So it's been a week since Hearthstone's newest expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, was released. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out. Not so much the cards themselves, but rather in the way Blizzard is making the game more accessible to newer players. From handing out new packs to giving everyone C'thun to rotating out old sets, Blizzard has given just about everyone another reason to play this game, if only for a week. So kudos on Blizzard on giving Hearthstone the longevity it needs to be a really successful game in the years to come.

Overall, I've been fairly happy with the nerfs. I've never been a fan of nerfing cards, simply because I think it's a really lazy way of altering player behavior. For example, the nerf on Leper Gnome (from a 2/1 to a 1/1) was clearly intended to hurt aggro. Now that we're a week into the new meta, however, the ladder is still full of aggro, early-game board control decks like Zoo and Shaman. Obviously cards like Leper Gnome facilitate aggro, but the real root cause in my view is the ladder system, and the fact that Hearthstone disproportionately rewards fast games.

With that said, I think that the nerfs have overall been pretty reasonable. The nerf on Knife Juggler is warranted and has effectively turned it into a combo card rather than an automatic 2 drop. And the change on Force of Nature, again, is a great decision to counter Druid while still keeping the card relatively playable (at least in Arena). The biggest 'nerf' to classes like Druid and Paladin is the decision to rotate out cards like Dr. Boom and Piloted Shredder. Those cards have honestly caused a lot of unnecessary havoc and I think we're all better seeing less of them in the future.

Now, let's talk deck lists, starting with Hunter. Barring the occasional Face Hunter (designed to kill Secret Paladins), Hunter has been pretty underrepresented on ladder. As a Hunter main, I've been crafting a Hunter list that would be good in a meta that will probably be dominated by Zoo and Shaman. Although Hunter lost Mad Scientist, Fiery Bat is a great one-drop and Infested Wolf is a decent curve-filler. Princess Huhuran can find value in a slower meta where cards like Sylvanas might see play in a Midrange Hunter list, and Call of the Wild is again a great card, definitely at least a one-of in just about any Hunter deck that isn't pure aggro.

The real problem with Hunter, I think, is that the deck has no inherent card draw. Just about every tier-one deck has ways of cycling/drawing cards - Arcane Intellect in Mage, Ancestral Knowledge in Shaman, and many decks run Azure Drake as well. Hunter doesn't have that type of draw power, however. I think Cult Master and Loot Hoarder are the only decent draw options Hunter has, and both cards have their problems - Cult Master requires a solid board, while Loot Hoarder is on its own a weak 2-drop. I think 1 copy of Tracking, as a deck thinner, is correct in Hunter. In all, Midrange Hunter just feels like a weaker version of Shaman.

The Shaman list is fairly standard. If I wasn't missing a few cards, I would probably prefer playing Midrange Shaman instead, which is a lot more versatile than the Face variety and packs just as big of a punch with a tech copy of Bloodlust. I think that Shaman is definitely the best class right now, kind of like how Druid was about a month ago. The class is just so incredibly versatile - hard removal, burst, strong curve, 4-mana 7/7, the deck has everything.. I think we'll be seeing a lot more Shaman in the future and whether a deck can beat Shaman will be the litmus test for any new decks.

Finally, the Mage list. I don't own Arcane Blasts, which are probably better than Mirror Image especially since Cult Sorcerer is now the go-to 2-drop for Tempo Mage. I have a lot of hope for Tempo Mage. For one, I think it should have a good match-up versus Zoo, which runs a lot of 1-health minions and are far more prone to board clears. Now that Mage can safely run Flamestrike without so many Deathrattles around, Mage can also be pretty decent versus Shaman. I am pretty iffy on the Spellslingers however, and that's probably the first card I'll take out in practice.