Hearthstone

The 20.4 patch, which will release on June 3, includes the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set, updates across several modes, returning Card Backs and Hero Skins, and improvements throughout the game.

Wailing Caverns Mini-Set

The Wailing Caverns Mini-Set, launching worldwide on June 3, consists of 35 distinct cards—which can all be obtained from Forged in the Barrens card packs! The entire 66-card set (4 Legendary cards, 1 Epic card (x2), 14 Rare cards (x2), and 16 Common cards (x2)) is also available for purchase from the in-game or web shop, for either $14.99 or 2000 Gold!

Learn more about the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set here!

Standard Updates

• Old: Add 3 random 1-Cost minions to your hand. → New: Add 2 random 1-Cost minions to your hand.

• Old: Give a minion +2/+2. Draw a card. → New: Give a minion +2/+1. Draw a card.

The cards listed above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 20.4 patch goes live.

Dev Comment: As we move into the launch of the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set, we’re taking the opportunity to hit some of Paladin’s generic power. First Day of School and Hand of A’dal are strong performers played in all four main Paladin archetypes (Libram, Aggro, Secret, and Menagerie), and we are nerfing them in 20.4 to help other classes close the gap with Paladin. Another note on First Day of School: While the last balance change for this card only resulted in a mild change in power, we will still be attempting changes like it in the future. Our current balance philosophy is to move forward with light changes when we can, as we did when we first repositioned First Day of School, and we’ve seen great results over the past year with this approach. It’s important to us that players’ decks usually stay intact following balance changes, even if the power of the deck may shift down. This approach then leaves us open to make further adjustments later if we need to, like we have here.

• Old: Whenever you play a card with Overload, gain +1/+1. → New: After you play a card with Overload, gain +1/+1.

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW HEROES

• Devour [Costs 0]
  • Remove a friendly minion. Spit its stats onto another. Gain 1 Gold.

• Natural Balance [Costs 1]
  • Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+1.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Heroes above before they are formally released on June 17.

HERO POOL UPDATE

• Maiev Shadowsong has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.

NEW MINION

• [Tier 4, Demon] 3 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, if you have 6 or fewer minions, gain +3/+3.

MINION POOL UPDATES

• Quilboar are no longer guaranteed to be in every Battlegrounds match.
• Siegebreaker has been removed from Battlegrounds.
• Cap’n Hoggarr’s text has been reworded to say “whenever” instead of “after” (no functional change).

Duels Updates

When the 20.4 patch launches on June 3, the Wailing Caverns Mini-Set will be added to loot buckets and the pool of eligible cards you can use to build your 15-card starter deck. The patch also includes updates to the passive treasures system to make the system less deterministic.

Arena Rotation

When the 20.4 patch launches on June 3, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

• Wailing Caverns Mini-Set
• Forged in the Barrens
• Darkmoon Races Mini-Set
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Ashes of Outland
• Kobolds & Catacombs
• Goblins vs. Gnomes
• Core

More Returning Card Backs & Hero Skins Than Ever Before!

We’re excited to share that many previously released Card Backs and Hero Skins will become available for purchase with Gold as of the 20.4 patch! With this patch, 94 Card Backs and 11 Hero Skins will be available! The following Hero Skins will be available at launch:

• Magni Bronzebeard*
• Alleria Windrunner*
• Medivh*
• Khadgar*
• Sylvanas Windrunner*
• Lei Shen/Thunder King*
• Dame Hazelbark*
• Maiev Shadowsong
• Morgl the Oracle
• Lunara
• Sir Annoy-O

* These Hero Skins also include their associated Card Back.

Card Backs will be available for either 500 or 600 Gold, while Hero Skins will be available for either 1200 or 1800 Gold. Simply navigate to the item you want within your Collection and click on it to purchase it with Gold. New Card Backs and Hero Skins will continue to appear in the shop when first introduced, but we will periodically update the Collection with more returning Card Backs and Hero Skins going forward.

Book of Mercenaries Xyrella – Live with 20.4 Patch

The Draenei called it The Night of Falling Stars, when shards of fractured Light rained across Azeroth. Guided by a mysterious voice, the priest Xyrella now searches the Barrens for the glowing shards which the voice promises can save her daughter's life. The priest's quest will be explored in Book of Mercenaries Xyrella, launching June 3rd. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Priest pack, containing only Priest cards from Standard!

Book of Mercenaries Guff – Coming June 15

Guff Runetotem has always just wanted to help, but when "helping" means accidentally starting a treant rampage that nearly flattens Thunder Bluff, Guff vows to set things right. His quest for redemption leads him and his companions to the Wailing Caverns. What Guff finds inside will be revealed in Book of Mercenaries Guff, launching June 15th. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Druid pack, containing only Druid cards from Standard!

Book of Heroes Malfurion – Coming June 22

As the first druid, Malfurion has solemnly defended the natural world from threats, including his own brother, for thousands of years. Despite his steadfast protection, the perils of Azeroth have only increased with time, and the enemies of the wilds grow in both strength and cruelty. Malfurion’s harrowing tale will be told in Book of Heroes Malfurion, launching June 22nd. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Druid pack, containing only Druid cards from Standard!

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Updated Friends List messaging to indicate whether friends in Play Mode are playing Ranked or Casual, and which format they are playing.
• Fixed a bug where copying Imprisoned Celestial with Mirror Entity resulted in the copied Imprisoned Celestial being unable to activate its Spellburst effect after awakening.
• (NEW) Fixed a bug that prevented the “Borrow Decks” feature from working.
• Fixed a bug where cost-reduction effects on Dormant minions would persist after the Dormant minion was played and awakened.
• Fixed a bug where effects that trigger after or whenever a spell is cast would not trigger if Oh My Yogg! converted the spell into a new spell with no valid targets.
• Fixed a bug that caused Sparkjoy Cheat to use both Scabbs Cutterbutter discounts if it put a Secret into play with its effect.
• Fixed a bug where Guidance’s Spirit Path option was not being counted as an Overload card when selected.
• Fixed a bug where Bogbeam and Ironbark’s cost reduction effects would not activate after casting Celestial Alignment and going back up to at least 7 Mana Crystals.
• Fixed a bug where Crabrider was not recognized as a Battlecry minion by cards like Field Contact.
• Updated the wording of Shield Slam so that it accurately represents the way that the card interacts with Spell Damage bonuses.
• Added language clarifying that both Classic and non-Classic versions of a card are removed from your collection when either version is disenchanted.
• Fixed a bug where Elite Tauren Chieftan would sometimes generate non-Classic versions of cards when played in Classic.
• “Quilboars” has been corrected to “Quilboar” as the proper plural form of Quilboar when displaying Battlegrounds minion types.
• Fixed a bug where Reckless Apprentice’s effect would cause some minion-only Hero Powers to hit the enemy hero.
• Fixed a bug that would result in duplicate treasures being offered in Duels.
• Prevented cards of the same name from different sets being offered in the same Arena run.
• Updated the Player Profile to display total wins for each game mode.
• Fixed a bug where progress related to progression tracks, such as the “Tavern Regular” achievement, would not properly update.
• Fixed a bug where reward pop-ups would sometimes not properly appear when the reward was earned.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from switching accounts on iOS devices.
• Updated the New Player Experience to remove certain restrictions and to better indicate locked heroes, modes, and other features.
• Updated MMR calculation for returning players to better account for their time away from the game.
• Fixed a bug where effects that added copies of Diamond cards to a player’s hand or deck would add Golden versions instead of Diamond versions.
• Fixed a bug that would make some Diamond cards not appear in your collection if owned.
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause cards in hand to arbitrarily change positions.
• Fixed a bug where the wrong description would sometimes appear for items in the in-game shop.

The 20.2.2 patch, which will release later today, includes balance updates focusing on Standard and Battlegrounds, as well as several bug fixes.

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Dev Comment: Spell Mage currently exhibits many explosive turns, with Refreshing Spring Water playing a significant role. By nerfing Refreshing Spring Water to 5 mana, we're aiming to lower the frequency of extreme turns where Refreshing Spring Water draws cards and gains you mana in the process. By lowering the frequency of those gameplay sequences, we believe the deck's range of possibilities will be more in line with other current options.

• Old: [Costs 0] Add 2 random 1-Cost minions to your hand → New: [Costs 1] Add 3 random 1-Cost minions to your hand.

