The Priest community demands update and or article on what is being removed and buffs/nerfs, as well as input from actual experienced priest players.
On the surface: Shadow Word: Ruin addresses that need for BIG mass removal Priest needs every expansion (although with power level and the sheer number of ridiculousness in late-game Hearthstone these days, needing four or more cards doing that is required).
Shadow Madness getting a buff is something I likey. Very underrated card and always useful when deathrattles are in vogue.
The new legendary is very utility and can kill untargetable minions, but quite hefty on mana. But can be comboed with Seance in wild -- bad timing for Standard as that card is from Rastakhan's Rumble.
IMO Holy Nova needs to do 3 damage; a majority of aggro is 3 health these days. Dropping mana down a point isn't enough.
Making Thief Priest cards dirt cheap might help that fun style; however, it needs more minions that provide stolen stuff as well or spells that steal the on-board minions. One weakness is stealing stuff from your opponent's deck rather than random anything of class like rogue is getting too many synergy cards that don't mesh with your stuff (totem buffs, silver hand recruit stuff, murlocs, weapons, etc.)
The (possible?) removal of Northshire Clericmeans Priest loses OTK ground. Dubious if the new cards fill the early game void of Priest, which has been its weakness.
I also noticed no Inner Fire and Divine Spirit (which I found to be newbish and the canary in the coal mine if that was the only win condition for the class). But with all the minion buffs, that might be a good thing for Standard. Wild? Eeek.
Did the class also lose Mass Dispel and Silence? That can be a big hit for control. Mass Dispel has finally gotten its time in mainstream priest decks too. I could live with Mass Dispel losing card draw. Another underrated card that has won games for me.
/1300+ wins with Anduin; Priest main through thick and very farking thin times
Colossus of the Moon works. I've seen it cheated out early and snowball, making Wild Big Priest win because opponents waste all their removals on it. If you get multiples of that minion, generally it's game over. I can see why Archmage Vargoth makes the cut here.
For the past few months I've been using Hakkar, the Soulflayer, which works great against other priests, adds a win condition and can permanently shut down unlucky decks relying on Reno-esque cards or Mecha'thun, in standard Rez/Quest Rez decks (with Wyrmrest Purifieras the late-game antidote). Because Hakkar leaves Standard in a month, the Colossus is a good substitute.
And unless Priest gets screwed on group removal spell in the next expansion (it shouldn't on history, but never know) the only season departures from this formula are Mass Hysteria, Zerek's Cloning Gallery (which just cheats out the big legendary and provides emergency heals/taunts) and Zilliax (you could swap that charge/divine shield dragon, but lose the heals and rare magnetic play).
Only card I don't like is Psychopomp, which has a bad tendency to rez itself, be the only minion available early game or muck up Mass Rez. Might want to toss in a Sandhoof Waterbearer or two to frustrate Hunters and Warriors. Shadow Word: Death is another card to consider as well for early game insurance against snowballs like Van Cleef.
Spend $10 on cosmetics on a game I'm waffling on come April ... (like occasional Battlegrounds, Priest getting comeback in this meta and Big Druid; dislike aggro, Galakrond and Lackey BS)
or
Save $10, eke out 250 more wins on wild ladder on Highlander Control/Anti-OTK Mage deck of mine, get 1K Jaina for free.
/I got Blizzard live event card backs, so Khadgar's is kinda tame in comparison. But hey, good for those who already had him
This a better Pit Snake without the Lackey stuff. I'd make it cost 2.
Choose One is exclusive to Druids, so you can't use it on a neutral card. I'd just give it a Battlecry: All Lackeys cost (1) more.
Yeah I should have picked Siamat's wording, which wouldn't offend those who like Druid's exclusive Choose One mechanic. While increasing the mana cost for Lackeys does hurt, Discover makes the dragon and spell lackeys still powerful even at 2 or 3 mana. Turning Lackeys into say a 2 1/1 that may randomly award Fireball or Myra's Unstable Element makes the things weaker. Too late for this contest, but new wording would be thus:
Battlecry: Lackeys cost 1 mana more or lose Discover ability this game (your choice).
Shudderwock needs a Raza-style nerf before going to wild, or a new type of tech card to prevent infinite Shudderwock.
Dirty Rat alone is not a good bet.
Here's an unusual one to mention: Arcane Dynamo. I used it a little on Big Spell Mage back in the day, but it has come up again in the past six months for Rez Priest. Need a third Mass Rez or Plague of Death for later? Against warlocks stacking multiple N'zoth or Death Knight hero card, druids running the new Ysera or their 6/8 reborn taunt, or other decks that can just continue to pile big minions, It's worth the awkward 3/4, especially if you're already playing the quest.
