I, for one, welcome our new Demon overlordsĪs of Patch 21.8, 2 speed is the new 3, and forgotten legendaries like Grommash ( Protector), Jaxarraxus ( Protector) Varian ( Protector), and Illidan ( Fighter) are being given explorative competitive consideration. Old: 9 Attack, 69 Health (Level 30 stats) → New: 12 Attack, 69 Health (Level 30 stats).Old: 8 Attack, 69 Health (Level 30 stats) → New: 10 Attack, 72 Health (Level 30 stats).Deathblow: Attack the lowest Health enemy. → New: Battlecry: Attack the lowest Health enemy. Deathblow: This Attacks the lowest Health enemy. Old: 9 Attack, 76 Health (Level 30 stats) → New: 11 Attack, 76 Health (Level 30 stats).→ New: Giantfin gains +8 Attack and Divine Shield. Old (Rank 4): Giantfin gains +8 Attack.Old (Rank 5): 16 Attack, 16 Health → New (Rank 5): 20 Attack, 20 Health.→ New (Rank 5): Give your other Murlocs +5/+5. Old (Rank 5): Give your other Murlocs +3/+5.→ New (Rank 4): Scaly Taunt makes this Merc take 3 less damage and is Immune to Critical Damage this turn. Old (Rank 4): Scaly Taunt makes this Merc take 3 less damage this turn.→ New (Rank 5): Gain Taunt and this takes 5 less damage this turn. Old (Rank 5): Gain Taunt and this takes 3 less damage this turn.→ New: Take 10 less damage while Attacking. Old: Take 5 less damage while Attacking.Old: 9 Attack, 69 Health (Level 30 stats) → New: 12 Attack, 74 Health (Level 30 stats).→ New (Rank 5): After an enemy Attacks this turn, Gain +5 Attack and Attack it. Old (Rank 5): After an enemy Attacks this turn, Attack it.Old: Speed 5, Cooldown 1 → New: Speed 4, Cooldown 0.→ New: Speed 4, Deal 15 damage to a random enemy. Old (Rank 5): Speed 6, Deal 12 damage to a random enemy.Old (Rank 5): Speed 3 → New (Rank 5): Speed 2.Old: Speed 4, Cooldown 1 → New: Speed 2, Cooldown 0.Old: 10 Attack, 67 Health (Level 30 stats) → New: 10 Attack, 73 Health (Level 30 stats).That philosophy has a way of keeping things relatively balanced with the least number of sore players. So I watch with interest as Mercenaries patches embrace many things being very powerful. If Blizzard over nerfs a hard-earned Mercenary, players feel justifiably cheated. In addition, the tedious grind it takes to max out a Mercenary makes nerfs a risky PR move.
Nerfs can also create a shortage of top top-tier alternatives. Nerfs run the risk of replacing the top strategy with another second-tier degenerate trend. Looking at the patch notes, it's interesting to note that Hearthstone devs have only buffed weak Mercenaries as opposed to nerfing powerful ones. Hearthstone Patch 21.8 added some unique changes to Battlegrounds, powerful set defining legendaries in Standard, and made multiple changes intended to open up more diverse top-tier Mercenary compositions.