Dev Comment: As we look at Paladin's continued strong performance across multiple archetypes, we're nerfing First Day of School in order to hit Paladin's early-game strength. By bumping up First Day of School's mana cost and the amount of 1-Cost minions generated, we are moving the card to fit a value role rather than its initial position as an efficient curve enabler.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

Dev Comment: At 3 mana, Hysteria becomes an option before opponents really have the opportunity to consider how to best interact with it. Pushing Hysteria to 4 mana gives more space for those board-committal decisions to occur and also allows cheaper removal in Priest/Warlock to have a more distinct purpose.

• Old: Rush Windfury → New: Rush Battlecry: Gain Windfury this turn only.

Dev Comment: Crabrider is too efficient in some of our board-based decks, clearing minions and dishing out a lot of Windfury damage. By changing Crabrider's Windfury to only last until end of turn, we're pulling back on the lethality it poses if left alone for a few turns. We aim for Crabrider to still remain a solid option for decks looking to swing back the board, especially when combined with buffs.

• Old: Casts When Drawn Summon a 3/10 Mankrik, who immediately attacks the enemy hero. → New: Casts When Drawn Summon a 3/7 Mankrik, who immediately attacks the enemy hero.

Dev Comment: We are lowering the Health on Mankrik, Consumed by Hatred to soften the effect of an early Olgra draw. At 7 Health, the token will be more in reach of the mid-game removal that's available throughout turns 4-6.

Dev Comment: We're issuing a number of buffs in 20.2.2, mainly focused on bringing up struggling classes and archetypes. One of our goals for a meta is to provide deck diversity: not only different class options, but also attractive deck options that play markedly different from one another. These buffs follow that goal, as each one is targeted at helping out an underrepresented archetype or play pattern.

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health → New: 3 Attack, 2 Health

• Old: Reduce the Cost of all Corrupt cards in your hand and deck by (2). → New: Reduce the Cost of all Corrupt and Corrupted cards in your hand and deck by (2).

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health → New: 5 Attack, 6 Health

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

• Old: 2 Attack, 6 Health → New: 3 Attack, 6 Health

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

• Old: [Costs 10] → New: [Costs 9]

Battlegrounds Balance Updates

MINION UPDATES

• Barrens Blacksmith will be removed from the minion pool.

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: 1 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health → New: 2 Attack, 3 Health

• Old: 2 Attack, 5 Health → New: 1 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: The first Blood Gem played on this each turn gives an extra +3/+3. → New: The first Blood Gem played on this each turn gives an extra +2/+2.

• Old: After a Blood Gem is played on this, give your minions +2 Attack for next combat only. → New: After a Blood Gem is played on this, give your other minions +2 Attack for next combat only.

• Old: 5 Attack, 6 Health → New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: 4 Attack, 7 Health → New: 3 Attack, 7 Health
• Old (Golden): Mega-Windfury. After this attacks, gain 2 Blood Gems. → New: Mega-Windfury. After this attacks, gain a Blood Gem.

• Old: 7 Attack, 7 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on all friendly minions. → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on all other friendly minions.

Duels Treasure Pool Updates

• Orb of Revelation has been moved from Passive Treasure Pool 2 to Passive Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.
• Rally the Troops has been moved from Passive Treasure Pool 2 to Passive Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug that removed Glaivebound Adept from the game. It will now be back in your collection, safe and where it belongs.
• Fixed a bug where Sparkjoy Cheat would draw a card whenever you had a Secret in your hand, even if the Secret was not castable (such as if the Secret was a duplicate of one already in play). Sparkjoy Cheat will now only draw a card if a Secret is cast from your hand.
• Fixed a bug where using Vol’jin’s Hero Power on Goldgrubber would sometimes result in Goldgrubber’s stats being reset each round.
• Updated language on certain Amalgam cards to properly include all Minion Types.
• Fixed a bug related to in-game notifications.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Battle-Ready Decks from being accessed if Dame Hazelbark was opened first.
• Fixed various bugs related to properly displaying pricing on items in the in-game shop.

The 20.2 patch, which will release on May 4, includes a major update for Battlegrounds, purchasable decks, and more!

Battlegrounds Updates

Quilboar have been added as a new Battlegrounds minion type! There will still be five minion types per Battlegrounds game once Quilboar are added, meaning that three minion types will be excluded from each game. Just like when Dragons, Pirates, and Elementals were added, Quilboar will show up in every Battlegrounds match until our next major content patch.

The Quilboar update includes 17 new minions, 3 new heroes, and a new mechanic: Blood Gems! Blood Gems are spells that give a friendly minion +1/+1. Some Quilboar give you Blood Gems, while others have special interactions when Blood Gems are played.

We’ve also added Battlegrounds support for your favorite Coin! As a reminder, you can set a Coin as your favorite by clicking on the Coin icon in the top right of your Collection.

Finally, prepare for a fresh playing field as all players’ Battlegrounds ratings will be reset to 0 when the 20.2 patch launches on May 4!

NEW & UPDATED HEROES

• Bloodbound [Passive]
  • After you upgrade Bob's Tavern, gain 2 Blood Gems.

• Spirit Swap [Costs 0]
  • Choose two minions. Swap their stats.

• See the Light [Costs 2]
  • Choose a minion in Bob's Tavern to add to your hand. Set its stats to 2.

• King of Quilboar [Passive]
  • Whenever you buy a Quilboar, give it +2/+2. Swaps type each turn.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the new Heroes above before they are formally released on May 18.

NEW MINIONS

• [Tier 1, Quilboar] 3 Attack, 1 Health. Battlecry: Gain a Blood Gem.

• [Tier 1, Quilboar] 1 Attack, 2 Health. When you sell this, gain 2 Blood Gems.

• [Tier 2, Quilboar] 2 Attack, 4 Health. Frenzy: Gain a Blood Gem.

• [Tier 2, Quilboar] 4 Attack, 3 Health. After a Blood Gem is played on this, gain Divine Shield for the next combat.

• [Tier 2] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Once per Turn: After you play a Quilboar, gain a Blood Gem.

• [Tier 3, Quilboar] 3 Attack, 3 Health. The first Blood Gem played on this each turn gives an extra +3/+3.

• [Tier 3, Quilboar] 2 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on adjacent Quilboar.

• [Tier 3, Quilboar] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry and Deathrattle: Gain a Blood Gem.

• [Tier 3, Quilboar] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Choose a friendly minion. It steals all Blood Gems from its neighbors.

• [Tier 4, Quilboar] 5 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt. After a Blood Gem is played on another Quilboar, gain +1/+1.

• [Tier 4, Quilboar] 4 Attack, 7 Health. Windfury. After this attacks, gain a Blood Gem.

• [Tier 4, Quilboar] 2 Attack, 6 Health. After a Blood Gem is played on this, give your minions +2 Attack for next combat only.

• [Tier 5, Quilboar] 4 Attack, 8 Health. Windfury, Divine Shield. Frenzy: Gain Divine Shield.

• [Tier 5, Quilboar] 3 Attack, 6 Health. After a Blood Gem is played on this, give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+1.

• [Tier 5, Beast] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Your Blood Gems give an extra +1/+1.

• [Tier 6, Quilboar] 7 Attack, 7 Health. At the end of your turn, play a Blood Gem on all friendly minions.

• [Tier 6, Quilboar] 9 Attack, 6 Health. After you spend 3 Gold, gain a Blood Gem.

Quilboar Elsewhere

While we don’t currently have plans to build synergies around Quilboar in other game modes, we are adding the Quilboar tag to several should-be Quilboar minions to maintain consistency across game modes. The full list is as follows:

• [[Death Speaker Blackthorn]]
• [[Razorfen Beastmaster]]
• [[Razormane Battleguard]]
• [[Plaguemaw the Rotting]]
• [[Blood Shard Bristleback]]
• [[Death's Head Cultist]]
• [[Razormane Raider]]

• [[Hench-Clan Sneak]]
• [[Hench-Clan Thug]]
• [[Hench-Clan Shadequill]]
• [[Tanaris Hogchopper]]
• [[Spiked Hogrider]]
• [[Leatherclad Hogleader]]

• Infected Quillfinger (previously a Beast)
• Quilboar Hunter
• Rallying Quilboar

Duels Updates

• New tech has been added so that you’ll more regularly be offered Treasures that synergize better with the cards in your deck.
• Nozdormu the Eternal has been unbanned.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

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Diamond Ragnaros & Tavern Regular Achievement

Diamond Ragnaros has been added to the Tavern! Diamond Ragnaros can be acquired by completing the Classic Legendary Collector 5/5 achievement (Collect all 36 Classic Legendary cards). Please note that players who have already completed and claimed this achievement must reclaim the achievement to obtain Diamond Ragnaros.

