Not gonna lie, i stopped playing the game but this does make me slightly interested in giving it another chance. I'm gonna wait for the dust to settle though. I don't want to start playing it and see everything turn into another Aggro/Combo hybrid meta.
If Mr. Smite didn't give himself Charge, he wouldn't be a big deal. You would need a lot more mana to get any benefit from the aura. But he does have Charge which makes him a viable finisher with an upside. I'm not particularly impressed by any of the other cards. The Murloc is okay. It can provide a bit of healing for a Murloc deck but it isn't all that special. The mech is okay for removing stuff and leaving a big body behind but doesn't look like the kind of card that is going to have any impact on the meta. And the new Edwin seems interesting for a miracle style deck with a lot of cheap cards but he doesn't look as capable of winning games early as old Edwin. This miniset doesn't look interesting or strong enough to put a stop to the dominance of Quest decks so i don't really see anything changing (other than Quest Warrior becoming a much bigger player).
The change to Illucia was necessary but the card is just plain bad now. An increase in stats or reduction in cost would have been fine imo. The value she provides is too inconsistent and unreliable. It is totally dependent on what the opponent has and there are still scenarios where she isn't playable at all (against aggro decks or if the opponent is simply out of cards). If i want a late game value engine for my deck, i'd rather play Ysera the Dreamer. It costs three times more but comes with a sizable body and the value provided is consistent. I'll always know what i'm getting. So, Illucia simply isn't worth a deck slot anymore. She lost her role as combo disruptor and it is completely outclassed as a value generator. I won't miss the opportunity of getting 1600 dust this time.
I thought about this too until i realized that this essentially removed any drawbacks from playing her. One of key things about this card is that it's difficult to determine the right moment to play her (outside of dumping quest rewards). A badly timed Illucia could backfire really hard. If you missed the mark, you essentially gave your opponent a free turn to destroy your hand which would leave you without precious resources for your next turn. It's the kind of card that only gives you one chance: you either get it correctly and win the game or you miss and lose.
The change to an end of turn effect would allow Priest players to run her without any risks. They would be able to destroy your hand and you would only be able to watch it. Since the hand would swap back at the end of their turn, the most you could do is look at what they have in hand but that really doesn't matter if they are going to return a hand stripped of resources to you. She would remain extremely toxic and complaints would only increase further, i believe. Unfortunately, they had no choice here but they should at least revert the nerf to her mana cost.
I played with it yesterday and it seemed fine to me. I got it to 130+ stats by the end of the game and i only had a golden Party Elemental for several turns to buff it directly. It might be a bit broken at tier 5.
Irebound Brute - It's just a small touch like the Flesh Giant nerf to slow down the card a little bit without removing its main function as a minion you can cheat out early to beat your opponents with large stats.
Mindrender Illucia - Straight up trash now. She can no longer lock down opponents in Shadow Priest or disrupt key combo pieces from opponents in Control Priest. Copying the opponent's hand could technically help when you are running out of gas but her cost didn't change which makes this extremely inefficient. Now, she is just another extremely niche Thief Priest card that doesn't really fill any important roles in current archetypes. The only thing left is her flavor as a mind reader. Other than that, she just doesn't have a purpose anymore. Free dust, at least.
Perpetual Flame - The increase in cost can affect breakpoints in early turns as you can no longer fit another low cost card as easily in the same turn you play this. It will weaken their survivability and disrupt some of Quest Shaman's most efficient early game routes to quest completion.
Command the Elements - Another hit that slows down quest completion. The archetype should be fine but not as insanely fast anymore. Good.
Runed Mithril Rod - The increase in cost breaks the early game curve of coin into Rod into Backfire which slows down Quest Warlock significantly in certain scenarios.