Been wanting some anti-Lackey tech since Zetalot mentioned them as a reason for his departure, and I agreed with it as a problem in the current meta (rogues and wild shaman). Let me know what you think.
FYI -- Lackeys still provide a dragon/spell/whatever, the players just can't choose anymore because of the loss of Discover if that is chosen. Art chosen was "rat dragon" -- I originally thought Dirty Rat clone, but that would be more ideal to get rid of Lackey generators than Lackeys, and not all Lackey generators are minions. The only ways I could think to hurt Lackeys fairly would be to silence them in hand, force them out (both of which wouldn't be effective as they're not commonly held long, if at all), remove Discover or increase the mana cost. Went with the latter two.
The only bit I was conflicted on was poisonous; I added as a "after year of the dragon/against non-lackey decks/late game" option, but I figure it counters stuff like Inner Fire priest well early too. Also gives it a slight upside/downside if you get this as your random dragon reward from Descent's Ysera or Alex.
PS -- My other idea was a 3-mana battlecry legendary, Lackey Union Leader, that gradually increases the mana cost of Lackey +1 after the legendary is played.
If you're playing control or highlander decks, you should be able to squeeze at least one of these two in; I run both in a Frost Lich Jaina highlander deck that usually has the last laugh against Mechathun locks:
The thing about Shadow Madness is that it is one of the best defensive tech cards, aside from silence, when deathrattles are in vogue.
Most deathrattles such as Mechanical Whelp are usually 3 or less attack.
Also, some of the reborn minions share the same trait.
Got some serious plays and a few ragequits from Shadow Madness during the Uldum Meta, N'Zoth return and briefly when Deathrattle Rogue was the it in Standard in the opening weeks of the current meta.
Thoughtsteal ... it's more for spell priest (gah, that was a long time ago), Highlander or memes. But ... I've seen it bite me (against other priests) and others with the stuff it can dig up. Probably seen those happen more often than Lightwarden snowballs.
This is an exercise I'd like to see streamers like Kripp and Kibler, and a guy who plays the hell out of the class like Zetalot, do, and compare what they come up with. And as someone with over 1,000 wins with priest, I'm glad you recognize some of the underrated gem cards in the Toolbox of Control class.
Do like the inclusion of Mass Hysteria in the core set -- Holy Nova is meaningless these days. Aggro is pretty much 3 health or more attack than health, and there's a lot of snowball/big minion cheats.
What I'd like to see in the "new core" set: Potion of Madness. Along with Shadow Madness and Cabal Shadow Priest, cards that take control of my opponent's stuff have been some of my favorite cards to play for their shock and frustration value, aside from the game-winning Mass Dispel.
In fact, if Blizzard is running from Shadow Priest Mind Blasting opponents, then let Mind Control Priest enter the fray. Valeera accesses the library of an opponent's deck; let Anduin access his opponent's minion's minds and cause chaos. A cheaper or stronger version of Mind Control Tech that works with three minions? Mind Control buffed to 8 mana? ...
The other aspect I'd like to see: Divine Shields. My WoW days are dated (left after Mists of Pandaria), but I recall Discipline Priest bubbling the hell out of raids being a thing. If Shadow Priest is getting shafted, why not go in this direction?
I don't believe he would quit the hearthstone just for the one class being trash. As someone have posted the link in this thread, he quit probably because of powercreeps with hero cards and lackeys.
I think it's hard for hearthstone team to keep up their game fresh, I feel they should start exploring new ideas and just start already.
I've wanted thief priest to evolve into a steal minions on the table archetype. More cards like Mind Control Tech, Mind Control, Potion of Madness, Shadow Madness, and Cabal Shadow Priest. Given the right tempo, it could help priest counter aggro -- which SHOULD be the case for it being a control class -- and give some needed firepower, rather than relying on board clear after board clear or taunts which seem underpowered or prone to silence.
And all that fit thematically in the class (Anduin DGAF and used mind control on locals and the WoW player at the start of Mists of Pandaria, and the Old Gods' crowd tend to rely on it as well).
I credit quite a bit of my 1,200+ wins as priest to Zetalot, who through thick and very f---king thin, provided decks, strategies and winrates for those wanting to play the class. This is one quiet departure that's going to hurt the community, as streamers are going to other games or Battlegrounds mode, and most players gravitate to aggro and quickly ramping up the ladder rather than a guy like Zetalot that focuses on control play styles that make for more interesting, challenging games and in theory, feed on aggro decks, but Hearthstone's history of power toward aggro ...
