Hearthstone Might Nerf Two Game-Changing Cards Soon

Hearthstone has its eyes on two game-altering cards released in Murder at Castle Nathria. Once March of the Lich King drops, and Hearthstone sees how the new Death Knight class and cards affect the meta, these cards may get nerfed.

During Murder at Castle Nathria, Hearthstone released two new Legendary cards: Prince Renathal and Sire Denathrius. The leader and scion of the Shadowlands realm of Revendreth introduced some game-changing mechanics to Hearthstone. Renathal allows players to make 40 card decks, rather than 30, and gives them 10 extra starting health, while Denathrius is a massive game-ending minion that deals scaling damage the more he is Infused by friendly minions who die.

Both of these cards have been present within both Standard and Wild Hearthstone, but their power was especially noticed during the recent Death Knight Showmatch event. Almost every deck, including the winning ones, had both Renathal and Denathrius. Hearthstone features lead Celestalon and final design lead Aleco both believe the fact the competing decks were Death Knights skewed the results more than they expected, but stated the design team was watching the cards very closely, especially Denathrius.

Both Sire Denathrius and Prince Renathal are exceedingly popular among players right now. Both Legendary cards are found within about 50% of all Standard decks, and while Renathal is about as common in Wild, Denathrius is only in about 20% of Wild decks. Nevertheless, both cards also have between a 55% and 60% win rate in all Hearthstone game modes. With a 50% win rate being the goal, it is likely something will happen to the cards, though it seems Denathrius is a bigger target for nerfs than Renathal is.

Most players agree Sire Denathrius needs a nerf in Hearthstone. The charismatic card is a massive, game-ending bomb, and there are few things players can do to stop him when played. What’s worse, Renathal makes Denathrius stronger by increasing the player’s health. This allows them to survive longer, have more minions die, and make bigger Denathrius bombs.

Players are less sure Renathal needs a nerf, however. Though having 10 extra maximum health is nice, most competitive decks consider having 10 extra cards a huge downside, since it means a less consistent deck. On the other hand, many players love being able to include even more of their favorite cards, and revel at having the option of making larger decks. Players will have to wait and see how Renathal and Denathrius play once March of the Lich King goes live, and see what Hearthstone decides to do with the two game-changing Legendary cards.