The Demon Seed - The wild ban was an obvious thing. The format has been saved for now. Hopefully, something like this doesn't happen again in the near future. For Standard, these direct nerfs are quite brutal. The deck doesn't just become slower but also more susceptible to burn and aggression as the Warlock needs to hurt his life total in the early game a lot more. These three extra points of damage can make a huge difference against aggressive decks or decks with a lot of burn (like Quest Hunter).
Now, let's talk about the buffs and some of these have me on fire right now!
Leatherworking Kit - Cheaper but not really faster. The main problem is reliably generating beast tokens to sacrifice for this. Not a pointless buff though. Worth experimenting with.
Selective Breeder - This one baffles me a bit. Two extra health on a value minion. Not even a point of attack to make it trade a little bit better. I don't understand this one. A mana discount would have been a lot more interesting. This having three health doesn't really do much at all. It's not threatening, it doesn't trade well into anything with just one attack and it doesn't make it more efficient as a value generator. This simply doesn't make sense to me.
Wildfire - Hell yeah! This is the one that has me on fire! The one mana discount is huge. Playing it on turn 1 and getting that extra damage on the Hero Power for early game board control is massive. This is what Shadowform should have looked like when it was reintroduced. Getting it online fast is what makes a difference.
Mordresh Fire Eye - Rock & Roll! Yes, another massive game changer here! A two mana discount is so important for this card. Its main limiter has always been how slow it is. Now, it can actually work as a proper win condition/finisher for the HP Mage archetype. Simply amazing!
Stormwind Freebooter, Stonemaul Anchorman and Bloodsail Deckhand - All buffs directed towards Quest Warrior. These minions are a lot stronger now and that should enable Quest Warrior in standard. Problem is: Quest Warrior doesn't need any help in Wild. These buffs could have some repercussions there. Stonemaul Anchorman is the only card that doesn't really benefit Wild Quest Warrior.
Overall, this patch seems pretty good. These changes should shake up the meta quite a bit in both formats. Now, we have to wait for the miniset and pray that it doesn't break everything again.
You are right. They most likely won't buff it. But the archetype will receive further support. It's simply inevitable. And the deck isn't all that bad in standard. I have been playing with it and it feels borderline strong. A small push will be enough to turn it into another oppressive force in standard. But, if that happens, it will be nerfed for sure.
Well, The Demon Seed is most certainly getting banned from Wild. That's the best solution to not kill the card completely. And Mindrender Illucia is getting redesigned for Priest. She is just too unfair in Shadow Priest. Whatever. If she becomes too awful then i'll use the dust for something else.
When it comes to nerfs, Runed Mithril Rod and Perpetual Flame are pretty much guaranteed. I don't know what they intend to nerf on DH. It doesn't seem necessary but maybe they just want Il'gynoth to die off completely and will touch the card again. I don't see any other problematic cards besides this one. The other two nerfs are tougher to predict. Maybe they intend to weaken Warlock's healing potential. Touch of the Nathrezim or Blood Shard Bristleback seem like possible targets. And one more Shaman nerf... Maybe the quest is getting nerfed directly.
Mage is getting a buff... Please, in the name of all that's sacred, don't revert the nerf on Refreshing Spring Water! Buff some other card. Mordresh Fire Eye or one of his support cards (Wildfire) could use some help.
They are very likely buffing a card for Quest Hunter. This is very difficult to evaluate because the quest is very strong in Wild Odd Hunter. They should avoid buffing an odd cost card. Also, buffs to direct damage spells will have repercussions on other archetypes (such as Face Hunter or Even Hunter in Wild). Since this is a very delicate situation, it's possible that they are buffing a card for a different archetype (The Rat King...?).
For Warrior, it's going to be something related to the quest. A Pirate or the quest itself, maybe. There's the possibility for a buff to Control Warrior but i don't see this changing the situation for the archetype.
There is already an anti-battlecry tech card: Boompistol Bully. It rotated in April. If they added it to the core set then there would be at least a little bit of counterplay to the questlines. It would be very minor but delaying those rewards for a turn could help some decks finish off the quest players. I don't believe they will release a reprint of such a recent card.
