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Hearthstone’s Priest has been revamped, with 6 cards rotating to Wild formatSome Light changes.
Some Light changes.
TheHearthstonedev team have been making changes to Priest for the last year or so. Cards likeMind Blasthave been rotated out of Standard format to help more accurately reflect Priest’s class identity. Turns out we haven’t seen the last of this, and for the Year of the Phoenix, Hearthstone will be changing the class in a big way.
Here’s a handy navigation tool to walk you through all the Priest changes:
Some of the most iconic cards from the Priest class are being replaced. Here’s who and why.
All Priest cards rotated to the Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Northshire Cleric
Northshire Clericis finally heading out of Standard format. It’s a card many have begged to be nerfed, as it’s pretty much the best 1-drop in the game, but the Hearthstone design team clearly felt the card would be better served moving out to Wild.
To be fair, the ludicrous potential for card draw combined with the potential for massive combos means it’s probably fair enough, asNorthshire Clerichas been an auto-include in Priest decks for the entirety of Hearthstone’s duration.
Divine Spirit
This card has been a part of toxic combos since its inception.Divine Spiritdoubles a minion’s health, and combined withInner FireorTopsy Turvy, can end a game in one fell swoop if you’ve got a high-health minion on board.
Getting rid of this Basic set card meansInner Firecan still cause serious damage when you’ve got some chunky minions on board, but it’s far harder to get a one-turn-kill combo with these two cheap spells.
Auchenai Soulpriest
Auchenai Soulpriestis rotating to Wild for a slightly different reason than power level. These next few cards are being taken out of Standard for class identity reasons. Sure, the ‘shadow priest’ dealing damage and shooting dark energy at enemies has a precedent in the Warcraft universe, but that was done nicely withShadowreaper Anduinduring Knights of the Frozen Throne.
According to the developers, Priests should be mostly control-focused, using healing effects as well as minion resurrection to outlast and outvalue their foes, rather than just constantly blasting them with damage spells.
Shadowform
Not a hugely strong card, butShadowformis being rotated for the same reason asAuchenai Soulpriest. It’s basically a version ofShadowreaper Anduin’s Hero Power but without the massive upside of combo-ing with spells, and is far too much of a shift from a normal Priest’s playstyle.
Not to mentionShadowformwas pretty weak in Standard generally, so it won’t be missed that much.
Holy Fire
Prophet Velen
Now this is the big ticket item.Prophet Velenis a massively powerful card, particularly combined with all the damage effects available to Priest, and especially when used as part of a resurrection package.
Not to worry though - all these ones are being replaced…
New cards being added to Priest in Classic and Basic
It remains to be seen whether or not they’ll make it into the meta, but we’ll see soon enough.
Here are all six of the new cards being added:
In general, these new additions are more focused on buffing your own minions, destroying your enemy’s, and controlling the board rather than direct damage, which is closer to how the Hearthstone dev team envision Priest as a class.
More great Ashes of Outland guides:
Priest buffs and nerfs
That’s not all! A huge pile of the Priest class’ long-time favourites are being tweaked as well. Most of these are actually just straight-up buffs, but others are more sideways changes. Here’s all of them.
Shadow Madness
Shadow Madnessis moving from 4 mana to 3. It’s a pretty basic buff, designed to push Priest into a control style of play.Shadow Madnessis now much easier to play thanks to its 25% mana reduction, and you’ll often be able to take out two enemy minions in the early game, helping you survive longer. Time will tell if the difference will be a substantial one.
Thoughtsteal
Thoughtstealis changing from 3 mana to 2. Another little buff, the Priest class is aiming to make it easier to carry out this ‘thief’ style of play. 2 mana to draw 2 cards seems pretty good, but it remains to be seen whether the fact they come from your opponent’s deck is too much of a downside.
Shadow Word: Death
Shadow Word: Deathnow costs the same asShadow Word: Pain. Destroying a big enemy minion for just 2 mana is hugely powerful, and since this spell already sees play in a decent number of Priest decks, we’re unlikely to see it lower in play rate.
Temple Enforcer
Temple Enforcerhas gone from a 6 mana 6/6 to a 5 mana 5/6 with the same Battlecry effect of giving a friendly minion +3 Health. We’d call this a buff, because it’s now far, far easier to play this buff at 5 mana, despite its slightly lower attack. The card’s stats are the same as the solid vanilla stats ofPit Fighter, and the Battlecry could help control-focused Priests remain on board. We predict it won’t make a huge splash in Standard format, but it’d be a welcome success story if we’re wrong.
Holy Smite
Since the likes ofProphet Velenhave been removed from Standard, Priest can afford to have a little teensy bit of targeted damage. As a treat.HolySmitenow deals 3 damage rather than 2, giving you that little bit extra reach damage-wise for removal. You can no longer go face though, so don’t get too excited.
Holy Nova
Holy Novahas the same effect, deal 2 to all enemy minions and heal 2 to all allies, but for 4 mana instead of 5. When we tried it out, it’s actually been surprisingly easy to squeeze into turns and deals excellently with token-based Demon Hunter and Druid boards. Spell Damage buffs it too, so be aware of the potential board clear opportunities. It’ll be interesting to see whetherHoly Novamakes it into decks ahead of non damage-based board clears likeShadow Word: Ruin.
Power Word: Shield
