Upcoming Hearthstone Balance Changes - Giggling Inventor, Mana Wyrm, Aviana
Three card changes are coming to Hearthstone later this week on October 18th and one of them is purely for Wild!
- [Discuss this Change] Giggling Inventor now costs 7, up from 5.
- [Discuss this Change] Mana Wyrm now costs 2, up from 1.
- [Discuss this Change] Aviana now costs 10, up from 9.
Check out Blizzard's post below for more information on each of the changes.
Quote from BlizzardIn an update that is scheduled to arrive October 18 PDT, the following cards will be changed.
Giggling Inventor – Will cost 7 mana. (Up from 5)
Giggling Inventor is one of the most powerful and popular cards we’ve ever created. There’s virtually no downside to including it in a deck, and because it’s neutral, it’s played in almost every deck. We think it’s important to take risks when making powerful cards, especially when it comes to neutral taunts, given the role they can play in encouraging minion interactions and making games more interesting. However, Giggling Inventor has stepped beyond its intended role, and we don’t feel that it should be as effective as it currently is.
We initially tested this card at (6) mana in both the current Standard format as well as with cards that will be released in the future. Ultimately, we felt that its power level was still higher than is appropriate for a Neutral card with no build-around requirements. At (7) mana, we expect Giggling Inventor will find its way into fewer decks in general—and be much less effective in Quest Rogue—while it might remain situationally playable within specific deck archetypes, such as Evolve Shaman.
Mana Wyrm – Will cost 2 mana. (Up from 1)
Over time, we’ve been moving away from powerful, early-game 1-drops like Mana Wyrm. It can often feel like the outcome of a game is decided by whether Mana Wyrm was played on turn one, and if it could be removed quickly by an opponent. Mana Wyrm has also steered us away from making powerful low-cost Mage spells. We’d like Mana Wyrm to remain an option for decks it synergizes with, while preventing it from being a huge turn one threat.
At (2) mana, it will be easier to deal with Mana Wyrm the turn it’s played, and it will be harder to buff it with cheap spells early in the match. We still expect it to remain an option in decks that have a heavy focus on cheap spells, but it should be a less appealing option in decks that aren’t built with that focus in mind.
Aviana – Will cost 10 mana. (Up from 9)
Changing Aviana to (10) mana means it will no longer be possible to play Aviana and Kun the Forgotten King on the same turn without some additional help from cards like Innervate or The Coin. It also means Juicy Psychmelon will no longer draw both Aviana and Kun. This should make the combos Aviana and Kun produce less consistent, while still allowing decks that use the combos to exist for the players that enjoy playing them.
For those who hadn't realised yet that Blizzard is a complete joke of a company, I hope this makes it v. clear
Why OTK meta? The nerf on Giggling is a hugh buff for aggro and midrange decks - especially Zoo will be veeeery happy about this nerf.
Would've liked to have seen a bandaid nerf to Druid's versatility (whether that be Nourish, Plague, UI, or Branching Paths - take your pick). It's going to take a change in how they handle the Classic set/rotations to "fix" Druid long-term, but in terms of immediate balancing, Druid is simply too good at too many things.
I do like the Giggling nerf and am a bit surprised by the Mana Wyrm nerf - killing OP 1 drops is a philosophy I agree with, but I'm not sure Mage has a viable deck right now without it. I don't feel strongly one way or the other about Aviana, but only because I don't play Wild!
Mana Wyrm should be 2 health. Giggling should cost 6. Why nuke them from orbit when a simple tweak will do?
Losing Mana Wyrm after losing Ice Block in a class that relies on Classic cards hurts mage so badly. Also, why nerf the primary counter to Quest Rogue now?
They explicitly mentioned them testing a 6 mana Giggling against upcoming cards. I can't recall them ever doing that when explaining a nerf.
I read it, and if you read between the lines their position is "We'd rather nuke the card from orbit than take the risk of nerfing this again later. 6 would probably do the job for now but then we might look silly. Why did we make this card again? Anyway fire all missiles."
I've kidna learned to take their "upcoming cards" excuse with a grain of salt, history has shown those excuses don't pan out later.
I do agree with you on that. I just think that it's okay to nuke it right now as they already seem to know that it might still be problematic in the future if they didn't.
Realistically it's not a balance issue at 6. It's more likely they decided it shouldn't exist in any constructed meta and shouldn't have been made, and I can see why they would feel that way. I see this as a game design decision - they're effectively deleting it from the set.
Maybe it's an Issue with an upcoming Even deck that would abuse it at 6. We'll see...
Good changes, but they didn't go far enough imho. Getting rid of Giggling Inventor without knocking Odd Rogue, Zoolock, or Odd Paladin down a peg is leaving a void that aggro will happily fill. At least they hit Mana Wyrm so Tempo Mage won't fill the void as well. Although if there's an influx of aggro, Odd Warrior could keep it in check, and that could create a pocket for something Midrange. So it might balance out, but I'm concerned. We'll have to wait and see.
Well at least I can say that I was tired of losing to Aggro mages... (it is not tempo, it is aggro right now)
Aviana I suppose is a good change for Wild, comboes now need an extra innervate and psychmelon doesn't pull the whole combo anymore.
Giggling is a bit harsh, but I see why they wouldn't want to give this card to even decks...
to think of all those little mana wyrms i de'd from classic all those years..
Yet more proof that Blizzard loves Druidstone (Not touching all of Druid's op cards.)
Giggling Inventor nerf is a Token Druid and Quest Rogue nerf. Aviana is a Druid nerf in wild, and also an indirect nerf to Juicy Psychmelon.
Some would say that Giggling Inventor might just be a buff to Druid. It is a soft nerf to mossy horror, which is a soft buff to Spreading Plague and Soul of the Forest among many other things.
The Aviana Nerf is needed, It really limits the design in wild because you could just do lots of 10 drops turn 10 while the opponent, unless running a strong aggro deck, will lose by being severely outvalued.
+4600 dust.
RiP tempo mage you will not be missed.
Yes!!! i have GoldAviana
I think the Aviana nerf is fine. Now Druid needs an Innervate for his wombo combos. The combo decks will still be ok, but shouldn't be broken anymore. Imo good change.
Mana Wyrm... I don't now... -1 HP would be better I think. But 1/3 for 2 Mana... we will see, if this is still viable. For sure a big nerf to Aggro Mage.
And Giggling: I "hated" Giggling, and I think it was too strong for 5 mana, but "not broken". I think for 7 Mana the card should be dead now. This will have a big impact on Standard. Especially Zoo should be veeeeery happy about this nerf.
I agree that I would prefer Mana Wyrm at 1 mana 1/2 than 2 mana 1/3.