I don't find the deck to be that big of a deal either, until it comes to Mr. Smite + Shadowstep shenanigans. And since Mr. Smite is what most people dislike about Quest Warrior also, he might be the card to get a nerf. (maybe?)
I also rather like Serena Bloodfeather - she'll outright destroy a minion that only has 1 health, and then otherwise can make a big threat much more manageable for other cards to deal with. I use her in my Aggro Priest deck, and really like her.
I was toying with an elemental Mage deck using Clumsy Courier to cheat out Grand Finale a little early. It's pretty fun! I feel like the only other good target for that card (in Standard, anyway) would be Deep Freeze, but that seemed too inconsistent for me.
I also rather like Serena Bloodfeather - she'll outright destroy a minion that only has 1 health, and then otherwise can make a big threat much more manageable for other cards to deal with. I use her in my Aggro Priest deck, and really like her.
I 200% agree with OP, people are way overreacting. Here are my 2$ about the meta
People have already realized that aggro decks destroy all those uninteractive combo decks and that's why for example Miracle Bleed Rogue has more or less disappeared from the meta. Yes it can OTK you on t6, yes it is completely unfun to play against and uninteractive, but also the deck is just bad and mostly offers free wins to most of the meta so there is nothing that needs addressing there. If your greedy 'control' deck always loses to them, so what. Just concede and move on to the next game.
Similar arguments to Miracle Bleed Rogue apply to Quest Warlock with Steeler of Souls. Unfun deck to face, can OTK you by t6-t7, but it performs badly and is quickly being replaced by Zoo-based Quest Warlock decks. Zoo Warlock sacrifices t1 tempo by playing the quest in order to get the 2x deal 3 + heal for 3 later on that discounts the Giants, as well as to have a late game win condition (quest reward) vs slow decks. But otherwise it is a very interactive, board-centric zoo-type deck. It is a strong deck, but it has none of the features that people complain about here (uninteractivity, early OTK, 10 cards per turn, etc...)
Quest Mage is not even that good and has also more or less disappeared from the meta with more and more decks running Cult Neophytes and even Robes of Protection. It was very popular on the first couple of days of the expansion because people always liked to play Spell Mage as a deck and it got some new tools that transformed it from a bottom tier deck to playable again. But the deck is not even close to being oppressive or even popular any more at high ranks (I've faced exactly 2 in my last 50 games)
What the introduction of the quests did to the meta is to make it a bit more 'rock-paper-scissors' as there are a lot more matchups that are 80-20 than 60-40 or 50-50, but overall there is always a balance and as aggro decks are rising in popularity (thanks to how badly they destroy these combo decks), control decks will eventually become more popular too, but will probably need to get a bit more refined (= less greedy)
^ this. Couldn't have said it better.
Unpopular opinion I guess, but I don't find this meta to be particularly awful. Meaning, I fully agree with OP and SirJohn. I have had no problem getting up to Diamond already (and I don't play all that much), just by playing a mix of Shadow Priest, Evolve Shaman, and Quest Warrior - none of the decks that are being called "problems" by everyone else. And what I've found is that these "problem" decks fold incredibly easily to some well-used tech cards (of which there are scores), smart playing, and heavy pressure. This has always been the rule to counter combo decks in this game, and that hasn't changed. And as far as nerfs... I dunno, no card really seems to be all that terrible. Maybe, MAYBE Battleground Battlemaster and also ***big maybe*** Aimed Shot. I also highly doubt they would ever nerf Incanter's Flow. It's an annoying card, despicably so, but so is any mana cheating card, which pretty much every class has now. (Remember when Druid was the only class that could do this reliably, being part of its class identity? Where did that go...)
What's super fun to me is that there is such a variety of decks on ladder, across ALL classes. That's actually pretty awesome. I was getting so fed up before this expansion came out facing the same 3 decks (Paladin, Shaman, Hunter), and now it's refreshing because you kind of never know what you're gonna be up against. And at the end of the day, if people are continuously losing with a deck that they copied and pasted and did not adjust the list at all to the meta they're facing, that's their fault.
Hilariously, I was playing against Quest Mage and then won because they milled themselves with Solarian Prime, which somehow decided to play, in this order, Cram Session, Arcane Intellect, another Cram Session, Primordial Studies, and then Cone of Cold. Felt good for me, but I'm sure that person will never play Solarian again.
Well, not quite. It says there might be a mass nerf before next year's rotation, and that the team will be meeting next week to discuss some possible nerfs for the current meta.
