Upcoming Hearthstone Balance Changes - Wild Growth, Nourish, Level Up!, Saronite Chain Gang, Leeching Poison CHANGES ARE NOW LIVE
Five card changes are coming to Hearthstone on December 19th, which is... today!
- [Discuss this Change] Wild Growth now costs 3, up from 2.
- [Discuss this Change] Nourish now costs 6, up from 5.
- [Discuss this Change] Level Up! now costs 6, up from 5.
- [Discuss this Change] Saronite Chain Gang now summons another Saronite Chain Gang, instead of a copy of the minion.
- [Discuss this Change] Leeching Poison now costs 1, down from 2, and only gives Lifesteal for 1 turn.
Check out Blizzard's post below for more information on each of the changes.
Quote from BlizzardIn an update scheduled to arrive December 19 PST, the following cards will be changed.
Developer’s Note: This balance update is focused on improving the long-term health of both Standard and Wild. We've opted to make these changes earlier in the expansion cycle than we normally consider; we'd like to hear your feedback on the timing of this update, in addition to what you think of all the individual card changes.
Wild Growth – Will cost 3 mana. (Up from 2)
Nourish – Will cost 6 mana. (Up from 5)
Wild Growth and Nourish have been present in every mid-range, combo, and control Druid deck since their introduction in the Basic and Classic set. When cards from the Basic and Classic set are too powerful, they can have negative long-term effects on the game. Continuously playing against these cards can start to feel repetitive, and they can feel so mandatory that they stifle creative deckbuilding decisions. By increasing the mana cost of both cards by one, we expect them to be considerations in late-game control Druid decks, but more difficult to fit in strategies that don’t directly take advantage of ramping mana.
Level Up! – Will cost 6 mana. (Up from 5)
Odd Paladin has consistently been one of the most powerful and most played decks since its introduction in The Witchwood. By removing Level Up from Odd Paladin, we still expect it to be a competitive board control deck, just with more consistent damage output that should be easier to play around.
Saronite Chain Gang – Now reads: Taunt. Battlecry: Summon another Saronite Chain Gang.
Shudderwock brings an interesting combo to the table, but playing Shudderwock multiple times in a single game can be frustrating. Changing Saronite Chain Gang makes playing multiple Shudderwocks in a game much more difficult. Shudderwock should now exist as a powerful one-turn effect rather than constantly copying itself with Saronite Chain Gang’s Battlecry.
Leeching Poison – Will cost 1 mana. (Down from 2). Now reads: Give your weapon Lifesteal this turn.
We love the fantasy of building a powerful weapon over the course of a game with Kingsbane, but granting it a permanent Lifesteal effect with Leeching Poison resulted in an endgame with few weaknesses, as well as conflicting with our philosophy that Rogues should not have persistent self-healing effects. Making the Lifesteal effect only active for one turn should address some of the power level issues with Kingsbane Rogue’s late game.
Kiwii's Thoughts
Resident deck architect Kiwiinbacon had some thoughts on the nerfs.
I hear you, same situation for myself on Highlander Priest not so long ago. Never spent more dust crafting a deck, then basically invalidated.
Thanks man! My thoughts exactly.
Actually had a copy of golden Leeching Poison and one Golden Saronite Chain Gang (both from packs) Feels good...
Don't expect Cutlass to ever be touched. Firstly, weapon removal kills it dead, where Kingsbane was impervious, secondly, that deck fails pretty hard on ladder because the stronger it gets, the weaker it gets. Playing Thief Rogue against Rogue is not fun, I can tell you from experience. Essentially the only way you have of winning the matchup against another Rogue archetype is crossing your fingers that Espionage gives you something busted and you draw it quickly. If your version even runs Espionage, that is. Your whole deck essentially turning itself off whenever you go against Rogue is a huge hit to that strategy.
Ok so lets sum this one up.
They buffed Kingsbane from a very fun Tier 3 Deck to a very good and still fun Tier 1 deck by introducing a very Broken 3 Mana Spell. Then 1 week after everyone spends Dust on Kingsbane and all support Cards to play the Deck they nerf the least expensive Spell without wich the deck drops back down to far worse then it was before. And all we get is 80 Dust the least they could have done ist make Kingsbane disenchantable for free....
Maybe don't run out and start crafting expensive cards a week after an expansion drops? Not trying to be an ass but you can usually expect the meta to shift and/or balance changes happen for a while after a new expansion. To be honest I myself crafted Kingsbane a few weeks ago...I knew I what I was risking, but I wanted to play the deck. Yea it sucks....but I can't be mad about it...the risk was there.
I have to admit balance changes came real fast this time around than usual, but I still never craft high immediately but usually during the midway point of the expansion when the meta settles.
I liked the early nerfs and agree with all of them even kingsbane needed a nerf maybe not that hard. Still the refund policy is bs its a kingsbane only card the nerf the least they can do is make kingsbane disenchantable for full value
And hast thou slain the shudderwock? Come into my arms my Beamish boy, oh frabjous day !
Underrated comment
I never disenchanted my extra Saronite chain gangs in preparation for this day! YES!
HOW LONG CAN THIS GO ON
Wild Growth was always gonna be a problem card. Same for Nourish. ANY Odd Paladin cards should have been nerfed a while ago. Saronite wasn't hit hard and Shudder still lives on in Wild. Leeching poison got butchered. At least make the lifesteal effect last for 2-3 turns. Good changes tho imo
Early Christmas for Rexxar
Feels strange when the nerfed new comer (Level Up) takes the spotlight while the ancient Wild Growth is on sided.
I like the nerf but what i hate is the fact they nerf commun card to not nerf a deck but entirely destroy an archetype so the dust refund is kind of rubbish
How long can this go on? How long ca...... DUSTED * 2
I like these nerfs to decks that basically can't be killed/win when they just survive enough turns. Especially when card advantage or your own win condition basically do nothing to them.
But they fucked up with druids. Druids ramping is slowed down, arguably by an acceptable amount. But they can still DO those over the top, game winning combos. And the armor to facilitate the stall druid needs was not not touched.
Hunter is concerning. But maybe the meta will focus more on winning that match-up now that we have "more space".
The real disappointment here for me is basically no refund on any investment players made into these decks. Especially kingsbane, which really does not have a competitive niche without leeching poison.
This is where warrior will see some play!! With less mana domination in the meta some slower but still powerful decks like warrior may actually get a chance to build a board and compete. I’m currently playing a rush warrior that can compete against secret hunters and other tempo decks, but it loses hard to Kingsbane and druids that ramp forever into UI. Odd paladin was tough as well, not so much without level up now.
I particularly like the suddenness of the nerf, it allows for immediate gameplay that keeps the meta fresh. I like that they did it now as well when the meta was starting to settle into the same kinds of tempo decks that have dominated all year. It will allow for some new expansion based decks to really shine and possibly carve out a spot in the meta.
I dont love kingsbane decks, but way to kill Leeching Poison rofl. Warsong Commander treatment basically.