May 2023 Balance

May 2023 Balance is a Hearthstone patch released on May 19, 2023. It was versioned 26.2.2 with the build number 176014. It was released during the expansion Festival of Legends

Card Changes

Sinful Brand - Damage dealt reduced to 1 (from 2).
Felscale Evoker - Attack decreased to 3 (from 5).
Symphony of Sins - Cost decreased to 5 (from 6).
Predation - Cost and damage dealt both reduced to 2 (from 3).
From the Depths - Cost decreased to 3 (from 4). Cost reduction decreased to 2 (from 3).
Rotten Applebaum - Health increased to 6 (from 5). Health restored increased to 6 (from 4).
Battlefield Necromancer - Health decreased to 2 (from 3).
Blightfang - Cost increased to 4 (from 3).
High Cultist Basaleph - Buff reverted, Cost increased to 5 (from 4).
Anub'Rekhan - Armor gained reduced to 5 (from 8).
Scribbling Stenographer - Cost increased to 7 (from 6).
Demolition Renovator - Now has Tradeable-keyword.
Chorus Riff - Buff increased to +3/+3 (from +2/+2).
Pandaren Importer - Changes reverted; Cost decreased to 2 (from 3), statline decreased to 1/3 (from 2/4).

New Collectible Cards

New cards have been added to the game.

New Paladin Cards

Reckoning - He would henceforth be known as "Karmerr, the Doom of Kazzak."

Quote From Blizzard

Patch 26.2.2, launching today, includes the following bug fixes and updates to Hearthstone, Battlegrounds, and Duels.

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: Overall, the meta is in a pretty good spot right now, with lots of competitive options for players across almost every class. This is our opportunity to some adjustments that hit a few power outliers and play experience outliers. We’re also including a few buffs that we hope will give players a few more neutral options and open up some space for the weaker classes.

The following cards have been adjusted to be less powerful:

Sinful Brand

Old: Brand an enemy minion. Whenever it takes damage, deal 2 damage to the enemy hero.

New: Brand an enemy minion. Whenever it takes damage, deal 1 damage to the enemy hero.

Dev Comment: Demon Hunter is one of the few power outliers in this meta, with several competitive archetypes. Sinful Brand Spell Demon Hunter is a standout within that class in both power and negative play experiences. This change is intended to significantly reduce the power and prevalence of that card.

Felscale Evoker

Old: 5 Attack

New: 3 Attack

Dev Comment: This is a standout card in the newly emergent Big Demon Hunter archetype. Its powerful effect makes it one of the strongest cards in the deck. It doesn’t also need to be a threat in its own right. We think it’s really cool that Big Demon Hunter has finally become a competitive archetype, and we expect that the archetype will continue to see play after this slight adjustment.

Predation

Old: [3 Mana] Deal 3 damage. Costs 0 if you played a Naga while holding this.

New: [2 Mana] Deal 2 damage. Costs 0 if you played a Naga while holding this.

Dev Comment: The Lady S’Theno-Predation combo has been used across many Demon Hunter decks for a long time. This change is intended to be a smaller adjustment across the entire class.

Battlefield Necromancer

Old: 3 Health

New: 2 Health

Blightfang

Old: [3 Mana]

New: [4 Mana]

Dev Comment: Both these Death Knight cards were buffed last expansion, which was necessary when the class was struggling. However, our current balance philosophy is that balance changes are fluid adjustments over time, not decisions set in stone. Unholy Death Knight is now the strongest deck on the ladder, so it needs to be toned back down. We’re not reverting the prior buffs, but trying different adjustments to weaken it slightly, particularly in its matchup versus other aggro decks, where the deck is disproportionately powerful.

High Cultist Basaleph

Old: [4 Mana]

New: [5 Mana]

Dev Comment: Aggro Priest is in a good spot right now at all levels of play, but especially at lower levels. This reversion of a prior buff is intended to be a small adjustment to put it back in line with other decks. We expect this deck, and this card in it, to remain competitive.

Anub’Rekhan

Old: Battlecry: Gain 8 Armor. Your next 3 minions this turn cost Armor instead of Mana.

New: Battlecry: Gain 5 Armor. Your next 3 minions this turn cost Armor instead of Mana.

Dev Comment: Anub’Rekhan allows for a notably negative play experience that warps the meta around it. This change does not prevent Druid players from making their big flashy plays, but it does mean that more setup is now required. We expect this to mean fans of the deck can still play it, but its overall power, playrate, and influence on the meta will lessen.