I also took note he mentions lackeys as something needing to be addressed in Hearthstone's meta as one thing he finds OP. I've been thinking about that recently seeing how lackeys are prevalent.
/it's getting rarer to see control vs. control or control vs. OTK in wild, too
Battlegrounds: Had an opening hot streak with the new Queen Wagtoggle, but didn't finish in the money. Her hero power hits multiple targets btw (it will give one mech, murloc, beast and etc. in your lineup stat boost), so she has menagerie potential.
Won tonight with the secret guy btw, with murlocs.
Played a few standard games and watched several others; still see warriors trying to smorc (I went 3-1 vs. them with both rez and an anti-rogue/hunter thief/silence priest deck), but an uptick in shaman, rogue didn't seem to mind the buffs in the one match I played, and one Inner Fire priest.
Three wild games, all different types of warlock (aggro, cubelock, reno), three different wins for my reno mage. Nice break from secret mage ladder garbage.
Flipped Ancharrr for Untapped Potential, since I don't play aggro decks and wanted to round out the missing druid cards from this year. Tempted to craft Ysera.
Arcane Dynamo is a trade-off - get more rez and/or plague spells. In the recent N'zoth meta, it was essential with warlocks, priests and others who could do N'zoth a few times. Now? If there's a huge amount of mirror or control warrior gets back in vogue.
Also, a 3/4 tends to get ignored in the mass rez targets. People TEND TO FORGET YOU CAN BUFF IT TO 6/7. Which is better than getting Psychopomp back. And I did have a number of 9/10 Arcane Dynamos in the last meta.
Just want to double check:
I own Mountain Giants.
I keep them, but I also craft two golds of it. -3200 dust
Hearthstone gives me golden cards value = 3200 dust refund
Dust golden Mountain Giant x2 = 800 profit.
/hey, I have new priest cards, a Raza and a Yogg-Saron to recraft
The Priest community demands update and or article on what is being removed and buffs/nerfs, as well as input from actual experienced priest players.
On the surface:
Shadow Word: Ruin addresses that need for BIG mass removal Priest needs every expansion (although with power level and the sheer number of ridiculousness in late-game Hearthstone these days, needing four or more cards doing that is required).
Shadow Madness getting a buff is something I likey. Very underrated card and always useful when deathrattles are in vogue.
The new legendary is very utility and can kill untargetable minions, but quite hefty on mana. But can be comboed with Seance in wild -- bad timing for Standard as that card is from Rastakhan's Rumble.
IMO Holy Nova needs to do 3 damage; a majority of aggro is 3 health these days. Dropping mana down a point isn't enough.
Making Thief Priest cards dirt cheap might help that fun style; however, it needs more minions that provide stolen stuff as well or spells that steal the on-board minions. One weakness is stealing stuff from your opponent's deck rather than random anything of class like rogue is getting too many synergy cards that don't mesh with your stuff (totem buffs, silver hand recruit stuff, murlocs, weapons, etc.)
The (possible?) removal of Northshire Clericmeans Priest loses OTK ground. Dubious if the new cards fill the early game void of Priest, which has been its weakness.
I also noticed no Inner Fire and Divine Spirit (which I found to be newbish and the canary in the coal mine if that was the only win condition for the class). But with all the minion buffs, that might be a good thing for Standard. Wild? Eeek.
Did the class also lose Mass Dispel and Silence? That can be a big hit for control. Mass Dispel has finally gotten its time in mainstream priest decks too. I could live with Mass Dispel losing card draw. Another underrated card that has won games for me.
/1300+ wins with Anduin; Priest main through thick and very farking thin times
Colossus of the Moon works. I've seen it cheated out early and snowball, making Wild Big Priest win because opponents waste all their removals on it. If you get multiples of that minion, generally it's game over. I can see why Archmage Vargoth makes the cut here.
For the past few months I've been using Hakkar, the Soulflayer, which works great against other priests, adds a win condition and can permanently shut down unlucky decks relying on Reno-esque cards or Mecha'thun, in standard Rez/Quest Rez decks (with Wyrmrest Purifieras the late-game antidote). Because Hakkar leaves Standard in a month, the Colossus is a good substitute.