We’ve also added a new progression achievement, Tavern Regular, which tracks total reward track levels earned on your account across all reward tracks from each expansion. Completing each tier of this achievement will reward a choice from 1 of 10 new Hero skins, featuring upgraded armor!

Battle-Ready Decks

For the first time ever, we’ll be offering curated decks optimized for the most recent expansion through the web and in-game shops, starting May 4! When these Battle-Ready Decks become available, you’ll be able to add a complete deck list from the class of your choice to your Collection permanently—each handcrafted using data captured across hundreds of thousands of play sessions to ensure you’re taking home a combat-worthy list! Battle-Ready Decks will be available for purchase for a limited time for $19.99 and will be limited to one per account

For more information on Battle-Ready Decks, check out the initial announcement blog.

Book of Heroes Thrall – Coming May 25

Torn away from his people when he was young, Thrall has fought hard to make his place in the world and keep his allies from danger. From the snows of Alterac to sunny Kalimdor, Thrall's fate is forever entwined with the fate of the Horde. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Shaman pack, containing only Shaman cards from Standard!

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where Power Word: Fortitude created by Deck of Lunacy would not have a updated mana cost.
• Fixed a bug where Strength Totem’s history tile would not display which minion it gave an Attack buff.
• Fixed a bug with Canonmaster Smythe where secrets would spawn as minions in a fixed order.
• Fixed a bug where Razormane Raider would not regain Frenzy if played after triggering a Freezing Trap.
• Fixed a bug where Razormane Battleguard would Corrupt cards of equal cost after Celestial Alignment is played.
• Sped up animation time for Serena Bloodfeather when drawing Attack and Health from large minions.
• Fixed a bug where effects for Steward of Darkshire and Carnival Barker would not trigger on minions summoned with one Health remaining.
• Fixed a bug where the Deathrattle for Darkspear Berserker and Nerubian Egg would not create a history tile.
• Fixed a bug where Dirty Rat summoning Outcast minions from the opponent’s hand would remove discounts from Illidari Studies.
• Fixed additional cases where Achievement pop-ups could spoil the outcome of a Battlegrounds match.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where triples formed by Khadgar were not counting toward the Ruler of Thirds Achievement.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where the Three Wishes Hero Power would flip back over after all three wishes had been used.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Golden Imp Mama would turn non-Golden during her token spawning animation.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where spectators were unable to see parts of the board when there were more than 5 players.
• Fixed a bug where some cards specific to Duels had a watermark.
• Fixed a bug where Legacy and Core set filters were not appearing when making a deck in Duels.
• Fixed a Duels bug on mobile where the client could become stuck on the rewards screen after finishing a Heroic run.
• Fixed a bug where Desperate Measures would not work in Duels or Arena.
• Fixed a bug where Nozdormu the Eternal’s effect would not trigger in Arena until your first card was played.
• Fixed a bug where attempting to enter a practice match with Demon Hunter after queuing for Ranked Classic would result in an Invalid Class error.
• Fixed a bug where the Book of Mercenaries menu was incorrectly showing a ‘New Hero!’ banner.
• Fixed a misspelling on the card Arrival in Orgrimmar from Book of Mercenaries Rokara.
• Added functionality so that players who did not claim the level 50 Hero Skin on the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Rewards Track will be prompted to do so upon login after the 20.2 patch has gone live, and all players who do not claim the level 50 Hero Skin moving forward will now be prompted to do so when the Rewards Track refreshes in the future.
• Updated the Rewards Track to open to the earliest page on which you have unclaimed rewards.
• Fixed a bug where claiming numerous rewards on the Rewards Track could prevent additional rewards from being claimed until the Journal is reopened.
• Fixed a bug where The Final Lesson Achievement would not be marked as completed after completing Book of Mercenaries Rokara.
• Updated the Collection to so that Core and Legacy cards no longer take up 4 spots with Golden versions. Core set cards will take precedence based on card amounts.
• Fixed a bug where the Collection manager wouldn’t remember what format was picked when entering from the Play mode screen.
• Fixed a bug where some cards could appear with a blue tint when hovering over them in the deck builder.
• Fixed a bug where searching for "missing" in the Collection Manager would not count Golden cards you own toward the results of what you're missing.
• Fixed a bug where Hero unlock notifications can appear zoomed in.
• Fixed a visual bug where the achievements “Mug Half Full” and “Lord of the Battlegrounds” would show twice as much progress as intended.
• Fixed a bug where text size could be inconsistent on Achievements in the Journal.
• Fixed a bug where the Seasonal Rewards Chest could be missing from the UI on mobile devices.
• Fixed a bug where Astral Communion would not play any VFX.
• Fixed a bug where the VFX for Malygos the Spellweaver would show over your deck when played by the opponent.
• Fixed a bug where the screen could remain desaturated and blurred after a match.
• Fixed a bug where Felheart Gul’dan was missing emotes and VO.
• Fixed a bug where Diamond cards were appearing slightly larger than other cards.
• Fixed a bug where cards that can create copies of Diamond Cards, such as Soul Mirror, would generate a Golden version instead.
• Fixed a bug where enchantments from Golden spells, such as Soul of the Murloc, would not create Golden tokens.
• Fixed a bug where leaving and returning to the client on mobile devices could make the Shop button non-functional.
• Fixed a bug where two players could become stuck on the main menu if they challenged each other at the exact same time.
• (Updated) Added additional types of in-game notifications for new content and balance updates.

The 20.0.2 patch, which will release on April 13, includes balance updates across several modes and numerous bug fixes!

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 4]

Dev Comment: Deck of Lunacy moves up to 4 mana, removing its ability to provide a game-warping effect on turn 1 or 2. When we create cards like Deck of Lunacy, we're aiming for an experience that lets you do wacky, over-the-top things at the cost of power. There's a large audience for that (Spell Mage's play-rate shows!), but Deck of Lunacy very clearly crosses the power threshold we set for these types of cards.

• Old: 1 Attack, 3 Durability → New: 1 Attack, 2 Durability

Dev Comment: Sword of the Fallen is not only powerful, but also creates early-game situations with too many Secrets in play. We're moving Sword of the Fallen down to 2 durability to reduce the overall value of the card and make those turns against 3-4 Secrets less common.

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 6]

Dev Comment: Jandice Barov benefitted greatly from the Core Set refresh and the rotation of weaker 5-Cost minions. Looking ahead, we don't intend to dilute Jandice's pool of summoned minions and that's not something we'd want to rely on for her balance. With that in mind, we are nerfing Jandice Barov to 6 mana where her total stat output is much more appropriate.

• Old: Battlecry: Deal 1 damage. Spellburst: Return this to your hand. → New: Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to a minion. Spellburst: Return this to your hand.

Dev Comment: Pen Flinger equips some classes with large amounts of chip damage, whether it be to minions or to the opposing hero. This flexibility makes Pen Flinger an attractive option for many decks, but when that utility is combined with repetition it takes over the story of a match. Pen Flinger takes out your minions, might deal 10 damage to your face over multiple turns, and even had the gall to call you names throughout all of it. We're nerfing Pen Flinger to now only target minions, positioning it as a removal option rather than a dual-threat card.

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: 2 Attack, 3 Health

• Old: 3 Attack, 5 Health → New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

Dev Comment: Watch Posts are meant to act as an interesting tech-package when dealing with certain gameplans. Currently though, they act as go-to options in many classes, sporting quite high winrates for disruption-based cards. In order to cut into their power, we're reducing the Health of both Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post. This change will make them easier to deal with on turns 2 + 3, lowering the investment barrier for removal to better match the options available on those early turns.

Craftable cards above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 20.0.2 patch goes live. Following a hotfix on 4/14, Kargal Battlescar will become eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks. In the days following the hotfix, compensation will go out for players who disenchanted Kargal after the 20.0.2 patch notes were published.

Battlegrounds Balance Updates

RETURNING HEROES

• Wax Warband
  • Old: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+1 → New: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+1.

