A new set of Hearthstone patch notes have been released following yesterday's teaser of a fresh set of Standard balance changes. Let's see exactly what's changing in Standard format in Patch 27.4.2.

As with any patch, cards that are nerfed or removed from play will be eligible for a full dust refund for a period of two weeks following the game update. The patch arrives today and here's what Blizzard has to say about it.

Quote From Blizzard

For the Standard-focused changes, we’re addressing both power outliers and play experience outliers in this patch. When we buffed Warrior in our last balance patch, we did so knowing that they’d get more powerful tools in the Mini-Set, but we wanted to make sure that the deck hit, so we erred on the side of over-buffing it, knowing that we’d have the option to make a small correction back down if we needed. Now that the Mini-Set has landed, Warrior is looking like one of the most standout classes, so we’re making those adjustments. Hunter also has one of the strongest decks in the format, and we’d expect it to get even stronger after the other changes we’re making in this patch, so we’re making a small adjustment to bring its power down a little as well.

Movement of Pride is an adjustment to take away the negative play experience of cheating out a super-early Sargeras. Coppertail Snoop is an adjustment to a powerful deck and a negative play experience, by taking away some of Mech Rogue’s burst and snowball potential.

Spitelash Siren and Gadgetzan Auctioneer are also combined power and sentiment issues, but mostly focused on the higher end of the ladder. For a long time, Auctioneer has been a card that only popped up in Standard when it was up to no good. In this case, the Mini-Set provided a critical mass of effects that allowed for a deck that used Auctioneer to consistently draw through its entire deck and OTK as early as turn 5. That’s not the bar we want for Standard, regardless of the deck’s overall winrate. In this case, it did look like the deck was trending towards being very powerful as it was getting refined, but we needed to make an adjustment no matter what. With this patch, we’ve both removed Auctioneer from Standard and increased its cost by 1, since it was a problem card in Wild as well.

Standard Buffs

In total we're seeing 6 buffs to Standard cards with Paladins and Warlocks all seeing adjustments to very iconic classic cards and Death Knight also deciding they want to see some love too.

Standard Nerfs

7 nerfs are coming into Standard with the update, hitting some of the more problematic cards that have seen complaints recently.

Standard Removals?!?

Whoa! This is quite a rarity from the Hearthstone team but something had to be done about Gadgetzan Auctioneer. The iconic card that released with the launch of Hearthstone is finally getting removed from the Standard format, a fate that has been close to happening several times in the past due to its problematic nature.

Goodbye sweet prince. May your torment continue in Wild - that is if your new mana cost doesn't make it harder to play. Gadgetzan Auctioneer's mana cost is increasing by 1, up to 7!

Gadgetzan Auctioneer Card Image

More Balance Changes

If you're looking for other balance changes, we've got them all covered in dedicated articles based on the format.

Additionally, Hearthstone Battlegrounds is set to receive a few changes in the update and Duels also gets some love.