you want a balance of Aggro > Control > Midrange > Aggro and so on and so forth. Making Possessed Lackey 6 mana instead of 5 could give aggro decks that extra turn to pound face, or force the Warlock player to make tougher decisions as far as coin usage. Though, this could easily lead to people including Ren, The First Disciple more consistently as a solid turn 6 before Possessed Lackey shenanigans on turn 7. I would like to see the cost of Dark Pact increased by 1 mana instead of (or along with) Possessed Lackey, as gaining 8 health for 1 mana while also getting to sometimes (often) trigger a deathrattle (Carnivorous Cube, Possessed Lackey, Mistress of Mixtures, Rin, the First Disciple, etc.).
Razakus Priest
On the most recent Omni/Stone (ep. #31), 2014 Hearthstone World Champion Firebat argued three options for nerfing Razakus Priest. The first (which I don't necessarily agree with) was to increase Shadowreaper Anduin to 9 mana. However, it was quickly brought up that this would ruin Shadowreaper Anduin for non-Razakus decks. Turns out, the card makes a lot more since when you can play Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 mana, followed by a 2 mana ping on 10; OR, heal for 2 followed by Shadowreaper Anduin for 8 on 10. The next option was to increase Raza the Chained from 5 mana to 6 mana, thus throwing off the curve and making it an awkward body for the later stages of the game (yes, one extra turn is not crucial but does affect overall win-percentages). However, it was mentioned that this may allow for a cleaner Kazakus on 4, Kazakus Potion of 5, Raza the Chained and heal for 0 on 6. The upside is that the 6 mana slot would become a little more crowded, depending on your list (Gadgetzan Auctioneer, Dragonfire Potion). Lastly, the last (and in my opinion best) option was to change the text on Raza the Chained to "Your Current Hero Power Costs (0)," to which Firebat pointed out that this change would reduce the amount of text on the card overall. This change would force players to make decisions regarding when to play Raza the Chained: early against aggro for free healing, or later against midrange or control decks for free, recyclable damage to the face. The main counter to this change is the standard "Blizzard prefers to change a cards mana-cost rather than change the text" argument, which I (somewhat subjectively) addressed earlier.
Psychic Scream
Now, it's time to address the elephant in the collection: Psychic Scream. I'm not going to discuss whether or not the card should have been printed, or if the timing could been better (short answers: no it shouldn't have, and yes, if it had to be printed, the timing was undoubtedly bad). Instead, I'm going to try to identify the issues with the card, as well as attempt to pose a rational solution. So yeah, the card is pretty much a combination of silence, removal, and opponent deck manipulation, all for 7 mana. This amount of value is insane. So, what can be done? Well, a less obvious (and even less likely) plan of action could be to alter the text to: a.) "Shuffle All Minions and Psychic Scream into your opponent's deck"; b.) "Shuffle All Minions into your opponent's deck. They draw a card for each minion shuffled this way"; or c.) a combination of both. My other, more conventional suggestion is for Blizzard to increase the card's mana cost, which is a lot more realistic of Psychic Scream balance change. I believe if the card text remains the same, the cost of Psychic Scream should increase from 7 to 9. This would allow aggro, hybrid, midrange, and tempo decks more time to smack face and potentially close out the game before things get out of hand, as well as crowd the 9 mana slot for a deck such as Big Priest (Ysera, Obsidian Statue). The only downside I could see to increasing Psychic Screams mana cost to 9 would be the slight buff to Big Spell Priest; though, if your goal with Big Spell Priest is to establish a big board through the use of Spiteful Summoner, as well as buff your board with cards like Bonemare, odds are you aren't trying to give it away to your opponent.
Honorable Mention: Bloodreaver Gul'dan
Bloodreaver Gul'dan was mentioned earlier in this thread, and for good reason: 1.) the ability to resummon all of your demons that died during a game is an insane amount of value, 5 armor can easily heal you out of lethal range in certain aggro/ hypbrid, midrange and tempo decks. One option was to reduce the amount of LifeLink damage dealt by Bloodreaver Gul'Dan's hero power from 3 to 2. This would prevent Warlock from being able to easily outrace a faster opponent (e.g. Hunter can deal 2 every turn, Bloodreaver Guldan' allows one to deal 3 damage and gain 3 life. , while still retaining elements of the Warlock flavor. Another interesting option would be to change the text on Bloodreaver Gul'dan to say, "Summon all friendly demons that died this game, that you summoned before." This would prevent cards that were pulled from the deck by Possessed Lackey (Voidlord, Doomguard), to come back as a result of Bloodreaver Gul'dan as they would have never been officially summoned and would not be sent to the grave. I could see either of those balances working, though I don't have a fully formulated opinion as far as which I think is the better option of the two.
And that's it pretty much. There may a be a few other sus cards to evaluate, but this'll do for now.
