Shuriken Nerf

[TJ dubdub]

I want to start off this nerf thread by saying how much I hate nerf threads lol. Normally nerfs cause cards to become nonexistent in competitive play, or they don’t really change the card that much and we still have a problem. Also, it a lot of times seems as if people take them as just whining and refusing to adapt to the game. That is not how I want this thread to be. I just want to present an idea that will help to balance a card that is too over powered in some circumstances, without killing it completely.

The card in question: Spirit Shuriken
This is a staple in every top tier Victor and Garth out there. It can help you come back from an empty board and make it a game vs more aggressive decks, similar to Yari Marksman. While the initial cost of Shuriken vs Marksman seems higher, whenever you consider that you now have something to attack with, especially in victor, and that it may be around for the next turn to do it again, it is clear that it is a much more powerful card. With this one card, you can take osut any 2 allies that your opponent has, and leave the weakest on the board, and that is assuming that you have a completely empty board. If you pull off this move on turn 9 with Vic, which isn’t hard to do at all with his draw and ramping power, it can seal the game for you, even if the board is in the opponent’s favor. And speaking of, who says that having 3 allies on the board is the point of no return? Where the game is over? Especially since it doesn’t take into account what is on your side of the board. This card can be the main component in clearing a board that is far from uneven. One single card shouldn’t have this much power at such a relatively low cost.

My Solution(s)
There are many ways you could go about this nerf, you could make it ally differential rather than dependent solely on enemy allies, you could have it lose 2 durability instead of 1, you could make it a random ally, etc. But my personal favorite is making it 2 se. At its current state, there isn’t even a thought of whether it is the right move to use the 1 se to kill an ally. Most of the time you have enough se built up on your hero that you can use both it and Shuriken in the same turn. But with this additional cost, using the ability hurts your tempo in a way more comparable to what your opponent is getting. It will also make it harder to use the ability on back to back turns, as it will make using the ability in combination with the hero ability very hard.
This card should bring you back from the brink of defeat to an easy victory. That’s the main point of this thread. I think that this 1 card can totally swing the game. While it is okay for some factions (priest, elementals, actually everything with Valley of Doom, but with a much larger cost) to have board wipes, it is also okay for others to suffer from being swarmed.

P.S. Let’s try to keep this thread civil as I am sure that there will be differing opinions. We all just want what’s best for the game 

[Scout]

Give it to rogues only. Vic is abusing it. Done.

And if you think Rogues can do the same thing, so can a Boris with Marksman. The card in itself is well balanced imo. It usually is a one time thing like a marksman. Vic has too many options at his disposal to get the board easily, that sure is creating problems.

Also, if you think shuriken is killing aggro, that was the whole point of the card.

[SET Colosal]

Tl, dr

[streetsahead]

Tl, dr

Then why comment? Very helpful...

I agree with the op 100%

[TJ dubdub]

Comparing it to marksman is flawed because it is a one time thing, Shuriken can kill an ally the next turn too, as well as being an instant damage threat, though just 1 damage.

[Dvsklown]

Agreed, even with the recent nerf it is still a staple in many decks. It is a very versatile weapon in the hands of a capable player. It is not hard to set up taking out multiple allies for multiple turns. But I have never been one to call it op only because of how easy it is for many decks to overload the field with allies, it helps keep it in check. Should be a price to pay by risking throwing so much of your hand down at once. I think the wording itself is good, perhaps the cost could be increased by 1.

[BP Holy Punisher]

RIP Caitlyn0

[Cerddorion]

All righty then.....time for my two cents

"This is a staple in every top tier Victor and Garth out there. It can help you come back from an empty board and make it a game vs more aggressive decks, similar to Yari Marksman. "

So, we have a "staple" in just two decks. So, just checked out the top 10 on the ranking ladder (dated 1/8). We have 2 Vics and 2 Garths. There is a lance and a serena that could also use this card, but i haven't personally seen it in either of those. So, 4 out of 10 of the top 10 can be assumed to use Shuriken. The top deck being a serena. I don't think that qualifies it as totally skewing the meta.

Second, what's wrong with having ONE card that helps to check an aggro player? It's my opinion that there too much aggro to begin with, but that's something that can only be solved by my next point.

Third, why not put out a new card(s) that counters activated and/or abilities of items or weapons? Nerfs have always just been band aids. There are only two cards that i can think of off the top of my head that negate abilities activated by shadow energy (Ascetic of Aldmor and Blackend Heart).

And last, Shuriken is an item, which means it dies to stuff like Smashing Blow, Dawn Raid, and even Artful Squire. There ARE ways to deal with items after all. Who knew? Good players know how to work around cards like Shuriken, and the best know how to do away with them.

[Nataku]

All righty then.....time for my two cents

"This is a staple in every top tier Victor and Garth out there. It can help you come back from an empty board and make it a game vs more aggressive decks, similar to Yari Marksman. "

So, we have a "staple" in just two decks. So, just checked out the top 10 on the ranking ladder (dated 1/8). We have 2 Vics and 2 Garths. There is a lance and a serena that could also use this card, but i haven't personally seen it in either of those. So, 4 out of 10 of the top 10 can be assumed to use Shuriken. The top deck being a serena. I don't think that qualifies it as totally skewing the meta.

Second, what's wrong with having ONE card that helps to check an aggro player? It's my opinion that there too much aggro to begin with, but that's something that can only be solved by my next point.

Third, why not put out a new card(s) that counters activated and/or abilities of items or weapons? Nerfs have always just been band aids. There are only two cards that i can think of off the top of my head that negate abilities activated by shadow energy (Ascetic of Aldmor and Blackend Heart).

And last, Shuriken is an item, which means it dies to stuff like Smashing Blow, Dawn Raid, and even Artful Squire. There ARE ways to deal with items after all. Who knew? Good players know how to work around cards like Shuriken, and the best know how to do away with them.

I think you miss the point of the thread. Shuriken is needed to counter agro yes. But should this same card in the late be able to scew a control vs control match in the favor of the hero who has shuiken ??

[Cerddorion]

I think you miss the point of the thread. Shuriken is needed to counter agro yes. But should this same card in the late be able to scew a control vs control match in the favor of the hero who has shuiken ??

It's called advantage, design, or just plain luck. Sometimes you can go a whole game with out seeing a copy of any card that you may need. I get the point of this thread. This is a versatile card. No need to nerf it just because it can turn the tables in a close late game. Have we forgotten the two poster children for totally unbalanced cards, i.e., Embers and Sosilo? Shuriken isn't anywhere near that bad. If Shuriken was so good, then a Vic deck or a Garth deck would live in the #1 spot on the ladder every month.