'Hearthstone' Defines Class Identity and Adds 9 New Cards
Hearthstone just announced a series of balance changes, on top of new cards getting added to Classic. These changes are the latest in a long line of tweaks meant to help Hearthstone's growing power creep problem. Up until this point, classes did not have a defined identity, but Friday's blog post from the dev team very clearly describes the strengths and weaknesses of each class. While warrior is great at getting armor, it shouldn't be able to swarm the board with minion. For Warlock it's the opposite, lacking high sustain in exchange for lots of minions.
Two cards from Classic will hit the Hall of Fame and be retired from Standard play: Mind Blast and Vanish. These cards allow for more unique play styles but limit the creativity and design of cards for that class. With them being retired, it's now possible for other decks to shine. (Goodbye, Prophet Velen OTK.)
Nine new cards will be added to the Classic set to give players a bit more of an edge. Though they might not be the strongest or most broken cards the game has ever had, they are still useful in their own right. These cards will never rotate out and will be in the game as long as Blizzard allows it.
Here's the full list of new cards, straight from the blog post.
Arcane Devourer (Neutral) 8 mana 5/5: Whenever you cast a spell, gain +2/+2
Barrens Stablehand (Neutral) 7 mana 4/4: Battlecry: Summon a Random Beast
Brightwing (Legendary Neutral) 3 mana 3/2: Battlecry: Add a random Legendary minion to your hand.
Gift of the Wild (Druid) 8 mana- Give your minions +2/+2 and Taunt
High Inquisitor Whitemane (Legendary Neutral) 7 mana 6/8- Battlecry: Summon all friendly minions that died this turn
Plaguebringer (Rogue) 4 mana 3/3- Battlecry: Give a friendly minion Poisonous
Radiance (Priest) 1 mana- Restore 5 Health to your Hero
Righteousness (Paladin) 5 mana- Give your minions Divine Shield
SI:7 Infiltrator (Neutral) 4 mana 5/4- Battlecry: Destroy an enemy Secret
Siegebreaker (Warlock) 7 mana 5/8 Taunt- Battlecry: Give your other Demons +1 Attack
Which of these new cards is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.
