December 2023 Balance

December 2023 Balance is a Hearthstone patch released on Dec. 19, 2023. It was versioned 28.2.3 with the build number 191554. It was released during the expansion Showdown in the Badlands

Card Changes

• Keeper's Strength - Cost increased to 5 (from 4).
• Desert Nestmatron - Health decreased to 4 (from 5).
• Velarok Windblade - Now only requires one card from another class to be played (was three cards).
• Shell Game - Cost decreased to 2 (from 3).
• Barrel of Sludge - Cost increased to 3 (from 2). Damage dealt increased to 4 (from 3).
• Furnace Fuel - Cost decreased to 3 (from 4).
• Pop'gar the Putrid - Fel spell cost reduction increased to 2 (from 1).
• Maw and Paw - Attack increased to 2 (from 1).
• Corpse Bride - Risen Groom now has Taunt. Wording changed to "and that much Attack and Health" (from "stats equal to the amount spent").
• Horseshoe Slinger - Stats changed to 2-Mana 1/1 (from 3-Mana 2/2).
• Prismatic Beam - Cost increased to 8 (from 7). Now only targets minions.
• Staff of the Nine Frogs - Attack decreased to 1 (from 2).
• Arcane Wyrm - Health decreased to 1 (from 2).
• Invasive Shadeleaf - Damage dealt increased to 10 (from 8).
• Khaz'goroth - Health increased to 5 (from 4).
• Slagmaw the Slumbering - Dormant turns reduced to 6 (from 8).
• Splish-Splash Whelp - Attack decreased to 1 (from 2).
• Pyrotechnician - Temporarily banned.
• Elise, Badlands Savior - Stats of the copies increased to 5/5 (from 4/4).
• Pip the Potent - Cost decreased to 3 (from 4). Health decreased to 3 (from 5).
• Ra-den - Now has Taunt.
• The Azerite Scorpion - Now reads "They cost (1) less for each time you’ve Excavated this game (but not less than 1)." (was "If you’ve Excavated 8 times, they cost (0).")
• Climactic Necrotic Explosion - Damage dealt increased to 6 (from 5). Now summons 3 2/2 Souls (was 2 1/1 Souls).

Quote From Blizzard

Patch 28.2.3 is a data-only patch going live today with updates to Standard and Battlegrounds. This patch is our last scheduled patch for the year, and our aim is to make the most fun patch we can for the holiday break. We hope you enjoy and we’ll see you in the Tavern—and in the new year!

Standard Updates

Dev Comment: The overall goals for this patch are to make buffs across underperforming classes, decks, and cards, especially ones from Showdown in the Badlands, and to weaken a few overperforming decks that are keeping other decks down. Our intent isn’t to kill these decks that players generally like, but to bring them down a little to make more room in the meta.

Paladin has been the biggest overperformer since the last adjustment. We’re targeting its AoE board clears because that’s a mechanic we want Paladin to have access to, but not excel in. There are other potential targets that we looked at, but they were cards that were more in line with what we want the class strengths to be.

Dragon Druid was another outlier with a strong matchup spread. We like the deck’s general patterns, and players seem to be excited by it, so we wanted to just shave a little power from it, to make it more attackable in the early game.

By some measures, Doctor Holli’Dae is the best card in Standard. It’s important for a highlander payoff card to be worth the cost of putting it into your deck, but we wanted to rein this one in a bit. We shaved one attack off the weapon to reduce the overall power while preserving the coolest part of the card: frogs.

Finally, there are two versions of Rainbow Mage, both of which are pretty strong and pretty popular. We don’t want to kill the decks, just keep them in line with the other decks we’re adjusting in this patch. This change makes them a little worse at muddying up the early board while developing their gameplan.

The following cards are being adjusted down in power:

Keeper’s Strength

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Prismatic Beam

• Old: [7 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemies. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.
• New: [8 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemy minions. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.

