Players today are seeing the first major nerfs come to Hearthstone, as the Leeroy Jenkins (Neutral) and Starving Buzzard (Hunter) cards become less of an awesome IWIN button for players. Earlier today, I had heard about the possible Leeroy changes, but Blizzard's post about it not only confirms the nerf, but announces the Buzzard nerf as well. These changes will be put into the game on September 22, so players have time to adjust before the changes are live, and the community will have plenty of time to let Blizzard know exactly how unhappy they are about the changes, even when some are saying these were a long time coming.

Most notably, people are upset over the change to Buzzard, saying that 3/2 for 5 mana is beyond steep. There are several suggestions on Reddit, mostly surrounding a 4-mana suggestion. People are saying that at a 5 mana cost, Buzzard is effectively useless now. Originally, the card was 2/1 (attack/health) for a 2 mana cost. The jump to 3/2 for 5 is quite a leap, since the mana cost has gone up so far. A good amount of the suggestion responses are saying that a 2/2 for 4 would even make far more sense than what Blizzard is suggesting. Blizzard states that the low cost for Buzzard for the amount of cards it allowed Hunters to draw in its current state was excessive. 

And then we have dear ol' Leeroy. Leeroy would let players swarm control the board too quickly and sometimes even win games in one round, without the opponent getting one card on the board. The cost isn't too crazy – Leeroy now costs 5 mana, up from 4, with no other changes. Naturally, this is a change that needed to happen, but a lot of the community is confused as to why it took Blizzard so long to address this and push the change. Blizzard says that they held off creating any changes until they saw how players were reacting to the game with Naxxramas and the new cards that came with it. After monitoring gameplay, Blizzard felt these changes should be put in.

While these changes are currently slated for the 22nd, Blizzard will not be making any other changes until after the Hearthstone World Championship at this year's upcoming BlizzCon. Who knows, maybe they would later decide that a 4-mana Buzzard isn't a bad idea, afterall. Until these changes go live, these Expert cards can be disenchanted for their full cost. If you want to recoup your Leeroys and your Buzzards, now's the time to do it.

Do you have builds with either of these cards? What do you think about the changes? Is the community correct in stating that Starving Buzzard's changes are too steep? Do you agree with the change to Leeroy Jenkins? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Vendolyn's been playing MMOs since 1999, although Vendolyn in-game often becomes a long-term shelved alt. When she's not gaming, she's likely marathoning some questionable TV show or babbling about music to no end. She really likes goats.

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