With a few weeks of gameplay data to draw from, the Hearthstone(Free) balance team has issued their first wave of nerfs. Saviors of Uldum, like most of the game’s expansions, has shown a shift in which decks are popular and strong. The nice thing about this wave of nerfs is that they are solely mana cost increases. Rather than affect the core functionality of the cards, we are only seeing cost changes. Whether you run these cards or have to see them in your opponent’s decks, I think we can agree the best part of a wave of nerfs is that you can actually disassemble nerfed cards for full value! Going into your collection and dusting cards that recently received nerfs are a great way to boost your resources for making new cards, so you should always pay close attention to when cards get nerfed so you can get rid of any you don’t use!

They may not seem like big nerfs, but the value of a card is very closely related to how much it costs. In many cases the strongest cards are only a few mana away from uselessness and vice versa. When it comes to the competitive side of the game even having to wait a single additional round of play to deploy a card can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Mage and Warrior have been dominant so far so it comes as no surprise that the ubiquitous Conjurer’s Calling and Luna’s Pocket Galaxy are getting a bump along with Dr. Boom. Increasing the cost of these cards should leave strong decks in tact but slow down their tempo just a bit. The bigger surprise to me as a constructed season player is the wild only card Barnes getting a late in life nerf. If you have Barnes and don’t play wild format, this is a prime candidate for a full price refund of the card. Do you think any of these nerfs went too far? Are you more likely to play with some of the strongest cards in the game now more in line with others? Leave a comment below and let us know!