In the card game Hearthstone, there were significant nerfs. One card rarely won, but it was so annoying that it had to go.
The launch of the new Hearthstone expansion “The Great Dark Beyond” was a few days ago, and it became clear within hours that some cards significantly hinder the fun of the game.
Now Blizzard has released a hotfix with over two dozen buffs and nerfs. This includes a card that has been downgraded from “extremely annoying” to “practically unplayable.”
Soon there will even be StarCraft content in Hearthstone:
Blizzard nerfs the card “Quasar” into irrelevance
What card is the problem? One of the major annoyance cards was “Quasar” from the rogue class. For 6 mana, you shuffled your entire hand back into your deck and then reduced the cost of all cards in the deck by 3 mana.
Since the deck with which the card was quickly played primarily consisted of cards costing between 0 and 4 mana and enabling a lot of card draw, this meant:
A storm of effects would begin on the next turn, as the rogue could draw and play 10, 15, or even 20 cards in one turn, bombarding the opponent into digital oblivion – without any chance of interaction.
Although decks with this card had a win rate of only 40% to 42%, they were frustrating. Once the combo was triggered, you were condemned to just watch. Fun was nowhere to be found.
We at MeinMMO have also complained about the card Quasar. Because the card stifled all fun for the opponent, as there was no way in the game to respond to it.
What has Blizzard changed now? The mana cost of Quasar has been increased from 6 mana to 8 mana. The card can therefore be played only 2 turns later. This essentially means that the deck and this play style are considered buried for the foreseeable future. It’s akin to just deleting the card from the game altogether. Blizzard also apologizes afterward for the card on the official Hearthstone website:
Yes, our mistake… With each expansion, we want to release a few “dreamlike” cards that inspire players to think about what they can create with the game. These cards should not be among the most powerful – the fun in them is the “what if?”. Quasar mostly fell into this category – it definitely inspired dreamers to craft and didn’t turn out to be too powerful – but when this card works too well and ends games too quickly, the dream quickly turns into a nightmare when you have to play against it.
What else has changed? Apart from Quasar, it mainly affected the hero card Reno Jackson. This now only removes minions but no longer locations or inactive minions. This is necessary for the new spaceship mechanic to function at all.
Because far too often, players struggled for several rounds to assemble their spaceship (and forgo other power) only to experience Reno Jackson simply deleting their spaceship off the battlefield before it could start. If the core mechanic of a new expansion can never come into play because old cards perfectly prevent that, it’s a problem – one that has now been fixed.
By the way, soon there will be StarCraft content in Hearthstone – like Kerrigan and Raynor.