I'm not hopeful for anything that makes quests worse from this next miniset. If anything, the miniset will probably give them even more tools to work with since it is connected directly with this expansion. More fuel to the fire. There is a decent chance that the borderline strong quests gain more support which will push them over the top.
I have been playing Quest Hunter and the deck is already decent. Any good damage spells or card draw might make it strong enough to become another oppressive force in the Standard meta. People playing Wild already know that it is pretty disgusting with the right support. Quest Rogue is less likely to become oppressive but it could become a very strong contender with some additional support. Quest Druid could become a lot stronger with the right support as well. Warrior is probably getting some buffs soon and depending on what is buffed and what the miniset brings it could easily become too strong. Quest Priest can't really overcome its own slow design so i don't have much hope for it. And Quest Paladin doesn't really need any support. It is bad because it's a board based strategy and those will continue to struggle as long as Quest Shaman, Warlock and Mage are still around.
When it comes to other archetypes, it is pretty hard to see anything rising to relevance. Token Hunter (or Rat Hunter, whatever) needs better token generation and a way of leveraging those into real threats. The 3-mana 1/6 is too weak for the job. Fire Mage probably can't compete against Spell Mage because Incanter's Flow and Refreshing Spring Water are just too strong. And HP Mage simply has no chance. Shadow Priest is about to lose Illucia (i'm 100% certain that she is getting killed in this next balance patch) but it will remain strong. Further support probably won't impact it that much. Other aggro decks don't really need any support (which doesn't mean they aren't getting any). And i don't really see any chance of slower strategies becoming viable again. Sorry for being too negative but i can't help it. I just don't see how things could change without the questlines being touched directly.
Well, at least she got a little bit of a spotlight on herself for a short time before being returned to the darkest pits of the game where most cards spend their whole sad existence.
Paladin's playstyle is very linear and predictable. There isn't much room for different strategies other than buffing stuff. Removals are limited, secrets are annoying but GMs know how to play around them (unlike people in ladder which struggle against those) and healing is also limited, at the moment. The class isn't bad for ladder but for tournaments it is just too easy to predict what it is going to do.
Toxicity is always a problem in every online community and harassment isn't something tolerable. This time, however, i think the players have a lot of reasons to complain.
I think the developers made the right choice when it comes to the way they approach balance. Don't get me wrong, the game isn't in a very good state right now. But the situation isn't as bad as people say. This isn't a DH day 1 situation where an emergency patch was needed. The two week wait period is the right choice. Let the meta evolve and then let them deal with the power outliers.
The Mercenaries situation is a much more delicate matter. The showcase stream was bad but the preorder bundles were the worst possible thing they could have done. The prices are way too high for a game mode that isn't even available yet. People haven't been able to test the new mode and selling these preorders at such ludicrous price is pretty ridiculous. If there was an open beta period were people could play the mode and decide for themselves if it was worth it or not then it would be fine. But only showcasing small portions of gameplay isn't enough to justify this. Watching a game being played and playing the game yourself are completely different things. Battlegrounds was a success because it was in open beta the entire time. People didn't need to pay anything to test it. The monetization came later and it was mostly cosmetics (though i think that locking the extra hero choices behind the perks is bs). Mercenaries, however, started immediately living up to its name: it's clearly only focused on making money. So, criticizing this is more than fair, i'd say.
The interaction between Whelp Smuggler and Razorgore is really broken. I finished with a 84/700 in one game. Thank goodness it's a bug and is being addressed quickly. Impatient Doomsayer is also broken but that one seems intentional.
They are certainly taking a big risk in aggressively monetizing the mode right away. Battlegrounds had the negative reactions but what propelled it towards success wasn't just the fact that it was fun to play: it was completely free. That allowed people to jump in immediately and experiment with the heroes, minions and mechanics of the game mode.
