In the free online card game Hearthstone, two dominant cards are being nerfed. The starving buzzard was no fun for the opponent and caused a Hunter boom. An era is coming to an end with Leeroy Jenkins. But what is really behind the nerfs?
Leeroy Jenkins will cost five mana instead of four starting tomorrow morning. “Starving Buzzard,” an important class card for Hunters, is being completely reworked and raised from two to five mana, receiving only slightly improved stats in return. We have already presented the nerfs here.
Professional card player, Brian Kibler, who created the WoW Trading Card Game, gained fame in Magic: The Gathering, and is also a legendary player in Hearthstone, discusses the backgrounds of the nerf in a blog post that is also being discussed on Reddit.
Buzzard had to be changed, was a fun killer
Kibler believes that the buzzard made it onto the nerf endangered species list because it promotes a play style in Hearthstone that Blizzard does not want to see.
The buzzard instills fear in the opponent to play their own minions on the field in combination with “Unleash the Hounds!”. For every enemy minion on the board, “Unleash the Hounds!” summons a 1/1 beast. The “Starving Buzzard” in turn gives the Hunter a card for every summoned beast. Those facing a Hunter hesitated to bring out too many of their own minions for fear of the mana-efficient yet powerful combo.
Blizzard wants to make Hearthstone a game of minion against minion, Kibler states. Hunters disrupted this idea. It became especially frustrating for Shamans and Paladins to face them. They could not even safely use their hero power.
Some players had called for the “Unleash the Hounds!” card to be nerfed instead of the buzzard. After all, it was part of the problem. But Kibler sees it differently: The card is strong in conjunction with the hyena, but still within acceptable limits and can still be played well in the future. The problem is the “engine” card, the buzzard. This was where action needed to be taken.
Leeroy a wrong approach to nerf in Hearthstone – is just a symbol, not the cause
While the buzzard nerf found favor with Kibler, the situation is different for Leeroy. He serves as a finisher in complex combinations that require 3 or more cards, previously acting as a kind of closing stone. But it is not these combinations (among others with Shadowstep or Faceless Manipulator) that are the problem, but the ability of Rogues and Warlocks to easily draw their entire deck, the so-called “cycling”.
Therefore, Kibler is more focused on the Auctioneer, who lets you draw a new card with every spell, and on the Warlock’s hero power. Leeroy as a card serves more as a symbol for decks that get the right card combination into their hands quickly through card draw to win swiftly. But it is not Leeroy that is crucial, but the cards that allow for that draw.
The future after the nerf: Hunters dead, Handlock dominant
Leeroy can also be replaced by cards like Al’Akir with Rockbiter weapons or other finishers. Last week, a tournament took place where Leeroy and the buzzard had already been banned, Kibler notes. The result: Hunters were hardly played at all. Instead, there were a lot of Handlocks who dominated the tournament with their hero power and superior card draw.
