Blizzard has announced that we're getting a patch today - quite an exciting Monday! This will be the first balance patch of Fractured in Alterac Valley and it includes both buffs and nerfs. We've summarized the changes down below. If you'd like to read the reasoning behind all the changes, you can find that in the official patch notes further down the page.
Card Nerfs in Hearthstone Patch 22.0.2
- Celestial Alignment now costs 8 (Up from 7).
- Alliance Bannerman now has 1 Health (Down from 2).
- Efficient Octo-bot now costs 3 (Up from 2).
- Snowfall Guardian now costs 6 (Up from 5).
- Touch of the Nathrezim now restores 3 Health (Down from 4).
- Runed Mithril Rod now costs 5 (Up from 4).
- Bloodsail Deckhand now has 1 Health (Down from 2).
- Irondeep Trogg no longer summons a clone but a baseline Irondeep Trogg.
- Mo'arg Artificer now costs 3 (Up from 2). Health increased to 5 (Up from 4).
All the above cards will be disenchantable for their full value for the next two weeks - until January 3, 2022. Remember, you can type "refund" in your collection manager's search box to find these cards easily!
Card Buffs in Hearthstone Patch 22.0.2
- Beaststalker Tavish's Summon Pet now costs 2 (Down from 3).
- Grey Sage Parrot now costs 6 (Down from 8). Stats moved to 4/5 (Down from 6/6).
- Magister Dawngrasp now costs 7 (Down from 8). Hero power now deals 2 damage (Up from 1).
- Wildfire now persists for the entire game, even after swapping hero powers.
Official Patch Notes
Quote From Blizzard Patch 22.0.2, launching today, includes balance changes for Standard and Battlegrounds, a system update for Mercenaries, and more!
Standard Balance Updates
Dev Comment: We’re coming up on two weeks since the launch of Fractured in Alterac Valley and, while players are still finding success with quite a variety of strategies, we want to open up the format further. This patch is mainly focused on weakening some of the stronger, combo-centric strategies that have had long-term success throughout the Year of the Gryphon.
The following cards have been adjusted down in power:
Celestial Alignment
- Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]
- Dev Comment: Although Celestial Alignment is not usually a card used for from-hand, burst damage, it does frequently allow for absurd turns that happen a little earlier than we feel is healthy. Moving it up a mana should allow for more setup and counterplay before Celestial Alignment is cast.
Alliance Bannerman
- Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health → New: 2 Attack, 1 Health
- Dev Comment: Paladins have a very consistent, powerful package of cards that they can include in quite a few distinct strategies. Alliance Bannerman is one of these cards that can fit into a wide range of decks. Lowering its Health by one should tone down Paladin decks by a small amount across the board.
Efficient Octo-bot
- Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 3]
- Dev Comment: Efficient Octo-bot has been a little too efficient at the upper echelons of play. We’re slowing it down as part of the general goal of toning down the power level of combo strategies.
Snowfall Guardian
- Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 6]
- Dev Comment: Snowfall Guardian was designed with the intent of giving Freeze Shaman decks a powerful tool, but it is a little too efficient at locking up the board, especially when combined with cards like Brilliant Macaw. Moving it up one mana should soften the power of this interaction.
Touch of the Nathrezim
- Old: Deal 2 damage to a minion. If it dies, restore 4 Health to your hero. → New: Deal 2 damage to a minion. If it dies, restore 3 Health to your hero.
- Dev Comment: Touch of the Nathrezim is meant to be a solid removal option for slower Warlock decks, but the overall Health restoration in Warlock is slightly too high. This is meant to be a softer change that leaves Warlock with a powerful removal option, but reduces overall Warlock healing capabilities enough to bring that aspect of the class back in line.
Runed Mithril Rod
- Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]
- Dev Comment: Runed Mithril Rod was an incredibly strong tool in the first few days after the launch of Fractured in Alterac Valley. While players were able to find a counter to it in cards like Rustrot Viper, we believe going up a Mana here will lead to healthier play patterns for the game overall.