Duels definitely left a bad taste in people's mouth initially because of the requirement of having a certain number of legendaries to unlock treasures. I don't know if people still care about that. The monetization was already there but it was a bit more subtle, i'd say.
This new mode, however, is monetized very aggressively and has its own set of cards that must be bought with real money or in game currency. This limits experimentation a lot and that could have a significant impact on its chances of success. I'm not particularly interested in grinding (or paying) another game mode so i'll probably just ignore this one. I already have Slay the Spire, anyway.
Warlock just got a little slap in the hand. D6 Warlock is a lot slower now but its play pattern remains the same. If it doesn't die from this then the nerfs didn't really accomplish anything when it comes to gameplay feel. The giant nerf is just a small touch as well. Meanwhile, Mages continue to draw through their whole deck and burn you down, Shamans get to double their spells pretty quickly and games still can't go past turn 8. I'm talking about standard here.
Mage did suffer from the nerf to Incanter's Flow but that's not the only issue with that deck. Ignite providing a source of infinite damage and immunity to fatigue is bad enough already but their card draw is way too efficient. I was playing Quest Hunter which is a deck that is highly favored into Quest Mage. Yet, they can race very well because of their extremely cheap and efficient draws. A well timed Imprisoned Phoenix or Guild Trader can help them set up lethal without much problem and they don't even need to complete the quest to kill you. I won more than i lost against them but the games are always close when the mages shift their gears toward a more direct burn plan. And they still have Sanctum Chandler in case their precious spell only deck gets butchered with another nerf.
Shaman controls the board insanely efficiently early in the game because of Perpetual Flame and they aren't punished by the overload because of the first quest reward. Canal Slogger also ensures their survivability into the mid game. Then they complete the quest, play the reward and get their double spells which makes Charged Call and burn spells devastating. And Instructor Fireheart can end the game on her own at that point as well. Even if Warlock gets nerfed more this will not bring slower strategies back into viability. This whole expansion is a complete broken mess.
Several interesting new cards, a temporary damage cap and an exclusive keyword. The patch looks pretty good! Unfortunately, several constructed cards who gained new life and some recognition in the mode became jobless again. They are joining Cobalt Guardian back in the dumpster. Also, Twitch won't be happy that they got rid of their precious boat! I understand that they wanted to eliminate some of the absurd amounts of damage that came out of cards like these but what about the biggest offender? Ghastcoiler? Why they allowed that to continue existing?
Yesterday i made a big push from Gold 4 towards Platinum 4 rank without bonus stars using Libram Paladin. Surprisingly, my pocket meta didn't feel as awful as in other days. It seems like people are quite sick of the quests in lower ranks and different decks popped up frequently. I only faced two Quest Warlocks (beat one and lost to the other one) and a few Quest Mages. Mage feels worse to lose against. They deal too much damage from hand and draw a lot faster, usually. But their curve is slightly messed up now which makes them a bit slower. I beat quite a few of them but the ones i lost to managed to kill me from near full health every time.
The other Quest decks are very rare. Quest Shaman pops up here and there and it is very strong. I didn't face any yesterday though. Quest Warrior is too slow even with a lot of pirates and a lower mana curve. Quest Hunter can race quite effectively but they run out of cards every single time. Quest Priest just sucks. Quest DH suffered the most from the latest balance patch and is pretty much dead. Rogue, Druid and Paladin quests disappeared completely.
The Demon Seed needs to lose lifesteal. Warlock has too much life gain to make the self-pain matter much.
Either way, the meta doesn't feel good at all. When combo decks are closing out games prior to turn 8 it makes the deck choices binary and that's boring AF.
If Warlock ends up getting nerfed again then i would bet on them weakening several healing options to make the class more vulnerable to aggression. Probably Touch of the Nathrezim going down to 2 healing or something like that. They most likely want to avoid targeting any of the quests directly because they are new. Once some time has passed (like a month or two) then they will start attacking the root of the problem which are the quests. Until then we will have to endure this terrible meta. I'm probably going to spend more time on BGs because of that.
