Life Without Leeroy
Had this on my mind lately, but held off posting since it felt like it was destined for Front Page treatment. Somewhat self-explanatory. I've mained either Hunter or Rogue since at least Kobolds and Catacombs, bouncing back and forth when the playstyle of one or the other becomes boring or oppressive. So I've spent a considerable amount of time recently thinking what Leeroy's imminent Hall of Faming means for the go-to closer of a huge proportion of decks.
I'd be interested in two questions:
1) For those of you who can barely imagine life without Leeroy, what are you thinking of as a replacement? Reckless Rocketeer, for 1 more mana with 1 less damage, obviously isn't a worthwhile substitute.
2) Do you anticipate any shifts in the meta in response to Leeroy's removal? The number of times that I have either won or lost purely because Leeroy delivered the exact amount of damage required to end the game is almost hysterically high: whether the matchup is Mech Paladin or Galakrond Warrior, you can play a near perfect game and get suffocated by a well-timed Leeroy at the end. One of the interesting variables I see here is the timing of the Hall of Fame patch. With only half a week until the end of the season, a lot of more aggro decks will have to orchestrate a quick pivot within a fairly compressed window before new cards can fill the void.
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Had this on my mind lately, but held off posting since it felt like it was destined for Front Page treatment. Somewhat self-explanatory. I've mained either Hunter or Rogue since at least Kobolds and Catacombs, bouncing back and forth when the playstyle of one or the other becomes boring or oppressive. So I've spent a considerable amount of time recently thinking what Leeroy's imminent Hall of Faming means for the go-to closer of a huge proportion of decks.
I'd be interested in two questions:
1) For those of you who can barely imagine life without Leeroy, what are you thinking of as a replacement? Reckless Rocketeer, for 1 more mana with 1 less damage, obviously isn't a worthwhile substitute.
2) Do you anticipate any shifts in the meta in response to Leeroy's removal? The number of times that I have either won or lost purely because Leeroy delivered the exact amount of damage required to end the game is almost hysterically high: whether the matchup is Mech Paladin or Galakrond Warrior, you can play a near perfect game and get suffocated by a well-timed Leeroy at the end. One of the interesting variables I see here is the timing of the Hall of Fame patch. With only half a week until the end of the season, a lot of more aggro decks will have to orchestrate a quick pivot within a fairly compressed window before new cards can fill the void.
Face decks would have to switch to Wolfriders, or up their turn 1-3 tempo game. Reckless Rocketeer is just bad, but rogue can still Shadowstep it at 10 for 10 damage, but I seriously doubt its viability.
Aggro decks will find ways to adapt. I can imagine them making their turn 1-3 more important so enough damage is dealt so even cards like Wolfrider can do the job. Bear in mind that without Leeroy Jenkins, many might be less incline to keep taunts in their deck. So there's that too.
I'd imagine without Leroy, players might hang onto damage spells, switch a few minions here and there, tech in some taunt removal so they can push more face damage?
Its a good question but only time will tell. Sometimes, Leroy is just faster. I might have other means of lethal but Leroy just makes it quicker.
Good Luck and Happy Gaming! <3