Standard’s annual rotation is often Hearthstone’s most exciting moment, with many expansions leaving to make way for new ones. But with what’s going on in the Year of the Raven, things are looking a bit bleak. According to data from HSReplay.net, The Witchwood’s influence on the meta is less influential than in previous set rotations:
“The Journey to Un’Goro cards had a usage rate of over 25% in its first week, while The Witchwood was close to 10%… Currently, The Witchwood is considered an unpopular expansion, having while lagging behind.”
With Warlock, Paladin, and Rogue dominating the meta, a lot of players are unhappy that The Witchwood isn’t making changes. Fortunately, according to a recent Blizzard forum post, nerfs are being considered – but the community will have to wait a little longer as the esports rounds of the tournaments come to an end.
“Team 5 is reviewing the feedback people have given, along with play data at all levels, and everyone agrees with the issues raised,” said community manager Jesse Hill. “After the HCT Playoffs round ends at the end of May, Team 5 plans to make some balance adjustments. Full details are not yet available but we will have this information soon when everything is complete.”
The playoffs will end on May 19, but these balances probably won’t show up until June. While we don’t know exactly when they’ll be available, we’ve got a few suggestions from our design experts. Hearthstone game designer, Dean “Iksar” Ayala. Following the discussion on Twitter, Ayala summed up her thoughts on the balance and shared them on Reddit in hopes of revealing something that the Team 5 team is actively looking into nerfs.
Ayala begins with Naga Sea Witch, the card that has been terrorizing the Wild ladder for months with free giants. “It takes time to understand if that strategy is the trend of the week, but in Naga Sea Witch decks, the ‘trend of the week’ period has passed,” he added. “We are discussing mana cost or design changes. We are still not 100% in agreement, but will continue to discuss.”
Ayala also listed the Standard cards at issue and the decks Team 5 is considering changing, but said they “won’t change all of these cards”. The cards under consideration for nerf are:
- Sunkeeper Tarim
- Call to Arms
- Baku the Mooneater’s Paladin hero power upgrade
- Spiteful Summoner
- Possessed Lackey
- Bloodreaver Gul’dan
- Dark Pact
- Kobold Librarian
- Quest Rogue
- Doomguard
5 of the 10 objects above are Warlock cards, so we can say that Gul’dan and Nemsy are preparing to cool down. The Carnivorous Cube, the card that creates the most terrifying combos for the Cubelock, is not here, as is the Skull of the Man’ari, Warlock’s Legendary weapon to bring the Doomguard and Voidlord to the table early. However, if a few other cards are not on the list of changes above, they probably won’t cause problems. Either way, we should be happy that the team is actually rethinking the cards in the game.
Source: PCGamer
Source link: Cubelock, Quest Rogue and Paladin are considering nerfs after HCT playoffs
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