Bloodsail Deckhand
- Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health → New: 2 Attack, 1 Health
- Dev Comment: We’re reverting our previous change to Bloodsail Deckhand. Questline Warrior ended up slightly stronger than intended, and we believe it will continue to find success after this change.
Irondeep Trogg
- Old: After your opponent casts a spell, summon a copy of this. → New: After your opponent casts a spell, summon another Irondeep Trogg.
- Dev Comment: Irondeep Trogg has the capability of running away with games very early when combined with minion buffs like Noble Mount or Doggie Biscuit. Taking into account the rest of the changes we’re making with this patch, we want to adjust Trogg to remain a viable counter to early spells, but to better match the targeted power level of the format as a whole.
Mo’arg Artificer
- Old: [Costs 2] 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: [Costs 3] 2 Attack, 5 Health
- Dev Comment: Mo’arg Artificer does too much, too efficiently for decks with large amounts of removal. Increasing its cost by one will make the card a little less efficient as a tool for cheap clears, large amounts of life gain, and combo finishers.
The collectible cards listed above will be eligible for a full dust refund for 2 weeks after the 22.0.2 patch goes live. Bloodsail Deckhand is not eligible for the dust refund, because it's a Core Set card, not a collectible one.
Dev Comment: Alongside the changes above, we’re also making a couple adjustments aimed at powering up slower Mage decks and the less powerful Hero Cards.
The following cards have been adjusted up in power:
Beaststalker Tavish
- Old: [Hero Power Costs 3] → New: [Hero Power Costs 2]
Grey Sage Parrot
- Old: [Costs 8] 6 Attack, 6 Health → New: [Costs 6] 4 Attack, 5 Health
Magister Dawngrasp
- Old: [Costs 8] → New: [Costs 7]
- Old: Hero Power: Deal 1 Damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +2 Damage. → New: Hero Power: Deal 2 Damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +2 Damage.
Wildfire
- Old: Increase the damage of your Hero Power by 1. → New: Increase the damage of your Hero Power by 1 this game.
- Dev Comment: This is a minor rework to make it so that Wildfire will now persist after swapping Hero Powers. Although we don’t envision this being dramatically impactful, we do think it will allow for a smoother gameplay experience with Hero Power changing cards like Magister Dawngrasp.
Battlegrounds Balance Updates
HERO UPDATES
Sneed
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 1 (0 Armor) to Tier 2 (2-5 Armor)
- Sneed’s Replicator
- Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 2]
Tamsin
- Fragrant Phylactery
- Old: [Costs 0] Start of Combat: Destroy your lowest Health minion. Give its Health to all your others. → New: [Costs 1] Start of Combat: Destroy your lowest Health minion. Give its stats to all your others.
Scabbs Cutterbutter
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 2 (2-5 Armor) to Tier 1 (0 Armor)
Cariel Roame
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 6 (6-9 Armor) to Tier 7 (7-10 Armor)
Deathwing
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 4 (4-7 Armor) to Tier 5 (5-8 Armor)
Millificent Manastorm
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 3 (3-6 Armor) to Tier 5 (5-8 Armor)
Overlord Saurfang
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 6 (6-9 Armor) to Tier 7 (7-10 Armor)
Patches the Pirate
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 3 (3-6 Armor) to Tier 2 (2-5 Armor)
Trade Prince Gallywix
- Armor Tier changed from Tier 4 (4-7 Armor) to Tier 2 (2-5 Armor)
MINION UPDATES
Prized Promo-Drake
- Old: 5 Attack, 5 Health → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health
Dazzling Lightspawn
- Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health → New: 2 Attack, 5 Health
Mercenaries Update
- All Heroic Level 30 Bounties will now include at least one pile of Legendary Coins (chosen from the selection of Coins designated for each Bounty) as part of their Bounty completion rewards.
Arena Update
- Abominable Lieutenant is no longer draftable in Arena.
