by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Yesterday, a new build was deployed on the Hearthstone Alpha servers, changing up some audio files, card specifics and more. Rogue Champion Valeera Sanguinar received a new hero portrait, seen below.

Pretty snazzy, right?

Anyhow, there’s a full list of all the changes up over at HearthPwn. Today, we’re going to focus on the actual card changes and discuss our thoughts on some of the more important ones and what we believe to be the motivation behind the updates. Keep in mind, we’re not in closed beta yet, so this remains little more than theorycrafting. Still, some assumptions can be made.

Minions

The most interesting update in the minion changes is Cult Master getting dropped from three toughness to two. This guy was already shaping up to be an incredibly safe pick because of his hero power, ‘Whenever one of your other minions dies, draw a card’ and his solid stats. Dropping him down to a 4/2 makes him susceptible a whole other tier of direct damage abilities, and that’s a good thing based on how strong the card is. Remember, card generation’s a big deal, so a minion for four mana that can generate cards, his reasonably hard and survive low tier damage spells likely needed a bit of a downgrade. Overall, I like the change.

Illidan Stormrage was changed once again, as the Hearthstone devs attempt to find the sweet spot for this Burning Crusade mainstay. There no rework this time, however, as the team elected to simply reduce Illidan’s toughness from six to five. The card is still an awesome offensive powerhouse, he’s just a bit squishier now. Of interest, this change does make him one-shottable with the Druid spells Starfall and Starfire, the Shaman spell Lava Burst, and the Hunter spell Explosive Shot. Again, this doesn’t change that Illidan’s a solid card, there are just a couple of other spells you should know about that could pose potential issues.

The various giants (Molten Giant, Sea Giant and Mountain Giant) have all seen their toughness and attack rating lessened from 10/10 to 8/8. There’s no doubt that the dev team has been testing these cards extensively given just how strong they are. When we watched Molten Giant in action during the Arena Livestream, it was obvious that these cards packed a lot of hurt and were incredibly difficult to take out. They’re still strong at 8/8, but they’re 20% easier to take off the board. Worth noting, they’re still able to be murdered by Big Game Hunter. Additionally, Sea Giant costs 10 mana instead of 12.

Druids

Not quite the Druid nerfs I was looking for, but Savagery and Bite did have their mana costs increased, each costing one more mana respectively. This is great for people playing against the Druid, because it means that the combo of Bite + Savagery will cost two mana more, bringing it up from five to seven. Is it worth seven mana to clear the board? Absolutely, but at least it’ll cost them seven now and instead of five, in addition to two cards.

Mages

The two Mage changes this time around come as no surprise, with both having been hinted at in the Arena Livestream. Fireball‘s mana cost is being dropped from five to four, and Pyroblast will now to deal ten damage as opposed to nine. Both of these changes serve to give the Mage deck sharper teeth. I’d personally been a bit concerned about how this deck would hold up against other powerhouse classes. These changes definitely help make them more viable. In conjunction with minions that lessen the cost of spells, a Mage will now be able to safely cast three Fireballs in a turn, with the assistance of Archmage Antonidas. That burst potential should be huge.

Priests

I failed to mention Inner Fire in my preview of the Priest class because I believed the card was too expensive for what it was, so naturally I feel vindicated now that the cost of the card has been reduced. Inner Fire has received a substantial mana cost reduction, going from three to one. This makes the versatile card incredibly cheap, and now a really good pickup.

Paladins

Paladion minon Templer Enforcer received a slight attack buff, bumping it up from 5/6 to 6/6. Given that the deck can lack a real punch a lot of the time, any damage buff is welcome. I’m not honestly sure why this card was chosen in specific, given that Temple Enforcer has a decent minion ability. Ah well, no looking a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Rogue

Depending on how you look at it, Conceal got an interesting sidegrade yesterday. The mana cost was bumped down to zero, and it now gives stealth to all of your minions, but only for the duration of the turn. That makes the card, in my mind, substantially less valuable if you’re looking to run a deck styled around recycling the stealth mechanic. However, if you’re not doing that, it’s a better card now as it will enable you to choose a turn where you don’t want to deal with the Taunt mechanic and effectively run someone over with multiple, stealthed minions.

Shadowstep also got buffed, but in a manner we knew was coming. The minion Shadowstep is used on will now cost two less when played next. The spell was already good, now it’s somewhere in the realm of awesome.

Master of Disguise also got a one health buff, brought up from three to four, but also costs more four mana now, instead of three. This is another change I don’t quite understand, unless the minion’s ability to buff a minion with stealth is perceived to be too strong.

That’s all for this round of Alpha changes. Overall, a pretty solid round. If you disagree with these changes, or our assessments of these changes, definitely let us know in the comments below!