A simple, easy way to balance Yogg-Saron

After HCT, we saw still yet another tournament be completely decided by Yogg-Saron. This takes the scenario of ‘winning or losing in a turn’ and brings it to a whole new level. Let me explain.

We’ve all been there before. It’s a real close game, you’re dangerously low on health against a hunter. He can finish you off with just a click of the hero power next turn, and you’re just a couple points of damage off of lethal. That draw at the start of your turn decides everything – win or loss. Just a Holy Smite or Holy Nova can win you the game – isn’t that RNG enough? But wait, you draw Yogg-Saron! This should not be a favorable draw, and it certainly shouldn’t fill a player with joy. The odds you win a game off of this – astronomical! But you play it nonetheless, because it’s Yogg.

A big issue in Hearthstone right now is consistency. Being able to draw correctly, get the best rolls on Knife Jugglers, get the best cards from Discover mechanics – there’s a lot of unreliable mechanics in this game that decide games more often than not, the forefront of which being Yogg. Many people have called for this so I’m certainly not claiming credit for the concept, but here we go:

Have the spells stop when Yogg-Saron is destroyed.

It’s simple, and makes the RNG effect way less impactful. Not only that, but the card can still be crazy – but not crazy enough to be run in almost every deck competitively that isn’t Warrior (but hey, some of them even run it too). But the beauty of it is the fact that this does not completely destroy the card. It is still more than viable, and a single Flamestrike or Pyroblast in the right direction can be incredibly impactful. However, this change would likely mean that most competitions wouldn’t be seeing Yogg anymore, as it has become way less reliable – which is exactly how the card is supposed to work!

Let’s look at the card’s lore. Yogg-Saron, one of the four Old Gods, once held control over all of Azeroth. The people dwelling there realized that destroying the God would also lead to the annihilation of Azeroth – so, they developed a new plan, and sealed the God away, assigning six watchers assigned to it which served as wardens for its near eternal imprisonment; the Titanic Watchers. Despite their efforts, his influence can still be felt throughout Azeroth in the form of seemingly random, pivotal events. In its efforts to break free, the tremors of its struggles take the form of trouble throughout Azeroth.

Even in the lore, this card is unreliable. If it should manage to destroy itself in the play, so be it! Just end the spells! Overall, this balance change would make the competitive scene of Hearthstone much more consistent, but at the same time, not ruin the fun for the casual players just looking for memes.