In Blizzard’s online card game Hearthstone , the reign of the Undertaker, the grave keeper, is over. He is being nerfed.
The Undertaker (the grave keeper) was a nasty 1/2 card for only 1 mana that grew by +1/+1 whenever its owner played a minion with Deathrattle. Why do we say “was”? Because the grave keeper is getting nerfed. He now only grows by one damage point; his health no longer increases.
The Undertaker was considered too strong because he could grow rapidly in corresponding Deathrattle decks in the early game and overwhelm the opponent. He was particularly popular among Hunters, Priests, and Warlocks. For his cost of 1 mana, he was simply too powerful. Now, while he is still expected to excel in a Deathrattle deck, he won’t be such a dominant little guy anymore.
Blizzard explains the nerf by stating that it has often been frustrating to play against the grave keeper. The golden version of the Undertaker can be disenchanted for its full dust cost for a limited time.
Undertaker was frustrating to play against. It often gained both Attack and Health stats significantly above those of other inexpensive minions very early in the game. With this change, we expect Undertaker will still be better than other 1-Mana minions when played in a deck with a Deathrattle theme, but more likely to die in combat against other minions.
The golden version of Undertaker can be disenchanted for its full cost for a limited time once this balance change goes live.
This nerf is set to take effect soon, likely to be active in Hearthstone by the time you read this.
The eSports site Daily Dot asked some of the leading Hearthstone players for their opinions. The general reaction is – cautiously speaking – rather positive. The article is titled “F**k Yeah”.
Undertaker now only gets +1 attack! http://t.co/nsSS1uAQPS @PlayHearthstone @bdbrode @RNGesus
— Thats Admirable (@ThatsAdmirable) January 27, 2015