• Trash for Treasure
  • Old: [Costs 1] Remove a friendly minion. Discover a random one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: [Costs 0] Remove a friendly minion. Choose one of two from a Tavern Tier lower to keep.

MINION UPDATES

• Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +1/+1. → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +2/+1.

• Old: 2 Attack, 3 Health → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health

• Old: 4 Attack, 3 Health → New: 5 Attack, 3 Health

• Old: 5 Attack, 6 Health → New: 6 Attack, 6 Health

• Old: 7 Attack, 3 Health → New: 7 Attack, 4 Health

• Old: 5 Attack, 1 Health → New: 8 Attack, 1 Health

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health → New: 6 Attack, 6 Health

Duels Balance Updates

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (5) less. → New: After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (3) less.

• Old: [Passive] → New: [Costs 1]

Arena Updates

• Updated the appearance rate of cards in Arena to ensure class balance remains close to the ideal 50% win-rate. Specifically, the win-rate of Demon Hunter and Priest should now be decreased. The win-rate of Druid, Hunter, Rogue, and Shaman should now be increased.
• Removed Far Watch Post, Mor’Shan Watch Post, Crossroads Watch Post, and Kargal Battlescar from Arena.

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where Sunwell Initiate’s Divine Should could not be silenced.
• Fixed a bug where Shadowjeweler Hanar could Discover secrets from outside of Standard in Ranked Standard.
• Fixed a bug where the Battlecry for Reckless Apprentice would not apply the Freeze effect from Ice Walker.
• Fixed a bug where the Battlecry for Reckless Apprentice would still trigger if the Hero Power was disabled.
• Fixed a bug where playing Wildfire before Metamorphosis could cause your original Hero Power to gain an extra damage.
• (NEW) Fixed a bug where Wildfire's effect would persist through different Hero Powers.
• Fixed a bug where Lakkari Felhound could discard newly drawn cards, such as when played in sequence with Hand of Gul’dan.
• Fixed a bug where Celestial Alignment would work inconsistently with cards that reduce mana costs, such as Librams or Cutting Class.
• Fixed a bug with Kazakus, Golem Shaper where the Firebloom ability could target the same minion twice.
• Fixed a visual bug where G’huun the Blood God would leave the blood drop mana cost icon behind when played.
• Fixed a bug where casting Twisting Nether into Oh My Yogg! would not allow for more cards to be played.
• Fixed a bug where the VFX for certain spells would continuously play after being transformed by Oh My Yogg!
• Fixed a bug where Pit Master would appear in Collection results when filtering for Nature cards.
• Fixed a bug where Holy Wrath was not tagged as a Holy spell.
• Fixed a bug where Dragon’s Pack had the Nature spell school tag. It is no longer part of a spell school.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Minions could show an outline of their Tavern Tier icon when played.
• Fixed a bug where the Arena could fail to load properly for new players.
• Fixed a bug where some Boomsday puzzles were causing desync issues.
• Fixed a bug with the Achievement It’ll Take More Than That where credit could be granted without playing the Warrior class.
• Fixed a bug with the Achievement Barrens Neutral Collector where incorrect Collection quotas were listed.
• Fixed a bug with the Achievement Final Frontier where progress would not be credited from discounted minions.
• Fixed a bug with the Achievement Do it for the Vines where Dual-Class cards would not count as progress.
• Fixed a visual bug where Achievement XP and end of match XP gains could show incorrect numbers but reward the correct amount of XP.
• Fixed a visual bug where, in some cases, XP gains benefitting from XP bonuses were not highlighting with a green font color.
• Fixed a visual bug where the Tavern Pass bonus XP displayed on the Achievement detail view would be incorrect.
• Fixed a bug where the mass disenchant preview would count some cards twice but would give the correct amount of dust when used.
• Fixed a bug where the disenchant button would glow regardless of whether there were extra cards to disenchant.
• Fixed a bug where some player ranks and rewards were not populating from the correct ladder on the friends list and elsewhere.
• Fixed a visual bug where names on the friends list could be overlapped by their rank, and where a friend’s rank would show even when they were offline.
• Fixed a bug where a star bonus would appear on the deck selection page for Legend ranks.
• Fixed a bug where an erroneous pop up would appear saying a Demon Hunter class pack was granted for completing the Ashes of Outland Prologue.
• Fixed a bug where the Hamuul Card Back would not show properly during pack opening.
• Fixed a bug where the Play button would always be highlighted in the main menu.
• Fixed a bug where players could become locked out from creating or deleting decks when they previously were not.
• Fixed a bug where “Click to Convert” would persist on decks regardless of what mode you’d swapped to.
• Fixed a bug where mousing over decks that are behind the “You have no Classic Decks. Go create one!” pane would show pop-up info.
• Fixed a bug where mousing over a Classic deck with the mode set to Casual would display a tooltip stating: “Not useable in Wild format”.
• Fixed a bug where players could re-roll into the Win 5 Games of Ranked Play Mode weekly quest after already completing it that week.
• Fixed a bug where the the Crossroads bundle and the Barrens Tavern Pass were showing incorrect art in the purchase window.
• Fixed a grammatical error in the card text for Warsong Wrangler.
• Fixed various translation issues across several languages.

The upcoming 20.0 patch is a big one! A whole host of new content will unlock when the patch hits on March 25, and things will get even more exciting when Forged in the Barrens launches on March 30! Below you can find an extensive list of what changes you can expect and when. Unless otherwise stated, the changes below will go into effect with the patch on March 25! We introduced a ton of changes and new Treasures for Duels today as well! You can read about the Duels Content Update here.

Balance Update

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]

Dev Comment: We're moving Nitroboost Poison to 2 mana to reduce the amount of cheap burst damage available in Rogue and create a real cost for Corruption. When evaluating Rogue's future weapon-centric archetypes, we want to position the play patterns around building up a weapon over multiple turns and fighting for board rather than the hyper-aggressive strategies seen in decks like Stealth Rogue.

Nitroboost Poison will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 20.0 patch goes live.

Battlegrounds Updates

• Piloted Shredder has been removed from the Battlegrounds Minion Pool.

NEW HERO

• For the Horde! [Costs 1]
  • Give +1 Attack to the next minion you buy this turn. (Upgrades each turn!)

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Overlord Saurfang before the Hero is formally released on April 8.

NEW MINION

• [Tier 3] 3 Attack, 5 Health. Frenzy: Give your other Minions +2/+2.

Classic Format, Set Rotation, and the New Core Set

Ready for some nostalgia? The Classic format invites players to craft decks and compete using Hearthstone’s original 240 cards as they were in 2014, the year that Hearthstone launched! When the patch lands on March 25, your entire collection of relevant Basic, Classic, and Hall of Fame cards will be mirrored and available for deck building in the Classic format—as they were in the 1.0.0.5832 patch of June 2014 (after we made a few important changes), with any and all balance changes since then reverted. Classic packs will now add to your Collection for the Classic format, as well as the Legacy set in Wild. The Classic format leaderboards will launch on March 30. Read our announcement of the Classic format to learn more.

We’re celebrating the launch of the Classic format by rewarding all players with one Golden Classic Card Pack just for logging in after the 20.0 patch has gone live!

Set Rotation for the Year of the Gryphon will take place when Forged in the Barrens launches on March 30! Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons, Galakrond’s Awakening, Demon Hunter Initiate, Basic, and Classic will be rotating to Wild. Replacing Basic and Classic in Standard will be the new Core Set comprised of returning, reimagined, and completely new cards! The full breakdown is as follows:

• 88 cards returning from Classic (54 class cards, 34 neutral cards).
• 52 cards returning from Basic (41 class cards, 11 neutral cards).
• 55 cards returning from Wild (36 class cards, 19 neutral cards).
• 4 cards returning from Ashes of Outland (4 Demon Hunter Class cards).
• 4 cards returning from Demon Hunter Initiate.
• 1 card returning from Hall of Fame (Shadowform).
• 31 new cards (20 Class cards, 11 Neutral cards).

You might notice that the numbers for Basic and new cards have changed since we last shared the Core set breakdown. That’s because, after taking time to consider community feedback, we’ve replaced the previously announced Core set versions of Stonetusk Boar and Bluegill Warrior with two brand new minions—Emerald Skytalon and Redgill Razorjaw!

