In Blizzard’s online card game Hearthstone , it is now confirmed which nerfs are coming and how the ranked play will change in the upcoming patch.
For weeks and months, there has been speculation about how Blizzard would intervene in the meta of Hearthstone. While it is balanced, it is quite one-sided. Pirates dominate in fast and aggressive decks.
Now it is known which cards Blizzard wants to change:
- The Small Buccaneer will soon have only 1 health instead of 2 health points as it does now. This is intended to allow more classes to remove him more easily.
- For Shaman, the 1/3 weapon Spirit Claws will become a 2-mana weapon. It was too strong in combination with Blood Mage Thalnos or the Shaman spell damage totem (it deals 3 damage with spell damage boost). Increasing the mana cost is meant to reduce the efficiency of the Shaman spending as much mana as he currently has.
Both cards have contributed to an aggressive “Rush” playstyle lately. Blizzard aims to achieve more diversity in the meta. The new changes are expected to come in February with an update.
Another change concerns ranked play. When players reach ranks 15, 10, or 5, they can no longer drop below those ranks, even if they experience a losing streak. These are “Safe Floors.” Previously, this was only the case at rank 20 and the Legend status.
Blizzard has addressed the difficult balancing issue in a variety of posts. In summary, the balancing in Hearthstone has been as good as never – even the best decks had win rates very close to 50%. However, the same cards appeared in too many decks. Even though there was variety in the pirate decks, it always felt “the same” to either lose or win against them.
In “Rush” decks, games are often decided after just a few turns. On the other hand, playing “Control” decks can stretch a Hearthstone game for several minutes longer. For those who want to finish many games in a short time, “Rush” decks are the better choice.
Background on the nerfs that have been long overdue can be found here:
Hearthstone and the pirates: Balance as good as never before – Yet nerf?
