A few days ago I had the opportunity to talk to game designer Dean Ayala and senior producer Yong Woo about Hearthstone's [Free] latest expansion and the game in general. I tried to put forth questions I've heard the community ask repeatedly as well as questions I had and tried to avoid the questions everyone has been asking. I started the conversation by asking about their views on how the expansion is doing and how it has affected the meta. Overall, they were glad to see the non-duplicate Mage, Priest, and Warlock decks all doing well and fleshing out their theme, especially since some of those decks weren't played that much prior to Gadgetzan. Early on the meta was filled to the brim with Pirate decks, but now they aren't that popular - although the developers are keeping a close eye on those decks.
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When it comes specifically to our friend Patches the Pirate, while the power level of that card didn't surprise the developers, what did surprise them was the sheer population of Pirate Warrior. Since the deck was easy to put together and relatively cheap, a ton of people were playing it. That led to the meta transitioning away from Karazhan much faster than expected because people had to quickly figure out how to counter the Patches decks. Jade Golems have been doing well, especially in Shaman, and they still aren't that refined; when players figure the best versions of those decks, Jade Golems should get even stronger.
The...