Lastly, we’ve updated the Shaman Hero power to replace the Wrath of Air (Spell Damage) Totem with a new totem, Strength Totem, which gives a friendly minion +1 Attack at the end of your turn!

The Great Unnerfing

We’re also reverting nerfs for 36 cards rotating to Wild! There are five days between when the 20.0 patch goes out and when these cards rotate so, we’re expecting the Standard meta to be very interesting this weekend. Watermarks on cards shown below are not final.

MAGE

• Old: [Costs 2] 1 Attack, 3 Health. → New: [Costs 1] 1 Attack, 2 Health.

• Old: [Costs 5] 3 Attack, 6 Health. Spellburst: Summon two 1/3 Mana Wyrms. → New: [Costs 4] 3 Attack, 5 Health. Spellburst: Summon two 1/2 Mana Wyrms.

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 6]

HUNTER

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: [Costs 5] 3 Attack, 2 Health → New: [Costs 2] 2 Attack, 1 Health.

• Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]

WARRIOR

• Old: [Costs 1] Give a friendly minion Charge. It can't attack heroes this turn. → New: [Costs 3] Give a friendly minion +2 Attack and Charge.

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

SHAMAN

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: [Costs 3] 0 Attack, 3 Health. → New: [Costs 2] 0 Attack, 2 Health.

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: Summon two 2/3 Spirit Wolves with Taunt. If you've Invoked twice, give them +2/+2. → New: Summon two 2/3 Spirit Wolves with Taunt. If you've Invoked twice, give them +3/+3.

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

DRUID

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 2 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: Choose One - Draw a card; or Restore 5 Health. → New: Choose One - Draw 2 cards; or Restore 5 Health.

PRIEST

• Old: [Costs 0] Give a minion +2 Health. → New: [Costs 1] Give a minion +2 Health. Draw a card.

ROGUE

• Old: Quest: Play five minions with the same name. Reward: Crystal Core (For the rest of the game, your minions are 4/4). → New: Quest: Play four minions with the same name. Reward: Crystal Core (For the rest of the game, your minions are 5/5).

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 2]

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: Draw 1 card. It cost (1). → New: Draw 1 card. It cost (0).

PALADIN

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

WARLOCK

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

NEUTRAL

• Old: Whenever you summon a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1 Attack. → New: Whenever you summon a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+1.

• Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health → New: 2 Attack, 1 Health.

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 3 Attack, 2 Health.

• Old: 3 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: Battlecry: Summon another Saronite Chain Gang. → New: Battlecry: Summon a copy of this minion.

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 2 Health. Charge.

• Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]

• Old: [Costs 9] → New: [Costs 8]

• Old: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, add 2 other random Dragons to your hand. They cost (1). → New: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, add 2 other random Dragons to your hand. They cost (0).

Spell Schools

Magical Spell Schools—Arcane, Fel, Fire, Frost, Holy, Shadow, and Nature—are being added to 545 previously released Spells across Standard and Wild as a permanent addition to Hearthstone with the patch on March 25! Spell Schools will add synergies and a new layer of depth throughout your Collection, and there are 24 more being added with Forged in the Barrens! You can find the updated breakdown below. For specifics, head over to the card library.

• Arcane (2 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 44 Spells from past sets)
• *UPDATED* Fel (3 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 23 Spells from past sets)
• *UPDATED* Fire (2 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 45 Spells from past sets)
• Frost (2 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 24 Spells from past sets)
• Holy (5 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 67 Spells from past sets)
• *UPDATED* Shadow (4 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 113 Spells from past sets)
• *UPDATED* Nature (6 Spells in Forged in the Barrens, added to 117 Spells from past sets)

Rewards Track Refresh & Diamond Cards

When the Rewards Track refreshes for the first time on March 30, all players will automatically be granted any unclaimed rewards on both the free track and the Tavern Pass track if owned, and a completely new Rewards Track featuring a bevy of new unlockable loot will take its place!*

We’ve made several additional changes for the new Rewards Track in the 20.0 patch aimed at making in-game progression feel even better. In summary, we've doubled the number of core reward levels from 50 to 100 and halved the amount of XP required to reach each level. Where possible, we’ve also adjusted the amount of rewards at each level, in order to distribute them more effectively across the whole track. You can find the full table of rewards and specifics of how we’ve further improved the track here. Please note that incomplete Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Gameplay and Duels achievements as of March 25 will no longer grant Rewards Track XP, and instead a new set of Forged in the Barrens achievements will!

With the introduction of the Forged in the Barrens Tavern Pass, we’re excited to announce an all-new cosmetic card tier for Hearthstone: Diamond cards! Each expansion will include one or more handcrafted Diamond Legendary cards that feature completely new 3D animations, more real estate for card art, and a stylish Diamond border.

Blademaster Samuro and Bru’kan will receive the Diamond treatment in Forged in the Barrens! The unlock criteria for these cards are as follows:

• Diamond Blademaster Samuro – Obtained instantly by purchasing the Forged in the Barrens Tavern Pass and claiming the card on the Rewards track.
• Diamond Bru’kan – Obtained by completing the Forged in the Barrens Legendary Collector 5/5 Achievement (Collect all Legendary cards from the set.)

*Level 50 Hero skin choice must be made before the Forged in the Barrens Rewards Track refresh. Additionally, all players who are online at the time of the refresh will not see their Rewards Track immediately change over. These players must relog to receive the updated rewards track. We’re working to have the level 50 Hero skin automatically granted for those who missed claiming it and for the refresh to happen seamlessly for actively online players in a future patch.

Forged in the Barrens Tavern Pass

The Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Tavern Pass will expire with the launch of Forged in the Barrens and a new Tavern Pass will be made available for purchase—offering a host of brand-new cosmetic rewards and XP boosts.

Purchasing the Tavern Pass at any point during the expansion will immediately grant the Diamond Blademaster Samuro Legendary card, a 10% XP Boost that lasts for the duration of the expansion, and all items up to your current level on the paid track. As you progress with the Tavern Pass during the Forged in the Barrens expansion, you’ll earn additional XP Boosts, the Barrens card back, the uncraftable Shadowhunter Vol’jin Golden Legendary minion, the Firefang Rexxar Hero Skin, and an all-new cosmetic coin! You can also earn Hero Skins for the new Mercenaries introduced in Forged in the Barrens: three Rokara Warrior Hero Skins, three Kurtrus Demon Hunter Hero Skins, and three Xyrella Priest Hero Skins!

New Cosmetic Coins

There are three new Cosmetic Coins on the way, two of which are themed after Forged in the Barrens and obtainable by the following means:

• Completing the first 90 levels of the Rewards Track with the Tavern Pass.
• Collecting 135 unique Forged in the Barrens cards.

We are planning a 35 card Mini-Set for Forged in the Barrens, so that second Achievement will become much easier once there are 170 to collect in total! We’ll have more information to share on the Forged in the Barrens Mini-Set in the coming months.

We’ve also added a Bigglesworth Coin for collecting one of every card from Scholomance Academy. Collect all 135 cards from Scholomance Academy and this new coin will be yours!

Book of Mercenaries Rokara

Forged in the Barrens introduces 10 all-new Mercenary characters as Legendary minions! We’ll be telling the stories for these characters over the course of the year through our expansions, our website, the Hearthstone Mercenaries game mode, and through Book of Mercenaries!

Book of Mercenaries will tell an epic, serialized story featuring all 10 new Mercenary characters and will release on a semi-monthly basis like Book of Heroes. Book of Mercenaries Rokara, the first installment in the series, will release on April 6 and reward a Warrior class pack for its completion!

