Card Changes Announced - What does this Mean?

Blizzard has really cracked down on some of the cards currently run in the Meta, and it is through those changes that the Meta will also change. Let’s get right into it. The card nerfs can be found here, so feel free to follow along.

Starting with the first Shaman change, we have Rockbiter Weapon. This one is just a direct nerf, as the mana cost has been increased from 1 to 2. Realistically, they took a logical standpoint on nerfing this card. Many classes have a simple, 2 mana deal 3 damage card, usually involving a unique effect for each varying class. Rockbiter was simply 1 mana less than those, although it also forced you to tank the damage with your face, unless you’re tagging a minion with it. Overall, the fact that it cost 1 mana seemed to be balanced, but in such a Tempo dominated Meta, the extra mana to, say, drop a Tunnel Trogg matters a whole lot. It still combo’s with Doomhammer, obviously, but delays the damage for another turn before you can start pumping out 10 damage to face with it. I like the change, as it slows down the fast paced Shaman meta that we are in.

Now, the second change was to Tuskarr Totemic. They gave this poor guy the Warsong commander treatment, and with good reason. Before, there was a 3/7 chance of getting something really good off of this bad boy, being Flametongue Totem, Mana Tide Totem, or Totem Golem, none of which can now be pulled from it. I like this change for 2 reasons – 1, your opponent getting 6/6 of stats for 3 mana just by playing a card always feels pretty bad, and 2, this card is now actually very balanced. It will either summon ¾ worth of stats for 3 with an additional effect (spell damage, taunt, healing), or a vanilla 4/3 worth of stats for 3. This is balanced – very much so. In terms of value, it is the definition of balanced – meaning, this card isn’t bad, but it’s not blatantly, and I try not to use this word much, overpowered in a lot of situations.

Call of the Wild is okay, in both card design and balance now. 8 mana for 9 mana worth of stats irritated me, in the sense that it’s kind of a power creep on traditional Hunter play. However, if a player should, theoretically, get a third Animal Companion from a source such as Spellslinger, Nefarian, or something like that, and all 3 are cast on turn 9, and all 3 get a different animal companion – it’s 3 cards for a Call of the Wild, now completely mana balanced. Because of that fact, this card is technically balanced, but it will still remain a powerful late game win condition for Hunters worldwide. Wild players – make sure to wait until turn 8 to drop Loatheb now, not 7.

Execute is still Execute. This card is still good, it just makes it slightly more difficult to play, is all. Not much to say about this one – the change doesn’t actually mean too much here. It will still be played in every Warrior deck – that is all.

Charge. Oh boy, this is interesting. There are a couple sides of this, and I’m very happy with how Blizzard handled this. It was, on one side, a nerf to the Worgen OTK Warrior decks, which I suppose was going to happen eventually, but the difference here was that they didn’t give it the Warsong treatment. The card is still useful – and not even in just some niche deck styles. Minotaur Alpha is a card in Warrior, and combined with the new Charge, it can deal 15 damage total spread equally across 3 enemy minions for 5 mana and 2 cards. It’s a situational and slightly better Flamestrike. It’s better, but it’s not better. Deals more damage and leaves you with board control, but is effected by Taunt, and either of the two cards needed to pull off the combo are basically dead cards in your hand alone. We’ll see how this one goes, but I’m happy that this can at least still be played. Bravo, Blizzard.

1 mana 2/1’s? Overpowered! We saw the demise of the Leper Gnome, and now it’s Abusive Sergeant’s turn. Now, with these changes, Lance Bearer is actually better in every way, shape and form, aside from mana cost. The +2 is permanent, and the stats are now always better. This is interesting, as we probably won’t see much more of Abusive Sergeants anymore, but what it will be replaced with remains a mystery.

And now the one you’ve all been waiting for, it’s Yogg! Blizzard heard my pleas for balance, and they took the advice I mentioned in this article. Take a look at that for the discussion as to why Yogg should, and has, been nerfed.