Heya everyone, Sorry here! Patch 4.9 has been a success, bringing many different archetypes and playstyles into the mix. Both the Standard ranked ladder and the Runeterra Open have witnessed many unique archetypes performing exceptionally well. However, a couple of decks have stood out, relying heavily on specific potent cards to gain a significant edge in performance.
In this article, I'll discuss nine cards that, in my opinion, have proven to be overly powerful and warrant a nerf in Patch 4.10. Let's dive in!
1- Warden of The Tribes
Warden of the Tribes has served as a formidable finisher for quite some time. After receiving a buff in Patch 4.7, it has consistently dominated the competitive scene. Various versions of Warden of the Tribes have found success, with some players even including two or three Warden decks in their lineup.
One obvious nerf option is to revert Warden of the Tribes to its previous 9-mana cost, delaying its game-ending potential by one turn. This change would provide opponents with more time to either end the game or find the appropriate answers to deal with Warden of the Tribes.
Alternatively, a different approach could involve removing the Overwhelm keyword while keeping its cost at 8 mana. This would eliminate the immediate Overwhelm threat posed by Warden of the Tribes while still requiring opponents to sacrifice a blocker to survive the incoming damage.
2- Exalted Cloudwinder
The Janna
support package has been extremely powerful in the Patch 4.9 meta, fostering various archetypes heavily reliant on this core build. Decks like Janna Samira
, Janna Nilah
, and Janna Teemo
Champions' Strength
have seen substantial success.
Exalted Cloudwinder stands out as one of the strongest cards in Janna's support package, offering valuable card draw and a solid 3|2 unit with the Quick Attack keyword, which can pose problems for opponents when it goes for the attack. In the right archetype, Exalted Cloudwinder is basically a 3-cost unit that creates a lot of value, and at the same time, you're still able to set up more plays on that specific turn.
My suggestion here is to remove the Quick Attack keyword from Exalted Cloudwinder. This change would enable opponents to block and eliminate it more efficiently while preserving its card draw power, which benefits Janna decks. This adjustment would reduce its overall offensive strength and encourage more cautious attacks with Exalted Cloudwinder.
3- Ekko
Ekko is one of the strongest champions in the game who has managed to remain in the shadows, dodging any nerfs. Decks like Ekko Zilean
, Mono Ekko, and Ekko Jinx
, while not popular on the ranked ladder, are always considered in tournaments as anti-meta decks or to complement a lineup.
What makes Ekko good is his 5 Power + Quick Attack, the relatively easy level-up condition, Chronobreak
, and the 0-mana Time Trick
.
There are many ways to nerf Ekko without severely impacting the archetype's gameplay. One option is to revert Ekko's level-up condition, requiring 5 Predicts instead of 4. This change would delay Ekko's level-up, making it less accessible by turn 4 and forcing players to wait until turn 5 or 6 to play him.
An alternative possible nerf involves changing either Chronobreak's cost to 4 mana, making Ekko players more cautious with their mana management, or setting the cost of the created Time Trick to 1 mana, shutting down the free use of Time Tricks, especially after multiple attacks in a turn.
4- Innovative Blacksmith and Combat Cook
Innovative Blacksmith has proven to be a potent addition to various archetypes like Gnar
Jarvan IV
and Jax
Ornn
, contributing to Jax Ornn's dominance in the meta. A potential nerf Bajatakk suggested that I agree with is to reduce her base Power by 1, which would weaken her overall.
This is also an indirect nerf to Jax Ornn, as less Power means a slower Jax level-up. Right now, Jax Ornn is one of the best decks in the meta and has been in the top 3 most-brought decks to the Runeterra Open. So any tiny nerfs should help put the deck back in check.
As for Combat Cook, it's arguably one of the best 4 drops in the game thanks to its Forge ability. A nerf to Combat Cook should tone down the mid-game power of Jax Ornn. It can receive a similar nerf to that of Innovative Blacksmith by reducing its Power by 1.
However, I'm still worried about the Concurrent Timelines
deck in the Eternal meta, which will still take advantage of both Innovative Blacksmith and Combat Cook due to follower transformation bypassing the base stat nerfs.
5- Wildfire
This is a tricky and difficult card to nerf. Many players have suggested changes to other cards that synergize with Wildfire, such as modifying Rejuvenating Breeze
to draw two different spells to prevent drawing two copies of Wildfire.
However, this approach of altering other cards to indirectly nerf a problematic card may not be ideal in the long run. A straightforward "lazy nerf" could involve increasing Wildfire's cost by 1 or capping its damage at 4. I'm not confident those two nerfs are the correct approach, though.
6- Windborne Mariner
I'm not a huge fan of cards dropping down to 0 mana. So I'd like to see a nerf to Windborne Mariner. Instead of going down to 0 mana, 1 mana sounds more feasible. It'll still count towards Janna's level-up, but it removes that ability to go wide on the board if you have more than one Windborne Mariner in hand and unleash a catastrophic attack if the opponent doesn't have the ping spells to deal with a Windborne Mariner.
7- Death from Below
There used to be a meme back in the day that Death From Below is lurk's version of a Tri-beam Improbulator
. Although we don't see Lurk much in competitive tournaments, it is popular on the ranked ladder and has been doing well in several metas.
Death From Below is a powerful removal card that summons a Pyke
on the board at the same time. Although one Death From Below can shift the state of the game, a second one can be devastating, especially if Pyke levels up.
Increasing its cost to 5 mana, similar to the Tri-beam Improbulator, would suffice, making it more difficult for players to cast it and also summon additional Lurkers on the board.
8- Blocking Badgerbear
Although I'm not too bothered by Blocking Badgerbear putting a stop to Elusive decks from taking over the meta, I wouldn't mind seeing it lose 1 Power. A 3|4 follower that can block elusive units should still hold decently, depending on the meta.
9- Living Legends
Living Legends has never been a problem in the meta; however, with the introduction of Cosmic Call
, the interaction has proven too bothersome to play against.
Casting a 5-mana Living Legends and getting back full mana leaves little counterplay for most decks. Unfortunately, Living Legends will have to be hit with a nerf due to Cosmic Call. Changing Living Legends to refill mana based on its cost should shut down the Cosmic Call + Living Legends powerful combo play.
I'd be fine with Living Legends refilling spell mana if there's excess mana to compensate for the nerf.
Closing Words
There are other cards that might be deserving of nerfs other than the ones I've listed in the article. Keep in mind that these are all my considerations, and it doesn't mean all of them should be nerfed to have a better upcoming meta!