July 2023 Balance

July 2023 Balance is a Hearthstone patch released on July 6, 2023. It was versioned 26.6.2 with the build number 180614. It was released during the expansion Festival of Legends

Card Changes

• Death Blossom Whomper - Cost increased to 6 (from 5).

Quote From Blizzard

Patch 26.6.2 is a data-only patch, launching today, with the following updates.

Hearthstone Updates

Standard Card Update

Dev Comment: The Standard meta is in a good spot right now, with a lot of competitive options across most classes. We’re making this adjustment because Whomper is the biggest sentiment outlier in the format. We considered a handful of other cards that could have gotten small adjustments, but decided that it would be better to let this meta play out for a while.

Death Blossom Whomper

• Old: [5 Mana]
• New: [6 Mana]

Twist Card Updates

Dev Comment: Part of the Twist Beta is exploring our own design objectives when it comes to the mode. The whole premise of the mode is that there are quickly updating formats already built into it, so balance changes might not be as necessary to keep things fresh. However, we are still able to make card bans when we think they make the format better. Here, we’re taking a lighter approach to the big three outliers in the current format. We’ll see how these changes impact players and might take further or different actions in the future, including next time we bring back the New Age format.

• Glide, Crypt Keeper, and Refreshing Spring Water are now banned in Twist.

The four cards mentioned above (Standard and Twist) will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 26.6.2.

Battlegrounds Updates

Hero Power Updates

Cariel Roame

• Old: Give 2 friendly minions +1/+1. (After you upgrade the Tavern, choose an improvement!)
  • Offensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +2 Attack.
  • Defensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +2 Health.
• New: Give 3 friendly minions +1/+1. (After you upgrade the Tavern, choose an improvement!)
  • Offensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +1 Attack.
  • Defensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +1 Health.

King Mukla

• No text update.
• Old: King Mukla has 50% chance to get a Big Banana, all other players have 0% chance.
• New: All bananas have a 33% chance of being a Big Banana, regardless of who receives them.

Aranna Starseeker

• Old: After 16 friendly minions attack, the first minion you buy each turn is free.
• New: After 14 friendly minions attack, the first minion you buy each turn is free.

The Curator

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

 

Armor Updates

The following heroes now have more armor:

• King Mukla now has 10 Armor.
• Cariel Roame now has 12 Armor at higher ranked lobbies and 10 Armor at lower ranked lobbies.
• Aranna Starseeker and The Curator now have 15 Armor.

Minion Updates

Cogwork Copter

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

Scrap Scraper

• Old: 3 Attack, 7 Health. At the end of your turn, get a random Magnetic Mech.
• New: 4 Attack, 7 Health. At the end of every 2 turns, get a random Magnetic Mech.

Cyborg Drake

• Old: 2 Attack, 10 Health. Divine Shield. Your minions with Divine Shield have +8 Attack.
• New: 3 Attack, 10 Health. Divine Shield. Your minions with Divine Shield have +6 Attack.

Prickly Piper

• Old: 5 Attack, 2 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 1 Health

Bongo Bopper

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

Hungry Snapjaw

• Old: 4 Attack, 2 Health.
• New: 5 Attack, 2 Health.

Recycling Wraith

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

Bream Counter

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +3/+2.
• New: 5 Attack, 5 Health. While this is in your hand, after you play a Murloc, gain +3/+3.

Eventide Brute

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

Tidemistress Athissa

• Old: 7 Attack, 8 Health. After you cast a spell, give three friendly Naga +1/+1.
• New: 6 Attack, 8 Health. After you cast a spell, give four friendly Naga +1/+1.

Soulsplitter

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

Minion Pool Changes

• Bannerboar has been removed from the minion pool.
• Patient Scout has been returned to the minion pool.

Duels Updates

Signature Treasure Updates

Carrot on a Stick

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Men-at-Arms

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Passive Treasure Updates

Starving

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

Corrupted Felstone

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

Card Pool Updates

• Lightning Bloom and Kayne Sunfury have been banned from deckbuilding and all card pools.
• Rattlegore has been temporarily banned from deckbuilding and all card pools until Diablo leaves the hero pool.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Shop/Twist] Updated the Druid Battle-Ready Deck to now include Umbral Owl instead of Jerry-Rig Carpenter.
• [Battlegrounds] Corrected the text on Tavish’s “Aim Right” hero power option; no functional change.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where certain hero powers didn’t show their costs on the hero select screen.
• [Duels] Corrected the text of Sai Shadestorm’s Signature Treasure, Glaciaxe; no functional change.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug with Sai Shadestorm’s hero power, Gathering Storm, where it couldn’t be used when you had a full board.