And unless Priest gets screwed on group removal spell in the next expansion (it shouldn't on history, but never know) the only season departures from this formula are Mass Hysteria, Zerek's Cloning Gallery (which just cheats out the big legendary and provides emergency heals/taunts) and Zilliax (you could swap that charge/divine shield dragon, but lose the heals and rare magnetic play).
Only card I don't like is Psychopomp, which has a bad tendency to rez itself, be the only minion available early game or muck up Mass Rez. Might want to toss in a Sandhoof Waterbearer or two to frustrate Hunters and Warriors. Shadow Word: Death is another card to consider as well for early game insurance against snowballs like Van Cleef.
Decisions, decisions ...
Spend $10 on cosmetics on a game I'm waffling on come April ... (like occasional Battlegrounds, Priest getting comeback in this meta and Big Druid; dislike aggro, Galakrond and Lackey BS)
or
Save $10, eke out 250 more wins on wild ladder on Highlander Control/Anti-OTK Mage deck of mine, get 1K Jaina for free.
/I got Blizzard live event card backs, so Khadgar's is kinda tame in comparison. But hey, good for those who already had him
Yeah I should have picked Siamat's wording, which wouldn't offend those who like Druid's exclusive Choose One mechanic.
While increasing the mana cost for Lackeys does hurt, Discover makes the dragon and spell lackeys still powerful even at 2 or 3 mana. Turning Lackeys into say a 2 1/1 that may randomly award Fireball or Myra's Unstable Element makes the things weaker.
Too late for this contest, but new wording would be thus:
Battlecry: Lackeys cost 1 mana more or lose Discover ability this game (your choice).
And yeah, I'd increase it to 2 mana. Thanks.
You should see the cries from some circles of Hearthstone when Priest gets a good deck.
Actually, I'm getting them now from Hunters with Rez Priest thwarting their various decks.
Shudderwock needs a Raza-style nerf before going to wild, or a new type of tech card to prevent infinite Shudderwock.
Dirty Rat alone is not a good bet.
Here's an unusual one to mention: Arcane Dynamo. I used it a little on Big Spell Mage back in the day, but it has come up again in the past six months for Rez Priest. Need a third Mass Rez or Plague of Death for later? Against warlocks stacking multiple N'zoth or Death Knight hero card, druids running the new Ysera or their 6/8 reborn taunt, or other decks that can just continue to pile big minions, It's worth the awkward 3/4, especially if you're already playing the quest.
Been wanting some anti-Lackey tech since Zetalot mentioned them as a reason for his departure, and I agreed with it as a problem in the current meta (rogues and wild shaman). Let me know what you think.
FYI -- Lackeys still provide a dragon/spell/whatever, the players just can't choose anymore because of the loss of Discover if that is chosen. Art chosen was "rat dragon" -- I originally thought Dirty Rat clone, but that would be more ideal to get rid of Lackey generators than Lackeys, and not all Lackey generators are minions. The only ways I could think to hurt Lackeys fairly would be to silence them in hand, force them out (both of which wouldn't be effective as they're not commonly held long, if at all), remove Discover or increase the mana cost. Went with the latter two.
The only bit I was conflicted on was poisonous; I added as a "after year of the dragon/against non-lackey decks/late game" option, but I figure it counters stuff like Inner Fire priest well early too. Also gives it a slight upside/downside if you get this as your random dragon reward from Descent's Ysera or Alex.
PS -- My other idea was a 3-mana battlecry legendary, Lackey Union Leader, that gradually increases the mana cost of Lackey +1 after the legendary is played.
I'd rather see Discover removed from all lackeys.
That will hurt aggro far more right now.
If you're playing control or highlander decks, you should be able to squeeze at least one of these two in; I run both in a Frost Lich Jaina highlander deck that usually has the last laugh against Mechathun locks:
Unseen Saboteur/Brann Bronzebeard combo, timed right, is usually a win against a Mechathun lock. Especially if it sets off Cataclysm or Bloodbloom.
Plague of Flames is vulnerable to Skulking Geist.
The thing about Shadow Madness is that it is one of the best defensive tech cards, aside from silence, when deathrattles are in vogue.
Most deathrattles such as Mechanical Whelp are usually 3 or less attack.
Also, some of the reborn minions share the same trait.
Got some serious plays and a few ragequits from Shadow Madness during the Uldum Meta, N'Zoth return and briefly when Deathrattle Rogue was the it in Standard in the opening weeks of the current meta.
Thoughtsteal ... it's more for spell priest (gah, that was a long time ago), Highlander or memes. But ... I've seen it bite me (against other priests) and others with the stuff it can dig up. Probably seen those happen more often than Lightwarden snowballs.
