Blizzard has confirmed the previously reported rumors that Leeroy Jenkins and Starving Buzzard will be nerfed.
Some key notes:
- Change will be targeted for September 22nd.
- There will be no other card changes until after the Hearthstone World Championship (November 7th and 8th)
Blizzard’s Statement
Both before and after the release of Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure, we have been monitoring card balance as more Hearthstone games are played along with the new cards that have been added. After careful consideration we have decided to make balance changes to Leeroy Jenkins (Neutral) and Starving Buzzard (Hunter).
The following balance changes will be made in an upcoming patch:
- Leeroy Jenkins now costs 5 (up from 4)
- Starving Buzzard now costs 5 (up from 2) and now has 3 Attack and 2 Health (up from 2 Attack and 1 Health)
Leeroy Jenkins created a strategy that revolved around trying to defeat your opponent in one turn without requiring any cards on the board. Fighting for board control and battles between minions make an overall game of Hearthstone more fun and compelling, but taking 20+ damage in one turn is not particularly fun or interactive. This was occurring when Leeroy was used in combination with other cards like Power Overwhelming, Faceless Manipulator, Cold Blood, Shadowstep, and Unleash the Hounds, among others.
The amount of cards Starving Buzzard allowed Hunter players to draw ultimately ended up being too excessive for its low cost. This change will allow the Hunter’s opponent more time to react to both the Starving Buzzard and the cards drawn by its power.
Expert cards that are being changed can be disenchanted for their full cost for a limited time once this balance change goes live. The currently targeted date of this balance change is September 22nd.
After these balance changes go live on September 22nd, we will not be making additional card changes between September 22nd and the Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon.
We will continue to make balance changes to Hearthstone only when we feel they are completely necessary in order to increase the variety of cards seen at all levels of play and make Hearthstone a more fun and interactive game for everyone.
Wow, I’ve always been a hunter primary. When they nerfed Hounds I was upset. nerfing the buzzard is an outrage, especially from 2 cost to 5 cost. Why you guys hate hunters? I am depressed now, thanks. Hunter is pretty worthless without the turn 5 draws incentive. This really sux!
great another hunter nerf. hunters are now useless
I agree. They had the right idea finally introducing meta game fixers in Naxxramas, so why not do that again. Give more cards to fight the Hunters instead of nerfing stuff to completely unplayable levels. The whole point of Leeroy giving opponents two dudes was to balance his cost. If they raise his cost why not eliminate the battle cry? Also, Auctioneer has a much easier time drawing cards and is a 4/4, so why is the buzzard gonna be an aweful 3/2? Thanks, Blizzard, I just dusted literally a week ago to make midrange hunter all golden, including Leroy. Now it’s unplayable. I’ve only been playing a few months, but thanks to you I quit.