I think, but it’s wildly suggestive, two things are happening.

1. It might have something to do with prepping for the Microsoft takeover, and if that’s the case, I think we should see it as a good thing. We all know Hearthstone has been dipping its toes in multiple new modes, mechanics and other forms of cosmetics. Most of them, sadly, didn’t work. Duels, Twist, Mercenaries, all fell short. I don’t think Diamond portraits did very well either, while I can imagine they take up a lot of resources.

2. Linked to my first point, the game lacked focus for a long time now. I don’t want to discourage gaming studios trying new things, but Hearthstone’s track record of launching those new things and then not supporting it after, is bad practice. In my opinion, the game was best with just Standard, Wild, Arena and Battlegrounds as its main modes. Duels could’ve been fun if it received more support. And Twist, well, I think it’s a super ambitious game mode that is just not profitable. They can make it more accessible, but I don’t think they are willing to cut deep.

All in all, I hope it’s a good sign, as painful as it is for the laid-off employees. I hope it’s a sign of renewed focus and perhaps a bigger focus on retention instead of attraction of new players.

Celestalon has confirmed Rin will have a Diamond version, available in the shop on launch.

Funny how no one talks about Devouring Swarm as the main target for Shockspitter Hunter. It’s another card that punishes playing minions against, and minions is the one thing that Hunter can’t handle in that deck. Increasing Swarm to 1 mana could do the job. Another prime candidate for me is Ram, and its interaction with Hunter’s Colossal. They curve perfectly into each other, and again, punishes playing minions. With cards like Tracking and Selective Breeder, it’s not all that rare to run into this scenario.

In general, whenever OTK/Combo decks have packages that help them control the early game, like DH and Hunter have right now, these decks are too strong. These are the nerfs I would like to see:

Devouring Swarm to 1 mana.
Stormpike Battle Ram to 5 mana.
Gnoll to 6 mana.
Potion Belt to 3 mana.
Astalor to 3 mana.
Astalor’s final form to change the added 8 damage as not to be a part of the Battlecry. (Can’t double with Brann then)
Unleash Fel only targets minions.

Why would you want to kill a class?

I like to think of Brann + Kael’thas + big win-con minions as the main focus for Control. Curselock can sustain long enough to end it with Denathrius, Mage has enough freeze and Ping-power to end with either Kel or Mordresh.

I’m betting on a Renothal or simply Renathal Questline Priest and Weapon Control Warrior list to maybe do something for those classes.

Our only save would be Druid becoming as strong as it looks to be, and the meta turning hyper-aggro because of it.

For the first time in a long while I’m looking towards Wild for the more sustainable Control-ish decks. Reno Secret Mage, Pure Libram Paladin, Evolve Shaman, all look to be incredibly fun decks. We’ll have to find out if they end up being good as well.

Fun read, hope to match you on ladder so at least two people can have a fun match!