Not gonna lie, i stopped playing the game but this does make me slightly interested in giving it another chance. I'm gonna wait for the dust to settle though. I don't want to start playing it and see everything turn into another Aggro/Combo hybrid meta.
If Mr. Smite didn't give himself Charge, he wouldn't be a big deal. You would need a lot more mana to get any benefit from the aura. But he does have Charge which makes him a viable finisher with an upside. I'm not particularly impressed by any of the other cards. The Murloc is okay. It can provide a bit of healing for a Murloc deck but it isn't all that special. The mech is okay for removing stuff and leaving a big body behind but doesn't look like the kind of card that is going to have any impact on the meta. And the new Edwin seems interesting for a miracle style deck with a lot of cheap cards but he doesn't look as capable of winning games early as old Edwin. This miniset doesn't look interesting or strong enough to put a stop to the dominance of Quest decks so i don't really see anything changing (other than Quest Warrior becoming a much bigger player).
The change to Illucia was necessary but the card is just plain bad now. An increase in stats or reduction in cost would have been fine imo. The value she provides is too inconsistent and unreliable. It is totally dependent on what the opponent has and there are still scenarios where she isn't playable at all (against aggro decks or if the opponent is simply out of cards). If i want a late game value engine for my deck, i'd rather play Ysera the Dreamer. It costs three times more but comes with a sizable body and the value provided is consistent. I'll always know what i'm getting. So, Illucia simply isn't worth a deck slot anymore. She lost her role as combo disruptor and it is completely outclassed as a value generator. I won't miss the opportunity of getting 1600 dust this time.
I thought about this too until i realized that this essentially removed any drawbacks from playing her. One of key things about this card is that it's difficult to determine the right moment to play her (outside of dumping quest rewards). A badly timed Illucia could backfire really hard. If you missed the mark, you essentially gave your opponent a free turn to destroy your hand which would leave you without precious resources for your next turn. It's the kind of card that only gives you one chance: you either get it correctly and win the game or you miss and lose.
The change to an end of turn effect would allow Priest players to run her without any risks. They would be able to destroy your hand and you would only be able to watch it. Since the hand would swap back at the end of their turn, the most you could do is look at what they have in hand but that really doesn't matter if they are going to return a hand stripped of resources to you. She would remain extremely toxic and complaints would only increase further, i believe. Unfortunately, they had no choice here but they should at least revert the nerf to her mana cost.
I played with it yesterday and it seemed fine to me. I got it to 130+ stats by the end of the game and i only had a golden Party Elemental for several turns to buff it directly. It might be a bit broken at tier 5.
Lots of changes to talk about. First, the nerfs.
Irebound Brute - It's just a small touch like the Flesh Giant nerf to slow down the card a little bit without removing its main function as a minion you can cheat out early to beat your opponents with large stats.
Mindrender Illucia - Straight up trash now. She can no longer lock down opponents in Shadow Priest or disrupt key combo pieces from opponents in Control Priest. Copying the opponent's hand could technically help when you are running out of gas but her cost didn't change which makes this extremely inefficient. Now, she is just another extremely niche Thief Priest card that doesn't really fill any important roles in current archetypes. The only thing left is her flavor as a mind reader. Other than that, she just doesn't have a purpose anymore. Free dust, at least.
Perpetual Flame - The increase in cost can affect breakpoints in early turns as you can no longer fit another low cost card as easily in the same turn you play this. It will weaken their survivability and disrupt some of Quest Shaman's most efficient early game routes to quest completion.
Command the Elements - Another hit that slows down quest completion. The archetype should be fine but not as insanely fast anymore. Good.
Runed Mithril Rod - The increase in cost breaks the early game curve of coin into Rod into Backfire which slows down Quest Warlock significantly in certain scenarios.
