Design Discussions: Class Identity in Hearthstone

Design Discussions: Class Identity in Hearthstone

One of the main gripes I had with the last few expansions was the homogenization of class identity taking place, especially in Druid. As we all know, for about a month after the Frozen Throne, the ladder was infested with Druids. While people largely attributed this to Innervate, Wild Growth, and the ridiculous value of Ultimate Infestation, I don't believe any of these cards were very problematic. There was one card that completely blurred the lines between what classes are supposed to be able to do, which was Spreading Plague. Whereas ramp spells and big, splashy plays with lots of utility have been a part of Druid since classic (think pre-nerf Ancient of Lore and Force of Nature) the one surefire way to beat Druids was to go under them. Combo Druid was a busted deck since it had a ridiculous winrate against midrange and control, due to Druid's unique ability to ramp and its on-curve stats and card draw, along with a potential "I win" two card combo, but whenever Combo Druid began to rise in popularity, it would be forced down by Zoolock, Face Hunter, Mech Mage, or whatever other flavor of the month aggro deck that could create a commanding board position while the Druid spent their early game ramping and take over from there. That was Druid's Class Identity, it was capable of playing the best minion every turn, it was capable of cheating the mana curve, but it was not capable of AOE clears or hard removal for large minions. These were some of the reasons Big Game Hunter was nerfed and Azure Drake was Hall of Famed, they gave Druid access to mechanics established in the Classic set that they shouldn't have access to. However, the Druid Death Knight, which was an effective anti-aggro tool but also good single target removal and yet another way for Druid to accrue value over time in the late game, cleared up some of the weaknesses Druid had been facing since the nerfs. Most importantly, Spreading Plague not only gave a comeback mechanism for Druids against aggressive decks, specifically go wide decks like Token Shaman that had characteristically been difficult matchups for Druid in the past, but it also de-incentivized playing minions, which is something the Hearthstone Design team has made clear time and time again is the direction they want their game to keep going. I played a lot of token Shaman over the past 6 months, and during Druidstone, it was often correct to avoid hero powering or playing innocuous minions going into turn 5 if you already had a good board position since it would just make an on curve Spreading Plague that much more of a blowout. This would be okay if you were playing against other classes; hedging your bets against board clears is one of the most complex decisions that can be made while piloting aggressive decks. But against Druid, who could often not be beaten in the late game because of the off the charts value of Ultimate Infestation and jades, adding one of the most potent anti-aggro tools in the game made playing against it as any deck a thoroughly unrewarding experience. This blurring of class identities has bled into other classes as well; Priest has had a difficult time contesting the board in the early game since release, but the release of ridiculously pushed midrange threats such as Kabal Talonpriest and Drakonid Operative allowed them to play tempo and midrange decks as well as any other class. Weapon synergy cards in Rogue that defined the class in the early months of Hearthstone such as Deadly Poison, Blade Flurry, and Tinker's Sharpsword Oil have been nerfed, rotated out, or completely fallen out of viability. The most successful Rogue deck as of late is essentially a play on curve aggro deck with mostly neutral cards, completely going against Rogue's identity as a spell and combo based class. The strength of neutral threats such as the Patches package, Fire Fly, Saronite Chain Gang, and especially Bonemare often outclasses class cards. This is problematic because it makes class identity completely pointless. Why try to create a synergistic Warrior deck based on damaging your own minions or weapon buffs when you can just play the neutral package of the best minions at each point on the mana curve and augment it with the most flexible class cards? Even unique and viable decks as of late such as Highlander Priest don't seem to follow the directions taken in the early years of the game, in the sense that Highlander Priest feels much more like Freeze Mage or Combolock than classic Control Priest. So where am I going with this? Well, up until now I've been pretty disappointed by the spoilers for the new set, Kobolds and Catacombs. Typically, the most interesting and obviously powerful cards in a set are spoiled first to garner interest. However, until yesterday there were not only very few definitively good cards revealed, but they also didn't seem to be particularly interesting or archetype supporting. One of the big things I was looking for in the new expansion was powerful Warlock cards to return my favorite class to viability. The Warlock legendary looks about as gimmicky as it gets, and the newly revealed Warlock legendary weapon seems way too slow to see any play. Two commons revealed yesterday restore my faith in Team 5 to design simple, elegant, powerful cards that thematically fit within the Warlock class, and will certainly be contributing to an increase in the play of Warlock. These cards play off a theme that was established in Classic, and due to the nature of Warlock's hero power will always be a part of the class. Beyond that, they are just really good cards. Like ridiculously good. I'm not sure if you realize how ridiculously good the one drop is. I've been known to be a mediocre at best card reviewer, which you'll see in my review video once all the cards have been spoiled, but I would be very surprised if Kobold Librarian is not a two-of in every Warlock deck until the card rotates out of Standard. This card unquestionably makes the cut in zoo and midrange Warlock decks. 

examples of strong, well designed cards in the new expansion that stay on theme and within class identity while remaining new and interesting

  

Any form of board presence in the early game is also welcome in control decks, and this card cycles through your deck to find answers and keeps your turn 4 Mountain Giant on track while providing a body to trade with. The only argument against it I can think of is that in control mirrors it puts you closer to fatigue, but it has to be worth it for the early game cycle. The two drop isn't quite that good, but has demon synergy, is basically the best standalone minion you can be playing on turn 2, and makes up for its self damaging battlecry with the most relevant keyword ability against aggro decks. These cards are the real deal and if Warlock is good, it'll be in no small part because of these cards. There were also three Shaman cards revealed that play off of Totem synergy, which has been one of my favorite archetypes since the days of Draenei Totemcarver and Thunderbluff Valiant. I am a huge fan of these moves by Team 5 to return the classes to their roots and create archetypes that are fun to pilot and not awful to play against and hopefully we'll see more cards of this nature in this set and in the future. Thanks for reading, and look out for my Kobolds and Catacombs Card Review video which will be out on my YouTube channel a day or two before the expansion drops.