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Hearthstone Will Speed Up and Cap Shudderwock in Future Update

My jaws that bite! My claws that catch! My jaws that bite! My claws that catch! My jaws that bite! My claws that catch!

Ozzie Mejia

April 24, 2018 4:55 PM

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"My jaws that bite! My claws that catch!"
"My jaws that bite! My claws that catch!"
"My jaws that bite! My claws that catch!"

Most people who have played Hearthstone since the recent Witchwood update might have seen this. They might have seen this a lot. This is often what happens after players drop a Shudderwock, a Legendary Shaman minion that replicates all friendly Battlecries played in the game through that point. The trouble is, because of certain Battlecries that exist, Shudderwock turns have often taken several minutes. Want an idea of how long this takes? Check out Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan literally putting on dog videos in the corner as a Shudderwock takes its sweet time.

That's not great. So Blizzard has addressed this and is now working to cut this down.

"In a future update, we will be doubling the animation speed of Shudderwock’s Battlecry so it will lessen the impact on the overall pacing of your current Hearthstone match," Hearthstone Community Manager Jesse Hill said on the Hearthstone forums. "In addition, the amount of Battlecries Shudderwock can reproduce will be capped at 20."

The latter half of this statement is also fairly noteworthy, as it should prevent Shudderwock from replicating near-infinite Battlecries. It will also force Shaman players to think a little harder about which Battlecries they introduce over the course of a game. In practice, it likely won't change the Shudderwock combo too much, as Grumle, Worldshaker, Saronite Chain Gang, and Lifedrinker will still be a part of the Shaman player's win condition.

It's not a huge change, but Blizzard will likely continue to monitor this situation. Look for more on this patch as information comes in.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?