The nerfs for the Shaman in Hearthstone have been announced and go live today. We reveal what is changing – and why players are angry.
Since the release of Legacy of the Dragons, two classes have predominantly risen to the top in Hearthstone. Hardly any deck has ever been as strong as the current Shaman. It has almost no counter options and causes many players to simply give up before the first turn because the outcome is often the same. The Rogue is also currently strong and, together with the Shaman, is hard to beat. Blizzard quickly announced nerfs.
Now the nerfs are coming and are supposed to improve many things – but the community sees it differently.
What will be changed? A total of 4 cards will be adjusted and slightly or noticeably weakened. These include:
- Corrupted Elementalist now costs 6 mana (previously 5 mana).
- Mudslurper now has only 1 attack (previously 2 attack).
- Faceless Corruptor now has only 4 attack (previously 5 attack).
- Mogu Fleshshaper now costs 9 mana (previously 7 mana).
Two cards … 
… that will be nerfed!
The changes will likely go live this evening (December 19, 2019), unless Blizzard discards the plans again. The modified cards can then be disenchanted for the full dust price.
Community is quite dissatisfied: However, those who thought that players would be satisfied with the nerfs are gravely mistaken. On social media, players are accusing Blizzard, by the hundreds, of incompetence. Many believe that the nerfs will hardly make a difference because they are too minor or target the wrong areas. Moreover, many players are outraged that Blizzard is only changing the Shaman and a few neutrals, while completely ignoring the very strong Rogue.
In particular, the new Necrium Apothecary is a thorn in the side of many players. For 4 mana, it has solid stats of 2/5 and also has the combo effect of pulling a minion with deathrattle from the deck and gaining its deathrattle. This is typically combined with powerful cards, like the Mechanical Whelp, which summons a 7/7 minion upon death.
This has led to many cynical and angry comments:
Makmak writes:
They should have changed over 20 cards and not just 4.
Or KirbyMorph, who takes it a bit more sarcastically:
Don’t nerf epic cards, we don’t want to give the peasants too much dust just because we can’t balance or test our game properly. Instead, let’s nerf a 2/1 minion with overload, and then it’s fine. The minion with 10/12 stats for 5 mana is okay. The Rogue with a 10/10 minion for 1 mana on turn 5 is also okay.
The mood in the community therefore has hardly improved. It remains to be seen whether the nerfs will have the desired effect or are too soft.
What do you think of the nerfs? Are they sufficient and sensible? Or has Blizzard done too little here and should reconsider?
