Balancing Act: Fixing Hearthstone‘s Patron Warrior Problem
Game balance is one of the most important parts of any multiplayer experience. Each player needs to have exact or equal tools to utilize in order for a game to be fair, yet the format must differ enough in each instance that the game still feels fresh with each play. It’s how games like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft have managed to maintain such widespread appeal—with nine classes and hundreds of cards, there’s a lot to internalize and balance, but the payoff is a wildly inventive and exciting adaptation of card games to a digital format.
In any competitive game, there will always be a prevalent set of strategies that define the top tier of play. Affectionately referred to as “the meta,” in Hearthstone these are the decks that often take precedence due to their consistent success against other decks. It’s an idea that can be summed up simply with the idea of unequal perfect balance—a rock-paper-scissors-esque rotation where one deck can beat another, but then is countered by a third, and so on.
What happens when a deck is so prevalent that it defines the landscape? Where, through every tournament, a deck is not just one pillar for competition but an overwhelming presence that all others have to organize around? This is where we come to Patron Warrior, a Hearthstone subclass so powerful that Blizzard had to take drastic steps to “nerf,” or reduce in power, a sole card.
It wasn’t just about current balance, it was about the balance of Hearthstone present and future.
The goal of each match of Hearthstone is to reduce your enemy’s health to zero through a combination of minions, spells and weapons. You draw and play these cards, which each cost a certain amount of mana, a resource your hero gradually gains each turn.
Patron Warrior is a specific variation on the Warrior class. Warrior has always been one of the more aggressive deck choices, utilizing weapons, attack bonuses and “Charge.” (A minion that has Charge can strike when it’s played instead of waiting a turn.) Patron Warrior combined certain cards into a combination, where if the player had the right cards in their hand, it was an immediate kill. I’ll list out the major players of the deck below to see if you can suss it out.
Patron Warrior’s Usual Suspects
Grim Patron—A five-mana cost minion with 3 attack damage. Create a copy of this card whenever it takes damage and survives.
Warsong Commander—A two-mana cost minion. Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less attack, give it Charge.
Frothing Berserker—A three-mana cost minion with 2 attack damage. Whenever a unit takes damage, gain +1 attack.
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