I actually have been swapping the Needle in occasionally, but sometimes I feel like there aren't quite enough spells in the deck to make good enough use of it. I think it could work though! Maybe instead of some of the tech cards like Serena or Cheesemonger, or possibly instead of Soul Mirror. What I do like about the Needle is how wonderfully it works with Voidtouched Attendant. With my luck, though, I never seemed to have had them both at the same time :(
Not a bad list at all! I think Devout Dungeoneer is a little awkward here though without enough Holy spell synergy. Perhaps Cabal Acolyte would be better since you have those Waves of Apathy? I also wonder if it would be better to use Shard of the Naaru instead of Royal Librarian? And also, do you think it's worth running Primordial Protector in this deck or maybe not? I find it useful to draw the quest card once it's finished. Just some thoughts!
This explains a lot actually. Every Quest Priest I've played against has completed their quest lines with discounted cards - I think it's a bug where discounted cards count as their original mana cost as well as their discounted cost. I'm sure that'll be addressed.
1
I don't find the deck to be that big of a deal either, until it comes to Mr. Smite + Shadowstep shenanigans. And since Mr. Smite is what most people dislike about Quest Warrior also, he might be the card to get a nerf. (maybe?)
0
^ this, and it cracks me up every time.
1
They're not nerfing her. They're "redesigning" her.
1
That's definitely about Illucia.
1
I play a deck like this! I also have Clumsy Courier and Primordial Protector in it, and it works pretty well. It's also super fun.
0
Sure! This is the list I use: https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1394061-illucia-shadow-priest
0
Nice! I like that idea. I've edited my list a bit and made it more zoo-like. I like how that worked out!
0
I was toying with an elemental Mage deck using Clumsy Courier to cheat out Grand Finale a little early. It's pretty fun! I feel like the only other good target for that card (in Standard, anyway) would be Deep Freeze, but that seemed too inconsistent for me.
I also rather like Serena Bloodfeather - she'll outright destroy a minion that only has 1 health, and then otherwise can make a big threat much more manageable for other cards to deal with. I use her in my Aggro Priest deck, and really like her.
1
^ this. Couldn't have said it better.
Unpopular opinion I guess, but I don't find this meta to be particularly awful. Meaning, I fully agree with OP and SirJohn. I have had no problem getting up to Diamond already (and I don't play all that much), just by playing a mix of Shadow Priest, Evolve Shaman, and Quest Warrior - none of the decks that are being called "problems" by everyone else. And what I've found is that these "problem" decks fold incredibly easily to some well-used tech cards (of which there are scores), smart playing, and heavy pressure. This has always been the rule to counter combo decks in this game, and that hasn't changed. And as far as nerfs... I dunno, no card really seems to be all that terrible. Maybe, MAYBE Battleground Battlemaster and also ***big maybe*** Aimed Shot. I also highly doubt they would ever nerf Incanter's Flow. It's an annoying card, despicably so, but so is any mana cheating card, which pretty much every class has now. (Remember when Druid was the only class that could do this reliably, being part of its class identity? Where did that go...)
What's super fun to me is that there is such a variety of decks on ladder, across ALL classes. That's actually pretty awesome. I was getting so fed up before this expansion came out facing the same 3 decks (Paladin, Shaman, Hunter), and now it's refreshing because you kind of never know what you're gonna be up against. And at the end of the day, if people are continuously losing with a deck that they copied and pasted and did not adjust the list at all to the meta they're facing, that's their fault.
0
Hilariously, I was playing against Quest Mage and then won because they milled themselves with Solarian Prime, which somehow decided to play, in this order, Cram Session, Arcane Intellect, another Cram Session, Primordial Studies, and then Cone of Cold. Felt good for me, but I'm sure that person will never play Solarian again.
6
Well, not quite. It says there might be a mass nerf before next year's rotation, and that the team will be meeting next week to discuss some possible nerfs for the current meta.
0
I actually have been swapping the Needle in occasionally, but sometimes I feel like there aren't quite enough spells in the deck to make good enough use of it. I think it could work though! Maybe instead of some of the tech cards like Serena or Cheesemonger, or possibly instead of Soul Mirror. What I do like about the Needle is how wonderfully it works with Voidtouched Attendant. With my luck, though, I never seemed to have had them both at the same time :(
1
The only deck I've been able to play without getting OTK'd is Warrior, so, yeah, I think so!
2
Not a bad list at all! I think Devout Dungeoneer is a little awkward here though without enough Holy spell synergy. Perhaps Cabal Acolyte would be better since you have those Waves of Apathy? I also wonder if it would be better to use Shard of the Naaru instead of Royal Librarian? And also, do you think it's worth running Primordial Protector in this deck or maybe not? I find it useful to draw the quest card once it's finished. Just some thoughts!
0
This explains a lot actually. Every Quest Priest I've played against has completed their quest lines with discounted cards - I think it's a bug where discounted cards count as their original mana cost as well as their discounted cost. I'm sure that'll be addressed.