March 30 - Arena Rotation

When Forged in the Barrens launches on March 30, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

• Core
• Forged in the Barrens
• Darkmoon Races Mini-Set
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Ashes of Outland
• Rise of Shadows
• Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Increased the number of available deck slots from 18 to 27.
• Moved the Seasonal Ranked Rewards Chest to the Deck Selection screen. Additionally, the Seasonal Ranked Rewards for March will give Forged in the Barrens packs instead of Madness at the Darkmoon Faire packs.
• Added progress bars for each Achievement category in the Journal.
• Updated the guaranteed Weekly Quest Win 5 Games of Ranked Play Mode to be re-rollable.
• Updated several loading tips to reflect recent changes.
• Updated Arena Rewards to now include Forged in the Barrens packs and no longer include Classic packs.
• Updated Tavern Brawls to reward one Year of the Phoenix pack instead of a Classic pack.
• Updated both new player Legendary quest lines so that several of the quests can be completed in Battlegrounds and will offer pack rewards from recent expansions instead of Classic packs.
• Removed the returning player missions against Malfurion, Tyrande, and Hakkar and updated the Legendary quest line for returning players to reward a total of 15 card packs from recent expansions.
• Updated free decks for new and returning players (recipes can be found here).*
• Updated Book of Heroes so that completing all Book of Heroes missions for a class will now unlock that class.
• Updated the Demon Hunter class so that it can be unlocked by playing against the class in Play mode or beating the class in Practice mode. Completing the Demon Hunter prologue will still unlock the class but will now reward 1 Demon Hunter class pack for players that have yet to complete it.
• Fixed a bug where Wild cards would not appear in the Collection without having Demon Hunter unlocked.
• Fixed a bug where Zephrys the Great would not offer Mass Dispel or Shadowflame when your board was full.
• Fixed a bug where cards that target Deathrattle minions, such as Play Dead, would still work with Deathwarden in play.
• Fixed a bug where minions buffed by Soul of the Murloc would not show a Deathrattle icon.
• Fixed a bug where Khadgar would not copy Vectus’ Deathrattle effects on Plagued Hatchling.
• Fixed a bug where Sparkjoy Cheat casting a secret from your hand would trigger an opponent’s Counterspell and still put the secret into play. It will now no longer trigger Counterspell.
• Fixed a bug where Shenanigans would not trigger if the opponent’s first card drawn was a “Cast When Drawn” card.
• Fixed a bug where Shadow Clone would trigger despite having a full board.
• Fixed a bug where playing Crystal Core and Humble Blessing in the same match would not grant the persistent stat effect of whichever was played second.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where minions that buff others would not visually update all minions that are spawned during combat.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where the Prize Wall Hero Power would not show the correct number of turns left for players other than Tickatus.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where secrets generated from Prestidigitation showed a Gold cost despite not costing any Gold to cast.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the win counter could show -1.
• Fixed a Duels bug where duplicate card buckets could appear.
• Fixed a Duels bug where your deck would not appear on the end of run screen.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the Deathstrider Treasure could cause crashes when triggering multiple Deathrattles.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the Soulcial Studies Hero Power could still appear as Coming Soon.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Prince Malchezaar’s start of game effect would not activate if Prince Malchezaar was drawn from Small Pouches.
• Fixed a bug where clicking the victory banner in Solo Adventures would not exit the match.
• Fixed a bug in Trial by Felfire where the adventure would not show as completed despite earning its respective completion Achievement.
• Fixed a bug in Trial by Felfire where the fight with Gruul the Dragonkiller could lock the game.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Heroes Valeera where minions drawn by Varian Wrynn would not be placed on the board despite having adequate board space.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Heroes Valeera where the AI would play Sleep with the Fishes for no value.
• Fixed a visual bug with Book of Heroes Valeera where minions in play at the start of a match would appear ready to attack during the Mulligan.
• Fixed a visual bug with Book of Heroes Valeera where Rehgar Earthfury would appear unable to attack despite being able to attack.
• Fixed a visual bug with V-O7-TR-ON’s entrance animation.
• Fixed a visual bug where Imprisoned Phoenix would briefly appear to give its Spell Damage buff while Dormant.
• Fixed a visual bug where parts of the Zhuge Liang Anduin and Diao Chan Valeera Hero Skins were not appearing animated.

* Limit one per account. A returning player is defined as one who has not logged into Hearthstone for 120 consecutive days

We introduced a ton of changes and new Treasures for Duels today as well! Read the blog to find out more.

The 19.6 patch brings pre-purchase for Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Forged in the Barrens, along with balance updates for Battlegrounds, Duels, and one card in Standard—High Abbess Alura.

Standard Balance Update

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Dev Comment: High Abbess Alura is going to 5 mana in order to push out the swing turns she enables. When an individual card contains a large amount of a deck's winrate, as Alura does, it breaks the promises of a Hearthstone match. Instead of having a natural back-and-forth flow between players, games with a turn 4 Alura can create seemingly insurmountable board states too early in the match. At 5 mana, Alura's identity as a big spell buildaround card remains intact but the change will give more room for games to occur before the swing and for responses to be ready after her Spellburst trigger.

High Abbess Alura will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.6 patch goes live.

Battlegrounds Updates

• *UPDATE* Quilboar were announced as the next Battlegrounds minion type at BlizzConline! We’ll have more details to share on Quilboar in April.
• The Darkmoon Prizes Battlegrounds event has come to an end.
• Instead of checking for triples after each minion is summoned, all minions will now summon first before any triples are generated.

HERO POOL UPDATES

• Captain Hooktusk has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

• Embrace Your Rage

• Old: Start of Combat: Add a minion from your Tavern Tier to your warband. Keep it. → New: Start of Combat: Summon a minion from your Tavern Tier. Add a copy to your hand.

• Lead Explorer
  • Recruitment Map cost reverted to 3 Gold.

• Bananarama
  • Big Banana drop rate increased to 1/3.

• Prestidigitation
  • Ice Block can now only be Discovered once per game.

MINION POOL UPDATES

• Elistra the Immortal has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.

• Old: 4 Attack, 2 Health. After you play a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+1. → New: 3 Attack, 2 Health. After you play a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+2.

• Old: 1 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 1 Attack, 3 Health.

• Old: 2 Attack, 5 Health. → New: 2 Attack, 6 Health.

• Old: 2 Attack, 3 Health. → New: 2 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +3 Attack. → New: Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +2 Attack permanently.

• Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health.

• Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 4]

• Old: 3 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 8 Health.

Duels Balance Updates

• Gattling Gunner has been removed from the Active Treasure pool.
• Mage Armor is now a Neutral Active Treasure (formerly Mage).

• Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Cost 4]

• Old: [Cost 5] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: Attack 0, Health 3. → New: Attack 1, Health 4.

• Old: Attack 4, Durability 1. → New: Attack 3, Durability 3.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 7]

Pre-Purchase Forged in the Barrens

The Barrens are the anvil upon which the Horde as we know it was founded: A literal crossroads where the tauren, trolls, and orcs came together for the first time. Heroes are made here. Perhaps you, too, shall be Forged in the Barrens!

Forged in the Barrens will launch worldwide this Spring with 135 new collectible cards! You'll be able to find the full schedule for card reveals and see which cards were announced today by visiting the card library here after the Hearthstone Deep Dive at BlizzConline. Check back frequently—the list will be updated with new cards as they’re revealed!

The Forged in the Barrens Mega Bundle includes 80 Forged in the Barrens card packs, 5 Golden Forged in the Barrens packs, two random Forged in the Barrens Golden Legendary cards, the Hamuul Runetotem Druid Hero, the Hamuul Runetotem card back, and Battlegrounds perks**!

The Forged in the Barrens Bundle includes 60 Forged in the Barrens card packs, two random Forged in the Barrens Legendary cards, and the Hamuul Runetotem card back!

PRE-PURCHASE

**Battlegrounds Perks are available upon purchase and expire at the end of the Forged in the Barrens expansion cycle.

Log-in for Shadow Hunter Vol’jin & 30 Years of Blizzard Card Back

Log into Hearthstone after the 19.6 patch goes live to receive the Shadow Hunter Vol’jin Legendary minion for free, available to play immediately!* And, to celebrate Blizzard’s 30th anniversary, all players will be able to claim the free 30 Years of Blizzard card back from the in-game shop until March 2, 2021!*

*Limit one per account.

