Hearthstone: Ist Reno Jackson zu stark?

In the online card game Hearthstone, the legendary card Reno Jackson causes a stir. Is it too strong?

“Cortyn, Cortyn, Cortyn! The evil Reno Jacksons are beating me in Hearthstone.”

Yes, I’m sure you can vividly imagine the little shoe man jumping around in a rage when the sound of impending defeat echoes over the board in the form of “We will be rich!” Essentially, I can somewhat understand the shoe man, as Reno Jackson is an absolute fun-killer.

But mentioned briefly: Reno Jackson is a legendary card for 6 mana with stats 4/6. As a Battlecry, it says, “Restore your hero to full health if your deck has no duplicate cards.”

What Reno Jackson brings to the game …

But before I elaborate on the card, I want to be fair and mention its positive aspects as well. Ben Brode, one of the game’s lead designers, is correct in saying that Reno primarily rewards decks that rely on many different cards. In reality, most decks consisted of only 15 cards, each in duplicate – with the exception of any Legendaries.

You have to give Reno credit for breaking out of this “rigid” deck structure and sparking new creations with ease.

… and what he takes

For me, however, Reno’s downsides clearly outweigh the positives. In the developers’ vision, Hearthstone is seen as a puzzle where pieces gradually fit together. An eternal back and forth until one side can ultimately shift the tide of battle to achieve victory. So what bothers me about the puzzle piece Reno Jackson? It’s simple: it destroys the puzzle.

When Reno is played, he effectively performs a small “soft reset” as he restores the player’s maximum health. Combined with a somewhat decent board clear, it’s as if nothing ever happened. What’s particularly cruel about the card from my perspective is that this can happen multiple times. Simply taken back to hand with a Pandaren or the junk “Rewinder,” Reno is ready to turn the game again for a second time.

Is Reno Jackson too strong?

The question of whether the card is too strong can be answered with a simple “Yes” for me. My opinion is certainly not the final word of wisdom (is that the saying? Surely!). The reasoning is also relatively simple and is reflected in 2 different facts.

1. Reno Jackson justifies building an entire deck around him

While there are other Legendaries where it’s worthwhile to build at least some other cards “around” them, never is the entire deck designed for or so massively influenced by that.

1. The effect is too powerful not to involve a random factor.

Which brings us back to the “puzzle” situation. There are almost always ways to play around a devastating effect. These can be secrets, holding onto certain cards, or simply a tactical planning of the next moves.

For Reno, there is no (or none that I know of) way to bypass the effect. The only variant is to fill the opponent’s deck with cards – something that only a Rogue with “Under the Coliseum” or a Warrior with multiple plays of “Iron Colossus” could achieve.

How can we fix the problem? Does Reno need a nerf?

Here too, I have a simple answer: Yes. Reno has absolutely no downsides; he influences the board in a unique way without leaving any chance of failure – except for an unnoticed Auchenai Soulpriest.

In my opinion, Reno desperately needs a component, a certain random factor, like the Joust mechanic. It can also be something more reliable, but there should at least be the theoretical chance of failure – until then, I consider Reno too strong… even though I rejoice every time he defeats a face hunter. Additionally, he made this song possible.

All I can do is hope that the next expansion will address this problem. What do you make of the whole thing? Is Reno too strong? How do you deal with him?