Hearthstone's Next Balance Update Goes Live on May 22
We've now got official confirmation that the upcoming balance changes will be going live on May 22. When we first got word balance changes were on their way, it was stated we'd see them after the conclusion of the summer playoffs but we didn't think it would be that soon!
Quote from BlizzardUpdate: These balance changes are currently scheduled to go live on May 22 PDT.
The Nerfs
For those out of the loop, here's the nerfs that are coming in the update.
- Naga Sea Witch - Cost is now 8, up from 5.
- Spiteful Summoner - Cost is now 7, up from 6.
- Dark Pact - Now restores 4 Health, down from 8.
- Possessed Lackey - Cost is now 6, up from 5.
- Call to Arms - Cost is now 5, up from 4.
- Crystal Core - Effect now makes all minions in your deck 4/4, down from 5/5.
We've got dedicated threads available to discuss each card nerf.
Spiteful is still broken.
How much testing did you do to come to that conclusion? Hundreds of games with the new nerfed card, in the context of the new meta with all the other nerfs?
One more turn is waaaay more than you think. Let's say it summons 12/12 like often happens. That means you got 16 damage into face one whole turn later. It is same as the pre-nerf summoner would have battlecry addition - at the start of the game raise your opponent health by 16. Aaaand that's a lot.
This is probably the first time I've seen Blizzard nerf something without taking it in the backyard and bashing it's legs in with a bat. However, I still believe that things like Spiteful Summoner, Quest Rogue and Possessed Lackey can be a bit troubling. Spiteful coming down a turn later doesn't translate to much when it still summons a 10 drop as often enough the only way to kill it is via a single target removal spell, which all of them are 6 mana or less. I guess it gives you an extra turn to draw one of these, but it still doesn't feel like it will be that much of an impact. Quest rogue having 4/4s instead means that instead of having to attack face 6 times, it's 8 times instead (7 times if you can poke face twice with the knife) and considering how many bounce and charge effects it has, this should still be obtainable to the point where it shuts out a lot of the slower control decks. As for Possessed Lackey, it is the whole same thing that I mentioned with Spiteful. Yeah it'll be much weaker against aggro decks (even worse considering Dark Pact is getting nerfed) but 6 mana summon a Voidlord or Doomguard from your deck still is pretty strong. Cubelock won't shit on aggro as well anymore, but it still isn't something to throw away just yet.
As for the other nerfs, I think they are pretty good. Naga Sea Witch going up to 8 kills any chance of the card being used for it's initial purpose, but it does a suitable job for making Giants weaker. It prevents a turn 5 flood with no suitable board clear (like Lightbomb which comes out a turn later) but still makes it possible for a Giants deck to work. As for Dark Pact this will still see a bunch of play just because you can pop your cubes with it. This is the huge nerf for the aggro match up, but in a control mirror, it shouldn't really make this card worse. Call to Arms is also just a pretty good nerf since it makes it still playable with a generic midrange paladin, but makes it easily abusable like it was in Even Paladin.
Overall, I feel like these nerfs will shut even paladin out of the meta and make Cubelock weaker against aggro, but other than that I don't feel like the meta will change that much. A simple mana increase isn't going to stop a 4/4 + 12/12 from winning the game, whether it comes out turn 6 or turn 7, it's still an incredibly strong effect.
You do need to consider that Spiteful coming 1-turn later will require SPiteful decks to acutally have reasonable play turn 6, and it also means that you can drop a powerful minion of your own. ONe of the biggest problem agaisnt SPiteful Summoner was that most of the time you were barely able to take the board by turn 6 against, so often times removing the 10-drop (and the Summoner herself) just couldn't be done without losing any and all board presence.
Example: Previously, as Hunter, I couldn't just drop my Highmane turn 6 because it won't compete with a Deathwing. Now I can do that and therefore I might, after dealing with the 10-drop, still have a reasonable body on the board. Hell, I might even run Crushing Walls for that purpose.
Point is, mana cost increase isn't so much about when the minion comes out, but about what the opponent can put on the board beforehand.
In any case you can jsut put Big game Hunter into your deck and be sure to deal with the 10-drop at all times.
hold on the giest 6 drop card in druid decks after the nerfs
For the cards listed, yes. Not so much other cards made significantly worse by these nerfs.
you don't get any dust but they do charge you 5 dollars for each nerfed card you disenchant
Give me the lead! Free Packs, more Style, More Fun! my motto
ps:
no more stYUHUpid nerfs :P :D
HAHA GO AWAY mages!
So, Tempo-mage meta incoming?
I hope they will nerf tempo-mage soon, al least a bit. You know, a would happy even -1dmg to explosive rune (or even -2, really, it is much better then snipe coz it goes face), Or kirin tor mage to be 3-3 or 3-2. Maybe Sorcerer's Apprentice to be 2-2. Something of this, just little and gentle nerf
Odd Paladn is still around, isn't it?
Maybe they'll finally get around nerfing Mana Wyrm tho..
Yup, things may actually get WORSE...
Mistake. Just delete this comment
Good nerf gg blizzard gg
I think warlock may actually be more fun to play and play against now that they have to flesh out their mana curve more to fill gaps. Currently if they have enough early removal and turn 5 Lackey Pact they can basically set up and instantly snowball towards victory through crazy mana efficient value plays. The nerf significantly slows down their win condition giving a lot of other decks room to operate a bit more aggressively instead of always being behind on board in the late game.
Will it change the meta? Silence will still be so good. Weapon removal might still be viable based on the now-increased value of a turn 5 Skull of the Man'ari. Polymorphs will still be so powerful.
Who knows. But still, good work blizz gg
22. 5. 2018 9:00-10:00 CET
I'm happy about these nerfs.
I used both even/odd pala and cubelock, but I'm really bored of the same deck time and time again. This are important nerfs, but none of them make the cards unplayable, like it happened in the past (Corridor Creeper, Patches the Pirate just among the most recent).
I will enjoy seeing some more diversity.