Analysis of the Saviors Of Uldum Nerf Patch (August 26)

Despite the fact that Saviors of Uldum featured some of the most powerful individual cards in the history of the game, none of the nerfed cards belong to Hearthstone’s latest set – a fact that should tell you everything about the troublemakers targeted in this round of changes, slated to go live on August 26^th.

Dr. Boom, Mad Genius – Now costs 9 mana (up from 7 mana)

Don’t underestimate the impact of this nerf: not only do you have to survive almost 25% longer against an aggro deck even if you want to play the Boomster on curve, you will also not have a chance to utilize the new hero power on the turn you play the card – or do much else that’s impactful apart from casting Shield Slam. Almost no card can survive a two-mana cost increase, but there’s a world where this might be an exception: Dr. Boom, Mad Genius will still be very effective in slower matchups – as it essentially generates endless removal over time with the rushing Mechs – and the class has so many anti-aggro tools that it could even carry it as a semi-dead card against SMOrc attempts.

To put it another way, there’s hardly another card you’d prefer to have in the current Control Warrior builds which are chock full of value generation and removal. The real concern is whether the archetype as a whole can handle consistent pressure from midrange decks with the occasional spikes – looking at decks like Highlander Hunter, for instance –, and if that’s the case, the long-term rewards of the card may still be big enough to keep it around, even potentially at the cost of pushing Control Warrior more towards a Taunt-based direction.

Luna’s Pocket Galaxy – Now costs 7 mana (up from 5 mana)

This change is an admission of a failed (or arguably too successful) experiment, and the card will likely go back to being unplayable again for much of the same reason we’ve discussed above: a price increase like this means you have to survive longer and commit more mana/tempo to gain the effect. Coupled with the next change we’re going to look at, it’s likely going to force a reimagination of the archetypes it’s included in, and since its payoff will once again become a lot less consistent due to the extra costs, it’s likely going to fade away again, back to the levels of play it saw in the past when it cost seven mana.

Conjurer’s Calling – Now costs 4 mana (up from 3 mana)

This was the straightforward way to address the rampant Mage archetype, and the change puts a premium on casting both sides of the Twinspell on the same turn. By itself, the lesser-discussed engine of the deck was its ability to not sacrifice the tempo that’d normally be required to fill up its hand prior to Mountain Giant plays by using Mana Cyclone and a plethora of cheap spells: this remains unaffected going forward. However, changing Conjurer’s Calling and Luna’s Pocket Galaxy could mean a fairly big hit to the Highlander Mage archetype, and even though the standard Cyclone builds will likely make it through this firestorm, they will also need to think about new ways to finish off the match.

Extra Arms – Now costs 3 mana (up from 2 mana)

This change came out of nowhere: Priest finally had a semi-viable deck after all this time and now it loses one of the more important tools that helped it stick on the board. It’s somewhat weird because the archetype does not have a particularly high winrate on the Standard ladder, and while it is occasionally frustrating to play against, the unfair situations don’t often stem from this card. File this alongside the Hex nerf and hope that Anduin still has something viable to work with otherwise.

Barnes – Now costs 5 mana (up from 4 mana)

This one’s for all the Wild fans out there, and it follows in line with the Extra Arms nerf in the sense that the class actually doesn’t have that high a winrate in the format. However, cards (and archetypes) like these don’t mesh well with the lack of ability to interact on your opponent’s turn and getting 2-mana Ragnaroses (Ragnarosai?) shooting massive fireballs at you on turn five is an incredibly frustrating experience. Different Standard environments have already established that a resurrection-based Priest archetype is workable without this card, and the fact that it was kept around but slowed down somewhat should be enough of a hit on the winrates of an already languishing archetype to deal with most concerns about the pesky theater director.