October 2023 Balance

October 2023 Balance is a Hearthstone patch released on Oct. 26, 2023. It was versioned 27.6.2 with the build number 188645. It was released during the expansion TITANS

Card Changes

• Embrace of Nature - Cost increased to 2 (from 1).
• Rake - Cost increased to 2 (from 1).
• Prison Breaker - Damage dealt decreased to 2 (from 3).
• Yogg-Saron, Unleashed - Cost decreased to 9 (from 15). Effect changed to "After you use an ability, cast 2 random spells." (was "Costs (1) less for each spell you’ve cast this game.").
• Tony, King of Piracy - Cost increased to 7 (from 5). Battlecry changed to "Replace your deck with a copy of your opponent’s." (was "Both players’ decks are swapped."). Unbanned in Wild.
• The Jailer - Battlecry changed to only The Jailer becoming Immune (was "your minions"). Unbanned in Standard and Wild.

Quote From Blizzard

Patch 27.6.2 is a data-only patch, launching on October 26, with the following updates:

Hearthstone Updates

Card Updates

Dev Comment: There were two clear meta offenders that we wanted to address in this patch: Yogg-Saron and the Druid class. Recent additions from the mini-set made for overly-powerful neutral board control tools that were warping the meta. These, combined with stand-out Druid cards, made for a Druid shell that was able to cover its class weaknesses and utilize any number of “finishers” to end the game. These changes focus on weakening the Druid shell that facilitated these powerful finishers, while also removing negative play experiences that we believe are causing more pain than fun. After those adjustments, the Jailer and Tony are out on probation, but we’ll be keeping an eye on them, and the rest of the meta, as we head into the Showdown in the Badlands.

Embrace of Nature

• Old: [1 Mana]

• New: [2 Mana]

Rake

• Old: [1 Mana]

• New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Druid has a lot of redundancy right now, but Embrace of Nature and Rake are two cards that stand out as particularly integral to the class. They are also both too efficient for their cost. We considered other adjustments to Druid, but these were the two most stand-out choices.

Prison Breaker

• Old: Battlecry: If you’ve cast 5 or more spells this game, deal 3 damage to all enemies.

• New: Battlecry: If you’ve cast 5 or more spells this game, deal 2 damage to all enemies.

Dev Comment: The current suite of neutral board clears are a bit too punishing to minion-based decks. This change is to open up a bit of space in the meta for early minion strategies.

Yogg-Saron, Unleashed

• Old: [15 Mana] Costs (1) less for each spell you’ve cast this game.

• New: [9 Mana] After you use an ability, cast 2 random spells.

Dev Comment: When we made Yogg-Saron, we wanted it to be a powerful, exciting marquee card for the mini-set. Unfortunately, it ended up being too overpowered for too long. We’re removing the cost adjustment effect instead of bumping up its cost for two reasons: 1) we want the card to be played in more than just spell-spamming decks; and 2) this is the change we’re most confident will land at the power level we want. We replaced the cost reduction effect with the new random-spells effect because we wanted something that represented the character’s relationship with magic—and madness!

Tony, King of Piracy

• Old: [5 Mana] Both players’ decks are swapped. Finale: Draw a card.

• New: [7 Mana] Battlecry: Replace your deck with a copy of your opponent’s. Finale: Draw a card.

• Tony is also now Unbanned in Wild.

Dev Comment: When cards are causing problems when they’re played the way they’re designed to be played, that means they’re ripe for a redesign. Piracy is not a victimless crime, and Tony only really appeared when he was causing problems. This change keeps the essence of his effect, but avoids the sharp play experiences he caused.

The Jailer

• Old: Battlecry: Destroy your deck. For the rest of the game, your minions are Immune.

• New: Battlecry: Destroy your deck. This minion gains Immune.

• The Jailer is also now Unbanned in Standard and Wild.

Dev Comment: There was some concern that The Jailer would still work too well even with the updated Tony, so we’re making an adjustment here to tone down The Jailer as well and remove a lot of the polarizing situations he could enable.

