The latest Hearthstone Patch 26.4.3 brought balance changes for Standard, Battlegrounds, and Duels, plus a Wild ban.

Standard Updates

Quote From Blizzard

Dev Comment: The meta is in a pretty healthy place right now and a lot of players seem to be enjoying the post mini-set meta, so we’re not trying to be too disruptive with this round of changes. We’re making some smaller adjustments to tone down a few emerging meta outliers and to give a little more power to some of the mini-set cards that have not gotten much attention.

The following cards have been adjusted to be less powerful:

The Purator

  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [6 Mana]

Disco Maul

  • Old: [2 Mana] 2 Attack, 2 Durability
  • New: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 2 Durability

Feast and Famine

  • Old: [1 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Pure Paladin has been a strong deck for a while now. After this latest patch, we saw a jump in the deck’s power to the point where it is now a dominant power outlier at all levels of play. Purator is the best card in the best deck, by every measure, so it was an easy target for change. We expect it to still see play after getting toned down a little. Disco Maul has been a card we’ve had our eyes on for a while, and this felt like the appropriate time to act on it. Finally, we’ve seen a lot of power come from the Horn of the Windlord – Feast and Famine combo, but we can see that Horn of the Windlord isn’t a problem in Shaman, so we’re adjusting the other half of the combo to make it a little slower overall and less flexible on non-combo turns.

Lady S’Theno

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

Dev Comment: There’s been a growing negative sentiment about Spell Demon Hunter, especially at the top levels of play, and particularly with the class closing out games in the same way for a long time. There were a few choices for us on which card(s) to adjust, but Lady S’Theno seemed like the best target to have the biggest impact on play experience and player sentiment.

Hope of Quel’Thalas

  • Old: 4 Attack, 2 Durability
  • New: 3 Attack, 2 Durability

Dev Comment: Big Hunter has emerged as another power outlier after the mini-set additions of Hollow Hound and Star Power. We think the deck is fun and cool, and we want to see players continue to enjoy it, but we also don’t want it to become too powerful after the other adjustments this patch, so this is a small preemptive adjustment to shave a little bit of its power.

Pozzik, Audio Engineer

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

Dev Comment: Statistically, Pozzik is the highest winrate neutral legendary in the game and has been criminally underplayed. As we saw more and more decks trying the card, it became clear it could use a little nudge. 

Crimson Clergy

  • Now banned in Wild.

Dev Comment: Crimson Clergy is a key enabler in a combo deck with play patterns beyond what we want for the format.

The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 26.4.3 (there is both an uncraftable version of Crimson Clergy that all players have for free as part of the Core Set, which can’t be disenchanted, and a version of Crimson Clergy in the Legacy Set that can be crafted or disenchanted).

The following cards have been adjusted to be more powerful:

Dev Comment: These mini-set cards were the ones that had the most room for adjustment.

Rhythmdancer Risa

  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]

Fiddlefire Imp

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

Remixed Dispense-o-bot

  • Old: [4 Mana] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 3 Health

Battlegrounds Updates

Quote From Blizzard

Hero Updates

Aranna Starseeker (Hero Power – Demon Hunter Training)

  • Old: [Passive] After you Refresh 5 times, Bob always has 7 minions.
  • New: [Passive] After 16 friendly minions attack, the first minion you buy every turn is free.

The Curator (Hero Power – Menagerist)

  • Old: [Passive] Start the game with a 2/2 Amalgam will all minion types.
  • New: [Passive] Start the game with a 1/1 Amalgam with Venomous and all minion types.

E.T.C., Band Manager (Buddy - Talent Scout)

  • Old: [Tier 3]
  • New: [Tier 5]
  • Dev Comment: E.T.C.’s hero power, Sign a New Artist, respects that Tavern Tier you’re currently at, so raising Talent Scout’s Tier means that it can’t be Discovered until later in the game.

Armor Updates

Aranna Starseeker and The Curator now have 10 Armor.

Minion Updates

Flourishing Frostling

  • Old: 0 Attack, 5 Health
  • New: 0 Attack, 6 Health

Humming Bird

  • Old: 0 Attack, 3 Health
  • New: 0 Attack, 5 Health

Eternal Knight

  • Old: 3 Attack, 1 Health
  • New: 4 Attack, 1 Health

Scarlet Skull

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

Soul Rewinder

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

Radio Star

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

Accord-o-Tron

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

Prickly Piper

  • Old: [Tier 4] 6 Attack, 3 Health
  • New: [Tier 3] 5 Attack, 2 Health

Handless Forsaken

  • Old: [Tier 4] 2 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Summon a 2/2 Hand with Reborn.
  • New: [Tier 3] 2 Attack, 1 Health. Deathrattle: Summon a 2/1 Hand with Reborn.

Rylak Metalhead

  • Old: [Tier 3]
  • New: [Tier 4]

Malchezaar, Prince of Dance

  • Old: [Tier 3] 5 Attack, 2 Health
  • New: [Tier 4] 6 Attack, 3 Health

Scrap Scraper

  • Old: 3 Attack, 6 Health. Avenge (4): Get a random Magnetic mech.
  • New: 3 Attack, 7 Health. At the end of your turn get a random Magnetic Mech.