We all know that they gonna nerf Brawl and Lightning storm.., oh wait
Velen is no OP. He is better since the interaction between Raza and DK hero power. Since Raza will be out in March-April, Velen will no be fixed.
Doomguard is also not OP. The cost for dropping is high, the main issue is Skull of Manari (that will not be nerfed). The only way you can change the card is by adding more card text (when it is played, not summoned gains charge). Yet, we know it will ne confusng for new players.
Call to Arms: not a problem. The problem is that control and mid-range decks can't deal with swarm. If the nerf-hammer hits that it will be unprecedent. New expansion cards don't get nerfed.
Corridor Creeper: the nerf shoulg either to the attack/defense stats or the mana cost. Blizzard likes trading and board control.
Yet, I think the game is healthy right now (unless you are a warrior or shaman main). Every class has at least three ways to play it, not all are tier 1. Nerf season is nice, but we need clear explanations of why.
Cobalt Scalemane and Bonemare are good stand alone card. They get insanely powerfull when there are more minions on board. The nerf could go: +1 mana crystal (nearly unplayable), or add more text (only dragons, this turn, dies after attacking).
Ice Block will go to Hall of Fame. The pirnt of the 1 mana 1/2 elemental that gives armor will atone for that loss. I least I hope so, I have 2 golden Ice Block form the time I played freeze mage.
Stopped reading at Prophet Velen.
Blizzard will never nerf Prophet Velen, anyone who isn't an idiot knows that.
Thanks for the kind words! I love discussing Hearthstone theory and balancing logic. Apologies for the errors above tho, kinda late writing it last night
The nerfs aren’t really all that necessary, You need to look at the game in a logical way to see that these cards are fine the way they are and any change would affect decks related to them greatly in the future.
Believe it or not aggro decks are quite hard to play (unless you curve out perfectly then its rather straight forward) you need to be able to manage your resources so that you aren’t knocked straight of the game by a board clear, yet at the same time you need to apply enough pressure so that your opponent doesn’t just straight outvalue you in the late game
Control decks need to either draw board clears early through their mulligan or somehow keep up with the tempo plays of an aggro deck in order to create large swings in the board state or hp between heroes, or more simply play to their win condition. They also need to be able to adapt to other control decks in order to win against them.
And combo decks require a lot of card draw in order to cycle as fast as possible, if they dont hit said card draw then they’ve lost (unless of course they already have their combo), this creates a rather uninteractive experience due to the opponent either winning early on or just losing out of no where.
Now to look at the cards:
Velen - Does not see play outside of combo priest decks such as Highlander or Temporus priest, the latter deck being just about non existant in competitive play. As such any nerf would make the card even more unplayable than it is atm.
Doomguard - This is the only card I can see getting a nerf, the nerf to this card would only affect evolution effects, summon a random 5 drop and Cubelock, leaving Zoo untouched, but rather than bring Cubelock down should other decks not be raised up to its level? I mean Control Warlock went from trash to tier one in an expansion just because two cards enabled it to.
Call to arms - Aggro desperately needs the ability to reload the board, its what the class thrives on as such I think this card being 4 mana is perfectly acceptable at least until Paladin gets another semi decent card to fill the board with cheap minions.
Corridor creeper - Same point as above, this being a reload tool for aggressive decks is entirely fair, the only unfair thing about this is facing two of them on turn 4, but thats unlikely due to it not being the greatest to keep two of them unless you also have a 1 drop pirate that isnt patches.
Cobalt scalebane - Needs another card on board that doesnt trade into something weak to be good otherwise its a 5 mana 5/5 which in this meta is rather weak due to the whole Voidlord on turn 5 or 0 mana 5/5s. Its only good in a position where you have the advantage and against control you want to hold back on dumping your hand onto the board around turn 5-6.
Bonemare - Yeah fuck this shit
They are going to make soft nerfs, like Dark Pact to 2 mana or like 'only your minions' Corridor Creeper . The other proposed nerfs would kill corresponding cards and / or archetypes
No chance Cubelock gets nerfed, the deck is both inconsistent and soft countered by weapon removal and silence, the deck was literally dead the moment Priests started teching for it.
And what about Sorcerer's Apprentice?
It's the root of all evil regarding any kind of Exodia mage deck, not to mention there is not a single mage deck not including it, and besides that, Sorcerer's Apprentice also considerably limits the development of new mechanics in the future (for example, try to imagine "something" that, when in play, considers the Mage's Hero Power as a Spell so it could synergize with everything... well, Sorcerer's Apprentice wouldn't allow that for obvious reasons).
And what it's more, do you remember the always pleasant Pint-Sized Summoner? Despite being also a basic card, but with a Rare quality, it currently sees no use. Why not interchanging the effects of both young gnome girls? (See attached files)
I would like a mana change to Spellbreaker. 4 mana for a silence card that is used is almost all tier 1 decks (besides priest) is pure stupid...