Since I can't post on Blizzard's HS forums....

Divine Winds·Feb 26, 2017·3 votes·1,127 views

How do you guys think the meta of Hearthstone will change after Small Time Bucc and Spirit claw nerfs roll out, and when Reno, tunnel trogg, Thaurissan, Rag, A Drake, and Finley rotate out?

10 Comments

BastionKrossFeb 26, 20171 votes

The balance nerfs will help game health a lot. Pirate decks (or any aggro deck that ends the game by turn four) really suck a lot of the enjoyment out of the game for a lot of players, and it doesn't take a lot of skill to win that early with pirates so it doesn't look good for Hearthstone as a whole.

However, losing Reno and Thaur is a big hit to control and combo decks respectively. Stalling the game until turn 6 for Reno is one of the most reliable ways to combat aggro and that's disappearing. With the balance nerfs, I'd say it's an overall gain for aggro since there can still be horribly quick aggro decks without Buc and Claws and Trogg and Finley.

Likewise, Thaur disappearing shuts down a multitude of fun combos and card interactions that are normally almost impossible due to costing more than ten mana. Combo decks can be pretty unhealthy at times as well, but at least you have to assemble the combo pieces before you can use it. Things like Dirty Rat can really bone you as well, since they can break your combo.

Divine WindsFeb 26, 20171 votes

Unless they really give rogue a good boost in the next expansion (i assume they will since they're giving rogue a new hero) rogue probably gets shafted the hardest. Bucc and patches was pretty much the reason why Rogue was played this meta. Azure drake and conceal being removed also removes two very key cards in the Miracle Rogue decklist. Honestly kind of sad. But I'm expecting them also to add something along the lines of Thar next expansion, since without Thar it's hard to have any deck variety without combos.

But hey at least control warrior could be back great

BastionKrossFeb 26, 20171 votes

Yeah, Rogue is going to have to rely super hard on Auctioneer if they want to continue doing what they're doing. That's not the best solution, but at least it's something.

Then again, I played Priest back when it was garbage tier for months on end and Brode had the balls to give us Purify after we asked for help. I don't really think any class has the right to complain about not being viable until they're treated with that level of disdain.

Divine WindsFeb 26, 20171 votes

I remember starting out and playing c'thun priest. That was some fun stuff. But it was shit. And priest has been shit for so long, and even dragon priest couldn't match other anti-aggro decks like Warlock or Renomage. but hey, at least your enemy's yogg can purify itself :)

Moooose3Feb 26, 20171 votes

Ok. Umm agreed, but you're going to be wishing there were still aggro decks soon. Jade druid is going to get absolutely insane and win basically all matchups. There is no way to shut them down early if there aren't any more strong aggro decks and they will just run away with the meta. Idk. Aggro shaman isn't viable anymore, midrange will be played more. Pirate rogue will still be a thing though probably, just small time buck might not always be ran. But in the longrun, Jade druid players are going to have inflated winrates for the next few months.

Divine WindsFeb 26, 20171 votes

Jade druid will not be insane. Tempo mage is always there, and with the rotation of Reno, we'll see it come back in full swing. Pirate Rogue will be trash, since the only reason why it was good was because most decks couldn't trade cleanly into it without wasting useful spells such as frostbolt. Now with a very bad pirate package, and the rotation of Conceal and Az Drake, Rogue is getting super super fucked by Blizzard. FeelsBadMan. But even more FeelsBadMan for the 4660 dust I wasted on Pirate Warrior and couldn't get anywhere because I'm not willing to spend 30 dollars to get Finley.

Jade druid won't be top tier because mage and shaman will always be top tier. The best jade deck that can match tier 1 decks will probably be malygos druid. And honestly they really need to gut Shaman because it's been a year of them giving shaman all the tools, both directly and indirectly. Brode probably has some serious fetish with totems and orcs.

Moooose3Feb 26, 20171 votes

oh u right forgot about conceal and azure. Yeah rogue dead.

Moooose3Feb 26, 20171 votes

I'm fairly sure jade druid is favored against shaman now since aggro shaman is hurt so badly, and midrange is decent I guess but still probably favored. Idk. It'll be weird.

Divine WindsFeb 26, 20171 votes

Control jade shaman probably can still outclass Druid, but it's just a matter of who topdecks what at that point.

BastionKrossFeb 26, 20171 votes

I have no doubt jade decks will become strong. Probably not unbeatable because there are a few mid range and control decks that beat it, but it will likely be stronger than it currently is.

I'm okay with that. I'd rather get beaten at turn 25 by a jade than turn 4 by a pirate. At least then I feel like I actually played a game of Hearthstone.