The Demon Seed - The wild ban was an obvious thing. The format has been saved for now. Hopefully, something like this doesn't happen again in the near future. For Standard, these direct nerfs are quite brutal. The deck doesn't just become slower but also more susceptible to burn and aggression as the Warlock needs to hurt his life total in the early game a lot more. These three extra points of damage can make a huge difference against aggressive decks or decks with a lot of burn (like Quest Hunter).
Now, let's talk about the buffs and some of these have me on fire right now!
Leatherworking Kit - Cheaper but not really faster. The main problem is reliably generating beast tokens to sacrifice for this. Not a pointless buff though. Worth experimenting with.
Selective Breeder - This one baffles me a bit. Two extra health on a value minion. Not even a point of attack to make it trade a little bit better. I don't understand this one. A mana discount would have been a lot more interesting. This having three health doesn't really do much at all. It's not threatening, it doesn't trade well into anything with just one attack and it doesn't make it more efficient as a value generator. This simply doesn't make sense to me.
Wildfire - Hell yeah! This is the one that has me on fire! The one mana discount is huge. Playing it on turn 1 and getting that extra damage on the Hero Power for early game board control is massive. This is what Shadowform should have looked like when it was reintroduced. Getting it online fast is what makes a difference.
Mordresh Fire Eye - Rock & Roll! Yes, another massive game changer here! A two mana discount is so important for this card. Its main limiter has always been how slow it is. Now, it can actually work as a proper win condition/finisher for the HP Mage archetype. Simply amazing!
Stormwind Freebooter, Stonemaul Anchorman and Bloodsail Deckhand - All buffs directed towards Quest Warrior. These minions are a lot stronger now and that should enable Quest Warrior in standard. Problem is: Quest Warrior doesn't need any help in Wild. These buffs could have some repercussions there. Stonemaul Anchorman is the only card that doesn't really benefit Wild Quest Warrior.
Overall, this patch seems pretty good. These changes should shake up the meta quite a bit in both formats. Now, we have to wait for the miniset and pray that it doesn't break everything again.
You are right. They most likely won't buff it. But the archetype will receive further support. It's simply inevitable. And the deck isn't all that bad in standard. I have been playing with it and it feels borderline strong. A small push will be enough to turn it into another oppressive force in standard. But, if that happens, it will be nerfed for sure.
Well, The Demon Seed is most certainly getting banned from Wild. That's the best solution to not kill the card completely. And Mindrender Illucia is getting redesigned for Priest. She is just too unfair in Shadow Priest. Whatever. If she becomes too awful then i'll use the dust for something else.
When it comes to nerfs, Runed Mithril Rod and Perpetual Flame are pretty much guaranteed. I don't know what they intend to nerf on DH. It doesn't seem necessary but maybe they just want Il'gynoth to die off completely and will touch the card again. I don't see any other problematic cards besides this one. The other two nerfs are tougher to predict. Maybe they intend to weaken Warlock's healing potential. Touch of the Nathrezim or Blood Shard Bristleback seem like possible targets. And one more Shaman nerf... Maybe the quest is getting nerfed directly.
Mage is getting a buff... Please, in the name of all that's sacred, don't revert the nerf on Refreshing Spring Water! Buff some other card. Mordresh Fire Eye or one of his support cards (Wildfire) could use some help.
They are very likely buffing a card for Quest Hunter. This is very difficult to evaluate because the quest is very strong in Wild Odd Hunter. They should avoid buffing an odd cost card. Also, buffs to direct damage spells will have repercussions on other archetypes (such as Face Hunter or Even Hunter in Wild). Since this is a very delicate situation, it's possible that they are buffing a card for a different archetype (The Rat King...?).
For Warrior, it's going to be something related to the quest. A Pirate or the quest itself, maybe. There's the possibility for a buff to Control Warrior but i don't see this changing the situation for the archetype.
Good changes, overall. However, it's a mistake to leave Holy Mecherel untouched imo. That thing should have been nerfed in some way.
