Yesterday, a big nerf patch was announced. It will drop next week (Tuesday, July 14) and will mostly target Demon Hunter. It’s really unique in a way that Blizzard has never released such a big update so close to the announcement / release of next expansion, it was usually a period of stable and – to be frank – boring meta. This should really shake things up.
Yesterday, Game Designer Alec Dawson wrote down his thoughts and reasoning behind the patch on Twitter. Just like we’ve thought, the patch’s main goal is to set up the class for the rest of the year, not so much to tackle the current balance (because – for example – Galakrond Rogue is not too strong currently). They wanted to nerf Demon Hunter, because it was still too strong and wrapping the meta around itself (nerf to Warglaives of Azzinoth will really hurt faster builds), noting that in the future they do plan to push other archetypes than Aggro/Tempo. They also didn’t like massive swing turns provided by cards like Dragonqueen Alexstrasza or Galakrond, the Nightmare. Or rather, they will still provide swing turns, but you will no longer be able to play them on curve and still drop all the cards you get from them. Read more of his thoughts below:
Balance changes are coming early next week! For this balance patch, we were looking at three main categories: Demon Hunter, mana reduction, and setting up classes for the remainder of the year.
Demon Hunter is still the number one force in the meta and has a great role in determining whether or not a deck is competitive on the ladder. The changes to Kayn Sunfury and Metamorphosis are slight adjustments focused on Demon Hunter’s reach and ability to control the board.
Warglaives of Azzinoth was one of the best cards in the class, especially in aggressive decks. In the future, we want to be able to push Demon Hunter into archetypes other than aggro/tempo.
As for mana reduction, we want to lessen some of the giant swings currently in the game.
Swing turns will still be present in Hearthstone, there’s a healthy medium there, but not to the extent of Dragonqueen Alexstrasza or Galakrond Rogue (Galakrond, the Nightmare). Dragoncaster moved to 7 mana to make that turn a bit more appropriate as to when it’s occurring in the match.
Fungal Fortunes and Corsair Cache were both strong performing cards that limit some of our ability to extend those classes into different spaces later in the year. These changes should make it easier for future archetypes to take shape and be competitive.
Finally, thank you all for the feedback throughout the last few months. We’re always listening so keep it coming.
That’s way too much of a nerf for DH !
We will be able to get full dust from Kayn Sunfury and Metamorphosis after the nerf is live.
Should we dust both or not? Any guide?
I’d say kayn is still very strong and worth keeping for demon hunters. Metamorphosis looks like it’s not going to be enough damage anymore, although this may surprise us and still be run as a finisher in aggro just not as much as before in the class in general. It’s probably wise to wait a bit after the nerfs with these legendarys a couple of days to see if people replace them from the top tier demon hunter decks, it’s likley they will just keep running them despite the nerfs. Especially kayn as he is still able to win you the game against the big taunts just as easy:)
I play Token and Burst Demon Hunter, bad matchups are Tempo Demon Hunter and Highlander Hunter ( Druid for burst dh ). These change are good but for make these archetype playable for all there must be more win conditions.
I want in this game more unstable match and stable matchups than today and I hope these change be effective on the meta (:->)
I want to know what are others hearstone player’s dream about hearthstone
Don’t know why they should push other Demon Hunter archetypes, I think they clearly said upon release that it is going to be an aggressive class. Most probably like they did with other archetypes, like Hand Mage, Libram Paladin and Spell Mage, which shouldn’t be a thing in my opinion.
They said that it’s a class that focuses on aggression, not an exclusively aggressive class.
Being aggressive also doesn’t mean full face Aggro. For example – look at the (pretty weak, but still) “Control” Demon Hunter builds with Magtheridon. They take a more Control approach, playing reactively etc. but are still very aggressive. Some Combo decks might also be aggressive. Token / Midrange builds might also be aggressive.
Not to mention that they already have some support for Big Demons (e.g. Pit Commander), which are definitely not Aggro cards. DH can get mostly faster cards, but also some support for slower builds here and there.
In my opinion, Aggro / Tempo should be the “basic” way to play DH, but there should be other options available at one point.
“noting that in the future they do plan to push other archetypes than Aggro/Tempo”
Wait what? Did I read that correct? So no control deck or OTK deck support in the next expansion? Was hoping to get new tools for maly druid lmao.
What do you mean? Alec said that they plan to push for other (non-Aggro/Tempo) DH archetypes in the future – so they plan to release e.g. more Token or Control support for Demon Hunter.
There is a small difference between noting and nothing