Hearthstone 17.2.1 patch: Shaman and Paladin buffs, nerfs to Demon Hunter, Warrior, Rogue and Warlock

If you are actively playing Hearthstone these last few months, you are probably aware of the Demon Hunter domination.

Even after almost a dozen of its core cards being nerfed, the class is still sitting on the top of the meta charts, with around ~53 win rate across all ranks.

Currently, the only heroes that are able to be somewhat competitive, besides Demon Hunter, are Hunter, Warrior and Rogue, and that's why in the latest patch, these 4 classes are getting nerfed as well, while two of the worst, Shaman and Paladin, age getting some small buffs.

Balance Changes

Priestess of Fury is finally getting nerfed, her attack is lowered to 5 from 7, which we think will finally put this card into the balanced side of the spectrum.

Old: 6 Attack, 7 Health → New: 6 Attack, 5 Health.

Crimson Sigil Runner is a cheap and efficient card draw that can even influence the board, so now it will have 1 less attack and be a 1/1 minion.

Old: 2 Attack, 1 Health → New: 1 Attack, 1 Health.

Shadowjeweler Hanar is especially infuriating to deal with, five health on a 2 mana minion with effect as strong as this was really over the top, and with 4 Health there will be much more options to deal with it.

Old: 1 Attack, 5 Health → New: 1 Attack, 4 Health.

Blackjack Stunner is a cheaper and targeted Freezing Trap, attached on a 1/2 body, which was simply too strong. The new change will be much less punishing, but still strong enough for the card to be played.

Old: Battlecry: If you control a Secret, return a minion to its owner’s hand. It costs (2) more. → New: Battlecry: If you control a Secret, return a minion to its owner’s hand. It costs (1) more.

Imprisoned Scrap Imp created a new Zoo archetype that often had some disgusting turns and unanswerable boards, and so one less Health buff will leave more room for the opponent to find answers.

Old: Dormant for 2 turns. When this awakens, give all minions in your hand +2/+2. → New: Dormant for 2 turns. When this awakens, give all minions in your hand +2/+1.

Bloodboil Brute is a similar case to the infamous Corridor Creeper and Mogu Fleshshaper, an expensive card that quite quickly becomes too cheap. This small nerf will help to balance things a little bit.

Old: 6 Attack, 8 Health → New: 5 Attack, 8 Health.

Bloodsworn Mercenary is a key card to many combos in Warrior, sometimes for lethal, sometimes just for tempo or pure value. Her stats were too good for what she does.

Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health → New: 2 Attack, 2 Health.

Scavenger's Ingenuity often felt unfair if played early, which often lead to some snowballing games, where opponent simply doesn't have an answer to your 5/6 Phase Stalker. This nerf should help with that.

Old: Draw a Beast. Give it +3/+3. → New: Draw a Beast. Give it +2/+2.

Besides nerfs, this new patch will also bring some buffs, mainly to Shaman and one Paladin buff.

Aldor Attendant is one of the Libram cards, and Blizzard is still desperately trying to help the archetype, but we don't see this will change things much.

Old: [Cost 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health → New: [Cost 1] 1 Attack, 3 Health.

Torrent is a card focused on a Control/Spell Shaman. One mana less is nice, but we don't think this card will be played even after this patch. Nonetheless, "1 mana deal 8 damage to a minion" sounds like it could have some potential in the right deck.

Old: [Cost 5] → New: [Cost 4].

Shattered Rumbler is another card with the main focus on support for Control Spell Shaman, and honestly, we aren't exactly sure what's the idea behind this buff, since we don't think 1 more Attack is what this card needed.

Old: 4 Attack, 6 Health → New: 5 Attack, 6 Health.

The Lurker Below got probably the biggest and the most significant buff today. Now it is a much better Fire Elemental, and it could be a key card in many future Control Shaman decks and even in some Tempo/Midrange archetypes.

Old: 6 Attack, 3 Health → New: 6 Attack, 5 Health.

Overall, we think that this is a great set of changes. None of them looks like they destroyed the card, although some of these cards would definitely not see play anymore in the top tier decks. Hearthstone balance patch 17.2.1 is scheduled for Monday, 18 May.