Hearthpwn

Would like to see more people run Mogor or Toshley honestly, but I know we got a wide selection of 6 drops.

Has Blizzard actually ever buffed a card (honest question).

Dr boom cant go into zoo. Loatheb can. Nerf loatheb first pl0x.

I'd say a reasonable nerf would be to make the bomb bots unable to attack, either with the "Can't attack" tag like ragnaros or by making them 0/1s. They are bombs after all, they should act like it. They are too easy to activae and can usually be relied upon to kill a 3 health minion at least.

The other nerf I would include is along the lines of 1 bot per turn at start of turn (asleep) or end of turn. That way opponent can react.

But these solutions still have the power creep aspect, so probably he should be a 6/6 or a 7/5 to be honest.

But finally I would like to see what this threads reaction will be to the suggestion of making War Golem a 8/7, ie. can kill dragons and rag and most 8 costs. As a basic card, buffing this would not have any of those negative effects others are talking about. (I think 8/7 is better than 7/8 which is generally considered the better stat distribution)

Blizzard has buffed a few cards, according to this Reddit post, such as: Unleash the Hounds, Battle Rage, and Lightwarden. I wonder if bringing Dr. Boom up to the 8-mana slot would help balance him, he'd be competing with Rag, but Dr. Boom plus his Boom Bots arguably have a greater presence than Rag if there are many small creatures on the board.

Quote from WarmasterCly »

Blizzard has buffed a few cards, according to this Reddit post, such as: Unleash the Hounds, Battle Rage, and Lightwarden. I wonder if bringing Dr. Boom up to the 8-mana slot would help balance him, he'd be competing with Rag, but Dr. Boom plus his Boom Bots arguably have a greater presence than Rag if there are many small creatures on the board.

Yeah, they've never buffed post-beta, though. And a bit off-topic: It's debate-able whether Battle Rage actually got a buff or nerf.

Dr. Boom sticks to the board so hard and the RNG from those dang bombs makes or breaks the game. I'd say my win rate with all of my aggro decks has decreased significantly due to Dr. Boom being able to completely and unequivocally turn games around, even when my opponent is hopelessly far behind. So IMO, he's pretty OP.

Quote from Livesage »

Quote from VeiledSyn »

Even if his attack is 'nerfed' to below 7, that's almost a bonus moving him out of BGH range... If they do anything it will probably be a health reduction to 5 or a 1 mana increase. Making him a 7/5 ensures hes still vulnerable to BGH and able to clear other large minions worthy of his 7 mana cost, while still being vulnerable to many spells and minions.

I don't think it is a bonus for him to become immune to BGH. BGH is a lousy card that people are forced to play only because Dr Boom is so common nowadays in non-aggro decks. I think it would be better for the meta if Dr Boom were no longer a valid BGH target. It would make BGH less of an auto-include and something you really only use to counter control decks. 

Uh... BGH is  more of a response to the increase in Handlock and Control Warrior encounters. Other decks also tech in Thermalpluggs, Sea Giants, and everyone's favorite fire spitter.

BGH has more than one target in each of those decks which makes him a viable addition to decks, which may or may not include Boom, but Boom didnt make the call to put BGH in by itself.

As for Boom himself, i dont think he is OP, but his presence in each deck and dominance when played could warrant a slight nerf for him. I think capping the bomb deathrattles to 3 may be a good start.

Dr. Boom is the only card i know that can potentially trade 6-for-1 in a perfect scenario for him (2 cards to take down big daddy, trading each Bomb Bot with other one health minions, and dealing lethal deathrattles into 2 more targets). And 4-for-1 isnt uncommon for him.

I think the Issue with Boom, PhD. is that the Boom Bots are actually too good to be played for free. I mean, I'm pretty sure they would see play if they were collectible in mech and deathrattle decks.

On the other hand, Boom is the really needed legit neutral 7-drop, so nerfing its mana cost would just screw him too much. So I proppose a slightly different mana nerf. Instead of Summon 2 Boom Bots, it may read battlecry: Put 2 1/1 Boom Bots in your hand.

This way the total cost of your distributed 9/9 with 2 deathrattle abilities that deal 2-8 damage to 1 or 2 random enemies would be 9, more in line with the effect described, but you would also have the option to not play the bots immediately but the doctor alone on turn 7.

Quote from Livesage »

Quote from Adeimantuss »

Why wasn't Loatheb nerfed then? Not exactly a forgone conclusion.

Loatheb hasn't been nerfed since his prevalence in decks was because his effect was unique. With the new anti-spell minions in GvG, Loatheb is becoming less common nowadays (though that is largely also due to the decline of Miracle).

Dr Boom's prevalence is entirely due to the fact that he is severely undercosted for what he does. But I don't think Blizz should increase his mana cost to 8, since that would make him compete in the crowded 8-drop space. Instead they should nerf his body to a 6/5. He would still be a strong card, with one more stat than a vanilla War Golem (if you count the bots), plus the upside of an average of 2 damage per bot.

He wont be nerf'd. Everyone crying for nerf's thinks like this person they know nothing of the game. It's not that he's OP. It's that he's a 7 cost card that guarntee's some value. The same reason sylvanis is played in every deck. It's his uncontested 7 casting slot that makes him so powerful and widely used. . 

Quote from tweaver7777 »

Has Blizzard actually ever buffed a card (honest question).

UTH was nerfed, then buffed, then nerfed again. Harvest Golem becoming a Mech is a semi-buff.

0/1 boom bots

1. Dr. Boom doesn't need a nerf. Big game hunter is a thing.

2. A card being played by everyone is not a reason to nerf...if so sludge belcher needs it worse. Sludge is played in 90% of decks. Boom maybe 30%

Why nerf a card that is appropriately costed and can be dealt with.  BGH is the easiest way - but given that it's a 7-drop - there are plenty of 7, 8, 9 drops that can deal with him.  The bombs are pesky - but random.  This is not run in EVERY deck of any class - which is what tends to be nerfed.  Nerfs happen to class-specific cards for the most part that gives one class an advantage.  Everyone has access to this one.  Leeroy was an exception - but he was only being used in specific decks anyway.

I don't think Blizzard will nerf Dr. Boom. Sure, they have a bad habit of nerfing cards that appear everywhere (R.I.P. Novice Engineer), but Boom isn't exactly everywhere. He's in most control and midrange decks, sure, but he doesn't feature in aggro, and while he always gets some amount of value, he doesn't break the game or win it for you the second you play him. If we look at stats, he's a 9/9 with upside. The upside is an average of 4 damage, worth about 3 mana when it's targeted (Shadow Bolt), and 2 when it isn't (Flame Cannon). You're playing a 5 mana 9/9 then. That's pretty good. But if you consider the various giants, you often get an 8/8 for 4 or less. Of course, you have to tailor your deck to use those properly, but then again, your deck needs to be the right sort of deck to use Dr. Boom. And he isn't quite a 9/9 with upside. He's actually a 9/9 with both upside and downside. Every time you ping a Boom Bot, something takes 2 damage to give Dr. Boom -1/-1. After the first turn, he generally ends up as a 7/7. The bots provide a burst of damage. Something to break the lines of other control decks or to kill off the remaining aggro minions. He creates a minor to moderate tempo swing by having a nearly unavoidable but randomly targeted damage effect. It will rarely lose you the game (constructed here, Arena is a different story) to have the bots explode, and a vanilla 7/7 isn't grossly dangerous or hard to kill. What will lose you the game is if you're aggro and your opponent is feeling comfortable enough to drop Dr. Boom on turn 7, or any turn, without needing to clear your board with some sort of spell. Or if you're control and your opponent does the same. Dr. Boom is only playable when you are in a comfortable position. He doesn't impact the board immediately, and his cost is high enough that it's impossible to cast most hard removal to follow him on the same turn (Warriors excluded because they're ridiculous and can kill anything for 1 mana). Furthermore, there is only one of him in your deck. The only ways to increase that number fully, by which I mean casting him multiple times so he gets more bots, are with Mage cards or Brewmasters. Or that new spare part. But then again, you lose almost a full turn when you cast him.

