The one thing I don't get. The Devs know that Theotar is not enjoyable - they stated as much in their own comments on the nerf (see below - bold for emphasis). They don't want people to play it, because it stops you playing with your new shiny cards and it isn't fun. Yet they release Patchwerk - a single blood Legendary which is going to feature in a high percentage of DK decks. I know you don't get to choose the cards and it only targets minions, but Patchwerk isn't a tempo loss in the same way as Theotar and removes cards from deck as well (and targeting minions is often the intended goal of Theotar anyway).
Why is it fun to lose important cards to a new card, but not fun to lose them to a slightly older one?
The release of a new class is an incredibly exciting moment for Hearthstone players everywhere, and a moment that we want to be as enjoyable and accessible as possible. Knowing the importance of this new class release, our plan with Theotar was to test out a smaller change to the card (from 4 to 5 mana in Patch 24.4.3) before potentially moving for a larger change if necessary. Theotar’s play rate did not drop as far as we would have liked it to with the smaller change, and is still higher than we would like it to be leading into March of the Lich King. Our aim with this second change is to lower the card’s play rate to ensure that the release of Death Knight is as fun as possible for players with a wide variety of interests and experience levels.
I think it will be played as long as Denathrius exists in his current format, as he's the only semi reliable card to counter him. This game ending, fun-destroying card has no real condition other than playing the game and will continue to be able to be used in pretty much every deck type until he rotates out.
Seeing Denathrius used as the win-con in pretty much all the Death Knight showcase matches highlights how much of a problem card he is. We now also have Denathrius v2 to contend with Astalor Bloodsworn, who obviously also combo's with Brann for extra fun (with discount/druid), so this is another valid target for Theotar.
The one thing I don't get. The Devs know that Theotar is not enjoyable - they stated as much in their own comments on the nerf (see below - bold for emphasis). They don't want people to play it, because it stops you playing with your new shiny cards and it isn't fun. Yet they release Patchwerk - a single blood Legendary which is going to feature in a high percentage of DK decks. I know you don't get to choose the cards and it only targets minions, but Patchwerk isn't a tempo loss in the same way as Theotar and removes cards from deck as well (and targeting minions is often the intended goal of Theotar anyway).
Why is it fun to lose important cards to a new card, but not fun to lose them to a slightly older one?
The release of a new class is an incredibly exciting moment for Hearthstone players everywhere, and a moment that we want to be as enjoyable and accessible as possible. Knowing the importance of this new class release, our plan with Theotar was to test out a smaller change to the card (from 4 to 5 mana in Patch 24.4.3) before potentially moving for a larger change if necessary. Theotar’s play rate did not drop as far as we would have liked it to with the smaller change, and is still higher than we would like it to be leading into March of the Lich King. Our aim with this second change is to lower the card’s play rate to ensure that the release of Death Knight is as fun as possible for players with a wide variety of interests and experience levels.
I think it will be played as long as Denathrius exists in his current format, as he's the only semi reliable card to counter him. This game ending, fun-destroying card has no real condition other than playing the game and will continue to be able to be used in pretty much every deck type until he rotates out.
Seeing Denathrius used as the win-con in pretty much all the Death Knight showcase matches highlights how much of a problem card he is. We now also have Denathrius v2 to contend with Astalor Bloodsworn, who obviously also combo's with Brann for extra fun (with discount/druid), so this is another valid target for Theotar.