Hearthstone Strategy Guide: Boomsday Nerf

A couple of weeks ago, Blizzard made a long-expected nerf to Giggling Inventor. It was in almost all the top-tier builds, and Blizzard hate that, so it got a cost increase to seven mana.

Less expected were some other nerfs. Mana Wyrm, the staple play of most Mage builds, cost a one point increase. Druid Legendary Avaiana also got a cost increase due to some broken Wild format builds.

Changing such a ubiquitous card has impacted the meta a fair amount. Not just because most decks needed a replacement, but because tech cards to deal with it are no longer needed. We've updated our guides to take this into account. Here's the current top-tier builds.

First, don't forget that since Giggling Inventor was an odd-cost card, it doesn't affect even builds. So Even Shaman and Even Warlock are still in the top-tier and haven't changed at all.

Odd Paladin

Removing a mech has shifted this whole deck back toward it's aggro Paladin roots. It's now all-out attack again and still horribly powerful. Throw down a sea of minions and then use mass buffs to destroy the opposition.

Odd Rogue

Removing a defensive card has, unsurprisingly, been a blessing for aggro decks in general. But Odd Rogue has changed more than most, because old builds used to run Blood Knight. Not only was this a counter for enemy Giggling Inventors, but it could feed off your own too, to make a massive minion. The revised version is still big on aggro, but includes Tar Creeper to help save you from enemy aggro builds.

Token Druid

Since it spawned three minions, Giggling Inventor was a godsend for Token Druid. But it hardly needed the defence, given the massive walls it could already throw up. Removing the card just makes room for Power of the Wild, a fixture before Boomsday, to come back in again.

Deathrattle Hunter

An extra taunt wall was pretty much an afterthought for this deck. In Spider Bomb and Witchwood Grizzly it already had the defensive tools to work well without mechs. So it's still very much in use having removed them. Another mech, Zilliax, with its plethora of defensive powers, is the most common replacement.

Odd Warrior

As a mech-based and defensive deck, this suffered more than most from the loss of Giggling Inventor. But it's still a very competitive deck. Eternium Rover, a common inclusion, was waiting in the wings to take over by boosting the early game as well as providing some extra armour. Other frequent additions like Faceless Manipulator have now become standard.