Hearthstone's Giggling Inventor, Mana Wyrm, and Aviana cards have been nerfed

Despite saying in September that it had no immediate plans to change Hearthstone's Giggling Inventor, Blizzard announced today that it is being nerfed, and the card will now cost a whopping 7 Mana to play, rather than 5. Two other cards, Mana Wyrm and Aviana, are also having their cost increased.

"Giggling Inventor is one of the most powerful and popular cards we’ve ever created. There’s virtually no downside to including it in a deck, and because it’s neutral, it’s played in almost every deck," Blizzard explained.

"We think it’s important to take risks when making powerful cards, especially when it comes to neutral taunts, given the role they can play in encouraging minion interactions and making games more interesting. However, Giggling Inventor has stepped beyond its intended role, and we don’t feel that it should be as effective as it currently is."

A 2-Mana increase is a pretty heavy hit, but testing showed that the card was still too powerful at 6, particularly since it has no "build-around requirements," Blizzard said. "At 7 mana, we expect Giggling Inventor will find its way into fewer decks in general—and be much less effective in Quest Rogue—while remaining situationally playable within specific deck archetypes, such as Evolve Shaman."

Mana Wyrm will now cost 2 mana instead of 1, which is an even bigger deal than the Giggling Inventor change—it's only one point, but that one point doubles the cost, which is a significant nerf. The higher mana cost fits with Blizzard's gradual move away from powerful early-game cards. Doubling the Mana cost will make it harder to buff the card with cheap, early spells, and while it should remain a viable card in decks built around cheap spells, it probably won't be seen as much elsewhere.

Aviana is also getting a 1 Mana increase, from 9 to 10, meaning "it will no longer be possible to play Aviana and Kun the Forgotten King on the same turn without some additional help from cards like Innervate or The Coin." Juicy Psychmelon will also no longer draw both Aviana and Kun, which Blizzard expects will reduce the consistency of their combos, "while still allowing decks that use the combos to exist for the players that enjoy playing them." The mere fact Blizzard is making a nerf with the Wild mode in mind, which is the main format Aviana is playable in these days, will come as some relief to its playerbase.

The three-card Hearthstone update is live now. Full details are available at playhearthstone.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.