In my opinion, the reason is much more mundane. The later they announce the changes, the greater the chance that someone will craft some cards, that will become unplayable after the patch, because they were closely tied to the previous meta. Clever and cynical at the same time.
Take Warlock's curses as an example, they weren't nerfed directly, but without Brann Bronzebeard and Tamsin Roame in play, they are no longer viable, but you still can't refund them for the full dust cost.
Unless they go crazy with these buffs, I doubt Warlock will become playable.
Control Warlock problems are much deeper than single target removals (although he needs them too). He mainly lacks win condition, healing and resource generation.
And Fatigue Lock is... just bad. Slow, inconsistent, inflexible and without a reliable finisher. Totem Shaman does pretty much the same thing but better, so why bother with Warlock?
Literally want to see warlock dropped off a shelf, cheating out a 9 mana cards with no repercussion on turn 4 is stupid
On turn 4? How? Voidcaller costs 4 mana, but it also has to die. On top of that, without Mal'Ganis or Enhanced Dreadlord in your hand, it's basically a dead card.
It's a fun deck to play but very annoying to play against, especially when your deck is slower and can't really kill Druid before he pulls off his combo. Good job anyway :).
In terms of overall power, I don't think Warlock will be the worst class in standard, as his Imp Package from previous expansions is pretty solid. But if you only consider Festival of Legends, then Warlock will probably be the weakest. Honestly, I bet the only playable card will be Baritone Imp as a replacement (sort of) for Wicked Shipment and nothing else will see play, at least until mini set.
I said "not enough good targets", and yes, cards you mentioned won't justify running these. You spend 6 mana to deal 3 damage, hoping to kill something (which is pretty unlikely, because minions on T6 are usually quite big)... and then what? You cheat 3 mana and get Mal'Ganis, vanilla minion with no taunt or rush? Voidcaller would be even worse on turn 6. It's just a gimmick, not even close to a win condition.
Warlock's cards are awful. Both Dirge of Despair and Demonic Dynamics don't really have enough good targets in standard, but the latter might see some play in Imp Lock. However, no replacement for Tamsin Roame or Touch of the Nathrezim leaves Warlock with pretty much no healing other than Drain Soul and that sucks.
I also tried Undead Warlock, and while it's fun and satisfying, it's also very inconsistent, often coming down to drawing certain card early enough... or not drawing it at all (it sucks when Flesh Behemoth has no more targets to summon). If you don't hit Amorphous Slime into Flesh Behemoth or Dar'Khan Drathir or Thaddius, Monstrosity on T5, it's probably over, as aggro can kill at this point and control can handle your big stuff like Thaddius, Monstrosity and survive your pressure. Unless you also play Rivendare, Warrider, then you can beat any control deck, but they still can burn or steal one of your horseman.
And judging by the cards Warlock loses and gains after rotation, I don't think Undead Warlock has become any better, but rather worse.
3
So, Warlock is still a clown class. Well done team 5, I was worried they would take him seriously this time...
2
Most classes have 0-1 viable decks, so buffs are actually needed. More playable decks usually lead to a more diverse and interesting meta.
0
In my opinion, the reason is much more mundane. The later they announce the changes, the greater the chance that someone will craft some cards, that will become unplayable after the patch, because they were closely tied to the previous meta. Clever and cynical at the same time.
Take Warlock's curses as an example, they weren't nerfed directly, but without Brann Bronzebeard and Tamsin Roame in play, they are no longer viable, but you still can't refund them for the full dust cost.
TL;DR: Money.
4
Unless they go crazy with these buffs, I doubt Warlock will become playable.
Control Warlock problems are much deeper than single target removals (although he needs them too). He mainly lacks win condition, healing and resource generation.
And Fatigue Lock is... just bad. Slow, inconsistent, inflexible and without a reliable finisher. Totem Shaman does pretty much the same thing but better, so why bother with Warlock?
0
Tony Druid, Secret Rogue, Relic DH, Undead Priest. These are not hard counters, but they are all favored against Blood DK.
2
To be fair, fun in this game is usually one-sided...
1
On turn 4? How? Voidcaller costs 4 mana, but it also has to die. On top of that, without Mal'Ganis or Enhanced Dreadlord in your hand, it's basically a dead card.
0
It's a fun deck to play but very annoying to play against, especially when your deck is slower and can't really kill Druid before he pulls off his combo. Good job anyway :).
0
It's "you are dead on T5" type of deck. Greedy, slow, inconsistent. Not gonna work.
17
Why do you downvote them for not knowing something? Users here are really toxic...
-1
In terms of overall power, I don't think Warlock will be the worst class in standard, as his Imp Package from previous expansions is pretty solid. But if you only consider Festival of Legends, then Warlock will probably be the weakest. Honestly, I bet the only playable card will be Baritone Imp as a replacement (sort of) for Wicked Shipment and nothing else will see play, at least until mini set.
-3
I said "not enough good targets", and yes, cards you mentioned won't justify running these. You spend 6 mana to deal 3 damage, hoping to kill something (which is pretty unlikely, because minions on T6 are usually quite big)... and then what? You cheat 3 mana and get Mal'Ganis, vanilla minion with no taunt or rush? Voidcaller would be even worse on turn 6. It's just a gimmick, not even close to a win condition.
Also, Opera Soloist and The One-Amalgam Band are just bad, so there's no point in discovering them.
Only Enhanced Dreadlord is somewhat reasonable, because of Shallow Grave and other deathrattle support that Warlock has.
-7
Warlock's cards are awful. Both Dirge of Despair and Demonic Dynamics don't really have enough good targets in standard, but the latter might see some play in Imp Lock. However, no replacement for Tamsin Roame or Touch of the Nathrezim leaves Warlock with pretty much no healing other than Drain Soul and that sucks.
0
I also tried Undead Warlock, and while it's fun and satisfying, it's also very inconsistent, often coming down to drawing certain card early enough... or not drawing it at all (it sucks when Flesh Behemoth has no more targets to summon). If you don't hit Amorphous Slime into Flesh Behemoth or Dar'Khan Drathir or Thaddius, Monstrosity on T5, it's probably over, as aggro can kill at this point and control can handle your big stuff like Thaddius, Monstrosity and survive your pressure. Unless you also play Rivendare, Warrider, then you can beat any control deck, but they still can burn or steal one of your horseman.
And judging by the cards Warlock loses and gains after rotation, I don't think Undead Warlock has become any better, but rather worse.
1
Blood DK can do three times more and it's still not enough. And Sacrificial Pact is not in standard anymore.