Hearthstone: Priest Class rework, new cards, buffed and changed cards

One of Hearthstone’s recent big announcements is that the Priest class will be reworked. This is something that a lot of gamers have been asking for for a long time. So what’s the Priest’s problem? Why did Blizzard decide to change the Priest cards?

The main reason is because Priest’s Evergreen sets are quite weak. Most of the cards have been ‘outclassed’ for quite some time (while others still rely on their Basic/Classic set), specifically clearing the table. The only clearing card for the Priest is Holy Nova (or Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing, but this is a 2-card combo) – and 2 AoE damage that costs 5 mana is really bad. Therefore, the Priest must have new clearing cards, which can be used every year. This rework not only buffs Holy Nova, making it a better choice against small minions/tokens, but also adds strength against stronger minions.

Another thing is that the only ‘win condition’ in Priest’s Evergreen set is the combo Divine Spirit + Inner Fire, and it’s out of date. Players want them in the Hall of Fame and the previous developer hinted that they will. But to eliminate them, Priest needs new, stronger cards.

The great thing about the Priest rework is that Anduin now has a more distinct Class identity. When the Basic/Classic sets were first created, the game was still in development and Blizzard didn’t have much data or experience. This is what the article hopes the company will do with other classes in the future. Priest is the class that needs to be reworked the most, but it is possible that Paladins or Shamans in the future will also need it (and then gradually other classes).

All of these changes will go live on March 26, along with the Hall of Fame rotation.

buffs/changes

First, a lot of Priest cards from the Basic and Classic sets will change. Most of them are buffs, but there are 2 cards that are not clear whether they are buffs or nerfs. Holy Smite can no longer target Hero, but deals 3 damage instead of 2. Apart from Combo OTK situations, this is a buff. Apparently Blizzard doesn’t want Priest to be a Combo class. And then come Power Word: Shield – the only card that is considered a nerf. The ability to draw cards is what makes Power Word: Shield so powerful. For now, it’s a pretty good 0 mana spell.

New leaves

In addition to the changes mentioned above, Priest has 6 brand new cards to replace some of the current cards. All in all, they look quite promising. These cards are strong enough to be used, namely Shadow Word: Ruin with good table cleaning ability. It’s like Battlecry’s Shadowreaper Anduin so. Anyone who has played during that time knows how powerful the Shadowreaper Anduin is.

Here is the full list of new cards:

Hall of Fame

And these are the cards that will be discarded to make way for new cards. Discarded cards will enter the Hall of Fame, meaning they can still be used in the Wild and the player will receive full Dust compensation.

According to Hearthstonetopdecks