The Standard meta in Hearthstone is in for a tiny shake-up.
New balance changes were just implemented for Standard Hearthstone today with Patch 21.2.
Both of the nerfs announced with Patch 21.2 are targeting the Warlock class. Stealer of Souls will now cost six mana, up from four. This decision was made because games where decks using Stealer of Souls win are “often won in an extreme way,” according to the developers. It looks like this nerf hopes to slow down those decks by delaying Stealer of Souls’ playability to a later point in the game. The developers also clarified that Stealer of Souls would remain banned in Wild after this change.
The other Warlock card on the chopping block also affects the Priest class. Flesh Giant was previously a nine-mana 8/8 that cost one less for each time your hero’s health changed during your turns. Moving forward, after Patch 21.2, Flesh Giant will cost 10 mana. But its effect will remain unchanged.
The logic behind the Flesh Giant change appears to be similar to that of the Stealer of Souls nerf. The devs said they wanted to “further reduce the speed at which Flesh Giant comes down in an average game.” Increasing the mana cost will certainly do so, but most decks where Flesh Giant is a staple probably won’t have an issue shaving off that extra health point for his summoning.
United in Stormwind has been out for essentially an entire month now and the meta has already been shaken up by previous balance changes. Even though the scope on these two nerfs seems narrower than the last round, many players will be curious to see how they impact the place of Warlock in the meta.
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