Serena's Turn 5 Cutless nausea

[Alien Fungus]

I used to love Serena but now with the super acquisition of Thoughtripper's Cutless I find myself quitting the games as soon as it appears on Turn 5 ... ( love to play the same card myself of course )
The design team can't win. They will make a weapon or create an ally to make a struggling Hero more competitive. The card elevates the Hero into an alpha tier. Then almost everbody copies the winning decks and every third game you play is against that Hero ...
Deciding this week to play Shadow Mages ... I just know she will steal my nice spells that I had planned to incinerate her with ...
She has no respect anymore .... And I am sick of seeing that damn Cutless on turn 5

[Preybird]

Well if you know its coming then you can be ready for it. I see no problem with it at all. Strong cards and strong heroes will be played, its the meta. Pick a hero that breaks Serena and go to town.

[Secruoser]

Hold useless cards in hand to troll her. Useless in her hand, like a tribe card or maybe bad santa that benefits both.

[Gondorian]

There's a lot more to Serena than stealing a card on turn 5. If you played til the end, you might find out!

[Zyraquis]

Exactly, my Ter Adun Ravenger deck has decent record against her. Just leave bad Santa and tribe item card for her to steal. And if possible play blood frenzy before her cutlass, then I can't care less what she steals, I can normally swamp her.

[Fionn Maccumhail]

I have to agree with Fungus. Its the sheer dull nature of the new serena that kind of blows. T5 cutlass. T6-T7 fatty (Eris, Viska, Fagin). Yawntastic. The old serena was difficult to play and took a lot of skill. Current serena is mindless- its the rogue equivalent of Elad rush. Like elad rush FTA also makes a huge difference and going second it is much harder to be "ready for it". It also bothers me a bit that the prevelance of serena hurts priests so bad- a class with a very interesting mid/late game that takes a fair bit of skill to play but are seldom seen at the moment.

I still think upping cutlass cost to 6 would make a big difference. T5 anklebreaker or wait for T6 and cutlass? How to control the board until then?

[FDL]

The old serena was difficult to play and took a lot of luck.

ftfy

[Gondorian]

I have to agree with Fungus. Its the sheer dull nature of the new serena that kind of blows. T5 cutlass. T6-T7 fatty (Eris, Viska, Fagin). Yawntastic. The old serena was difficult to play and took a lot of skill. Current serena is mindless- its the rogue equivalent of Elad rush. Like elad rush FTA also makes a huge difference and going second it is much harder to be "ready for it". It also bothers me a bit that the prevelance of serena hurts priests so bad- a class with a very interesting mid/late game that takes a fair bit of skill to play but are seldom seen at the moment.

I still think upping cutlass cost to 6 would make a big difference. T5 anklebreaker or wait for T6 and cutlass? How to control the board until then?

Current Serena is mindless? Have you seen BobRoss in action? Have you seen how few others bring her to big tournaments? She takes a huge amount of skill.

[gamerhellborn]

Bobross

[Fionn Maccumhail]

Current Serena is mindless? Have you seen BobRoss in action? Have you seen how few others bring her to big tournaments? She takes a huge amount of skill.

1) Yes, he's a great player.
2) We were discussing level of boredom playing against/with her, not how tourney-worthy she was considered. Also the fact that so many people have been playing serena on QM meant she wasn't a great tourney choice since many would be teching specifically for her.
3) As noted, not IMO anymore. Large level of autopilot. She has gone from arguably the most difficult hero to use well to her current state. Build a solid deck, play a couple of stealth allies or sentinel for "variety, if going second consider black garb is opponent gets good start and no 1 attack allies. Maybe IGG T4 . Then cutlass etc.