Analysis of the February balance update

We’re getting ready for some major card changes and wondering what will happen to Hearthstone’s strongest decks. Let’s take a closer look at each of the cards that have been changed this February. First, the not-so-liked horse…

Is 8 mana a fair price for Bonemare?

Played in a lot of decks, the fact that Bonemare is slowed by a turn makes its ability to generate strong tempo less threatening, and will probably make Bonemare no longer used, or even played in Ranked. Perhaps Bonemare for 8 mana is reasonable, but cards that are only reasonable are not played much.

A similar example is (one of Hearthstone’s strongest Epic cards ever) Call of the Wild: it’s truly formidable at 8 mana and unplayable when nerfed to 9 mana. At 8 mana, the opponent for a slot of Bonemare in the deck is The Lich King, but what really makes Bonemare stand out is not because of The Lich King, but because decks playing Bonemare will now use cards. cheaper and stronger cards, for example Cobalt Scalebane. Perhaps the Bonemare nerf is not really necessary, and it is not too sad for the player when it has no more 7 mana left.

Can Corridor Creeper be played with only 2/5 body left?

Not appreciated during the K&C release, the purple worm had a 2 month run in the meta before its attack stat was reduced to 3, from 5 to 2. This is almost a Corridor Creeper booster. out of its orbit (something the Blizzard team usually does when nerf cards). Given its effect on Hearthstone as a whole, it’s hard to say that a drastic resolution is not guaranteed. Perhaps only Evolve Shaman will still play it, because this deck can easily turn it into minions with much better stats and effects. And since Evolve Shaman isn’t exactly the strongest deck in Hearthstone right now, instead of using Evolve to make it an 8 mana minion, you can Evolve it into 400 dust!

Patches still standing without Charge?

The nerf on Patches has been expected by many players since its appearance: Patches no longer has the Charge effect, and his line on the field will also change (From “I’m in charge now!” to “I’m in charge now!” I’m here now”). Hearthstone players all know how strong Patches are, and after Innervate was nerfed, Patches easily became the strongest card, becoming the symbol of Hearthstone. Will removing the Charge effect have a big impact? Yes, because the combination with Southsea Captain makes the Pirate set used in many decks of many classes. Similarly, Patches is also no longer strong when used in conjunction with Prince Keleseth.

However, despite not being insanely powerful, Patches will still be a playable minion. Alley Cat is a playable card. And so are Patches for the same reasons. He can still be found in Druid decks playing Bloodsail Corsair, Paladin decks playing Southsea Deckhand, and a few Rogue decks playing Swashburglar. In Pirate Warrior too, even though that deck is no longer strong. Patches will go from Hearthstone’s second best card to an average card. Picking Patches would be even worse now, but probably no one would play Golakka Crawler to eat him anymore either.

Does Highlander Priest still work well when losing a one-turn-kill combo?

Free Mana has always been a dangerous thing in Hearthstone, and to make sure Wild players don’t become “nerds” at all, Priest will no longer be able to use free Hero Power continuously. Raza the Chained’s effect reduces Hero Power’s cost to 1 instead of 0 like before, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be played in the Highlander Priest deck anymore. Similar to Patches, there are two notable things about this nerf: First, it’s a huge change. The previous combo only needed Prophet Velen and Mind Blast to deal up to 20 damage with 9 mana, and with the remaining 1 mana, Priest can fire 1-2 more times (with Radiant Elemental, the damage potential can be increased. more than 30).

With this change of Raza, the aforementioned combo will cost 10-14 mana and that’s what this combo does best. No more days of burning over 30 enemy health in just one turn, which will greatly reduce the negative emotions when meeting Highlander Priest. However, like Patches, this change does not make the deck bad, just not as strong as before. Considering the correlation with the aggro decks that also suffered damage from this update, Raza’s change will not be too critical. Highlander Priest will still be playable, but will obviously lose a significant amount of ranking in the meta.

What will happen to the meta in general?

The full effect of this nerf on a large meta is hard to predict. With millions of players, it is easy for unexpected events to happen, for example new decks using new effects, and beyond the ability of any individual to see them. However, we can also try to think about what lies ahead. All aggro decks will be weakened because Patches and Creeper are nerfed. And not only that, perhaps decks that rely on tempo will also be somewhat weakened because Bonemare now costs 8 mana.

