As everyone who plays Hearthstone (Free) knows, Druid has been savaging every other class since Knights of the Frozen Throne released, but that dominance is about to end(?). Blizzard just announced that the upcoming 9.1 update will change some really big cards. Specifically, Innervate will only give you 1 Mana Crystal now, down from 2, Fiery Axe is going to cost 3 mana instead of 2, and Hex will also go up one mana crystal, from 3 to 4. Additionally, Spreading Plague, which has, well, plagued the game, will now cost 6 mana, up from 5. Finally, my dear Murlocs are seeing a nerf, with Murloc Warleader only giving other Murlocs +2 Attack instead of +2 Attack and +1 Health. These are some very important changes that will hit some really big cards. Once the update hits, you’ll be able to disenchant Murloc Warleader and Spreading Plague for full dust value during the first 2 weeks.

The developers provided a rationale for these nerfs, and it was what you would expect. They felt that the three Basic cards (Fiery War Axe, Innervate, and Hex) have been staples of those decks for far too long, and that meant those decks didn’t have space for new cards and new ideas. They might be staples of their classes, but they were just too powerful and versatile. The developers considered different ideas for these three cards (Innervate would have refreshed 2 Mana Crystals instead and Fiery War Axe would have had 2 Attack), but they decided to go with the ones mentioned above. And when it comes to Murloc Warleader, the developers don’t want to move cards to the Hall of Fame too often, so they decided just to nerf the card instead.

The blog post also talks about Ultimate Infestation and Ice Block, the other cards the community considers broken, and explains that at this time they don’t want to make any changes to them. Ice Block seems destined for the Hall of Fame, but because the developers move cards to the Hall of Fame at the start of the Hearthstone year, Ice Block will probably stick around until the first expansion release of 2018. Read the post for details behind these decisions. I’m glad to see Blizzard not delaying any action because Druid was really making playing the game not that much fun. What do you think about these changes? Sound off in the comments.