Bug Fixes & Game Improvements
- The base versions of Drek’Thar and Vanndar are now eligible for full dust refunds. We will be doing a separate update later on patch day to grant additional Arcane Dust to players who already disenchanted either card.
- Fixed a bug where the Duels treasure Impcredible Trousers did not properly shuffle the imp portals.
Comments
Agree on the Bannerman, not going to matter most of the time, but there are times where it would survive against a 1/1 on the board and can keep putting out some face dmg or allow to clear token(s), now it just dies to ping from hero power. Small, but not insignificant change.
Okay so overall the changes are quite nice, but I'm still confused as to why they haven't hit Questlock a lot harder given that the only reason it's not as dominating as it could be is the abundance of combo decks, all of which have been nerfed right now.
Alignment kinda does fuckall in a world where LIghtning Bloom is still a thing but at the very least it curbs the deck against aggressive strategies which is hopefully enough to just remove it from ladder entirely.
Bannerman change is honestly baffling. OUt of all the cards in Paladin that are currently enabling it, Bannerman is the least problematic. Devout Pupil would have been a better choice at this point. Honestly, it feels almost like a placebo nerf, something that's supposed to make Paladin look weaker without changing anything...and no I'm not just salty because they didn't nerf it when I still had my extra copies (I am though, I am incredibly salty)
Octobot should have also happened a while ago, but at least's they're finally caught up. I doubt it's gonna stop Rogue from doing Tournament stuff but at the very least it makes it much more difficult to just throw the thing out on curve and expect it to proc.
Snowfall Guardian was very much necessary, that card just comes out too quickly and Freeze Shaman already has plenty of insane cards to begin with.
Touch nerf probably won't change much, but that's good because they nerfed Mo'Arg alongside it. Still think there'll have to be more targetted nerfs against Questlock unless they're content with just sitting this one out until the rotation takes care of it. Keeping my extra Raise Dead's just in case.
Rod nerf was definitely necessary and should hopefully axe both Owl and Fatiguelock for good seeing how both of those decks rely on it and we're still gonna keep running Vipers because of Paladin. I also maintain that Owl needs a nerf which I'm definitely not just saying because I have around 20 of the thing lying around. No bias here, no sir.
Deckhand unbuff seems a bit pointless honest. i'd rather they hit the 3-mana 3/4, but whatever. I guess this is the most relevant nerf for Wild since the amount of 1-drops is what gives the deck its power there. I also don't even think the deck needed a nerf, it's pretty fucking garbage if you don't just draw the nuts on curve, but hey, ranked floors are gonna complain.
Trogg nerf was necessary and hopefully kills it for good. I guess it'll still find a place in Swarming decks with board buffs.
Finally the Mo'arg nerf that should have happened a year ago. No idea why they decided to compensate on the stats, but whatever, it's not like it usually survives anyways.
Buffs seem mostly fine. Tavish is now insanely good and I wouldn't be surprised if we came to regret it down the line. He can basically solo any deck that doesn't have crazy lethality and might unironically be a better long term wincondition than Pirate Warrior.
Parrot buff is good but won't change much I'M afraid. Best thing I can say is that it makes it so you can immediately play it after a 5-mana spell on curve....which there is only a single relevant one so..hooray? It doesn'T really address any of the major problems of Big Spelll Mage, but at the very least it sets it up for the future when there are more useful spells. Gonna have to wait and see.
I really do like the Wildfire and Dawngrasp buffs although I would have much preferred if they kept Dawngrasp as is and instead had them cast the highest cost spells so we actually have a lategame payoff for Big spells that's reliable. In any case, at least it'S a fine addition to Wildfire mage now. Makes me wonder...is it possibly to maybe combine Big Spells (a shaved down version) with Wildfire if the latter is your only Fire spell? Will have to test, but at least Dawngrasp can turn your hero power into an actual lategame threat now (even if you're stilll getting demolished by most other lategame strategies but hey, who's counting?)
