![]() So, when we have superpower outlier cards that make players feel like the rest of their decisions didn't matter, we tend to tone those cards down too, it's a pretty fine balance," said Ayala.īalance changes are far less reactive than we may realise, though. "Even for the players playing it, the games where they drew it, and the games where they didn't, it feels like a lot of your decisions don't matter as much. The power spike from playing Guardian Animals was so big that the whole meta became warped around beating it. Sometimes, it's a specific card which enables an entire strategy that needs to be changed, as we saw recently with Guardian Animals and Tortollan Pilgrim. Once a Freeze Mage has spent four turns freezing your board, it's difficult not to feel salty. These decks feel more painful to lose to as they can draw a specific set of tools which essentially shut down the rest of the match. "Those decks can be the most powerful decks in the meta without being frustrating." Whereas decks like Resurrect Priest, Freeze Mage, and OTK builds find their cards in the firing line for balancing more often. "If we're looking at a deck that's too powerful, we tend to try to nerf the one-cost cards, or the cards that are actually ending the game, because those are the ones that have the most visceral reaction from players." These are the cards that players tend to remember the most because they'll either start the game feeling at an immediate disadvantage, or feel as though there was nothing they could do to avoid losing the game.Īyala highlighted Libram Paladin from the current meta, and Even Paladin from the Witchwood timeline, as examples of extremely powerful decks that still feel fair. I asked Ayala how the team make the call about when to intervene. (Lest we forget the dark days of Druid's prolonged reign of terror fueled by Spreading Plague back in 2017.) The meta has also seen more decks and classes fluctuating between tiers, more often. As a result, since Scholomance dropped we haven't seen any one class dominate with an untouchable Tier 1 deck for any long period of time. "We're also more inclined to make a balance patch right away to correct things," says Ayala, "which makes it a little bit easier to have a healthy metagame". Unlike previous years, in which balance changes were less frequent, the team is now much quicker to react to problem cards. It's an incredibly powerful card for just one-mana, but it was easy to miss amongst the flashier cards when the expansion dropped. However, this card has found its way into strong contenders like Guardian Druid, and has since made a name for itself in Broom Paladin. This one-drop Rush card has a Battlecry that also gives your other minions Rush, making it an insta-include in decks that thrive with lots of tiny minions, like Zoo Warlock. Take Scholomance sleeper card, Animated Broomstick, as an example. Of course, the Hearthstone community are a creative bunch, and there are bound to be a few crazy discoveries when a new expansion releases. Seven or eight expansions ago we were more okay with making 20 or 30 cards that we knew weren't really going to see play, but they're there for some of the newer users, and they're there for Arena Dean AyalaĬards that don't achieve that goal are either redesigned or buffed until they feel good enough to slot in somewhere. But nowadays, I think we want all 135 cards for you to think about, or at least for us to be able to imagine what deck would this go in, and what meta?" ![]() ![]() "Seven or eight expansions ago we were more okay with making 20 or 30 cards that we knew weren't really going to see play, but they're there for some of the newer users, and they're there for Arena. "Not only do we have more experience, but we're pushing the cards to the absolute limits," said Ayala. ![]() The most recent expansion, Scholomance Academy, is an excellent example of a set containing really powerful new cards, where a high proportion feel potentially viable in competitive decks. The team's philosophy, with regards to balance, has changed over time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |