There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Warsong Commander card in Blizzard’s popular online card game Hearthstone. This warrior-only card has already been the recipient of one major change, and another looms on the horizon, scheduled for the next update.
On October 13th, 2015, it was announced that the Warsong Commander card effect will be changed from granting minions with 3 or less attack charge to granting +1 attack to all minions with charge. This completely revamps the card and will likely throw a wrench into any number of the warrior-deck metas, including the incredibly popular – and much hated – Patron Warrior meta.
The original Warsong Commander granted all other minions charge. The Charge grant was not a battlecry, meaning it remained persistent as long as the Commander was on the board. This quickly proved too powerful and on January 13th, 2014, Blizzard changed the Warsong Commander to grant charge to any subsequently summoned minion with 3 or less attack.
The change left the card in a strong position without it being overpowered – until the introduction of the Grim Patron in the Blackrock Mountain expansion set. The Grim Patron is a 3/3 card that, when it survives damage, summons another Grim Patron.
With abilities like Whirlwind, which hits all minions including your own, a Patron Warrior was able to keep the board filled with these 3/3 Patrons – and because they only had three attack, the Warsong Commander was able to grant them charge. Seemingly overnight, the Warsong Commander once again became one of the most overpowered cards in the Warrior’s already powerful deck.
Although nerfs are often called for, Blizzard has made an effort not to affect metas by adjusting popular cards. Unfortunately, sometimes they’ve felt the need to step in and take a hand when a particular card is just too strong.
The Warsong Commander change is slated for sometime next week.