Bug Fixes & Miscellaneous Updates

• Fixed a bug where completed Weekly Quests would not show awarded XP on the Rewards Track without relaunching Hearthstone.
• Fixed a bug where Transfer Student would not have a unique ability on the Darkmoon Faire gameboard.
• Fixed a bugged interaction between Bright-Eyed Scout and Shenanigans.
• Fixed a bugged interaction between Holy Wrath and Shenanigans.
• Fixed a bug where Sightless Watcher’s Battlecry would not offer a second copy of Sightless Watcher if one was in your deck.
• Fixed a bug where Keywarden Ivory’s Spellburst would only give one additional spell after Discovering two spells when played with Brann Bronzebeard.
• Fixed a bug where Dreaming Drake would not retain in-deck and in-hand modifications when Corrupted.
• Fixed a bug where history tiles were not showing after activating Spellburst for Glacier Racer and Imprisoned Celestial.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where minions added to the warband via Embrace Your Rage would not be summoned by Bob’s Burgles the following recruit phase.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where three Golden Faceless Taverngoers used on the same minion would combine to form another triple.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Staking the Claim would not count Keywarden Ivory as a Discover card.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Scrapmetal Demolitionist’s card text would not update throughout a run.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Instructor Fireheart would play two voice lines simultaneously.
• Duels Signature Hunter Treasure Bow of the Beast has been renamed to Carrot on a Stick.
• The Silas Darkmoon login reward will now be granted if you own a pack from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire and go to the Open Packs menu.
• Increased the font size on mobile devices for the XP bar on the Rewards Track.
• Search results for any minion type in the Collection Manager will now include Circus Amalgam.

Book of Heroes Valeera – March 2

Retrace Valeera’s path to becoming an expert assassin in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on March 2! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Rogue pack, containing only Rogue cards from Standard!

Our next major update will include an Arena rotation and new Duels Treasures! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest releases!

The 19.4.1 patch, arriving on January 28, includes a change for Hysteria from the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, balance adjustments for Duels, and a handful of game improvements!

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: Choose a minion. It attacks random minions until it dies. → New: Choose an enemy minion. It attacks random minions until it dies.

Hysteria will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.4.1 patch goes live.

Duels Balance Updates

HERO POWER UPDATES

• Old: [Passive] After you play the left- or right-most card, gain 1 Attack this turn. → New: [Costs 1] After you play the left or right-most card in your hand, gain +1 Attack this turn.

• Old: Trigger a minion's Deathrattle. → New: Trigger a random friendly minion's Deathrattle.

SIGNATURE TREASURE UPDATES

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Beast, Costs 8]
  • Dev Comment: Turns out Bonecrusher is a silly rabbit.

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

• Now has the Dragon tag.

TREASURE POOL UPDATES

• Cannibalism has moved from Passive Treasure pool 1 to pool 2
• Sandy Surprise has been removed from the Passive Treasures pool.

Miscellaneous Updates & Game Improvements

• Fixed a bug where Collection Achievement progress could get out of sync with the current contents of your collection.
  • Dev Comment: You will still never lose credit for an Achievement once it's been completed.
• Fixed a bug where Arena could fail to load for new players.
• Fixed a Duels bug where the animation for Harvest Time! would play twice.
• Fixed a Duels bug where Shadow Word: Void would summon minions based on the target minion's default Health rather than current Health remaining.
• Fixed a visual bug where notifications would persist for the Journal after completed Achievements had been claimed.

The 19.4 patch, releasing on January 21, includes the new Darkmoon Races Mini-Set, new Heroes and Minions for Battlegrounds, a Mid-Season Update for Duels, an Arena rotation, bug fixes, and more!

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW BATTLEGROUNDS HEROES

• Prize Wall [Passive]
  • Every 4 turns, Discover a Darkmoon Prize.

• Sprout It Out! [Passive]
  • Give +1/+2 and Taunt to minions you summon during combat.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to these new Heroes before they’re formally released on February 4.

NEW BATTLEGROUNDS MINIONS

• [Tier 3, Demon] 3 Attack, 3 Health
  • Battlecry: Choose a friendly Demon. Remove it to gain its stats and 3 Gold.

• [Tier 4, Demon] 6 Attack, 4 Health
  • Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon two 3/2 Imps.

MINION POOL UPDATE

• Floating Watcher has been removed from the Battlegrounds Minion pool.

The Darkmoon Races Mini-Set

Hearthstone’s first ever Mini-Set, The Darkmoon Races, features 35 unique cards—4 Legendary, 1 Epic (x2), 14 Rare (x2), and 16 Common (x2) for a total of 66 new cards that draw on familiar card mechanics from throughout the Year of the Phoenix! Collectible Darkmoon Races Mini-Set cards can be found in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs, and the entire set is available for purchase from the in-game or web shop for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. Read more about the Darkmoon Races Mini-Set here!

Buy Now!

Duels Updates

The Duels Mid-Season Update will add 10 new Hero Powers, 25 new Signature Treasures (5 of which are Dual-Class), 4 new Passive Treasures, and 2 new Active Treasures on January 21! Heroic and Casual ratings will reset with the 19.4 patch, and new Achievements will become available for you to complete. Read more about the Duels Mid-Season Update here!

Dev Comment: There is a known issue where the countdown timer at the bottom of the Duels start screen is incorrect. Duels ratings will reset with the 19.4 patch on January 21.

Arena Rotation

When the 19.4 patch is released on January 21, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

• Darkmoon Races Mini-Set
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Scholomance Academy
• Ashes of Outland
• Demon Hunter Initiate
• The Boomsday Project
• Journey to Un'goro
• One Night in Karazhan
• Basic
• Classic

Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Argent Braggart would not retain stat buffs when tripled.
• Fixed a bug where Malevolent Strike would not discount itself when created by Deck of Lunacy.
• Fixed a bug where losing control of a minion immediately when it comes into play (such as playing Silas Darkmoon on an empty board) would not correctly Corrupt cards in hand.
• Fixed a bug where the ‘created by’ tag on generated cards was showing up as ‘UNKNOWN ENTITY’ when played.
• Fixed a bug where Glinda Crowskin would not grant Echo to cards modified by Deck of Chaos.
• Fixed a visual bug where transforming a Dormant minion could make it appear to retain buffs while Dormant.
• Fixed a visual bug where Corrupted minions appeared to respawn on the board after being destroyed.
• Fixed a visual bug where viewing progress for quests such as Open the Waygate would no longer highlight cards in hand that did not start in your deck.
• Fixed a visual bug where Zombeasts in play only displayed card text for the first beast selection when using the Build-A-Beast Hero Power.
• Passive Treasures offered between matches in Duels should now present more options that are better suited for the class you're playing.

Coming February 2 - Book of Heroes Anduin

Raised with the expectation he would follow in his father’s footsteps, Prince Anduin has instead forged his own way through the grace of the Light. He learned to wield holy magic as well as a sword, making him a unique figure among the royalty of Azeroth. Thus armed, Anduin has embarked on numerous adventures as far away as the storied realm of Pandaria and as close as the decaying ruins of Lordaeron.

Follow Anduin’s journey in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on February 2! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Priest Pack, containing only Priest cards from Standard!

We’ve got a small balance patch with a few big changes planned for release this Friday, January 8!

Standard Balance Updates

Edwin VanCleef

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]
  • Dev Comment (Updated): The last few weeks have been the best Edwin has ever performed as an individual card (the highest win rate card in multiple Rogue archetypes). Alongside cards like Foxy Fraud and Shadowstep, the frequency of early 8/8 or 10/10 Edwin VanCleefs reached a point we are no longer comfortable with. Edwin's mana cost is increasing by 1 to weaken some of the powerful openings at Rogue's disposal. We were planning on rotating Edwin out of Standard in a few months (still are, more info on that soon!), but want to evaluate how the rest of Rogue's kit performs without this very powerful iteration of Edwin. Cards like Foxy Fraud, Swindle, and Prize Plunderer are important pieces for future expansions and card interactions, so we'll be keeping close tabs on how they perform with the influx of new cards and Edwin's nerf.

Boggspine Knuckles

• Old: 4 Attack → New: 3 Attack
  • Dev Comment: We're lowering the attack on Boggspine Knuckles in order to cut into the fluidity of Evolve Shaman, increasing the required investment of playing a 5-mana weapon without a free Dread Corsair, and reduce the overall damage output the deck is capable of over multiple weapon charges. This change lowers the amount of explosive plays available to Evolve Shaman and should create an overall healthier meta.

Edwin VanCleef and Boggspine Knuckles will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.2.1 patch goes live.

Battlegrounds Balance Update

Elistra the Immortal

• Old: 7 Attack, 7 Health → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where Infinite Toki’s Temporal Tavern would not function correctly with the New Recruit Darkmoon Prize.
• Fixed a bug where Ysera’s Dream Portal, when used with the New Recruit Darkmoon Prize, would not offer a Dragon when Bob’s Tavern is full.