This is an exercise I'd like to see streamers like Kripp and Kibler, and a guy who plays the hell out of the class like Zetalot, do, and compare what they come up with. And as someone with over 1,000 wins with priest, I'm glad you recognize some of the underrated gem cards in the Toolbox of Control class.
Do like the inclusion of Mass Hysteria in the core set -- Holy Nova is meaningless these days. Aggro is pretty much 3 health or more attack than health, and there's a lot of snowball/big minion cheats.
What I'd like to see in the "new core" set: Potion of Madness. Along with Shadow Madness and Cabal Shadow Priest, cards that take control of my opponent's stuff have been some of my favorite cards to play for their shock and frustration value, aside from the game-winning Mass Dispel.
In fact, if Blizzard is running from Shadow Priest Mind Blasting opponents, then let Mind Control Priest enter the fray. Valeera accesses the library of an opponent's deck; let Anduin access his opponent's minion's minds and cause chaos. A cheaper or stronger version of Mind Control Tech that works with three minions? Mind Control buffed to 8 mana? ...
The other aspect I'd like to see: Divine Shields. My WoW days are dated (left after Mists of Pandaria), but I recall Discipline Priest bubbling the hell out of raids being a thing. If Shadow Priest is getting shafted, why not go in this direction?
Haven't seen anything in wild ... yet.
Considering the new battlecry coin minion, I'm shocked none of the quest mages/rogues have used it.
I've wanted thief priest to evolve into a steal minions on the table archetype. More cards like Mind Control Tech, Mind Control, Potion of Madness, Shadow Madness, and Cabal Shadow Priest. Given the right tempo, it could help priest counter aggro -- which SHOULD be the case for it being a control class -- and give some needed firepower, rather than relying on board clear after board clear or taunts which seem underpowered or prone to silence.
And all that fit thematically in the class (Anduin DGAF and used mind control on locals and the WoW player at the start of Mists of Pandaria, and the Old Gods' crowd tend to rely on it as well).
So Blizzard, you want us to Inner Fire combo on dragons.
Zetalot, can you hold the door for us priests following you and walking out?
Hearthstone Developer #1: They keep complaining about Shaman cards power levels and we end up having to nerf the things a week from release ...
Hearthstone Developer #2: Hey, check out the new Shaman card I made!
HSD #1: And there it is.
I credit quite a bit of my 1,200+ wins as priest to Zetalot, who through thick and very f---king thin, provided decks, strategies and winrates for those wanting to play the class. This is one quiet departure that's going to hurt the community, as streamers are going to other games or Battlegrounds mode, and most players gravitate to aggro and quickly ramping up the ladder rather than a guy like Zetalot that focuses on control play styles that make for more interesting, challenging games and in theory, feed on aggro decks, but Hearthstone's history of power toward aggro ...
I also took note he mentions lackeys as something needing to be addressed in Hearthstone's meta as one thing he finds OP. I've been thinking about that recently seeing how lackeys are prevalent.
/it's getting rarer to see control vs. control or control vs. OTK in wild, too
Will probably cast Cataclysm the turn you're going to pull it off.
Battlegrounds: Had an opening hot streak with the new Queen Wagtoggle, but didn't finish in the money. Her hero power hits multiple targets btw (it will give one mech, murloc, beast and etc. in your lineup stat boost), so she has menagerie potential.
Won tonight with the secret guy btw, with murlocs.
Played a few standard games and watched several others; still see warriors trying to smorc (I went 3-1 vs. them with both rez and an anti-rogue/hunter thief/silence priest deck), but an uptick in shaman, rogue didn't seem to mind the buffs in the one match I played, and one Inner Fire priest.
Three wild games, all different types of warlock (aggro, cubelock, reno), three different wins for my reno mage. Nice break from secret mage ladder garbage.
Flipped Ancharrr for Untapped Potential, since I don't play aggro decks and wanted to round out the missing druid cards from this year. Tempted to craft Ysera.
Arcane Dynamo is a trade-off - get more rez and/or plague spells. In the recent N'zoth meta, it was essential with warlocks, priests and others who could do N'zoth a few times. Now? If there's a huge amount of mirror or control warrior gets back in vogue.
Also, a 3/4 tends to get ignored in the mass rez targets. People TEND TO FORGET YOU CAN BUFF IT TO 6/7. Which is better than getting Psychopomp back. And I did have a number of 9/10 Arcane Dynamos in the last meta.