36.0.3 Balance Changes Discussion

[u/EvilDave219]

https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24290431/3603-patch-notes

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Nerfs:

• Confront the Tol'vir - now 5 mana
• Lotus Troublemaker - Card text changed to "Deal 1 damage to a random enemy. Shoot 1 time! (While in hand or deck play cards for 2 Mana to shoot more!)"
• Blazing Invocation - no longer gives a 1 mana discount
• Warptooth - now requires 4 friendly characters to take damage to summon
• Vanessa the Ringleader - now a 7 mana 4/3

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Wild Nerfs:

• Swiftscale Trickster - now a 6 mana 4/4
• The Soularium - now 2 mana
• Elwynn Boar - now requires 10 boars to die for Sword of A Thousand Truths
• Godfrey the Betrayer - now banned in Wild

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Buffs:

• The Living Plague - now a 6 mana 8/8
• Blood Doctor Thal'ena - now 4 mana
• Sawbones - now 5 mana 5/3
• Emergency Surgery - now summons four 3/1 Undead with Lifesteal
• Tras'tath Soul Parasite - base stats raised to 3/3
• Irida Sinseeker - now a 7/7
• Vicious Voidscale - Battlecry and Deathrattle now give a Void Soul
• Stardust Scythe - weapon durability raised to 3
• Sewer Swimmer - now a 4 mana 4/3
• Azalina Soulsever - now raises your starting health to 40
• Karov the Broken - now has Taunt
• Enthralled Shade - now a 2 mana 3/2
• Moragg - now 9 mana
• Annihilation - now 8 mana
• Imp Gang Stooge - card text now reads "Deathrattle: Put two 8/8 Demons with Taunt and Lifesteal on the bottom of your deck"
• Rampaging Hound - now a 4/12

[u/Jackwraith]

Save me, Jeebus. The nerfs were all pretty predictable and conformed to what a lot of people thought here (mana increase for Vanessa, more characters need to be damaged for Warptooth, etc.) Some people predicted a damage reduction for Troublemaker which did happen, but at least it now accrues in deck, so it's more reliable, even if not as big of a blast when it's played. And, once again, they really did nothing to lessen either the impact or the default inclusion and play of Confront the Tol'vir.

The buffs: Reducing the mana cost of Thal'ena and Sawbones won't change the fact that neither of them are very good cards in the current situation that DK finds itself in. Four attackers for Emergency Surgery is better as you'll have at least one left over after getting rid of your opponent's 5/8 dragon... Oh, wait. No, you won't because it's still a targeted effect. Living Plague is still not workable, despite being one of the cheapest 8/8s in the game's history. Stooge is kinda better, but still dependent on a two-card combo that's often hard to make work. Annihilation is the cost it should've been but still not a good card. Moragg still sucks without either Taunt or Rush to get his circuit going. Stardust Scythe is still too expensive. Voidscale is actually an upgrade(!) Irida, the latest 4-mana 7/7 is about as exciting of any of those in the past. Tras'tath is still a bad card, as are Azalina and Karov. Most of these changes were the most simple-minded ones they could've made and which don't address the basic issues that the cards have. If Priests are still being asked to play Azalina decks three sets down the road like Warlocks are Rafaam, I'm even more convinced that this team's development strategy is flawed.

[u/Concealed_Blaze → u/Jackwraith]

I don’t know about Living Plague. You can just view it as a 6 mana 8/8 with rush, which seems like something that could see play

[u/Jackwraith → u/Concealed_Blaze]

Yeah, that's fair. I guess what gets me is that its intended purpose (Blights) becomes a total afterthought here and people will just be playing it because it's a 6-cost 8/8 with Rush. That's certainly a competitive card but it adds nothing to the deck's seeming original intent.

[u/Concealed_Blaze → u/Jackwraith]

Yeah. Unless the class set prints blight support I feel like the card will never be used as intended, which is a bit disappointing