All versions of the above cards that can be disenchanted will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 27.6.2.

Ranked Anomaly Updates

The following Anomalies have been removed from the Anomaly Pool:

• Driven to Greed: Whenever a player ends their turn with unspent Mana, they get a Coin.

• Army of the Corrupted: The first minion played on each player’s turns costs (1) less.

• Spread the Corruption: The first spell played on each player’s turns costs (1) less.

• Dev Comment: These are the most game-impacting Anomalies, especially when they disproportionately affect one player over the other based on their deck choices.

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Battlegrounds Updates

Battlegrounds Anomaly Updates

Anomaly Pool Updates

• Finicky Hourglass has been removed from the Anomaly Pool.

• Shackles of the Primus has been removed from the Anomaly Pool for lower-ranked lobbies, and appears less frequently than before in all other lobbies.

  • Also, the banned minion types for Shackles of the Primus are now: Beasts, Murlocs, Elementals, and Undead.

• Anomalous Twin has been returned to the Anomaly Pool.

The following heroes are now banned from the following Anomalies:

• Audience’s Choice: Tess Greymane, Scabbs Cutterbutter, Reno Jackson, E.T.C. Band Manager, Sneed, Millhouse Manastorm, Lich Baz’hial

• Anomalous Wisdomball: Infinite Toki

• Anomalous Twin: Lady Vashj, Ini Stormcoil, Death Speaker Blackthorn

• Anomalous Bribe: Dancin’ Deryl, Death Speaker Blackthorn, Mutanus the Devourer, Professor Putricide

• The Keys to Victory: Ini Stormcoil, Infinite Toki

• Bring Home the Bacon: Alexstrasza, Overlord Saurfang

• Temperence of Aman’Thul: Kurtrus Ashfallen, Rakanishu, Lady Vashj, Overlord Saurfang, Tavish Stormpike, C’Thun, Cariel Roame, Voone, Maiev Shadowsong, Cookie the Cook, Tickatus

• Path of the Treasure Seaker: Scabbs Cutterbutter, Tess Greymane

Minion Pool Updates

• Gusty Trumpeter, Mannoroth, and Amalgadon (Tier 7) have been removed from the minion pool.

• Gentle Djinni has been returned to the minion pool.

Minion Updates

Relentless Mur’ghoul

• Old: Venomous. Avenge (4): Gain Reborn.

• New: Venomous. Avenge (5): Gain Reborn.

Piloted Whirl-O-Tron

• Old: Start of Combat: Copy all other minions’ Deathrattles (except Piloted Whirl-O-Tron).

• New: Start of Combat: Copy all other friendly minions’ Deathrattles (except Piloted Whirl-O-Tron).

Gentle Djinni

• Old: [Tier 6]

• New: [Tier 5]

Admiral Eliza Goreblade

• Old: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +2/+1.

• New: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +3/+1.

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Duels Updates

Hero Power Updates

Dino Tracking

• Old: Discover a Beast. Give it +1/+1.

• New: Discover a Beast from your class. Give it +1/+1.

Demon Blood

• Old: Give a random Demon in your hand +2/+2.

• New: Give a random Demon in your hand +3/+2.

Mind Tether

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

• New: Passive: After you cast a spell, deal 1 damage to the enemy hero.

No Guts, No Glory

• Old: 2 Mana

• New: 1 Mana

Outlander

• Old: If you played an Outcast card this turn, add a random Fel spell to your hand.

• New: If you played an Outcast card this turn, Discover a Fel Spell.

Vile Concoction

• Old: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: Add a Concoction to your hand.

• New: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: Add a Toxin to your hand.

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Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a text issue with Lakkari Sacrifice.

• [Battlegrounds] Anima Bride and Invigorating Conch Quest Rewards are no longer pickable together.

• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Blade of Quel’Delar and Hilt of Quel’Delar did not combine into Sword of Quel’Delar.