Pirates used to also be a terrible archetype in Hearthstone . Playing a Southsea Deckhand in your Aggro deck wasn’t a bad idea, but even the thought of using a Southsea Captain or a Bloodsail Cultist in a deck on ladder was ridiculous. These cards had some amounts of synergy, but lacked the punch needed to break into the mainstream.
Then we got the Mean Streets Of Gadgetzan , and everything changed. Patches and Small time Buccaneer threw the control meta game out the window in exchange for aggressive decks that always went face. For a while, every popular deck included at least a few of these OP Pirates and the meta got super boring. I’m willing to say that going up against a Patches and a N’zoth’s First Mate and a weapon turn one pissed off more players than just me.
Then, Blizzard did an amazing thing. After months of fans complaining about how broken these shanty singing, booze drinking scallywags are, the Hearthstone team lept into action. Patch 7.1 brought a much needed nerf, one that made me feel like a munchkin when the Wicked Witch gets a house thrown on her in the Wizard Of Oz .
Small Time Buccaneer went from a 1/2 to a 1/1, which might not sound like a lot to a new Hearthstone player, but really changed the game. Now, a Druid or Rogue could easily Wrath or Hero Power the little bugger to death before taking at least three damage to the face.
Patch 7.1 was applied to the wounded card game last week, so players are still getting used to the change. The Standard ladder is populated with an incredibly aggressive Pirate Warrior list that’s taking advantage of the post-patch chaos, but I expect the deck to lose out to Renolock and Control Mage in the coming weeks.
Pirates will never disappear from Hearthstone , but I’d love if they left my games.