Xylo-bones

  • Old: 5 Attack, 1 Health
  • New: 6 Attack, 1 Health

Upbeat Duo

  • Old: [Tier 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: [Tier 5] 6 Attack, 6 Health

Utility Drone

  • Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health
  • New: 6 Attack, 7 Health

Bongo Bopper

  • Old: 5 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, get 1 Blood Gem and play 2 more on this.
  • New: 6 Attack, 5 Health. At the end of your turn, get 2 Blood Gems and play 2 more on this.

Bristleback Knight

  • Old: 5 Attack, 8 Health
  • New: 6 Attack, 9 Health

Gusty Trumpeter

  • Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health
  • New: 6 Attack, 7 Health

Lightfang Enforcer

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

Polarizing Beatboxer

  • Old: 3 Attack, 7 Health
  • New: 5 Attack, 10 Health

Sister Deathwhisper

  • Old: 4 Attack, 9 Health. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+2 permanently.
  • New: 4 Attack, 10 Health. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+3 permanently.

Fleet Admiral Tethys

  • Old: After you spend 8 Gold, get another random Pirate.
  • New: After you spend 9 Gold, get another random Pirate.

Eternal Summoner

  • Old: 6 Attack, 1 Health
  • New: 8 Attack, 1 Health

Young Murk-Eye

  • Old: 7 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: 9 Health, 6 Health

Minion Pool Updates
  • Incorporeal Corporal has been removed from the minion pool.
  • Rot Hide Gnoll has been returned to the minion pool.

Duels Updates

Quote From Blizzard

Hero Power Updates

Arcane Craftiness

  • Old: Fire two missiles at random enemies that each deal 1 damage. If any minion dies, repeat this.
  • New: Fire two missiles at random enemy minions that each deal 1 damage. If any minion dies, repeat this.

Roguish Maneuvers:

  • Old: [1 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

Dino Tracking

  • Old: Discover a Beast.
  • New: Discover a Beast. Give it +1 Attack.

Signature Treasure Updates

Demonizer

  • Old: [4 Mana] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry: Add 1 Demon to your hand. It costs (3) less. (Improves during run)
  • New: [5 Mana] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Add 1 Demon to your hand. It costs (2) less. (Improves during run)

Chaos Storm

  • Old: [1 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

Spiked Arms:

  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]

Passive Treasure Updates

Staking a Claim

  • Old: After you play your first Discover card in a turn, all friendly minions gain +1/+1.
  • New: After you play your first Discover card in a turn, all friendly minions gain +1 Attack.

Beckoning Bicorn

  • Old: After you play your first Pirate each turn, summon a Patches the Pirate.
  • New: After you play your first Pirate each turn, add a Patches the Pirate to your deck.

Wither the Weak

  • Old: After you cast a Fel spell, deal 1 damage to the lowest-Health enemy.
  • New: After you cast your first Fel spell in a turn, deal 1 damage to the lowest-Health enemy.

Corrupted Felstone

  • Old: Whenever you cast a Fel spell, give the left- and right-most minions in your hand +2/+2.
  • New: After you cast your first Fel spell in a turn, give the left- and right-most minions in your hand +1 Attack.

Legendary Loot

  • Old: On your first turn, Discover a Legendary weapon and equip it.
  • New: On your first turn, Discover a Legendary weapon. It costs (3) less.

Ring of Phaseshifting

  • Old: After you play a Legendary minion, add a random Legendary minion to your hand.
  • New: After you play a Legendary minion, add a random Legendary minion to your hand. It costs (1) less.

Blood Shields

  • Old: After the first time you spend a Corpse in a turn, gain 1 Health.
  • New: After the first time you spend a Corpse in a turn, gain 2 Health.

Starving

  • Old: Whenever a friendly Beast dies, draw a card.
  • New: After the first time a friendly Beast dies in a turn, draw a minion from your deck and give it +1 Attack.

Elixir of Vigor

  • Old: After you play a minion, shuffle two copies of it into your deck. They cost (3).
  • New: After you play a minion, shuffle two copies of it into your deck. They cost (2).

Ring of Black Ice

  • Old: Whenever a minion is Frozen, add a copy of it to your hand. It costs (1) less.
  • New: Whenever a minion is Frozen, add a copy of it to your hand. It costs (2) less.

Imp-credible Trousers

  • Old: After you cast a Fel spell, shuffle 2 Fel Rifts into your deck.
  • New: After you cast your first Fel spell in a turn, shuffle 2 Fel Rifts into your deck. Draw a card.

Dragonbone Ritual

  • Old: After you play a Dragon, give it Deathrattle: Go dormant. Revive in two turns.
  • New: After you play a Dragon, give it Deathrattle: Go dormant. Revive in two turns. When this awakens, give it +1 Attack.

All Shall Serve

  • Old: After the first time a friendly Demon dies in a turn, draw a minion from your deck.
  • New: After the first time a friendly Demon dies in a turn, draw a minion from your deck and give it +1 Attack.

Card and Treasure Pool Updates
  • Kingsbane has been banned from deckbuilding and all card pools.
  • Spectral Cutlass has been banned from deckbuilding and all card pools.
  • Heavy Armor has been removed from all treasure pools.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

Quote From Blizzard

  • [Hearthstone] Fixed misc. localization issues.
  • [Duels] Fixed a bug where the All Shall Serve Treasure also triggered on enemy minion deaths.
  • [Duels] Updated the wording on the Journey to the East Signature Treasure to better reflect its effect; no functional change.

How will these changes affect the metagame? Share your thoughts in the comments!