Splish-Splash Whelp

• Old: 2/1
• New: 1/1

Desert Nestmatron

• Old: 3/5
• New: 3/4

Staff of the Nine Frogs (generated by Doctor Holli’Dae)

• Old: 2/9
• New: 1/9

Arcane Wyrm

• Old: 1/2
• New: 1/1

The disenchantable cards listed above, plus non-Diamond Doctor Holli’Dae, will be eligible for full-dust refunds for at least three weeks following Patch 28.2.3. Additionally, for this patch, all players who have Diamond Doctor Holli’Dae will keep the card and receive a grant of 1600 Arcane Dust at login later this week. We’re taking a look at what systemic changes might look like for Diamond cards impacted by balance changes, so things may work differently in the future.

Pyrotechnician

• Temporarily banned.

Dev Comment: If we had a nickel for each time a problematic Druid deck was refined after we locked our balance patch contents, we’d have, like… 2-3 nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s enough that we wanted to take quick action before we left for the year. We weren’t able to get a balance change for the newly emerging Fire Druid into this patch, so we’re temporarily banning it until we can re-asses in our next balance window.

The following cards are being adjusted up in power:

Elise, Badlands Savior

• Old: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, summon 4/4 copies of 4 random minions in your deck.
• New: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, summon 5/5 copies of 4 random minions in your deck.

Pip the Potent

• Old: [4 Mana] 3/5
• New: [3 Mana] 3/3

Invasive Shadeleaf

• Old: Deal 8 damage to an enemy minion. Save any excess in a 1-Cost Bottle.
• New: Deal 10 damage to an enemy minion. Save any excess in a 1-Cost Bottle.

Ra-den

• Old: Deathrattle: Summon each other minion you’ve played this game that didn’t start in your deck.
• New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon each other minion you’ve played this game that didn’t start in your deck.

Dev Comment: Priest hasn’t been able to find its footing in the Badlands, so we’re adjusting a few cards in it—including three Legendary minions. The challenge with Priest was that we wanted to improve the new archetypes without just buffing Control Priest, which is currently on a razor’s edge. Ra-den is not directly tied to one of the Showdown in the Badlands archetypes, but it’s a cool card that never landed so we wanted to give it a boost, too.

The Azerite Scorpion (the Rogue Excavate Treasure)

• Old: Battlecry: Get 4 random spells. If you’ve Excavated 8 times, they cost (0).
• New: Battlecry: Get 4 random spells. They cost (1) less for each time you’ve Excavated this game (but not less than 1).

Velarok Windblade

• Old: While this is in your hand, play three cards from other classes to reveal Velarok’s true form!
• New: While this is in your hand, play a card from another class to reveal Velarok’s true form!

Shell Game

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Rogue hasn’t had success with the new Excavate and Burgle cards, and we see players excited to try this archetype. The challenge with Scorpion is that we don’t want the spells to just become fuel for Draka and Sinstone Graveyard. This change makes the card smoother to play throughout the game, but the 1-mana limit should prevent it from just becoming a Miracle pop-off generator.

Barrel of Sludge (Spell generated by several cards-mostly in Warlock)

• Old: [2 Mana] When this is played, discarded, or destroyed, deal 3 damage to the lowest Health enemy.
• New: [3 Mana] When this is played, discarded, or destroyed, deal 4 damage to the lowest Health enemy.

Furnace Fuel

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Pop’gar the Putrid

• Old: Your Fel spells cost (1) less and have Lifesteal.
• New: Your Fel spells cost (2) less and have Lifesteal.

Dev Comment: Sludge Warlock is a cool deck that hasn’t landed. We didn’t think there was a good way to make the deck performant without changing the Sludges themselves, but we didn’t want to push them too far and turn this into an OTK deck. This change makes them more potent when you dispose of them without making them too strong as played (but the Pop’gar adjustment means the Sludges still cost 1 with it out).

Maw and Paw

• Old: 1/8
• New: 2/8

Climactic Necrotic Explosion

• Old: Lifesteal. Deal 5 damage. Summon 2 1/1 Souls. (Randomly improved by Corpses you’ve spent).
• New: Lifesteal. Deal 6 damage. Summon 3 2/2 Souls. (Randomly improved by Corpses you’ve spent).

