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Leeroy Jenkins and Starving Buzzard Nerfed in Hearthstone

Finally!!! Finally the balance changes we "control" players or almost any other Hearthstone players have waited for so long are finally upon us! Two of the most overpowered cards that are frequently used in various decks are getting nerfed. One card in fact is even unplayable.

Here are the changes that will be implemented within the next patch on September 22: Leeroy Jenkins mana cost will increase to 5 (from 4) and its stats will remain the same. However, here is the real DEVASTATING nerf that will completely eradicate Hunters from the meta for sure. Starving Buzzard will get its mana increased to 5 (from 2)  and its stats to 3/2 (from 2/1).

Here is the official statement from Blizzard Community Manager Zeriyah about these two particular cards:

"Leeroy Jenkins created a strategy that revolved around trying to defeat your opponent in one turn without requiring any cards on the board. Fighting for board control and battles between minions make an overall game of Hearthstone more fun and compelling, but taking 20+ damage in one turn is not particularly fun or interactive. This was occurring when Leeroy was used in combination with other cards like Power Overwhelming, Faceless Manipulator, Cold Blood, Shadowstep, and Unleash the Hounds, among others."

"The amount of cards Starving Buzzard allowed Hunter players to draw ultimately ended up being too excessive for its low cost. This change will allow the Hunter’s opponent more time to react to both the Starving Buzzard and the cards drawn by its power."


About the nerf on Starving Buzzard, I want to quote ThatsAdmirable here. That is a HUUUUUGE" nerf! Sure, Leeroy Jenkins is still playable. Of course it will only reduce the damage output you can do in one turn. For example Handlocks could use Leeroy, Faceless and Power Overwhelming combo to deal 20 damage for 10 mana. Now this won't be possible. Same goes to Miracle Rogues but again at least the card is not totally useless and can still be played in some decks.

However, the same can't be said about Starving Buzzard though. A 5 mana cost 3/2?? This completely renders Hunters unplayable. Sure, I hate Hunters as much as anyone and I refuse to play them in any mode. I hate playing against them even more because the board I developed becomes a disadvantage and I shouldn't be punished for having board control. I am a control player, I love having board presence and feeling safe behind my 2-3 minions so I hate being punished for doing what I should be doing. I simply hated the way Hunters worked.

But this nerf is way too much. It would be better to limit the card draw of Starving Buzzard or instead maybe increase the cost to 3 without touching the stats. But with its current form, Starving Buzzard is completely unplayable. It costs too much to combo with other beasts to draw cards and its stats are a tragedy to use as a body. So what now? You will use Buzzard on turn 5, hope that it doesn't die and play Savannah Highmane on turn 6? Or you are gonna wait till turn 8 to Unleash the Skill and Buzzard combo? Turn 8??? You will die till then for sure.

While I am really happy that Hunters are getting nerfed and thus we will finally see the rise of the control decks, I didn't want the class to be totally unplayable.

With these changes, I am trying to think of another way for Hunters to be playable but nothing really comes to mind. Maybe we could see Snake Trap being used more frequently. But again, a 3/2 for 5 mana? There are tons of cheap spells that can easily handle the Buzzard so even that combo would be useless.

Also, don't forget that these changes mean you will be able to disenchant the card for its full cost. Buzzard is a basic card so you can't disenchant that but if you have a Leeroy and believe that you will never use it after these changes, you can disenchant it to get 1600 full dust value back!

Blizzard also stated that they won't make any other changes in Hearthstone until after Blizzcon on November where they will hold a pretty big Hearthstone tournament with a hefty $250.000 prize pool.

So, what do you think about these changes? Can you think of a way for Hunters to come back from such a huge nerf or do you also believe that the class is dead?

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