I sincerely hope Blizzard doesn't nerf him. Not because I love him to death (though I think his effect is interesting), nor because I run him in all my decks (I actually don't own one yet). I just don't like this cycle of releasing cards and then nerfing them into the ground, bringing them back from the abyss, and then shooting them back down again (UTH, I'm looking at you). Maybe I'm biased from years of Magic. Maybe it's good that Blizzard can tweak stuff that gets too powerful. I don't like it though. Because the reality is, when you nerf one thing, another comes into style. They nerfed Argent Commander? Well, we just run another removal spell. Or a Sunwalker. Or something like that. You nerf Boom, and Ragnaros goes in to replace him. There are plenty of perfectly acceptable replacements for any card that isn't completely unique (like Jaraxxus, Alexstrasza, and Loatheb). In Dr. Boom's case, it will just be some other relatively big minion, or Warlocks will run an extra Siphon Soul and everyone else will put in BGH or Starfall or whatever. The point is, if it isn't falling over from imbalance (see what I did there?), don't nerf it.

Before the expansion we were pretty much to a point where Control decks struggled against aggro and could win only if everything worked perfectly for them. Dr. Boom and a few other cards made the game so much more interesting and fun by giving Control a chance without ever being OP. Rush players who complain that it's hard to counter Dr. Boom have probably forgotten that they need to play around opponents' cards just like everybody else, low mana minions/hit face can't always be that simple.

Personally, if there was an imminent nerf I'd expect it to be the Druid 14dmg combo. It's the kind of thing Blizzard tends to be against, one specific card (or combo) that is used by every single deck of the class and makes it boring and predictable. I mean let's be honest, who plays against Druid and after round 7 doesn't see his life as minus 14 of whatever it says. I'm not saying it's OP or broken, there are ways to play against it, it's just clearly the best way to play as a Druid and everyone uses it (just like everyone played Auctioneer as a Rogue).

Quote from yoh102 »

I think the Issue with Boom, PhD. is that the Boom Bots are actually too good to be played for free. I mean, I'm pretty sure they would see play if they were collectible in mech and deathrattle decks.

On the other hand, Boom is the really needed legit neutral 7-drop, so nerfing its mana cost would just screw him too much. So I proppose a slightly different mana nerf. Instead of Summon 2 Boom Bots, it may read battlecry: Put 2 1/1 Boom Bots in your hand.

This way the total cost of your distributed 9/9 with 2 deathrattle abilities that deal 2-8 damage to 1 or 2 random enemies would be 9, more in line with the effect described, but you would also have the option to not play the bots immediately but the doctor alone on turn 7.

That actually seems really fun since the boom bots are mech. Imagine playing Boom on turn 7, and then using turn 9 to double boom bot, Mimiron's Head, Conceal. Turn 9 the boom bots die as V-O7-TR-0N is formed dealing 2-8 damage across the board and giving you a mega windfury. Hahaha

There is also some ways to take advantage of a dr. boom. Say you're warrior and has enough armor to shield slam. The other dude plays a boom on empty board. You can slam down sylvanas, whirlwind, there's a good chance you steal the boom without even spending your shield slam (that's risky though).

I've done it as handlock with hellfire (makes it a very likely steal and it means u didnt even use a bgh/syphon on his boom).

Quote from Wargasmbrandon »

1. Dr. Boom doesn't need a nerf. Big game hunter is a thing.

2. A card being played by everyone is not a reason to nerf...if so sludge belcher needs it worse. Sludge is played in 90% of decks. Boom maybe 30%

I've seen a lot less Blecher since GvG came out.  I think I'll just be seeing more and more Boom as more people craft him.  

The dream!