Corpse Bride

• Old: Battlecry: Spend up to 8 Corpses. Summon a Risen Groom with stats equal to the amount spent.
• New: Battlecry: Spend up to 10 Corpses to summon a Risen Groom with Taunt and that much Attack and Health.

Dev Comment: Maw and Paw is a cool card that has gotten a lot of attention. Some players have suggested that one of its rune requirements be removed, but its effect implies both runes so we’d rather just make this card stronger—one attack can do a lot with a minion this sticky. Speaking of multiple runes, Climactic Necrotic Explosion has not worked as enough of a Rainbow payoff. The card already does a lot, so we wanted to just make those effects hit a little harder. Some players have asked about having CNE spend all your corpses first, but we don’t like how that would completely change the texture of the deck. Instead, we’re making Corpse Bride a more exciting and safer big Corpse spender.

Khaz’goroth

• Old: 4/4
• New: 4/5

Slagmaw the Slumbering

• Old: Dormant for 8 turns. (Excavate to awaken 2 turns sooner!)
• New: Dormant for 6 turns. (Excavate to awaken 2 turns sooner!)

Dev Comment: Khaz’goroth is one of the weaker Titans right now, and we think the type of decks that run it could use a little more power, but we didn’t want to push it so far that it would go into more aggressive Warrior decks. Slagmaw is just weak right now, so we’re setting its alarm clock a little earlier.

Horseshoe Slinger

• Old: [3 Mana] 2/2
• New: [2 Mana] 1/1

Dev Comment: This change should improve not just this card directly, but also any cards that generate Quickdraw cards.

Battlegrounds Updates

Dev Comment: We're overall very pleased with the initial reception of spells! While the meta is in a relatively healthy place, we're making a wide range of lighter adjustments to tone down some overperformers (notably, most spell-generators) and to give some extra help to Quilboars, Murlocs, and Undead. We'll continue to monitor and make more adjustments as needed in the new year.

Hero Updates

Tae’thelan Bloodwatcher

• Old: Passive. Every third Tavern spell you buy costs (0).
• New: Passive. Every third Tavern spell you buy costs (1) less.

Lich Baz’hial

• Old: [1 Gold]
• New: [2 Gold]

Fish of N’Zoth (from N’Zoth’s Hero Power)

• Old: After a friendly Deathrattle minion dies, gain its Deathrattle.
• New: After a friendly Deathrattle minion dies in combat, gain its Deathrattle.

Armor Updates

The following heroes now have less Armor:

• Murloc Holmes and Heistbaron Togwaggle have 8 Armor.
• Xyrella has 8 Armor at higher ratings and 10 Armor at lower ratings.
• Skycap’n Kragg has 12 Armor.

The following heroes now have more Armor:

• Tae’thelan Bloodwatcher has 12 Armor.
• Lich Baz’hial has 15 Armor.
• Professor Putricide has 18 Armor.

Minion and Spell Updates

Whelp Smuggler

• Old: 2/5
• New: 2/3

Bronze Sandspewer

• Old: 2/2
• New: 1/1

Nether Drake

• Old: 2/5. At the end of your turn, give your Dragons +1 Attack.
• New: 2/4. At the end of your turn, give your other Dragons +1 Attack.

Ignition Specialist

• Old: [Tier 5] 2/2
• New: [Tier 6] 8/8

Mystic Sporebat

• Old: [Tier 3] 4/1
• New: [Tier 4] 5/1

Sprightly Scarab

• Old: [Tier 4] 5/2. Choose One – Give a Beast +1/+1 and Reborn; or +4/+4 and Taunt.
• New: [Tier 3] 2/1. Choose One – Give a Beast +1/+1 and Reborn; or +3/+3 and Taunt.

Spellbound Seafarer

• Old: 4/5. After you buy 3 cards, get a random Tavern spell.
• New: 4/6. After you buy 4 cards, get a random Tavern spell.

Trembling Trolley

• Old: 0/9. Avenge (3): Get a random Tavern spell.
• New: 0/10. Avenge (4): Get a random Tavern spell.

