Hearthstone Goes Live
It’s finally here, out of beta and into its finished and (hopefully) bug free state. Blizzard’s swing at card games is something well worth looking into, even if you’re not a fan of Magic: The Gathering. Along with the game’s release, is a fairly hefty set of patch notes which includes some final balance fixes. Those changes focus on two legendary cards.
Tinkmaster Overspark is now a 3/3 (up from 2/2) and now reads: Battlecry: Transform another random minion into a 5/5 Devilsaur or a 1/1 Squirrel.
- Tinkmaster Overspark is a neutral card that silences and often shrinks big creatures. This reduces the amount of big, fun creatures in the environment. We think this change will increase the amount fun creatures in the environment, and bring him more in-line with his cost and overall power. Tinkmaster should still show up in certain types of decks, but will no longer be appearing in every high level deck.
Nat Pagle now reads: At the start of your turn, you have a 50% chance to draw an extra card.
- Nat Pagle will now draw a card at the start of your turn rather than at the end. Nat had too much draw power for a card that is fairly hard to counter so early in the game, making it almost an auto-include for many decks. This change reduces the power of the card and gives players more time to counter the card before it starts.
I have to say I’m not all that keen with these particular changes, or Blizzard’s approach to the balance in Hearthstone. The reason being that a few cards, including Tinkmaster, have now been nerfed to the point where they are nearly useless. There is of course, still certain decks that may have use for them, but they will be few and far between. I also didn’t think that Nat Pagle needed to be changed, mainly due to the random factor of his ability. He can be removed fairly easily by most classes early on and the extra phase given to the opponent before his ability procs, is in my opinion, unneeded.
I don’t feel cards need to be hit with the nerf bat simply because a lot of decks contain them. I had honestly never heard people complain about either of the cards and I really hope that Blizzard doesn’t continue this method of balancing. That’s just my two cents anyway.
Also in the patch are some visual changes which are always welcome. Using Thrall now physically calls down a totem on to the screen and his Spirit Wolves ride in from one side. This kind of quality of life changes is something Blizz always excel at and I seriously doubt these will be the last. Another change is the chance to receive a golden version of your hero, obtained by winning 500 games in ranked. It’s quite a feat, but from the looks of their lovely animations, it may just be worth it.
There are a lot more changes that I won’t ramble on about, if you want to check out the patch notes, you can find them on the official website. If you’re interested in some cool Twitter logos or some Facebook cover photos. look no further.
Finally, to celebrate the release of Hearthstone, there will be some fun activities (their words, not mine) this Friday, March 14th.
- Look out for content created especially for this occasion by well-known Hearthstone community members. We’ll be adding updates to our upcoming Hearthstone Day page throughout the day.
When: Throughout the day
- In honor of the beloved, noble creature known as the murloc, we’re looking out for talented murloc wannabes. Ever wondered what a murloc sounds like when he gets up in the morning? So do we! Submit your waking murloc impressions on Vine with the hashtag #HearthstoneDay.
When: 10.30 – 12.30
- Did you just open the best booster pack ever? Take a selfie of your happy face in front of this epic booster and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #HearthstoneDay.
When: 14:00 – 16:00
- Our Hearthstone developers will be answering questions about the beta from the community! Tune in to the Google+ Hangout to watch the Q&A and submit your questions. A member of the Community team will be hosting the event.
When: 19:00 – 19:30
So there you go, a lot of reasons to jump in and play Hearthstone. We will be throwing a review at you soon, so keep a look out for it. Keep in mind that it is free to play, so there’s really no reason to try it. Let us know what you think if you do.