Happy Feast of Winter Veil! The 19.2 patch, releasing on December 15, welcomes the Old Gods to Battlegrounds as new Heroes along with 10 new minions and the addition of a limited-time Darkmoon Prizes system! The patch also features balance updates for Standard and Duels, a new Book of Heroes for both Garrosh and Uther, game improvements, and more!

As a thank you for being part of our community, we’re also rewarding all players with 5 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs and 500 gold just for logging in after the 19.2 patch has been released!*

*All rewards will only be granted once per account. Must log in before January 18, 2021.

Battlegrounds Updates

With this new Battlegrounds season, we will be resetting all players' external rating to 0. For more information about our Battlegrounds rating system read our Dev Insights blog! Ratings will be reset once per expansion. Please note that your rating will not visibly reset until you've played at least one Battlegrounds game.

DARKMOON PRIZES

We’re introducing a new limited-time mechanic—Darkmoon Prizes! Every four turns you’ll Discover a Darkmoon Prize and add it to your hand. As the game progresses, you’ll be offered increasingly powerful Darkmoon Prizes to play with. From immediately impactful buffs to game-lasting effects, Darkmoon Prizes will add a new twist to every Battlegrounds match for the next two months!

[click to enlarge]

Dev Comment: Only one player can Discover Ice Block on Prize Turn 3, but it can also be created by Big Winner.

NEW HEROES

• Saturday C’Thuns! [Costs 2]
  • At end of turn, give a friendly minion +1/+1. Repeat 0 Times. (Upgrades after each use!)

• Avatar of N’Zoth [Passive]
  • Start the game with a 1/1 Fish that gains all your Deathrattles in combat.

• Embrace your Rage [Costs 2]
  • Start of Combat: Add a minion from your Tavern Tier to your warband. Keep it.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to these new Heroes before they’re formally released on December 29.

HERO POOL UPDATES

• Galakrond has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
• Sir Finley Mrrgglton has returned to the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
• The Great Akazamzarak has returned to the Battlegrounds Hero Pool.
  • Competitive Spirit has been added to The Great Akazamzarak’s Secret pool.

• Come One, Come All!
  • Increased overall chances of getting tickets after turn 1.

• Three Wishes
  • Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

• Pirate Parrrrty!
  • Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 3]

NEW MINIONS

• [Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health
  • Reborn. Taunt.

• [Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health
  • Taunt. Whenever this is attacked, give adjacent minions +1/+1.

• [Tier 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health
  • Deathrattle: Add a Gold Coin to your hand.

• [Tier 3] 4 Attack, 5 Health
  • Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, give it +3 Attack.

• [Tier 4, Demon] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • After you summon a Demon, gain +1/+1 permanently.

• [Tier 4] 5 Attack, 5 Health
  • After a friendly minion with Taunt dies, give its neighbors +2/+2.

• [Tier 4] 2 Attack, 2 Health
  • Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, gain +1/+1 permanently.

• [Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • Battlecry: Choose a minion in Bob’s Tavern. Transform into a plain copy of it.

• [Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • At the end of your turn, gain +1/+2 for each minion type you control.

• [Tier 6] 7 Attack, 7 Health
  • Divine Shield. Reborn. Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, this gets attacked instead.

MINION POOL UPDATES

• Righteous Protector has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• The Beast has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• Crowd Favorite has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.
• Shifter Zerus has been removed from the Battlegrounds minion pool.

Standard Balance Updates

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: 3 Attack, 2 Durability → New: 2 Attack, 2 Durability

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

All craftable cards listed above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 19.2 patch goes live.

Duels Balance Updates

• Reduced the number of unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Epic cards required for unlocking Hero Power #2 for each class from 10 to 5.
• Reduced the number of unique Madness at the Darkmoon Faire cards required for unlocking Signature Treasure #2 for each class from 100 to 90.
• Reduced the number of unique Scholomance Academy Epic cards required for unlocking Signature Treasure #3 for each class from 20 to 15.
• Updated wording of criteria for Hero Powers and Signature Treasures to better reflect unlock requirements.

• Removed Battlecry from Shadowshell Informant.

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

• Old: Rush. Lifesteal. This minion has +2/+2 for each card you discarded this game. If this minion is discarded, return it to your hand. → New: Rush. Lifesteal. This minion has +1/+1 for each card you discarded this game. If this minion is discarded, return it to your hand.
  • Dev Comment: Turns out Killmox was a Killjoy…moved to +1/+1.

• Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

• Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 4]

Rewards & Progression Updates

We’re making several major changes to the new progression system in the 19.2 patch:

• Reducing the amount of experience needed to reach certain levels on the Rewards Track.
  • Reduced total required XP for completing the Rewards Track by 37,000 XP.
• Adjusting a variety of Daily and Weekly Quests that feel unrewarding or too difficult.
  • Removed ‘Finish an Arena run with 4 or more wins’ Quest.
  • Removed ‘Play an Old God Legendary from the Darkmoon Faire 10 times’ Quest.
  • Adjusted ‘Play 50 Corrupt cards’ Quest to now read ‘Play 30 Corrupt cards’.
  • Adjusted ‘Win 7 games of Ranked Play mode’ to ‘Win 5 games of Ranked Play mode’.
  • Adjusted ‘Finish in top 2 in Battlegrounds’ to ‘Finish in top 4 in Battlegrounds’
  • Adjusted ‘Deal 2,000 damage to enemy minions in Battlegrounds’ to ‘Deal 1,500 damage to enemy minions in Battlegrounds’
  • Adjusted ‘Play two 10 cost cards’ to ‘Play one 10 cost card’
  • Adjusted ‘Play 20 Murlocs’ to ‘Play 10 Murlocs’
  • Adjusted ‘Play 6 Weapons’ to ‘Play 4 Weapons’
  • Adjusted all 800 XP Daily Quests to award 900 XP.
  • Adjusted applicable quests to count progress from Tavern Brawls and Battlegrounds.
• Adding more rewards to certain levels of the Rewards Track and expanding the Rewards Track levels above level 50.
  • Added 50 additional Gold each to levels 27 and 30. Players who hit these milestones before the 19.2 patch will be compensated in a future update.
  • Expanded levels 51-150 to a maximum level of 350 and adjusted each level after level 50 to require 1/3 as much XP and reward 50 Gold.

For more, you can find our full update on the Rewards Track here. After these changes are implemented, your existing earned XP value will be retained, so upon your next login you will likely see additional progress through multiple levels. Please ensure that you review your rewards after updating to the 19.2 patch to see what you can now claim.

Dev Comment: Removed quests will need to be rerolled or completed. For the quests that have their requirements reduced in 19.2, if you already have progress on that quest at or above the new quota to complete, the quest will not automatically complete. You’ll need to advance that quest requirement by one for it to complete.

Winter Veil Quests

Winter Veil is underway! Get into the holiday spirit by completing a Legendary Quest chain that rewards a total of 4 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs! These two quests will appear one at a time on your Quest Log and will not override any of your other quests.

Book of Heroes Garrosh

Follow Garrosh’s journey to becoming the Warlord of the Warsong clan in the next installment of Hearthstone Book of Heroes, releasing on December 16! Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Warrior Pack, containing only Warrior cards from Standard!

Book of Heroes Uther

Then, on January 5, protect the weak, bring justice to the unjust, and vanquish evil! Defeating all 8 bosses in Uther’s Book of Heroes will reward 1 Paladin Pack, containing only Paladin cards from Standard! Dev Comment: The Achievement for completing Book of Heroes Uther is missing. This is a known issue that will be fixed in a future update.

Miscellaneous Updates & Game Improvements

• We’ve updated our minimum spec requirement for mobile devices to 2GB of memory. Mobile devices with fewer than 2GB will no longer be supported. Please see our recommended and minimum configurations for Hearthstone here for additional information.
• Fixed some slow animation issues with various minions in Battlegrounds, most notably when refreshing Bob's Tavern with Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare in play.
• Fixed a bug where locked mana crystals were not displaying correctly after disconnecting and reconnecting to a match.
• Fixed a bug where certain sound effects would continuously play after disconnecting and reconnecting to a match.
• Fixed a bug where Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate’s Wheel of Fate could disconnect players.
• Fixed a bug where Oh My Yogg would not properly generate spells created by Twinspells.
• Fixed a bug where the targeting arrow for Battlecry minions was not working properly on mobile devices.
• Fixed a bug where targeting arrows could appear on the Victory or Defeat screens.