Looks like we are getting a reprieve from the druid overlords for a bit.
Stupid.
Is the tribal 2-mana ramp really the problem? We’ve seen plenty of those, and while they’re strong, they’re not ban-worthy, not even temporarily.
The real issue is that the meta is designed around each player’s plays corresponding to their mana curve. Cards are balanced with the expectation that when I play my 5-cost, you’ll play your 5-cost, and so on. Doomkin disrupts this balance, and makes balancing impossible as long as the card is Standard legal.
The obvious ban or nerf target is Doomkin, not the Whelp.
now for the steamcleaner ban
Yeah, I agree this was dumb.
There were a lot of better targets here.
Doomkin and nest matron being the better picks in my opinion.
Yes, the 2 mana ramp card has the highest win rate, duh, it’s a ramp deck.
Doomkin and nest were the two that undid the loss of spending time ramping.
It’s broken when you get the “your first minion each turn costs 1 less” because then you get to play it turn 1 for 1 mana
Might be the reason why it’s banned
Now that this has been said - what do you mean a temporary ban?? Link pls?
This is Jailer all over again.
Some card effects are so wildly out of place in HS that only removing them (text-nerf) can stop their terror.
Even if this nerf manages to make Druid less of a menace on the ladder, everyone knows that Doomkin will resurface with an even more toxic deck in the future. They’re just sweeping it under the rug while unjustly banning another card.
I mean, doomkin doesn’t matter too much in the later game. It matters a LOT when you get it early.
It is a card that makes giving druid reliable access to ramp dangerous though, so yeah… It probably will need an adjustment later.
It’s Druid that gets access to Mage cards, correct?
All there is in for Druid in this is Big Spell casting through ramp. It’s not unreasonable to expect more ramp printed for Druid in this expansion, and if that happens, Doomkin will definitely resurface.
i dont understand what you mean
this is the first time a domkin centric deck poped up since the card was added a year ago why are you implying we had several ?
I didn’t. You did, trying to discredit me.
Quote me saying there have been several decks that have utilized Doomkin and I’ll entertain you with a reply back. Else, stop trolling.
Yeah thats what I was thinking 2 mana ramp has been in the game since it was created 10 years ago. we even had breath of dreams in descent of dragons that some may argue was splish splash but better. Ramp is clearly not the issue it is doomkin or more likely just overall power level of the game. I do not like that they pretty much just made almost all druid archetypes weaker for probably over a month when one deck was the problem.
There always has to be a most hated deck. Prepare for a lot of paladin overlord complaints.
They probably did this because card bans can be done server side.
Nerfs are problematic to do this way.
Ramp is not inherently a problem, but it kind of demands that druid’s cards are pretty horribly inefficient because they get more Mana than everyone faster.
When they can turn that Mana into incredibly powerful plays that can end games before your opponent’s responses come online, that’s a huge problem.
Even doomkin isn’t inherently a problem, but it does amplify how strong every other win condition in the deck is.
That’s why I’ve generally pushed for nest matron to stop being free. Yes, druid can still ramp, but that card is a huge offender about being able to do too much with the mana that they have before you.
Neutral cards that are very strong (like Marin) also tend to be super amplified by strong ramp, as you can’t really put the druid inefficiency tax on them.
It really is the problem.
The deck plays significantly closer to fair without it.
This shouldn’t completely kill the deck while dialing down the dominance.
Good choice.
2 mana ramp really is something this game should not have.
This includes wild growth.
The cards that ramp one mana where always in that weird zone where they’re nearly broken for 2 mana and not really good at 3.
Devs should Just print 3 mana ramp with an small upside and call it a day.
They did. It’s malfurion’s gift.
The 3 mana ramp spell that could be a swipe or armor instead
But this isn’t about a nerf.
A card got banned, and there’s no real justification for it. Cards get banned when they’re oppressive, disgusting, or completely demoralizing to face.
The card that fits that description is obviously Doomkin, not the Whelp.
If this was just a regular nerf like any other on the Whelp, I would be fine with it. But they went out of their way to ban a card that is clearly not a sentiment outlier, but just a good card. This doesn’t fit the code at all.
Banning a card is serious business. They could have just temporarily banned Doomkin, and Druid would revert to the same old regular Dragon Druid. The issue lies in the polarizing games where Doomkin’s impact is immense and completely warps the game. That actually justifies a ban because it’s a feels bad moment.
It is, though.
It’s a way to slow down druid and then watch what the other cards in the deck do. It’s a bandaid and they said as much.
I just disagree. This is a temporary solution to evaluate the best way to go forward. It’s a good choice.