Overall a good patch to start with, but it won't be the last. Questlock will have to be dealt with, it legitimately has no actual counters outside of degenerate combos and maybe Libram Paladin (some of the time)...and now people have a reason to play Questlock again.
They knew Trogg was going to be a problem....look at its achievement. The nerf for it is good though and the achievement is still possible
I wonder if they do any real testing anymore before sending cards out into the wild, or whether they entirely rely on the data they get in the weeks to follow. I know balancing a game is not at all an easy task, but it's not a crazy, unforeseen combo we're talking about here. It was basic buff cards on the Trogg, which was the only thing you would reasonably do with it.
Yeah, seems pretty obvious for sure.
I swear Wildfire used to persist and got silently nerfed a while back. When it first came out I tested it with Frostlich Jaina and it carried over. Guessing they originally didn’t intend it to do that but I’m glad it’s back to doing so.
Ooh boy that is some insane buffs to mage. I do worry that this means Dawngrasp just gets slotted into every mage deck though. I'm also don't think the Octobot nerf is going to change anything. Often they play octobo+pen flinger to discount their hand prior to a combo turn. We'll see but I just don't think it's going to change anything.
Also, still worried that the Mithril Rod nerfing is not going to fundamentally change anything. Best case scenario, it slows down Owllocks. Worst case scenario, people go back to fatigue priest with Demon Seed and just not bother running the weapon at all.
I don't see why you'd put Dawngrasp into every deck. The HP isn't that good still unless you play a dedicated deck and the effect is still unreliable.
Also Fatiguelock is still affected by the Mo'arg nerf, even if they technically have it better because they get to run Soul Rend (which should probably be nerfed all things considered)
Oh well, we'll just have to accept a very Warlock Christmas and afterwards they'll probably deal with it.
Cause the hero power for hero dawngrasp is now a straight upgrade. +1 damage, +scaling built into it.
Even if you don't build a hero power deck the card also helps with big spell replaying.
And even if you dont build big spells, the card can help with hand refill (run card draw spells, stall spells, hand refill spells like studies or font of power).
The card can be used for ANY mage build now. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, just saying I thought the point of most of the heroes was not for them to be auto-includes in every deck.
Sure but 7-mana is still a lot for an effect that might just fizzle entirely (or punch your own face, depending on which spells you discovered).
Not saying it's not worth running in certain decks, but it's still one of the weakest hero cards because it just requires way more support before it's useful as opposed to all the other ones that can just be played on curve for tempo.
Either way, in a dedicated HP deck this can easily leave you with a 5-damage Hero power quite early. Really, all we need to make the acrchetype work now is a Fire tutor. That way we can run other useful spells and not reduce consistency. Here's hoping for the miniset.
1 health on bannerman does nothing to paladin power level, libram paladin is a t1 deck that keeps on coming back, almost 2 years since the archetype is doing well on top t2 or t1.
Nothing wrong with being a good deck. It has counters after all. I just wish they'd addressed some of the more broken stuff like Devout Pupils being tutored by Varian and just creating a complete blowout turn really quickly (similar to how Questlock does it, except with actual tempo going in)
In Wild this could even be considered a buff as Alliance Bannerman can now be drawn by Salhet's Pride.
If that means Odd Hunter and Pirate Warrior returning to uncounterable status because of Shaman nerfs, then this patch's a failure for Wild. At least that's how I see it, because while the deck was busted, it was kind of the necessary evil to the format.
Thoughts:
Any idea when the patch is going to drop?
Pretty sure Trogg was printed as a direct answer against decks that are too spell heavy (like Alignment Druid) but they really didn't consider the implications of going 2nd against Trogg while the Coin is a spell.
Us Wild step children are silently crying in the corner.
Oh come the fuck on, I had like 10 copies of Bannerman all throughout Stormwind and just assumed he wasn't broken enough to nerf after he just didn't really do much throughout the entire expansion. That's it, I#m never dusting anything ever again.
Also Touch of the Nathrezim, but I should have seen that one coming at least...
I know the feels. I just hit mass disenchant last week =(