There is already an anti-battlecry tech card: Boompistol Bully. It rotated in April. If they added it to the core set then there would be at least a little bit of counterplay to the questlines. It would be very minor but delaying those rewards for a turn could help some decks finish off the quest players. I don't believe they will release a reprint of such a recent card.
I'm not hopeful for anything that makes quests worse from this next miniset. If anything, the miniset will probably give them even more tools to work with since it is connected directly with this expansion. More fuel to the fire. There is a decent chance that the borderline strong quests gain more support which will push them over the top.
I have been playing Quest Hunter and the deck is already decent. Any good damage spells or card draw might make it strong enough to become another oppressive force in the Standard meta. People playing Wild already know that it is pretty disgusting with the right support. Quest Rogue is less likely to become oppressive but it could become a very strong contender with some additional support. Quest Druid could become a lot stronger with the right support as well. Warrior is probably getting some buffs soon and depending on what is buffed and what the miniset brings it could easily become too strong. Quest Priest can't really overcome its own slow design so i don't have much hope for it. And Quest Paladin doesn't really need any support. It is bad because it's a board based strategy and those will continue to struggle as long as Quest Shaman, Warlock and Mage are still around.
When it comes to other archetypes, it is pretty hard to see anything rising to relevance. Token Hunter (or Rat Hunter, whatever) needs better token generation and a way of leveraging those into real threats. The 3-mana 1/6 is too weak for the job. Fire Mage probably can't compete against Spell Mage because Incanter's Flow and Refreshing Spring Water are just too strong. And HP Mage simply has no chance. Shadow Priest is about to lose Illucia (i'm 100% certain that she is getting killed in this next balance patch) but it will remain strong. Further support probably won't impact it that much. Other aggro decks don't really need any support (which doesn't mean they aren't getting any). And i don't really see any chance of slower strategies becoming viable again. Sorry for being too negative but i can't help it. I just don't see how things could change without the questlines being touched directly.
Well, at least she got a little bit of a spotlight on herself for a short time before being returned to the darkest pits of the game where most cards spend their whole sad existence.
Paladin's playstyle is very linear and predictable. There isn't much room for different strategies other than buffing stuff. Removals are limited, secrets are annoying but GMs know how to play around them (unlike people in ladder which struggle against those) and healing is also limited, at the moment. The class isn't bad for ladder but for tournaments it is just too easy to predict what it is going to do.
Toxicity is always a problem in every online community and harassment isn't something tolerable. This time, however, i think the players have a lot of reasons to complain.
I think the developers made the right choice when it comes to the way they approach balance. Don't get me wrong, the game isn't in a very good state right now. But the situation isn't as bad as people say. This isn't a DH day 1 situation where an emergency patch was needed. The two week wait period is the right choice. Let the meta evolve and then let them deal with the power outliers.
The Mercenaries situation is a much more delicate matter. The showcase stream was bad but the preorder bundles were the worst possible thing they could have done. The prices are way too high for a game mode that isn't even available yet. People haven't been able to test the new mode and selling these preorders at such ludicrous price is pretty ridiculous. If there was an open beta period were people could play the mode and decide for themselves if it was worth it or not then it would be fine. But only showcasing small portions of gameplay isn't enough to justify this. Watching a game being played and playing the game yourself are completely different things. Battlegrounds was a success because it was in open beta the entire time. People didn't need to pay anything to test it. The monetization came later and it was mostly cosmetics (though i think that locking the extra hero choices behind the perks is bs). Mercenaries, however, started immediately living up to its name: it's clearly only focused on making money. So, criticizing this is more than fair, i'd say.
The interaction between Whelp Smuggler and Razorgore is really broken. I finished with a 84/700 in one game. Thank goodness it's a bug and is being addressed quickly. Impatient Doomsayer is also broken but that one seems intentional.
They are certainly taking a big risk in aggressively monetizing the mode right away. Battlegrounds had the negative reactions but what propelled it towards success wasn't just the fact that it was fun to play: it was completely free. That allowed people to jump in immediately and experiment with the heroes, minions and mechanics of the game mode.
