Neutral AOE will see at least some test play. If tempo DH is still meta, these 2 dmg may prove very useful for classes with limited AOE. Valeera's new best friend?
I understand why the nerfs are healthy for the game/meta. Also - I totally agree it is good if new expansion brings new decks for us. I think we all remember year of the Raven, especially the RR, which was awful experience.
What I meant was the timing of these nerfs. It is not like these cards have suddenly become problematic. It is one thing to introduce new/funny cards, which makes us want to but new packs and another thing to nerf so many cards just before new expansion, so the power level of the "older decks" drops and we are forced to play more new cards to keep up with meta.
I am not a Blizz hater or anything, I am really wondering what the motives are to introduce these nerfs now.
I am only afraid that they introduced these nerfs now because they want us to buy packs from next expansion, where they print new broken mechanics/cards.
I like BG very much and with every passing month since its introduction I tend to play it more and more, with the exception being the season where Aoo and the year rotation happened. I think there are several reason for that situation:
1. Before I used to play Arena and Standard ladder (started playing HS when Old Gods were the fresh exp) and I started to feel like there is nothing more for me to achieve - I am confident I can hit legend every season I care for it, and Arena became too repetitive and it is just frustrating over time how draw/luck dependent it is sometimes. A few times I felt like I got these 12 wins with very average decks just because I top decked like crazy in my games. My point is it may feel unfair both when you win and when you lose. I started to play wild just before BG were introduced and wild kept me in the game, because it was fresh for me.
2. After BG's debut I felt like I am playing totally other game (which is mostly true). It was fresh and new for everyone so I felt like I am growing with the game, watched a lot of streamers and learned and saw new strategies being developed - it was fun for me. So I both played and watched BG more and more.
3. In my opinion BG has the skill-luck balance reversed, when compared to traditional HS. BG is in its basics the RNG game, where luck is everything and your involvement in the game is limited. Players role is to find the way to manipulate the RNG/luck to their favor. Ranked/Arena have it totally the other way - you believe you play the game of skill where strategy is most important, but during the game it is often RNG/luck that plays most important role (card draw = rng).
So points for BGs here, as I feel more relaxed playing it and it causes much less frustration for me. Also, getting top 1 in BG simply makes me more happy than getting 12 arena wins or hitting legend again.
4. You may ask why BG and not other autobattler. I was raised on warcraft 2, which I still occasionally play these days and I love Warcraft lore in general. That is why it is BG for me - I like being around these characters and i like HS's silly/easygoing attitude towards them.
5. BGs games are not as much repetitive as other modes. When I feel like I am tired/bored of those tier 1/2 heroes, I pick other hero I did not play in longer time. I do not care for rating that much, but I manage to stay in the 9-9.5 k range for some time now.
Sorry for the long post, I feel I got a bit carried away.
I have one advice that I had not found in the comments yet - try to go to legend in one "sitting". In my experience, both on the old and new system, once you catch a win streak you should not give up playing. Maybe it is the day when RNG is in your favor, or maybe the micro-meta is just favorable to your deck or your style (or, like myself, you believe that MM is not that random and it just gives you those good days (d5-legend) and bad days (d1-d5) )
Anyways, even you do not believe in conspiracy theories, this is how hitting legend has worked for me, did not matter how many times I was "almost there", there came losing streaks and legend was earned from the floor rank in one sittings.
Also, I am aware that others said it, but don't give up on your legend quest. If you have made it that far, you are on your way to legend, sooner or later. In the new system, you even still play with the same opponents, as it is based on MMR.
Lady Vashj seems like a diffrent take on Elise, probably she will end up being on similar power level, which is low T2 at the moment, which is fine. Playable for sure.
Maiev I am afraid will be garbage. I am not sure how she is gonna work, so that is what I assume: you press hero power button on turn X for minion Y. On turn X+1 you see 1 less minion in tavern, because one is dormant. On turn X+2 you get minion Y with +1/+1. The problem is, that 2 turns later you are probably on higher tavern tier and you don't need that minion any more. +1/+1 will hardly matter. Unless there is some specific strategy meant for her that I cannot see yet, I think we are looking at T4 here.
Kaelthas is the best out of these 3 in my opinion. Significant buff that lands where you (kind of) want it to. It will make double buy with 5 gold always good, because of the buff, and then on the 7 gold turn you get another buffed minion with tavern upgrade. +2/+2 is no joke, I think Kaelthas will be strong T2.
Hi, I took this deck to legend from D5 with 63% win ratio and would like to thank you for bringing it up for my attention. I was trying different lists, and this one works the best for me. Just my 2 cents about [Hearthstone Card (Shadowjewler Hanar) Not Found] - In my opinion he is much weaker then the credit he is given. In the value games I found my opponents either not caring about him at all or playing Zephrys to get Flare and crush my dreams. He helped me win a few games, sure, but I do not see him as a key card here. I think the secrets are good cards themselves and Blackjack Stunner is more important than Hanar in this deck. Now, don't get me wrong, I dont think Hanar is bad, I just think he is not that crucial and I would advise to craft any other legendary from this deck before Hanar.