Scribbling Stenographer

Old: [6 Mana]

New: [7 Mana]

Dev Comment: Miracle Rogue is not a power outlier at most levels of play, but it remains strong and prevalent at higher levels of play. This is a minor adjustment to reflect its current power level and its potential power level after the adjustments to the other cards changed in this patch.

The above craftable cards will be eligible for full a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 26.2.2.

The following cards have been adjusted to be more powerful:

Symphony of Sins

Old: [6 Mana]

New: [5 Mana]

Dev Comment: Players really love playing this card, but it is not very powerful. This change is to make it a little more palatable to play this exciting card.

From the Depths

Old: [4 Mana] Reduce the Cost of the bottom five cards in your deck by (3), then Dredge.

New: [3 Mana] Reduce the Cost of the bottom five cards in your deck by (2), then Dredge.

Dev Comment: Warrior has gotten more options, more power, and more play after our recent adjustments, but players still hunger for a slower Warrior. We’re making this adjustment to a proven powerful card that we expect will see play again after this change.

Chorus Riff

Old: Draw a minion. Give it +2/+2. Finale: Play your last Riff.

New: Draw a minion. Give it +3/+3. Finale: Play your last Riff.

Dev Comment: We recently made a few adjustments to the Riff package, and those adjustments were successful in raising the playrate and power of the Riffs package. But now Chorus Riff is the weakest of the Riffs, and all the Riffs need to be good for the package to be good. This is a slight nudge to make that whole package a little stronger.

Demolition Renovator

Old: Battlecry: Destroy an enemy location.

New: Tradeable Battlecry: Destroy an enemy location.

Rotten Applebaum:

Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health. Taunt Deathrattle: Restore 4 Health to your hero.

New: 4 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt Deathrattle: Restore 6 Health to your hero.

Dev Comment: Demolition Renovator has never seen much play, so we wanted to make it feel a little better as a tech card option. Rotten Applebaum is getting a decent buff to add an option for slower decks that want to target aggressive strategies.

Pandaren Importer

Old: [3 Mana] 2Attack, 4 Health

New: [2 Mana] 1 Attack, 3Health

Dev Comment: Pandaren Importer was previously adjusted due to an unintended play pattern that was made possible by the smaller card pool in Standard. Now that it is in Wild, that concern no longer exists and the prior change can be reverted.

Battlegrounds Updates

Armor Updates

Master Nguyen’s Armor was reduced to 8.

E.T.C., Band Manager’s Armor was reduced to 10.

Patches the Pirate’s Armor was reduced to 10 in higher ranked lobbies; it is still 5 in lower ranked lobbies.

Hero Updates

E.T.C., Band Manager (Sign a New Artist)

Old: [4 Gold]

New: [3 Gold]

Minion Updates

Upbeat Frontdrake

Old: 2 Attack, 1 Health

New: 1 Attack, 1 Health

Low-Flier

Old: At the end of your turn, give +2 Attack to your minions with less Attack than this.

New: At the end of your turn, give +1 Attack to your minions with less Attack than this.

Reef Riffer

Old: 1 Attack, 3 Health

New: 1 Attack, 2 Health

Molten Rock

Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health

New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

Flourishing Frostling

Old: 0 Attack, 4 Health

New: 0 Attack, 5 Health

Scourfin

Old: 6 Attack, 3 Health

New: 3 Attack, 3 Health

Radio Star

Old: 3 Attack, 1 Health

New: 2 Attack, 1 Health

Pufferquil

Old: [Tavern Tier 4]

New: [Tavern Tier 3]

Banana Slamma

Old: [Tavern Tier 3]

New: [Tavern Tier 4]

Upbeat Duo

Old: 4 Attack, 2 Health. Battlecry: Choose a minion. At the end of every 2 turns, this gives you a plain copy.

New: 4 Attack, 4 Health. At the end of every 2 turns, get a plain copy of the minion to the left of this.

Reanimating Rattler

Old: 5 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Give a friendly Beast Reborn.

New: 4 Attack, 3 Health. At the end of your turn, give another friendly Beast Reborn.

Dev Comment: This change to Reanimating Rattler was not made for power level reasons, but to avoid an unintended interaction with Rylak Metalhead and Monstrous Macaw.

Peggy Sturdybone

Old: 6 Attack, 5 Health

New: 4 Attack, 2 Health

Dancing Barnstormer

Old: 4 Attack, 2 Health. Deathrattle: Elementals in Bob’s Tavern have +2/+2 for the rest of the game.