Duels definitely left a bad taste in people's mouth initially because of the requirement of having a certain number of legendaries to unlock treasures. I don't know if people still care about that. The monetization was already there but it was a bit more subtle, i'd say.
This new mode, however, is monetized very aggressively and has its own set of cards that must be bought with real money or in game currency. This limits experimentation a lot and that could have a significant impact on its chances of success. I'm not particularly interested in grinding (or paying) another game mode so i'll probably just ignore this one. I already have Slay the Spire, anyway.
Warlock just got a little slap in the hand. D6 Warlock is a lot slower now but its play pattern remains the same. If it doesn't die from this then the nerfs didn't really accomplish anything when it comes to gameplay feel. The giant nerf is just a small touch as well. Meanwhile, Mages continue to draw through their whole deck and burn you down, Shamans get to double their spells pretty quickly and games still can't go past turn 8. I'm talking about standard here.
Mage did suffer from the nerf to Incanter's Flow but that's not the only issue with that deck. Ignite providing a source of infinite damage and immunity to fatigue is bad enough already but their card draw is way too efficient. I was playing Quest Hunter which is a deck that is highly favored into Quest Mage. Yet, they can race very well because of their extremely cheap and efficient draws. A well timed Imprisoned Phoenix or Guild Trader can help them set up lethal without much problem and they don't even need to complete the quest to kill you. I won more than i lost against them but the games are always close when the mages shift their gears toward a more direct burn plan. And they still have Sanctum Chandler in case their precious spell only deck gets butchered with another nerf.
Shaman controls the board insanely efficiently early in the game because of Perpetual Flame and they aren't punished by the overload because of the first quest reward. Canal Slogger also ensures their survivability into the mid game. Then they complete the quest, play the reward and get their double spells which makes Charged Call and burn spells devastating. And Instructor Fireheart can end the game on her own at that point as well. Even if Warlock gets nerfed more this will not bring slower strategies back into viability. This whole expansion is a complete broken mess.
Several interesting new cards, a temporary damage cap and an exclusive keyword. The patch looks pretty good! Unfortunately, several constructed cards who gained new life and some recognition in the mode became jobless again. They are joining Cobalt Guardian back in the dumpster. Also, Twitch won't be happy that they got rid of their precious boat! I understand that they wanted to eliminate some of the absurd amounts of damage that came out of cards like these but what about the biggest offender? Ghastcoiler? Why they allowed that to continue existing?
Yesterday i made a big push from Gold 4 towards Platinum 4 rank without bonus stars using Libram Paladin. Surprisingly, my pocket meta didn't feel as awful as in other days. It seems like people are quite sick of the quests in lower ranks and different decks popped up frequently. I only faced two Quest Warlocks (beat one and lost to the other one) and a few Quest Mages. Mage feels worse to lose against. They deal too much damage from hand and draw a lot faster, usually. But their curve is slightly messed up now which makes them a bit slower. I beat quite a few of them but the ones i lost to managed to kill me from near full health every time.
The other Quest decks are very rare. Quest Shaman pops up here and there and it is very strong. I didn't face any yesterday though. Quest Warrior is too slow even with a lot of pirates and a lower mana curve. Quest Hunter can race quite effectively but they run out of cards every single time. Quest Priest just sucks. Quest DH suffered the most from the latest balance patch and is pretty much dead. Rogue, Druid and Paladin quests disappeared completely.
If Warlock ends up getting nerfed again then i would bet on them weakening several healing options to make the class more vulnerable to aggression. Probably Touch of the Nathrezim going down to 2 healing or something like that. They most likely want to avoid targeting any of the quests directly because they are new. Once some time has passed (like a month or two) then they will start attacking the root of the problem which are the quests. Until then we will have to endure this terrible meta. I'm probably going to spend more time on BGs because of that.