In an interview with PCGamer, Hearthstone’ s Principal Game Designer Mike Donais talked about the meta and some of the problematic cards his team has dealt with. He believes that Barnes , the theatrical performer who’s been annoying players since One Night In Karazhan, “certainly causes high variance in an unfun way” but won’t be getting a nerf. Blizzard plans to wait until the card rotates out of Standard, when it can focus on creating the next set.
Barnes has always been a great card, especially when it’s played on curve. Getting a free high-value minion’s effect can be game-changing early on. When Hunter was still viable, I ran a Midrange deck with lots of Deathrattles and this Legendary thespian. The game was over if I managed to pull Savannah Highmane onto the field, with the two 2/2 Hyenas trading with nearly anything my opponent summoned. That strategies requires a lot of luck, making Barnes an above-average card with high impact.
When you remove the weak minions from your deck and leave nothing but strong, high-mana minions, Barnes becomes a win condition. In Big Priest, the only minions in your deck are Ysera, The Lich King, Y'Shaarj and Barnes, making your four-drop a necessary part of the puzzle. If you play Medivh’s favorite performer on turn three with the Coin and summon the Old God who pulls out the Lich King, your opponent can’t do much to fight back. You better hope you’re playing Priest or Warlock if you want to stand any chance of surviving the turn.
This response from Donais sparked rage about Barnes on the Hearthstone subreddit from players tired of cards rotating out of Standard being considered “fixed.” “If the card is as bad as they say it is, waiting for it to just not be in standard fixes nothing,” user RetroBowser wrote. Many players seem to hate the fact that Wild is turning into a stomping ground for over-powered cards, instead of a place to create new strategies by combining classic and current cards. Blizzard really hates to issue balance changes; it looks like they’d rather wait for cards to rotate out rather than face the problems they created.
Wild may not be the most popular of the two game types, but it’s popular among fans looking for something different to play. Queueing up against the same Druid and Priest decks over and over can get pretty boring, which is why Wild can be a breath of fresh air. Blizzard even started pushing its importance to players this year, having the first ever Wild tournament sponsored by the company.
I’ve been playing against a lot of Priests on ladder, which has been really frustrating. Hanging up my Jade Druid after the balance changes, I’ve struggled to find any success countering this gimmicky deck. Knights Of The Frozen Throne has been a mess; so many powerful cards have become centerpieces of bullshit decks. The Year Of The Mammoth will unfortunately go down as one of Hearthstone’s worst, which is a real shame.
How do you feel about Donais’ position on Barnes? Play me in a 1v1 scrub.