So, like I said, just my 2 cents, the deck is fun and good, cheers!
This is way worse than Galakrond Shaman was. Also, bonus points for ruining Arena, where basically every DH class card is either good or broken. I am sticking to Wild and BG untill DH gets nuked with nerfs.
And everyone who says "this first day blah blah blah", "meta will adapt blah blah blah", "got to salt thread blah blah blah" will either play DH or apologize for being mistkaen soon enough. I heard it all last time when Gala Shaman arrived with full power. Good luck with having fun, just like then.
Hi OP, I do not think that the game has improved since you left.
Yes, the rewards got better for the new players, although I know many veteran player say that the rewards got worse from their perspective.
Yes, the ranked system was changed. The idea was to make it better, and I think they managed to do so.
and Yes, we have a new class, Demon Hunter, and even got some nice cards for that class for FREE.
So let's say that the economy of the game improved. But game itself is still the same. If you are triggered by netdecking, mana cheats and BMs, they are still there. Leeroy got HOFed, if you care about standard, so aggro decks got a little weaker, but on the other hand there is that new Kaelthas legendary we all got for free, which enables broken spell combos (and more mana cheats) so I miss poor ol Leeroy already.
This is nice, some new cosmetics are always welcomed. On the other hand, Mage seems like a strange choice for me, as it will be hard to compete for the spot with fan favorites like Jaina or Medivh.
So if I was at Blizz place and would like to sell new Mage skin, I would choose some more familiar face, like I don't know, KHADGAR?
Well, THANK YOU Blizz for removing Poacher from Arena. I played 3 runs, and stopped playing Arena because of this card alone. It was not even fun when I was dropping it on turn 4, felt way too unfair. I am really happy and really proud it took only few days for the team to figure it out and remove this cancer.
Neutral AOE will see at least some test play. If tempo DH is still meta, these 2 dmg may prove very useful for classes with limited AOE. Valeera's new best friend?
Strong contender for the most hated Arena card of the expansion.
Start of Game: Force Big Warrior
Hi guys, thank you for your replies.
I understand why the nerfs are healthy for the game/meta. Also - I totally agree it is good if new expansion brings new decks for us. I think we all remember year of the Raven, especially the RR, which was awful experience.
What I meant was the timing of these nerfs. It is not like these cards have suddenly become problematic. It is one thing to introduce new/funny cards, which makes us want to but new packs and another thing to nerf so many cards just before new expansion, so the power level of the "older decks" drops and we are forced to play more new cards to keep up with meta.
I am not a Blizz hater or anything, I am really wondering what the motives are to introduce these nerfs now.
Cheers,
I am only afraid that they introduced these nerfs now because they want us to buy packs from next expansion, where they print new broken mechanics/cards.
I like BG very much and with every passing month since its introduction I tend to play it more and more, with the exception being the season where Aoo and the year rotation happened. I think there are several reason for that situation:
1. Before I used to play Arena and Standard ladder (started playing HS when Old Gods were the fresh exp) and I started to feel like there is nothing more for me to achieve - I am confident I can hit legend every season I care for it, and Arena became too repetitive and it is just frustrating over time how draw/luck dependent it is sometimes. A few times I felt like I got these 12 wins with very average decks just because I top decked like crazy in my games. My point is it may feel unfair both when you win and when you lose. I started to play wild just before BG were introduced and wild kept me in the game, because it was fresh for me.
2. After BG's debut I felt like I am playing totally other game (which is mostly true). It was fresh and new for everyone so I felt like I am growing with the game, watched a lot of streamers and learned and saw new strategies being developed - it was fun for me. So I both played and watched BG more and more.
3. In my opinion BG has the skill-luck balance reversed, when compared to traditional HS. BG is in its basics the RNG game, where luck is everything and your involvement in the game is limited. Players role is to find the way to manipulate the RNG/luck to their favor. Ranked/Arena have it totally the other way - you believe you play the game of skill where strategy is most important, but during the game it is often RNG/luck that plays most important role (card draw = rng).
So points for BGs here, as I feel more relaxed playing it and it causes much less frustration for me. Also, getting top 1 in BG simply makes me more happy than getting 12 arena wins or hitting legend again.
4. You may ask why BG and not other autobattler. I was raised on warcraft 2, which I still occasionally play these days and I love Warcraft lore in general. That is why it is BG for me - I like being around these characters and i like HS's silly/easygoing attitude towards them.
5. BGs games are not as much repetitive as other modes. When I feel like I am tired/bored of those tier 1/2 heroes, I pick other hero I did not play in longer time. I do not care for rating that much, but I manage to stay in the 9-9.5 k range for some time now.
Sorry for the long post, I feel I got a bit carried away.
Cheers guys!
