The most powerful decks in Hearthstone have been drastically nerfed. Especially Druids have taken the hit, but Mages have also “suffered greatly”.
The balance of Hearthstone is a rather shaky structure and nerfing one card can cause another to appear much stronger and take its place. Therefore, balance adjustments are always necessary – also because the community consistently finds new combinations of cards that turn out to be too strong.
In the latest balance patch, Druids and Mages had to endure some adjustments, but Hunters are also receiving nerfs.
What was the problem? Although the latest expansion “Murder at Castle Nathria” has been live for several weeks, the balance has not been quite right. Several patches have already been necessary to somewhat limit the dominant decks that clearly dominated the current meta. But afterwards, new top contenders emerged that were too strong – and now they’re being targeted.
What exactly has changed? We have detailed the changes to the cards here for you:
The Druid hero card “Guff of the Wildheart” has been adjusted in both its battle cry and hero power. Both effects now grant no filled mana crystals anymore, but only empty mana crystals that will then be available in the next turn. This slightly decreases Guff’s mana efficiency.
The hero power of the Mage card “Magister Dawnbringer”, “Arcane Burst”, is being weakened. With an honorable victory, the damage of future attacks will now only increase by 1 instead of 2. This should prevent the hero power from gaining strength too quickly and make it significantly less threatening.
Another Mage card, the “Cloaked Sanctum”, has proven to be too powerful. The durability of this location is reduced from 3 to 2, so only 2 minions can be frozen and 2 skeletons summoned.
The Hunter quest “Protect the Dwarven District” is being made a little weaker. To complete the first step of the quest line, Hunters now need to deal damage with 3 spells instead of just 2. This should slow Hunters down a bit and at least grant some extra time until the quest is completed.
The Rogue Legendary “Edwin, Lord of the Defias” has been adjusted. While his stats have been raised from 3 / 3 to 4 / 4, his mana costs have also increased from 3 mana to 4 mana. This makes his effect less frequent per turn, which is overall a significant nerf.
The neutral minion “Kael’thas Sinwanderer” is also receiving a significant nerf. His mana costs are increased from 6 mana to a staggering 8 mana. This is intended to end problematic combinations of “Kael’thas+Brann+Denathrius”. The combo was simply too overwhelming and could be used by many decks.
We have all 135 new cards from Castle Nathria here for you.
The “Suffocating Sea Star” is also being weakened. It is used too frequently and is a massive counter to many even unusual decks. Therefore, the mana costs are increased from 3 mana to 4 mana. This means the card is still powerful, but not so cheap that it can be casually included in any deck.
As usual, the Arcane Dust costs of the cards mentioned above will be fully refunded when you disenchant the cards.
However, there are also two minor adjustments that can be understood as buffs.
The Paladin minion “Alliance Bannerbearer” is granted an additional health point. It will now have stats of 2 / 2 and will no longer die immediately against various hero powers, such as those from Mages, Demon Hunters, Druids, or Rogues.
The neutral teacher “Schoolmaster” is being strengthened. Its health points are increased from 3 to 4, allowing it to withstand some spells and several minions longer. This recovers part of the nerfs.
When does it go live? The changes have already been live since the evening of 09.09.2022. So it might be time to think up a few new decks or to try again with decks that have been unsuccessful so far.
What do you think of the changes? Good and reasonable? Or has Hearthstone “once again” destroyed your favorite deck?
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