Lighter Fighter

• Old: 5/1. Deathrattle: Deal 5 damage to the lowest Health enemy minion twice.
• New: 4/1. Deathrattle: Deal 4 damage to the lowest Health enemy minion twice.

Humming Bird

• Old: 0/5
• New: 2/4

Niuzao

• Old: 6/5
• New: 7/6

Bazaar Dealer

• Old: 3/6
• New: 2/4

Imposing Percussionist

• Old: [Tier 4] 4/4
• New: [Tier 5] 6/6

Utility Drone

• Old: 6/7. At the end of your turn, give your minions +1/+1 for each Magnetization they have.
• New: 4/5. At the end of your turn, give your minions +2/+1 for each Magnetization they have.

Swampstriker

• Old: 1/4
• New: 1/5

Heedless Hoarder

• Old: [Tier 4] 5/6
• New: [Tier 3] 4/5

King Bagurgle

• Old: 6/4. Battlecry: Give your other Murlocs +2/+3.
• New: 6/3. Battlecry: Give your other Murlocs +3/+3.

Moon-Bacon Jazzer

• Old: [Tier 3] 2/5
• New: [Tier 2] 1/3

Paint Smudger

• Old: [Tier 4] 5/3
• New: [Tier 3] 3/2

Geomagus Roogug

• Old: [Tier 5]]
• New: [Tier 4]

Snarling Conductor

• Old: 5/5. At the start of your turn, discard a spell to gain 3 Gold.
• New: 4/5. At the start of your turn, discard a spell to gain 4 Gold.

Bristlebach

• Old: 2/10. Avenge (1): Play a Blood Gem on all your Quilboar.
• New: 3/10. Avenge (2): Play 2 Blood Gems on all your Quilboar.

Reef Riffer

• Old: 1/2
• New: 1/1

Nerubian Deathswarmer

• Old: 1/3
• New: 1/4

Mummifier

• Old: 3/2
• New: 5/2

Moroes, Steward of Death

• Old: 6/2. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +6 Health.
• New: 6/1. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +2/+6.

Grave Gobbler

• Old: 3/4. At the start of your turn, destroy the Undead to the left of this to gain +4/+4.
• New: 4/3. At the start of your turn, destroy the Undead to the left of this to gain +5/+5.

Archlich Kel’Thuzad

• Old: 7/4
• New: 10/8

Motley Phalanx

• Old: 5/5. Taunt. Deathrattle: Give a friendly minion of each type +5/+5.
• New: 4/4. Taunt. Deathrattle: Give a friendly minion of each type +4/+4.

Lantern Light

• Old: [2 Gold]
• New: [1 Gold]

Staff of Enrichment

• Old: Minions in the Tavern have +2/+2 this game.
• New: Minions in the Tavern have +1/+2 this game.

Fleeting Vigor

• Old: [Tier 3] Give a minion +5/+5 until next turn.
• New: [Tier 4] Give a minion +6/+6 until next turn.

Echoing Roar

• Old: [2 Gold]
• New: [3 Gold]

Armor Stash

• Old: [2 Gold]
• New: [3 Gold]

Buddy Up

• Old: [3 Gold]
• New: [4 Gold]
• Dev Comment: Additionally, Piloted Whirl-o-Tron has been removed from this pool.

Sacred Gift

• Old: [5 Gold]
• New: [6 Gold]

Minion Pool Updates

• Felfin Navigator has been removed from the minion pool.
• Coldlight Seer, Sore Loser, and General Drakkisath have been returned to the minion pool. Coldlight Seer is returning as a Tier 2 minion, instead of a Tier 3 minion.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Boomboss Tho’grun has had a text-only update for clarity.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed bugs with Titus’ Tribute and Upper Hand causing issues. Both have been returned to Tavern Spell pool.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Silas Darkmoon’s hero power would trigger when Ritual of Growth was played.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where minions would lose their buffs when locked in hand by the Maiev Shadowsong hero power.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Strike Oil didn’t work with Ambassador Faelin.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Annoy-o-Module gave an additional buff when Magnetized.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Tavern Spell visual sigil effects didn’t work from the opponent’s perspective if they were gotten through means other than being purchased from the Tavern.