If you were getting your hopes up for a balance patch this week, we're here to shatter them! Celestalon confirmed on Twitter this evening that there would be no balance changes before the Hearthstone World Championship, which is scheduled to take place this weekend on December 18 & 19. You can look forward to our survival guide closer to the event.
That isn't really unusual to hear as Blizzard makes a strong attempt to not patch the game with balance changes right before an Esports event, and this weekend is home to the largest one of the year so with competitive integrity in mind, it is best to leave the slate the way it is and consider changes afterward.
At this time, we do not know when a balance patch is scheduled to happen but we imagine with the holidays being so close, it might not be the best time for a patch to hit unless there are some very problematic cards that need to be immediately addressed. Inevitably, we will see some changes though for the Alterac Valley expansion cycle though which prompts the question:
Which cards do you think should be hit in the first balance patch for Alterac Valley? Let us know in the comments below!
Quote From Celestalon There will be no balance changes before Worlds.
Comments
What about the bugged achievements, are these going to be fixed soon?
So... next Iksar Q&A the thumbnail is going to be his face on Irondeep Trogg, right?
Not that I think the need for immediate balance changes is as big now as it has been in the past, but what if it were?
I'm tired of Blizzard scheduling expansion releases so close to official tournaments. It's just poor planning that causes the entire player base to suffer in the name of esports, when only a tiny, tiny sliver of the player base actually cares about esports.
I personally like esports events in a fresh meta. The Viper vs. hunterace final was one of the best tournament games in HS esports and that was because the decklists were completely unrefinded. Nobody added Rafaam into any deck afterwards. And it's skill testing, too. Who's getting the best decklist in an undeveloped meta...
Iunno, to me the meta felt fine at first and then quickly dropped back into the hardly anybody plays cards above 5-6 mana cost. Most likely because combo lock is shutting out the slower decks so hopefully its addressed.
But hey, at least the board matters again which is nice.
Since the current meta is much better compared to the Stormwind meta, I do not really care for a balance patch this early, but I sure hope this does not mean they will not fix all the broken XP achievement bugs as soon as possible. Imagine them not patching these bugs until the beginning of next year 😱
100% agreed. Certain achievements like "You are Not Worthy" are quite grindy and rely on your opponent hitting you (guess that's not too hard though)
I've become quite the achievement hunter since Barrens and definitely #FeelsBadMan that there's certain achievements you can't do 😢 Do hope it's on Team 5's priority list.
As for the balance changes, I remember when Team 5 wouldn't do balance changes for a whole month after an expansion has released, so I'm quite happy if there's no balance changes till after Christmas. Definitely fix the achievements though.
Unsurprising as you said. But for the last few days I had more fun than the better half of the entire stormwind expansion. There is some issues currently in standard that I can see being a potential problem;
- Shaman has way too many freeze effects. Snowfall Guardian is a mulligan keep against even aggro tempo classes, for obvious reasons. This alone doesn't make it a problem because it freezes your board too. But combined with Brilliant Macaw, you're locking down your opponent's board for 4 turns. I still dont see them nerfing anything other than Windchill (maybe from 1 mana to 2) but we're really missing Living Dragonbreath right now.
It gets ridiculous at times. In shaman mirrors you're basically playing 'who laughs first' with snowfall guardian.
- Warlock needs something done about either Runed Mithril Rod (again) or Dreadlich Tamsin. There's been a lot of talk about how warlock heals back 20 health etc. but the crux of the matter is that warlock draws too well, and the weapon is too busted if you dont have viper in hand.
- Irondeep Trogg is one of the most ridiculous 1 drops ever made. Ive seen opponents literally locked out of spells because I casted Noble Mount on this thing. Its just crazy. Entire decks are made with the sole purpose of sticking this down and buffing it. Nerfing this to either 2, dropping its health to 1, or giving it the chain gang nerf might be the solution here.
Irondeep Trogg is likely the worst offender here. Some decks just cant play without this thing snowballing from turn 1. I do applaud the fact that Ive seen many skillful plays by players trying to get around this card. So there's that.
I totally agree with the thorough breakdown above, great depiction of the culprits of the current meta.
One might think that Blizzard by having hired professional players would prevent or at least reduce the times these broken early drop minions like Irondeep Trogg get introduced into the game. Not my opinion, but a more negative hypothesis could even be that this was somewhat intentional.
Having been on the receiving end multiple times, I can imagine how frustrating it might be for fellow players in the same situation and especially if they are seriously attempting to climb the ranked ladder all the way to Legend. Personally, I already reached my desired monthly plateau of Diamond 5 and now I only care about completing the new XP achievements (which are still broken).
How long can this ...
I think your spot on with the Warlock nerfs. Just a simple durability decrease for rod and removing the AOE part of the hero will be enough IMO.
When we needed Living Dragonbreath most...
Let's hope they throw him into next year's core set.
in the pally mirrior, who drops the trogg on turn 1 wins
Its not that simple honestly. Most paladin decks play Animated Broomstick nowadays, and if youre starting 2nd you're be wise to mull the entire hand for it. After that it's usually whether they have Noble Mount or not. If not, you still have a fighting chance. Otherwise, its broom or doom.