I want to talk about ice lance.
Ice Lance had two components. One, freeze an enemy. Two, if it's already frozen, do something else.
Ice Lance did four damage. Four damage is worth about 3-4 Mana, 3 if it's to a minion, probably closer to four if it's face. This card was deemed too powerful, so it was sent to the HoF.
Now, we are being told the HoF is for cards that don't really fit the class ideology. Well, if it fit the class ideology, let's just nerf it instead.
Here is the thing. Ice Lance is about freezing dudes, and dealing damage with spells. That is entirely what mage is about. Freeze and burn. So why wasn't it just nerfed? Raise it's cost one Mana or drop it to 3 damage?
I'll tell you why. So they could print f---ing snap freeze. Snap freeze is freeze a guy, if he is frozen, do something else. That something else is destroy a minion. Destroy a minion is worth 4-5 Mana. Granted it's a less bursty card, but it's not that different.
Ice Lance didn't go to the HoF because it was overpowered. It went because if was a do everything freeze card. Now that it's gone, they can fill your packs with icicle and snap freeze.
Moral of the story. Nerfing classic cards is all about selling new cards. So be transparent blizzard. Just rotate the classical set like Kibler says, and print cards and take our money. But don't present bs design philosophy and expect me to swallow it
2
Oh YES! Finally some reliable healing + removal for Controlock and Handlock! Also, it can go face as well! This is great!
9
I believe they did everything on purpose. Just think about it. What would have happened to Battlegrounds if ladder was perfectly healthy? There was a lot of skepticism about the new mode when it was revealed. People probably wouldn't feel the need to try it. The reception would have been much weaker. So they deliberately found a way to make ladder a terrible experience. One so bad that people would be desperate to play something else to escape from it. It's pretty clear that everyone is unhappy with the current ladder situation and there are lots of people complaining. The fact that they haven't done anything at all says a lot. Huge conspiracy theory but this is the impression this situation left on me.
1
I really like this. Very powerful with Rush minions. Tempo Warrior isn't the best deck at the moment but it isn't weak either. And this will work with that deck really well. It is also good to see a different warrior archetype getting support instead of Control Warrior.
2
Seems pretty nice for Tempo Warrior. Reload + Buff + Weapon (potentially) + Extra Attack from Hero Power that can be used for finishing the opponent or removing stuff. Control Warrior doesn't get too much from this but it's not completely unplayable in that deck either. After Dr. Boom leaves, this will fill the gap nicely enough. Though i think Control Warrior will choose the quest instead of this. Really cool card.
4
Synergy card with Gonk that came a little bit too late. This is also nice for a Hand Druid since it adds cards to your hand which will be helpful for Twilight Drake and Bewitched Guardian. This could be the correct direction for Dragon Druid. We will see.
1
This is cool and a little better than Toxic Reinforcements. If it's going to find a spot in a deck is another story though.
9
They should switch the tavern tiers of Rat Pack and Infested Wolf. Rat is ridiculously more powerful than wolf. It's also incredibly annoying how you get randomly punished severely by Rat when it dies last. The damage can go from 2 to 7! The only other minion that does something similar is Replicating Menace but only if the opponent stacks two of those in a single minion.
1
Interesting but it's a risky card. It all depends on what your opponent is playing and their hand next turn. You don't want to speed up the late game of other decks. Imagine this against Quest Druid. Doesn't sound like a very good idea to help them with ramping. But at least Nozari can see play now as a comeback in case things go horribly wrong. Maybe...
1
Fun brawl. I had way more success with Rag than Nefarian though. Too much RNG in his hero power and if you don't get good cards from it, you lose from the tempo lost paying 2 mana for it. You are better off placing his strong minions early than trying to roll good spells out of his casino hero power. Rag has some good early game cards (like the 2 mana 6/6 taunt) and his second hero power usually seals the game. Though i must say that the Magma Ragers from his first hero power can be quite intimidating as well.
1
Well, i had 30 health and 20+ armor so i don't think he had any other options. This deck doesn't apply enough pressure against warriors.