New: 3 Attack, 2 Health. Deathrattle: Elementals in Bob’s Tavern have +3/+2 for the rest of the game.

Electric Synthesizer

Old: [Tavern Tier 5] Battlecry: Give your other Dragons +4 Attack.

New: [Tavern Tier 4] Battlecry: Give your other Dragons +3 Attack.

General Drakkisath

Old: [Tavern Tier 4]

New: [Tavern Tier 5]

Underhand Dealer

Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 2 Attack, 2 Health

New: [Tavern Tier 5] 4 Attack, 4 Health

Mama Bear

Old: 5 Attack, 5 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +5/+5.

New: 4 Attack, 4 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +4/+4.

Record Smuggler

Old: 7 Attack, 6 Health

New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

Gusty Trumpeter

Old: After you sell 6 Elementals, get another random Elemental.

New: After you sell 5 Elementals, get another random Elemental.

Kalecgos, Arcane Aspect

Old: 4 Attack, 12 Health

New: 2 Attack, 10 Health

Nadina the Red

Old: 7 Attack, 4 Health. Deathrattle: Give your Dragons Divine Shield.

New: 8 Attack, 4 Health. Deathrattle: Give 3 friendly Dragons Divine Shield.

Rock Rock

Old: After you play an Elemental, give your minions +1 Attack. (Swaps to Health next turn.)

New: After you play an Elemental, give your other minions +2 Attack. (Swaps to Health next turn.)

Zapp Slywick

Old: 7 Attack, 10 Health

New: 8 Attack, 16 Health

Minion Pool Changes

Monstrous Macaw has been returned to the minion pool.

Sin’dorei Straight Shot is now available in all lobbies (not just Undead lobbies).

Duels Updates

Hero Power Updates

Promote

Old: [1 Mana]

New: [2 Mana]

Harvest Time

Old: Destroy a minion, then summon two 2/2 Treants for that minion’s owner.

New: Destroy a minion, then summon two 1/1 Saplings for that minion’s owner.

Mind Tether

Old: [Passive] After you cast a spell, deal 1 damage to the enemy hero.

New: [1 Mana] After each spell you cast this turn, deal 1 damage to the enemy hero.

Dino Tracking

Old: Discover a card from your deck.

New: Discover a Beast.

Signature Treasure Updates

Nerubian Peddler

Old: [2 Mana]

New: [3 Mana]

Spiked Arms

Old: 3 Attack, 3 Durability

New: 1 Attack, 3 Durability

Royal Greatsword

Old: [6 Mana]

New: [7 Mana]

Infinite Arcane

Old: [7 Mana]

New: [9 Mana]

Passive Treasure Updates

Staking a Claim

Old: Whenever you play a Discover card, all friendly minions gain +1/+1.

New: After you play your first Discover card each turn, all friendly minions get +1/+1.

The Floor is Lava

Old: After you play a minion, deal 1 damage to it and give it +2 Attack.

New: After you play your first minion each turn, deal 1 damage to it and give it +2 Attack.

Dragonblood

Old: After a friendly Dragon dies, give two minions in your hand +1/+1.

New: After the first time a friendly Dragon dies each turn, give minions in your hand +1/+1.

Dragon Affinity

Unbanned and moved to Pool 1.

Old: Your Dragons cost (2) less.

New: The first Dragon you play each turn costs (1) less.

Glacial Downpour

Old: At the end of your turn, summon a 2/1 Ice Shard if you’ve cast a Frost spell this turn.

New: At the end of your turn, summon a 2/3 Water Elemental if you’ve cast a Frost spell this turn.

Flames of the Kirin Tor

Old: After you cast your first Fire spell in a turn, add a random Fire spell to your hand.

New: After you cast your first Fire spell in a turn, add a random non-Legendary Fire spell from your class to your hand.

Unholy Gift

Old: At the start of the game, shuffle 5 Lich King cards into your deck.

New: At the start of the game, shuffle 8 Lich King cards into your deck.

Ring of Black Ice

Old: Whenever a minion is Frozen, add a copy of it to your hand.

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

All Shall Serve

Old: Whenever a Demon dies, draw a card.

New: After the first time a friendly Demon dies in a turn, draw a minion from your deck.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

[Hearthstone] Moved Heroic Tavern Brawl to next week, to allow time for players to first adjust to the new balance changes.

[Duels] Fixed a bug where the original version of Tour Guide was banned in all card pools, but the new Core Set version was not.