Looks like a massive nerf wave is building up. I excpect at least 5 out of those 8 (or 9 with NGS) get hit, maybe more, but I also expect to lose more dust than I gain back, as quite a few cards won't get nerfed but still end up much weaker, as the decks they belong to are no longer playable, like Level Up, Clockwork Giant, Skull of the Man'ari, Sonya Shadowdancer, and many more.
On the one hand, the meta might actually change quite a bit, on the other hand, I still don't like drastic nerfs, and I think at least some of these problem cards were predictable and avoidable.
Control Warlock, or Bloodreaver Gul'dan for that matter, was good but not too good during KFT, mostly because of Razakus (which had to get nerfed). I think it would have been smarter to just wait, instead of pushing it so heavily with KnC that it would become another problematic deck itself. And I will be pissed if Doomguard gets nerfed because of it. The card was never really too good, and barely played after the rotation of Voidcaller. It just became interesting again after Power Overwhelming was kicked out and Gul'dan gave it a second wind, but then KnC added TWO ways to bring the card out without its battlecry, AND the Cube-Dk-synergy, along with yet another very powerful demon. THAT is a fabricated nerf - keep pushing a card so much until it becomes problematic.
Call to Arms is another one of those carelessly overstatted cards, much like Ultimate Infestation, or like Corridor Creeper used to be. You could reduce it to 2 minions, and it would still be above average as a draw+play 2x2 for 4. There is just no reason to keep it the way it is. I hope Sunkeeper Tarim will be spared, because without the swarming, it is more in the middle between pushing damage and securing board control and an important card for Paladin as a class. Still very powerful, but not a pure aggro tool.
And as a final note: "Quest Rogue matchups are so polarizing that they can leave you feeling like the outcome of the match is decided before the game begins rather than what happened during the game." - this is true for most matches in Hearthstone for quite a while already, starting with Jade Idol and Patches the Pirate. A lot of decks have polarizing matchups because they do their thing so well that you either play a counterdeck or you lose. Strategies have become much more clear-cut and consistent over the last couple expansions. This gives the game much more of a Rock-Paper-Scissors feeling, and thus many matchups are halfway decided just by the matchup. In that regard, Quest Mage is no different than Quest Rogue, just weaker. If you don't like polarizing matchups, stop pushing archetypes to the point of unfairness. Even if there are counters (like with Barnes) it doesn't make it "fair", when the outcome is determined by "have/hold the counter, or lose".
All in all, I'm glad Iksar shares some info on possible nerfs, it's good to hear at least something. But I'm a broken record on this: They need to fundamentally change their design philosophy if this is discussion is not meant to happen every single expansion.
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It is nice to see Molten Giant buffed back! Finally he will not appear only in Giant decks...
But the most important change is reworking all those gold quests - that is a step in the right direction!
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Hi everyone! This card below was intended as an additional tricky option for slower Hunter builds to deal with wide Aggro or Midrange boards to not rely every time on Unleash the Hounds or Explosive Trap - classic Hunter's board clears. With efficient trading, using a Hunter's Mark or any other existing removals Swift Treant might become a game-changing card, however it can be countered with your opponent's good board positioning.
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I must agree with PileOfCheese's opinion about Corrupted Drake - this card is massively understatted or overcosted. Discarding one card costs around -1 mana ( Lakkari Felhound vs Ancient of Blossoms or Succubus vs vanilla 3 drop, for exemple Hired Gun), dealing 3 damage costs around 2 mana (Frostbolt, Darkbomb, Quick Shot and many others). With current stats it should cost 6/7 mana.
I also think that Corrupted Templar may be a bit underpowered - how Silver Hand Recruits can be reliably played? There is Drygulch Jailor's deathrattle and eventually bounce effects, but why would you like to use them on a 1/1? Generally at the end of the game this minion will be 5 mana 4/7 with Taunt - Nesting Roc is generally better and it is a neutral card.
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Hi! This deck looks pretty good! Do you have some videos/replays, especially against Cube Warlocks? Regardless of which deck I play, I lose against them...
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If you played Raza the Chained and Shadowreaper Anduin, you can deal 30 damage to your opponent in one turn using Spawn of Shadows and 4 other cheap cards for 1 mana (for exemple discounted by Emperor Thaurissan). Before performing a combo you need to be healed to at least 20 health to not kill yourself.
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Maybe that's because Duplicate doesn't trigger on your turn?
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The same as a person above, buffed Acolyte of Pain or Stonehill Defender gives you a great value.
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It looks great! Unfortunately, I don't have any Simulacrum. Another Ice Barrier, another spell generator like Shimmering Tempest or Spellslinger, Bloodmage Thalnos for card draw or something else can replace it?
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Great combo potential... I'm waiting for some 2x Radiant Elemental + 2x Eternal Servitude into 2x Prophet Velen + some Mind Blast shenanigans.