Hearthpwn

No class should have access to an evergreen card which has been the core of many successful archetypes. Have you ever wondered why T5 refused to release very strong standalone 1- or 2-drops for Shaman since Un'Goro? Yeah, that's right. Flametongue Totem is the single reason. It's obvious since Aggro Shaman being strong turned out to be so unhealthy for the game that they were forced to obliterate the archetype with the nerfs to Rockbiter Weapon, Spirit Claws and Tuskarr Totemic. Tunnel Trogg and Thing from Below together with Doomhammer were also on the verge of being hammered.

So, don't expect to see a basic/classic card being played in (multiple) powerful Standard decks forever.

Quote from B0n3d4ddy >>

No class should have access to an evergreen card which has been the core of many successful archetypes. Have you ever wondered why T5 refused to release very strong standalone 1- or 2-drops for Shaman since Un'Goro? Yeah, that's right. Flametongue Totem is the single reason. It's obvious since Aggro Shaman being strong turned out to be so unhealthy for the game that they were forced to obliterate the archetype with the nerfs to Rockbiter Weapon, Spirit Claws and Tuskarr Totemic. Tunnel Trogg and Thing from Below together with Doomhammer were also on the verge of being hammered.

So, don't expect to see a basic/classic card being played in (multiple) powerful Standard decks forever.

Shaman was the "pet class" for awhile, they kept on pushing to see what it would take to make it strong. A Flametongue nerf would've barely been noticed back then, it was overstuffed with powerful cards. Now a Flametongue nerf would make Even Shaman crumble. Is Flametongue an overpowered card? Yes. Is it iconic, speaks to class identity, and would nerfing it make archetypes crumble? Yes. So I'd say it would currently be a bad nerf. 

Speaking of nerfs that make archetypes crumble, Mana Wyrm. It was a great nerf from a purely game design perspective, 1 mana snowballers are terrible for the game. But Mage needed an exceptional card to have any hope for an aggro build. How has aggro mage been doing since this nerf? I think we all know the answer. 

I'll take a few overpowered iconic evergreen cards any day over a "perfectly balanced game" with few viable archetypes. 

Whats wrong with buffing back FWA? just because warrior have tier 1 decks? It is not like the tier 1 decks aka odd warrior is going to use fwa. 

Quote from YouthThunder >>

Whats wrong with buffing back FWA? just because warrior have tier 1 decks? It is not like the tier 1 decks aka odd warrior is going to use fwa. 

It was nerfed because it was broken.  If buffed, it would be STILL BROKEN.  WTF is wrong with just accepting this and moving on?