What a week this one was. We’ve talked repeatedly the past few weeks that the Hearthstone (Free) community wasn’t happy with the state of the game partly because of the high level of RNG and because of the rather monotonous meta that consisted of Shaman upon Shaman and a few Warriors on the side. Well, Blizzard was indeed listening because out of nowhere, we got information that in the next patch (6.1.3), the developers are bringing the nerf hammer out of the drawer and banging away. The nerfs, which I talk about in more detail below, are substantial and should hit some of the most popular decks while also trying to ensure a better game going forward. Whether they will succeed, we shall see.
Blizzard is About to Nerf a Number of Cards
As I talked about in the intro for today, Blizzard came out somewhat unexpectedly and announced some severe nerfs that should change the meta ahead of BlizzCon. The cards being changed are Tuskarr Totemic, Call of the Wild, Rockbiter Weapon, Execute, Charge, and, of course, Yogg-Saron. You can read our story to see the exact nerfs. As expected, there was quite the reaction about the nerfs from all corners of the internet. IGN saw it as Blizzard finally making Hearthstone less random (or having only “good" RNG) and as the appropriate response to the “loathing" of RNG from the community.
This story tries to predict how the upcoming nerfs will affect the game. The Yogg nerf will probably make the card less able to swing a game by itself, and so he won’t be that big a factor in the professional scene. Abusive Sergeant won’t be a great first turn play anymore, Rockbiter’s nerf makes the card not broken (broken when combined with other cards), Tuskarr’s nerf tones down many strong Shaman decks, and so on. Overall, the writer agrees with the nerfs and feels that the one that might completely disappear from the game because of the nerf is Charge.
This writer talks about the nerfs in terms of the classes they affect, and this story wonders whether changing card stats is the wrong move because it creates an unstable environment for most players and does away with strategies and decks that have developed over many months. Mostly, though, the internet is on the side of Blizzard on this one and everyone appears to think that those cards needed to be nerfed ASAP. What do you think?
Six Shaman Cards Were Considered for Nerfs
Shaman was going to get the nerf hammer, that much was pretty obvious. The question was which Shaman cards would be nerfed. According to Iksar, Rockbiter, Trogg, Totem Golem, Thing from Below, Tuskarr, and Doomhamer were part of the conversation, though not all got the same attention. Trogg was almost nerfed, but the card didn’t really affect some very powerful decks that don’t include it, so nerfing it wouldn’t have helped the current meta. Rockbiter was a wider reaching change, so they saw that as a better change for the future of Shaman. Tuskarr was an issue both in terms of power level and fun. He also noted that Shaman won’t be seeing many more low-mana ways of increasing its attack. Read the reddit post here.
Blizzard Hopes it Learns Lessons From Cards like Tuskarr
Game designer Mike Donais talked about the changes made to the cards on reddit and stated that they are learning more about what the community wants and doesn’t want as they go along, and they want people to keep telling them their favorite cards so they can continue making cards like those ones. When it comes to cards like Tuskarr Totemic, Donais said that they understand that it’s a card many people don’t like because of its “swingy randomness," and they hope to learn from the reactions to those kinds of cards going forward. In other words, they’re trying to tone down that type of randomness.
One of the Game’s Biggest Issue Could be Easily Solved
Hearthstone might have RNG issues and all that, but this story says that one of its other major issues could be very easily solved, That problem is inconsistency with rules text, an issue I totally agree is important because I’ve found myself more than one times getting surprised by the outcome of a card due to the effect not agreeing with the text. For instance, Molten Giant says “damage your hero has taken" but it’s not actually accurate because if you gain life, the Giant’s cost goes back up. Or the fact that Shadow Madness allows the stolen minion to attack while other cards with similar effects don’t allow that. There are also other cards with unclear phrasing or cards that have the same exact text but behave differently. These issues, the story goes on to state, could easily be fixed and would improve the game greatly, especially for newer players.
Is Hearthstone RNG a Problem?
The writer of this story starts off with the assumption that Hearthstone has really changed this last year with format adjustments and other changes, so much so that people are questioning how viable of a competitive sport it can be and even the overall quality of it as a game. He goes on to talk about whether Hearthstone has indeed changed that much. He talks about how its main selling point is simplicity and fun, so the RNG part of the game serves that purpose by making it challenging yet fun.
Don’t Disenchant Your Nerfed Cards Until the Nerfs Hit
If you remember what happened the last time we had major Hearthstone nerfs, players got to get full dust back after disenchanting nerfed cards, and something like that will happen this around, too. However, as this story points out, you’ll have to wait until patch 6.1.3 hits before you can actually get your dust back, so don’t be hasty now. Also, keep in mind that cards that are from the Basic set cannot be disenchanted, but cards like Tuskarr Totemic, Call of the Wild, Abusive Sergeant, and Yogg-Saron will be at your mercy. But do have patience.
Twitch Prime Gets You Tyrande Whisperwind for Free
In case you missed the news on Friday, Amazon finally announced its plans for Twitch, and the promotional part of that includes Hearthstone. If you have Amazon Prime (and you are the primary holder), then you can link your Twitch account with your Amazon Prime account and get a premium Twitch experience. As part of promoting Twitch Prime, Amazon is giving away Tyrande Whisperwind, the new Priest Hero, for free to all its members. If you don’t have Amazon Prime yet, you can sign up for a 30 day trial so you can get your hands on Tyrande. Blizzard is also working on finding a way to make Tyrande available to those countries where Prime isn’t available. Check all the details on how to claim Tyrande here.
Trump of Balance Changes
Reynad Talks Balance Patch
Noxious Talks Shaman Card Changes
Kripparian Talks About the Big Changes
Kibler’s Thoughts on the Changes
Amaz’s Changes Rant
Trolden’s Funny and Lucky Moments #186
Best Prince Malchezaar Moments
Best of Priest Moments
Best RNG Moments #4
As always, we have some good resources on the site for you in case you are new to the game or simply want to sharpen up your game. There’s never such a thing as too much help in Hearthstone, so check out our guides.
One Night in Karazhan Prologue Guide
One Night in Karazhan Wing 1 Normal and Heroic Guide
One Night in Karazhan Wing 2 Normal and Heroic Guide
One Night in Karazhan Wing 3 Normal and Heroic Guide
One Night in Karazhan Wing 4 Normal and Heroic Guide
Hearthstone Deck-building Guide
