The nerfs to Fiery War Axe, Hex, Innervate, Murloc Warleader, and Spreading Plague are now live! Be sure to get on the ladder quickly, whenever there’s a nerf the ladder tends to be pretty diverse and fun to play!
Innervate
Now reads: Gain 1 Mana Crystal this turn only. (Down from 2)
Fiery War Axe
Now costs 3 mana. (Up from 2)
Hex
Now costs 4 mana. (Up from 3)
Murloc Warleader
Now reads: Your other Murlocs have +2 Attack. (Down from +2 Attack, +1 Health)
Spreading Plague
Now costs 6 mana. (Up from 5)
You should disenchant both Murloc Warleader and Spreading Plague for the full refund. If they end up continuing to see play you can always craft them again later without losing any dust.
If you are curious what decks are likely to see a bump then check out the lists below.
Decks to Try After the Nerfs
A lot of decks are not being hurt by the nerfs, and some classes are poised to see more play. The initial thought is that Priest is going to see even more play, so decks that do well against Highlander Priest will likely be popular. If Druid becomes less represented, look for decks to start including tech for Highlander Priest.
Mage Decks
Exodia Mage has one of the best matchups against Highlander Priest, and Secret Mage has been a solid deck for the ladder but has been a bit underplayed. Be on the look out for a rise in popularity in both of these lists.
- Format: mammoth
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7,800
- Format: raven
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- 5,200
Hunter Decks
A couple decks that started to see more play recently were Midrange and Face Hunter. If Druid sees a large reduction in play, look for Hunter to be one of the classes that benefits largely from it.
- Format: mammoth
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- 3,720
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- 1,640
Rogue Decks
Miracle Rogue will usually do well in less aggressive metas, but it doesn’t have a great matchup against Highlander Priest. Elemental Rogue is similar to Secret Mage in that it is potentially underrepresented on the ladder.
- Format: raven
- Posted By:
- 10,160
- Format: mammoth
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- 9,640
Already Good Decks That Should Get Better
There are a few already high tier decks that aren’t receiving any nerfs and should become even better in the meta.
Priest Decks
If people are fearful of one deck in particular overrunning the meta it’s Highlander Priest. The deck has only a few weak matchups and is overall really strong. If Druid isn’t around it has the potential to become problematic. Big Priest could also see more play without Druid
- Format: mammoth
- Posted By:
- 10,460
- Format: mammoth
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- 12,440
Evolve Shaman
Evolve Shaman is an already high tier deck and if Druid sees less play it will likely see an increase in play.
- Format: mammoth
- Posted By:
- 6,360
Let me know what decks you are going to try now that the nerfs are live in the comments!
First, Patches is in 2 of 4 tier-one deck in standard and 3 of 5 tier-1 deck in wild. So obviously the problem is FWA. Second,the stupid 10 UI of druid is obviously the problem so let’s make Innervate into a counterfeit coin. Just awesome game design on this one. Third, hex. Reall? I guess we should expect a shaman card in the next expansion that will be : 7 mana cost, take control of a 0-1 ennemi minion with taunt and give it +10+10, double windfury and charge. They wanted to prevent a OTK on this on so good job Ben and the team! The two other are ok fix , the spell and the murloc. But Patches the Pirate was the problem since the beginning and Ultimate Infestation is just over-brutal. It’s just plain bad from the design team here.
If you look at the actual data Innervate had a far larger win-when-played % than UI did. Sure UI feels bad but Innervate was, statistically, the stronger card.
Yeah, a nerf to Innervate effectively nerfs all Druid cards because they come out later. Despite how frustrating UI can be, HSReplay.net had Innervate in over 95% of decks, which is absurd. While I think the specific change could have been better, adjusting Innervate was an elegantly simple solution to both Jade and Aggro Druid.
It is admittedly early, but it is starting to look like the death of Jade Druid was greatly exaggerated…
The goal of nerfs shouldn’t be to eliminate decks entirely, though. All decks containing nerfed cards are still being played, but their decreased power level has already opened up a lot of experimentation with other decks. Small changes can result dramatic shifts in the meta.
It is really sad 🙁
It made me wanted to quit hearthstone for a while…
That 1 mana change is huge though. Pirate warr doesn’t have a good turn 2 now. His only 2drop is bloodsail raider but without fwa so it’s 3/3 at most. It’s the end of pirate warr era imo.
My experience so far:
Pirate Warrior is definitely looking shaky. Funny how just a 1 mana change can make such a difference, but I haven’t lost to PW at all this morning (shout out to the guy who had to coin out FWA on turn two – I laughed, I cried!)
Shadow Cannon Highlander Priest is just as strong as predicted – barely taken a loss on ladder.
Jade Druid is still super strong; RDUs revised Jade Druid kicks butt.