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Hearthstone 16.0.5 update nerfs Shaman, boots Amalgam from Battlegrounds

Shaman players on the Hearthstone ladder are a lot sadder today, thanks to tomorrow's Hearthstone update. Meanwhile, Battlegrounds has been shaken to its core by the removal of Nightmare Amalgam.
Ozzie Mejia
Ozzie Mejia
3

Hearthstone's latest expansion, Descent of Dragons, has only been available for a couple of weeks. But Shaman dominance atop the ladder has necessitated some early balance changes and they're coming with tomorrow's upcoming 16.0.5 balance update. While the ladder gets its share of tweaks, Battlegrounds is also getting a massive change, one that's sure to shake up the new mode as everyone knows it going forward.

Hearthstone's 16.0.5 update is set to make the changes to the following cards:

  • Corrupt Elementalist: Now costs 6 Mana (up from 5).
  • Sludge Slurper: Now has 1 Attack (down from 2).
  • Faceless Corruptor: Now has 4 Attack (down from 5).
  • Mogu Fleshshaper: Now costs 9 Mana (up from 7).

The common tie between all of these cards is that they're either all Shaman cards or cards that fit into just about every Shaman build. Quest Shaman, Aggro Shaman, and Galakrond Shaman have been showing up in high numbers on the ladder and these balance tweak should control their numbers a little bit. They're fair changes and shouldn't cripple the decks too much, though that Mogu Fleshshaper change might be a bit hard to swallow. This is certainly good news for Rogue players, as Deathrattle Rogue appears to be untouched, for the moment.

Nightmare Amalgam
RIP Nightmare Amalgam

For Battlegrounds, the changes are eye-opening. Here's what's set to change there:

  • The Boogeymonster: Moved from Tavern Tier 5 to Tavern Tier 4.
  • Mechano-egg: Moved from Tavern Tier 5 to Tavern Tier 4.
  • The Beast: Moved from Tavern Tier 4 to Tavern Tier 3.
  • Coldlight Seer: Moved from Tavern Tier 2 to Tavern Tier 3.
  • Primalfin Lookout (originally changed last week): Moved from Tavern Tier 4 to Tavern Tier 5.
  • Nightmare Amalgam: Has been removed from the pool of available minions. (!)
  • Brann Bronzebeard: Has been removed from the pool of available heroes.
  • Bartendotron: Has been added to the pool of available heroes.

The biggest stunner here is the outright removal of Nightmare Amalgam. This was a catch-all minion that could be buffed by any stat-buffing minion of any tribe. It could be blown up to obscene stats and would also work with the various Magnetic minions in Battlegrounds. Lightfang Enforcer would buff it to astronomic levels, making it a consistent threat to the board. The loss of Nightmare Amalgam will change Battlegrounds cataclysmically for the foreseeable future and will change the meta as everyone knows it.

These changes are set to go into effect tomorrow. Affected ladder cards can be dusted for their full Dust value from now through January 1. For more on these big changes, check out the Hearthstone forums.

Senior Editor
Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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