Hearthpwn

It was oppressive and it did need a nerf, but even as a tech card people would rather run Ironbeak owl because nobody wants to play a 4 mana 2/2. Classic blizzard show that when they nerf a card, they banish it to the shadow realm. I actually think a fairer nerf would have been to make it a 5 mana 4/4. 

Quote from drfelip >>

Are we already confusing "overpowered card" with "good card"? If Azure Drake is overpowered, what are most recent Shaman cards? Hypermegaoverpowered?

A 5 mana 3/3 azure drake would not be played because the stats are significantly worse than a 4/4. I would say in my opinion Azure drake is fine. Every card game needs some powerful creatures. Too many overpowered minions can be bad, however every minion being too balanced is also bad for a game as well because if the game is too balanced than it just becomes boring and stale because there are no threats. Yes maybe some cards may need nerfs, but nerfing too many cards in order to balance the game can also be potentially damaging. 

Azure drake is not a card that will automatically win you the game or put pressure on your opponent like dropping a flamewreathed faceless or a 4 mana mountain giant. I think Azure Drake is a card that just like what happened to Ancient of lore and keeper of the grove, even a slight reduction of its health, mana cost or its ability will make the card a lot worse.

Quote from tabuhli >>

This is a big one. This card was originally meant to be used in situations where you need to gain back tempo, but now it's mostly used to hit face. There's no design reason why it shouldn't only work on minions.

I would say new formats. People always want cards to be nerfed and then complain when they get nerfed to oblivion. So instead of nerfing cards, how about doing what card games like magic do and create new formats in which certain cards are banned. Also to deal with aggression maybe we need more good early game taunts maybe like a 2 mana 3/5 taunt and can't attack, basically an ancient watcher but with one less attack and taunt. I do think it is important to have some powerful cards in card games because if you nerf all of the powerful cards, then you get a really stale meta where there are no threats to play around. I am glad that the fanbase does not have the power to nerf cards otherwise about 50% of the cards would probably end up getting nerfed. People in the past even wanted to nerf Northshire Cleric. Even though it is a strong draw engine for Priest, nerf that card and you may as well delete Priest as a class.

Quote from T4te >>

Quote from suddenZenith >>

 

The introduction of arcane golem pisses me off because it means molten giant was nerfed for nothing. I don't mind the arcane giants, I actually like them, but their presence in the game is a big middle finger to the handlock players.

 

 This is completely false. Molten was nerfed, because it was a part of Classic set. They said, they'd be totally ok with Molten if it was ever to rotate out. And that's also why they are ok with Arcane Giant. They want such card in the game, but they don't want it to be there forever, limiting design freedom.

I think the short answer is Blizzard are not going to nerf any card which is not in the basic or classic set because any card not in those sets will eventually rotate out of standard. 

I think the best c'thun decks are the ones that have an alternate win condition then just condition, at the moment I think c'thun warrior is actually the strongest because not only is c'thun a win condition, they can also beat you in a fatigue game and I have seen some that also pack grommash and elise starseeker. I think the most interesting c'thun decks are going to be the ones that actually don't even need c'thun in order to win and with a bit more experimentation I think more decks like this will be created. I wonder if someone would even be able to make a more midrange c'thun deck or even a more aggressive deck rather than just being a control deck. I see all the time comments saying that c'thun decks are boring, but to be honest what I have found more boring is dying on turn 6 to an aggro deck, Its fun for the aggro player, it is not very fun for the guy on the receiving end of getting their face bashed in. 

Nope not sick of them at all. While some are the boring cookiecutter ones seen on day one which are not that hard to beat, there are some interesting c'thun decks starting to pop up and they will get more interesting when more people experiment more and realise you do not need to just have C'thun as your only win condition so I expect more C'thun decks to become more refined once the meta finally settles down. As a whole I don't mind them and I have quite enjoyed playing C'thun decks although I have not used a C'thun deck since the first two days of the expansion, but I will try some more out soon. I am having a blast in this meta although facing aggro shaman is actually not very fun though I admit it is fun when you crush someone with it.

I have to say most C'thun decks I have seen are inconsistent because they only have C'thun as their only win condition and if they do not draw it then they lose and they can get rushed down by aggressive decks before even playing C'thun. However I actually think C'thun decks can be interesting, powerful and consistent if people start to think outside of not only having C'thun as their win condition. I have played and beaten a lot of druids and one thing that I find weird is why don't they use savage roar? Because there are games where they have managed to get a board with c'thun buffing minions and I think "you know if they had savage roar then they could just outright win the game right now."

And a lot of the cultists have pretty solid stats for their cost so they can survive on the board longer and the twin emperors produce two bodies on the board so why no savage roar? A lot of druids are playing the Trump theorycraft deck, my problem with the deck is that there is no alternative win condition other than C'thun so I would like to see savage roar being played in a C'thun deck because that card is still deadly if you manage to flood the board and yet I hardly ever see it being played ever since force of nature was nerfed.

I think the best C'thun decks will be the ones that have alternative win conditions other than C'thun, an aggressive C'thun deck that could rush down the enemy before even playing C'thun would be interesting or even one that has a combo involving a charger like leeroy jenkins. I think C'thun is a strong card but would be a lot stronger once decks become more refined and become a lot more interesting.

I played with this guy and I like this card. 

Shaman got a lot of love in this expansion. They got some very strong cards and immediately stomped players who were just testing decks. I learnt pretty quickly that Shaman absolutely crushes any C'thun deck that only has C'thun as a win condition. I think the main offender I have found when playing against a shaman is the flamewreathed faceless, as a 4 mana 7/7 it has an immediate impact when it comes out. It is not uncounterable because you can kill it with removal, but because of its body it immediately demands an answer. When I have faced shaman I always try to make sure I have a removal spell in my hand by turn 4 because if it is not dealt with quickly than it literally can steamroll you. Shaman is powerful right now because the meta has not settled down yet and Shaman got some of the most powerful cards in this expansion. When the meta settles down and people have more refined decks than shaman may not be such a problem, just watch out for the big guy on turn 4.

It is a fair nerf because the card is still playable thanks to the fact you are getting 6/6 worth of stats for 5 mana. Seriously look what happened to arcane golem, at least this card did not get deleted from existence. However even though this card got nerfed, Druids are still a threat because savage roar is still deadly if they get a board. Also if C'thun druid decks are successful than you would have to worry about them buffing c'thun up to be as big as possible while ramping up to get him out sooner and killing you with its battlecry while using cards like dark arakkoa, klaxxi amber weaver and even this card to control the board until they are ready to finish you.

It will still be played, the ability is the reason you play it, not the 3 attack. At least the card did not end up like arcane golem and get pretty much deleted thankfully.

I think out of all of the nerfs, this is the card that has pretty much been nerfed to the levels of warsong commander and starving buzzard.