Hearthstone developers, you’ve really outdone yourselves now. I thought the Mean Streets Of Gadgetzan was supposed to at least attempt to balance the game, not just break it. Two new cards were revealed from the set today that will, essentially, change the way Hearthstone is played. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at Polygon’s card reveal, Devolve.
For two mana, you can turn every single minion your opponent controls into a minion that costs one less. Holy. Crap. It’s a Shaman-class card because that deck really needed another way to remove minions off the board. It’s like Priest’s Mass Dispel , but can also make enemy minions weaker. They drop a Tirion Fordring or a Ragnaros, now it’s a Moat Lurker. You do have the possibility to give your opponent a better minion, but overall the RNG gods should be in your favor.
Devolve will be one of the biggest cards in the set, one of the many cards players are going to have to learn to play around. You can’t waste your Sylvanus and have it turn into a Chillwind Yeti without losing some major board momentum. Honestly, this card just makes me feel sick. It’s the exact feeling I got when I saw Tunnel Trogg or Mysterious Challenger, one of fear and disgust . Shaman has been the best deck around since the start of 2016 and Mean Streets Of Gadgetzan isn’t changing that.
Thijs showed off today’s second card, called Jade Idol . It’s a one-mana spell that either summons a Jade Golem or puts three copies of Jade Idol back into your deck. Druid will never deck out again; it’s going to be impossible for Malfurion to die to fatigue. On Monday, we got our first look at the Jade Golem mechanic, that increases its strength by +1/+1 for each Golem you summon. If you get to late game with a Druid, now you essentially lose. Topdecking an 8/8 or a 7/7 late into the game for one mana is to good of an opportunity to pass up.
Druids will still be weak in the early game, but that’s never been a problem for them before. Just ramp up your curve with Wild Growth and the brand new Jade Blossom, keep board control with Druid Of The Claw and Mire Keeper, and it’s GG.
These two cards are too good to be included into Hearthstone. Every Shaman deck is going to tech in at least one Devolve and if jade Golem Druid gets any more cards, so will Jade Idol. I love Hearthstone , but the game has devolved (no pun intended) to this slap fest of who can draw the best cards first. These two boneheads assure that this game isn’t changing anytime soon.