Hi guys, I am really interested to catch today's discussion stream.
I figured out 8am - 10am PT would be 5pm-7pm in central Europe. Could anyone please confirm my math is correct here?
thanks in advance :)
Hi,
I have one advice that I had not found in the comments yet - try to go to legend in one "sitting". In my experience, both on the old and new system, once you catch a win streak you should not give up playing. Maybe it is the day when RNG is in your favor, or maybe the micro-meta is just favorable to your deck or your style (or, like myself, you believe that MM is not that random and it just gives you those good days (d5-legend) and bad days (d1-d5) )
Anyways, even you do not believe in conspiracy theories, this is how hitting legend has worked for me, did not matter how many times I was "almost there", there came losing streaks and legend was earned from the floor rank in one sittings.
Also, I am aware that others said it, but don't give up on your legend quest. If you have made it that far, you are on your way to legend, sooner or later. In the new system, you even still play with the same opponents, as it is based on MMR.
Cheers and good luck!
Lady Vashj seems like a diffrent take on Elise, probably she will end up being on similar power level, which is low T2 at the moment, which is fine. Playable for sure.
Maiev I am afraid will be garbage. I am not sure how she is gonna work, so that is what I assume: you press hero power button on turn X for minion Y. On turn X+1 you see 1 less minion in tavern, because one is dormant. On turn X+2 you get minion Y with +1/+1. The problem is, that 2 turns later you are probably on higher tavern tier and you don't need that minion any more. +1/+1 will hardly matter. Unless there is some specific strategy meant for her that I cannot see yet, I think we are looking at T4 here.
Kaelthas is the best out of these 3 in my opinion. Significant buff that lands where you (kind of) want it to. It will make double buy with 5 gold always good, because of the buff, and then on the 7 gold turn you get another buffed minion with tavern upgrade. +2/+2 is no joke, I think Kaelthas will be strong T2.
Cheers!
Hi, I took this deck to legend from D5 with 63% win ratio and would like to thank you for bringing it up for my attention. I was trying different lists, and this one works the best for me. Just my 2 cents about [Hearthstone Card (Shadowjewler Hanar) Not Found] - In my opinion he is much weaker then the credit he is given. In the value games I found my opponents either not caring about him at all or playing Zephrys to get Flare and crush my dreams. He helped me win a few games, sure, but I do not see him as a key card here. I think the secrets are good cards themselves and Blackjack Stunner is more important than Hanar in this deck. Now, don't get me wrong, I dont think Hanar is bad, I just think he is not that crucial and I would advise to craft any other legendary from this deck before Hanar.
So, like I said, just my 2 cents, the deck is fun and good, cheers!
This is way worse than Galakrond Shaman was. Also, bonus points for ruining Arena, where basically every DH class card is either good or broken. I am sticking to Wild and BG untill DH gets nuked with nerfs.
And everyone who says "this first day blah blah blah", "meta will adapt blah blah blah", "got to salt thread blah blah blah" will either play DH or apologize for being mistkaen soon enough. I heard it all last time when Gala Shaman arrived with full power. Good luck with having fun, just like then.
I really hope the forced Pala archetype works this time.
Hi OP, I do not think that the game has improved since you left.
Yes, the rewards got better for the new players, although I know many veteran player say that the rewards got worse from their perspective.
Yes, the ranked system was changed. The idea was to make it better, and I think they managed to do so.
and Yes, we have a new class, Demon Hunter, and even got some nice cards for that class for FREE.
So let's say that the economy of the game improved. But game itself is still the same. If you are triggered by netdecking, mana cheats and BMs, they are still there. Leeroy got HOFed, if you care about standard, so aggro decks got a little weaker, but on the other hand there is that new Kaelthas legendary we all got for free, which enables broken spell combos (and more mana cheats) so I miss poor ol Leeroy already.
So regarding Raging Felscreamer and DH not having a 2 cost demon. They do, actually. Their new 2 mana 3/2 discover a top deck is a demon.
Anyways, it is great anlysis, as were the previous parts. Thank you guys for providing fresh content for us to read these days :)
"weak to silence" comment coming in 3... 2... 1...
I guess it belongs to the museum
This is nice, some new cosmetics are always welcomed. On the other hand, Mage seems like a strange choice for me, as it will be hard to compete for the spot with fan favorites like Jaina or Medivh.
So if I was at Blizz place and would like to sell new Mage skin, I would choose some more familiar face, like I don't know, KHADGAR?
Rememebr when Ancient of Lore was nerfed because drawing cards is not Druid's thing?
Well, THANK YOU Blizz for removing Poacher from Arena. I played 3 runs, and stopped playing Arena because of this card alone. It was not even fun when I was dropping it on turn 4, felt way too unfair. I am really happy and really proud it took only few days for the team to figure it out and remove this cancer.
I am not sure how good it will turn out to be (not very good I am afraid) but MAAAAN, this design is really cool!