Ragnaros the Firelord
Mike: It pains me to pick this one, since I have Ragnaros in a lot of my decks. Of course, pretty much everyone does. He’s just too good. At the end of your turn, even the one you play him on, he’ll do 8 damage to a random enemy (either a minion or the hero). Considering you only have 30 health and very few minions, even the most powerful ones, don’t have more than 8, that is a lot of damage.
Silencing also doesn’t work on Rag, since he can still dish out 8 attack without his ability and has a hefty 8 health. I think Rag would still be a viable (and much more fair) card even if his damage output got pulled back to 6. Or Blizzard could just lower his non-ability attack so that silencing is a more viable counter.
Jason: Ragnaros was my first Legendary, so maybe I’m just partial to the big scamp. I don’t really see him as that controversial. He’s exactly what a Legendary should be — big and powerful with a high mana cost but not so strong that you can’t remove him. I just don’t get all the whining I’ve read online about him. The one problem I do get is that he is likely overpowered at 8 mana. Look at the other 9 mana Legendaries, like Ysera — he’s arguably stronger and a better play even at 9 mana.
And I’d rather face Rag than a deck of Murlocs any day. Murlocs are for babies.
Leeroy Jenkins
Mike: This is another Legendary card I love to use, but even I have to admit that Leeroy Jenkins could use a little nerfing. For just 4 mana, he’s a 6/2 minion with charge. He also gives the opponent two 1/1 Whelps.
The low health and Whelps may seem like downsides, but everyone easily avoids them by saving Leeroy as the card that deals the killing blow. Plus, you can use a lot of other cards to increase Leeroy’s power considerably. Simply put, he does too much damage for too little mana.
Jason: I love Leeroy Jenkins, even though I don’t own this Legendary yet. I giggle every time I hear his charge. But even as I smile in delight, part of me winces when I see him smash me.
At 4 mana, Leeroy is the most effective damage-to-mana-cost minion in the game. Yes, this makes him Legendary, but maybe he’d be a little more special — and rarer — at 5 or 6 mana.
Flamestrike
Mike: Every class has an area-of-effect spell that deals a little damage to every enemy minion. It’s helpful for turning the tide of battle in the early stages of the game. The Mage, however, has Flamestrike. It deals a whopping 4 damage to every enemy minion for 7 mana. That’s enough to clear a board full of mildly expensive mid-game cards.
Sure, the Mage class should have the most powerful spells, but Flamestrike seems like a bit much. Considering how many strong minions it can kill at once, it should cost more than 7 mana.
Jason: Whenever I play against a Mage with my Hunter, Shaman, or Warlock decks, I know my low-mana minions are going to bite it around turns 7 or 8 because of Flamestrike.
Every class should have some form of removal, and I don’t begrudge Flamestrike so much in Constructed mode. But I came to truly hate the card in Arena, when I once lost a match when my foe had three Flamestrikes in his hand. While I don’t want to necessarily see this nerfed, I wouldn’t mind some cap on it in Arena mode that limits it to just two in one player’s hand.