Does that mean that Aggro decks will be gone?

No. No! ARE NOT! Aggro never dies!!

Which deck is the hardest hit?

It’s tempo Rogue, and it’s going to be hard for this deck to come back strong until getting the tools in the next expansion. Maybe it will switch from Pirate to another, slower – Elemental direction (as it has been in the past) or keep a few Pirates and play faster with Cold Blood. There’s a good chance that neither of these directions will outperform the aggro or midrange decks of other classes, but will keep Tempo Rogue in the meta anyway.

What about Zoolock?

Like Tempo Rogue, Zoolock is affected a lot. However, with a richer history than most other decks, Zoolock always finds a way to return, perhaps this time it will be the Demon Zoolock set, cutting Prince Keleseth, and replacing it with Vulgar Homunculus, Demonfire and Bloodfury Potion .

Is there any aggro deck that benefits?

Aggro Druid and Paladin (especially Murloc Paladin for not using Pirate) are almost unaffected, as are Secret Mage. The decks mentioned above just need to replace Corridor Creeper. In the near future, this will be the most likely option to climb rank with aggro. With the decrease in the number of Tempo Rogues, these decks will be played even more (because Tempo Rogue is a very difficult bet for them – except for Druid).

What about Warlock and Jade Druid? Will they make up 90% of the battles in Ranked?

The Control Warlock and Jade Druid decks are pretty stable and don’t lose anything during this nerf, and their annoying opponents have decreased again. It looks like they will be all over the meta, but that’s not certain. Cubelock is clearly a big force in the meta, and will increase in numbers right after the nerf. If that happens, a lot of other decks will deal with Silence tech cards like Spellbreaker and weapon breakers like Acidic Swamp Ooze or similar, but the big picture is bigger than that. Decks that can handle Cubelock well like Quest, Miracle and Kingsbane Rogue, Raza Priest (which can still be pretty good against Cubelock), Burn Mage and Spiteful Priest. Although many people predict that Cubelock will take over the meta, its strategy still has certain weaknesses and always has counters, so players don’t need to worry about that.

What about the blue stone people?

Although not directly losing anything, Jade can still be countered by Control Warlock, Murloc Paladin, and Spiteful Priest. Other strategies that are not played much in the current meta may return, for example Big Druid or Inner Fire Priest, both of which are difficult bets for Jade Druid and therefore Jade is unlikely to return to the top position. when the meta is stable.

Will Doomguard removed from Standard?

Some are suggesting that even though Cubelock is very strong and not a single card is nerfed this time, it is possible that Doomguard, an important card in both Cubelock and Zoolock, will enter the Hall of Fame in early April. But here is a The card is iconic, and plus it has the design team’s favorite Discard effect, so there’s a good chance he’ll remain in the Hearthstone world for a long time to come.

What about mSome new decks, which could not find a place in the old meta, can now shine?

Spiteful Priest, Miracle Rogue or Big Druid have been sidelined for a while, with very few players even trying to innovate to keep them in the meta. They’re not bad, it’s just that other strategies, especially those of the strongest decks in the meta right now, counter them. With those strong decks nerfed, they may return in the near future. If that happens, new counters will also be built, the previous counters do not exist for the same reason.

All in all, Hearthstone’s February update brings a lot of joy and hope to players. Even if that doesn’t change the meta, the April expansion is fast approaching and is sure to bring a lot more fun. It’s hard to say exactly how the meta will change, but we’re sure to enjoy weeks or even months in an unstable meta.

Which card will enter the Hall of Fame?

It’s harder to predict which cards will make it to the Hall of Fame this year, but the two most anticipated are Ice Block and Wild Growth. Ice Block is always in the wilds of potential cards, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it did happen this April. It’s very likely that Quest Mage will become more popular to counter the new meta, even though it’s played relatively infrequently at the moment. Although Wild Growth is played in most Druid decks, it probably doesn’t make sense to include it in the Hall of Fame. This card is an important representation of the Druid class in terms of gameplay, and if it is removed from the Standard other ramp cards will be created – which is unnecessary.

Source: pcgamer