Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft players will know that in the past six months, the Warsong Commander-Grim Patrons-Frothing Berserkers combination means inevitable trouble. And by trouble, we mean a one-turn-kill with 30+ damage.
This particular combination is a sort of lose-lose position; it is very difficult to get around as the player gets punished for playing creatures, and for not playing them.
An example of such was captured in a tournament that was part of the Road To BlizzCon NA qualifiers.
Blizzard then became the ire recipient of the community for long animations making certain plays very difficult to finish in time.
"We're paying really close attention and we may have to nerf something someday, but especially right now, right after The Grand Tournament has been released and players are trying all kinds of new stuff, we don't want to be hasty," designer Ben Brode shared in a Sept. 2015 interview.
The tides seemed to have shifted around a month later, when Hearthstone announced via Twitter that the powerful Warsong Commander was indeed getting the much-needed nerf.
"The patch that includes the Warsong Commander change is currently planned for next week," read the official account's tweet.
The patch that includes the Warsong Commander change is currently planned for next week. https://twitter.com/PlayHearthstone/status/653987114820829185
— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) October 13, 2015
The tweet generated an avalanche of mixed points of view from Hearthstone gamers. Some argued that the Warsong Commander should not have received the nerf, while others were profusely thankful for the modification.
The balance change will be made in the upcoming patch that says "Warsong Commander now reads: Your Charge minions have +1 Attack."
Hearthstone Community Manager Zeriyah explained that the alteration was made in consideration of how the gameplay direction and metagame was evolving. This consequently drove a need for innovation in the game. Zeriyah shared that the adjustment was imperative to the game at that point because introduction of the new card would greatly aid the players into gearing towards a new definition of the game's meta.
"We felt this change was necessary to help expand both future design space and to stand by our overarching game philosophy that battles between minions and fighting for board control is what makes Hearthstone fun and compelling," she added.
