Datamined Balance Changes for 22.2 - Sorcerer's Apprentice - Rapid Fire - Rogue Changes & More!
After some sites jumped the gun, here are the Balance changes as datamined from an upcoming Patch, before Blizzard reveals them in the Patchnotes scheduled for tomorrow. Notable is that The Rapid Fire change for Hunter is not just a cost increase but also a Damage increase and that on top of all the nerfs, there is a buff to Rokara, the hero, going from 5 armor to 10 armor.
Quote from HearthPwn[EX1_608] [Sorcerer's Apprentice] [MODIFIED] COST: 2 => 4
[DAL_373] [Rapid Fire] [MODIFIED] COST: 1 => 2 (note: not just the cost was increased, damage too, from 1 to 2)
[DAL_373ts] [Rapid Fire] [MODIFIED] COST: 1 => 2 (note: not just the cost was increased, damage too, from 1 to 2)
[BT_002] [Incanter's Flow] [MODIFIED] COST: 3 => 4
[DMF_512] [Cloak of Shadows] [MODIFIED] COST: 3 => 4
[SW_028t] [Create a Distraction] [MODIFIED] QUEST_PROGRESS_TOTAL: 2 => 3
[AV_202] [Rokara, the Valorous] [MODIFIED] ARMOR: 5 => 10
[AV_203] [Shadowcrafter Scabbs] [MODIFIED] COST: 7 => 8
[AV_298] [Wildpaw Gnoll] [MODIFIED] COST: 5 => 6
[AV_298] [Wildpaw Gnoll] [MODIFIED] ATK: 4 => 3
Mage Changes
Hunter Changes
Of note, not just the Cost was increased, so was the Damage, from 1 to 2.
The second step of the Warrior Quest is the most devastating for the opponent, slowing them down by 1 minion seems probably enough for Aggro mirrors, but I still don't think it will open up space for slower decks (although combo Mages are basically dead now, so we'll see).
These nerfs aren't bad, but I really wanted them to take a different approach to the Gnoll nerf. It should stay as a base cost 5 mana 4/5 with rush. But it should NOT have that gimmicky and ill-conceived interaction with Maestra. It just should not interact with Maestra at all. You should have to actually work to generate non-rogue cards with actual thief cards instead of just saying "lol imma just secret passage on one and then YEET". Why would you have a card that is supposed to be a reward for playing thief cards, and then not actually have to play thief cards? It just.. doesn't work. Very disappointed they took this approach instead of just getting rid of that ridiculous interaction. Gnoll would be such a cool card and such a nice reward if it actually worked the way it was supposed to.
{1} Maestra/Gnoll Interaction change and {2} Secret Passage +1 mana almost surely would have been better nerfs for the game than {1} this gnoll change and {2} Cloak of Shadows +1 mana. Just feels like these are ill-conceived attempts to fix the problems, that won't be as effective as they could have been.
Yes, the card was only busted because of the nearly nonsensical Maestra interaction.
They absolutely need to fix Secret Passage. I personally think the entire hand should switch back, not magically allowing you to keep any extra drawn or generated cards, which often makes Secret Passage MORE than a 1 mana draw 4, which is absolutely idiotic.
I absolutely agree, the card draw is the problem with rogue.
Nice job, xskarma
God the warrior hero change is so pointless. It’s bad because it doesn’t do anything impactful compared to the other heroes, adding 5 armor changes nothing.
I think the ability to use the weapon on a big minion without taking so much face damage is pretty significant. It may not be a huge change, but it's far from pointless, as it does translate to safely dealing more face damage to the opponent.
Well, you're just completely wrong.
This change makes Rokara an autoinclude in any Control Warrior deck for the next two years. Granted, whether Control Warrior is viable or not depends on the other cards in standard, it's not a change that automatically makes Control Warrior - which doesn't see any real play right now - a meta deck, but it'd be pretty terrible if that was the case, you don't want a deck that's carried by a single card and weak otherwise.
That's not all either, this change is also relevant for Pirate Warrior which (usually) plays Rokara, and which just got nerfed. Delaying their quest progress by a turn makes the deck slower, which makes them weaker in agro matchups, and the extra armour will help them compensate for that. Basically the two changes put together shift Pirate Warrior slightly from an agro towards a midranged deck.
It's not some drastic meta-shifting change, but it's definitely relevant.
Shield Shatter
Five extra armor is nice... but it doesn't change the fact that the Rokara hero doesn't really offer control warrior (or any warrior) that much.
Rokara just doesn't add long-term value, and that's something incredibly important for a control deck. If the Pirate quest didn't exist, I could see Rokara as a tool for tempo or midrange warrior to close out games since the weapon is decent and the new hero power puts an opponent on a clock, but it's unnecessary with current warrior cards, and doesn't add enough to other archetypes.
Control Warrior was never going to be a thing in the current meta, so I don't know why you're even talking about it.
After rotation, literally anything can happen. Control Warrior may or may not become viable at that point, but its success or failure will not hinge on this one balance change alone. Either way, this buff is a buff, so it makes the archetype's eventual success more likely, even if only slightly.
I think they should have buffed apprentice stats (A/H) to compensate for the mana increase. Like this it is totally useless
The stats on Sorcerer’s Apprentice don’t actually matter since it wins the game when it’s played. I mean, when’s the last time anyone actually attacked with one?
I think a lot of Wild players will be perfectly happy if it turns out to be useless now.
That's the point, this degenerate card has been causing problems for almost 8 years now.
Agreed. Plus the 8 golden copies of it sitting in my collection have finally found their purpose in life... to be destroyed!!!
Mwhahahhaa death to the apprentice!
It's not so much a question of attack but of health. What's the point of playing a 4 mana card with 2 hp?. If it can't be used for crazy combos at least it should be used for its value and the opponent should make a little bit more effort to remove it. What's the point in making a card from busted to unplayable? Is this a balanced change?
good !!! mages nerfs, very usefull nerfs for a class that has its best deck as tier 3 .... libram paladin still untouched
Bruh, Libram Paladin will rotate in 3 months.