Patch 31.0.3 is rolling out today with the following updates:
Hearthstone Card Changes
Dev Comments: The goal of this patch is to focus on The Great Dark Beyond. The power level of new decks and archetypes is lower than we intended it to be, and older archetypes are more dominant than we’d like. To make new decks and cards stand out more, we’re weakening a number of cards (mostly from older sets) and strengthening others (all from The Great Dark Beyond).
Our long-term ambition is for the overall power level of the game to be closer to The Great Dark Beyond than the power level of the sets before it, but we think some buffs are warranted and needed to hit our immediate goal encouraging exploration in The Great Dark Beyond. Between balancing our immediate and long-term goals, plus the sheer number of changes in this patch, we expect there will be some level of follow-up adjustments that we plan to work on in the next balance patch window after we see how these changes affect the meta (coming before Winter break).
In deciding which cards to bring down in power, we looked at three major categories: 1) overly powerful cards/archetypes from older expansions; 2) cards that led to frustrating experiences, even if not overly powerful; and 3) cards that were overly hostile to new expansion cards and mechanics, like Starships.
The following cards are being adjusted to be weaker:
Reno, Lone Ranger
- Old: Battlecry: If your deck started with no duplicates, empty the enemy board and limit it to 1 space for a turn.
- New: Battlecry: If your deck started with no duplicates, remove all enemy minions from the game.
- Dev Comments: Reno has been a polarizing card since its release. He’s a necessarily strong payoff to singleton decks, which many players really enjoy, but playing against him can be really frustrating—especially his next turn board limitation. It’s been difficult to balance these competing player interests, and we don’t make this change lightly, but we felt Reno was due for an update (to no longer hit non-minions, Dormant minions, etc.) so we could give Starships a better chance to fly.
Lamplighter
- Old: 4/3. Battlecry: Deal 1 damage (Improved by each turn in a row you’ve played an Elemental).
- New: 4/4. Battlecry: If you played an Elemental last turn, deal 4 damage.
- Dev Comment: Elemental decks are designed to be tempo decks that can play for board and be aggressive. We want them to have some finishing power, but Lamplighter gave the deck more direct damage than we’d like. We think this change, instead of just making it cost more or only hit minions, better aligns with the goals for the archetype.
Seabreeze Chalice
- Old: Deal 2 damage randomly split among all enemies.
- New: Deal 2 damage randomly split among all enemy minions.
Conniving Conman
- Old: Battlecry: Replay the last card you’ve played from a non-Rogue class.
- New: Battlecry: Replay the last card you’ve played from another class.
Sea Shill
- Old: Battlecry: The next card you play from a non-Rogue class costs (2) less.
- New: Battlecry: The next card you play from another class costs (2) less.
Sleep Under the Stars
- Old: [7 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
Quasar
- Old: [6 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
- Dev Comment: Yeah, our bad… Every expansion we like to make a few “dreamy” cards that get players thinking about how far they can push the game. These cards aren’t supposed to be the most competitively viable; the fun of them is wondering “what if.” Quasar mostly fell into that category—it certainly got the dreamers cooking and it hasn’t turned out to be a competitive power outlier—but the experiences when this card does work are too sharp and end games too early, turning the dream into a nightmare to play against.
Everything Must Go
- Old: [8 Mana]
- New: [9 Mana]
Malted Magma
- Old: Deal 1 damage to all enemies.
- New: Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions.
Wave of Nostalgia
- Old: [5 Mana]
- New: [6 Mana]
Threads of Despair
- Old: [2 Mana]
- New: [3 Mana]
Reska, the Pit Boss
- Old: [20 Mana]
- New: [25 Mana]
Funnel Cake
- Old: [1 Mana]
- New: [2 Mana]
Mystery Egg
- Old: Miniaturize. Deathrattle: Get a copy of a random Beast in your deck. It costs (4) less.
- New: Miniaturize. Deathrattle: Get a copy of a random Beast in your deck. It costs (3) less.
Order in the Court
- Old: Reorder your deck from highest Cost to lowest Cost.
- New: Reorder your deck from highest Cost to lowest Cost. Draw a card.
- Dev Comment: On its face, this looks like a buff, but the intent of this change is to pull back on a play pattern that is warping the Wild metagame. With the introduction of The Ceaseless Expanse, the deck got a payoff worth going all-in on in a way that made the deck faster and more consistent than ever before. This change will still allow for big plays, while skipping over the turn 5 100-damage Holy Wrath target. With this change, The Ceaseless Expanse is no longer banned in Wild.
The above cards, plus disenchantable copies of Master’s Call—more on that in the Bug Fixes and Game Improvements section—will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 31.0.3.
The following cards are being adjusted to be stronger:
Dev Comment: When we looked at The Great Dark Beyond data, we found some cards with room for buffs. So, we’ve made adjustments across a wide range of new cards, with an emphasis on promoting the expansion’s marquee archetypes.
Askara
- Old: [5 Mana] 4/5
- New: [4 Mana] 4/4
Dirdra, Rebel Captain
- Old: Rush. Battlecry: Shuffle all 8 Crewmates into your deck. Deathrattle: Draw one.
- New: Rush. Battlecry: Shuffle all 8 Crewmates into your deck. Deathrattle: Draw two Crewmates.
Voronei Recruiter
Interstellar Starslicer
Yrel, Beacon of Hope
- Old: [5 Mana] 4/3
- New: [4 Mana] 3/3
Felfire Thrusters
Sha’tari Cloakfield
The Gravitational Displacer
Starship Schematic
- Old: Discover a Starship Piece from another class.
- New: Discover a Starship Piece from another class. It costs (1) less.
Scrounging Shipwright
- Old: Deathrattle: Get a random Starship Piece from another class.
- New: Battlecry: Get a random Starship Piece from another class.
The Exodar
- Old: [8 Mana] 6/10
- New: [7 Mana] 6/8
- Dev Comment: This last change is particularly spicy. We wanted to make sure that Starships got a chance to shine, but we’ll keep an eye on this one after all the changes go live to make sure we didn’t push too far.
Ace Wayfinder
- Old: [5 Mana] 5/5
- New: [4 Mana] 4/4
Dimensional Core
- Old: [3 Mana] 3/2
- New: [2 Mana] 2/2
Astral Vigilant
Battlegrounds Updates
Dev Comments: Well met! As this season comes to a close, we primarily focused on making adjustments to cards that will be leaving at the end of the season. Specifically, we wanted to raise the power of Naga and Beasts a little bit while lowering the power of Quilboar a bit as well. We also removed or adjusted some frustrating/unpopular trinkets.
One absence this patch is to hero adjustments. We decided not to make significant changes to any heroes at this time because we expect the meta to change significantly in 31.2 and we will be able to better adjust them when Trinkets are rotated out. We are expecting to make some hero adjustments in the first major balance patch after the new season launches. We’ll see you in the Tavern!
Minion Updates
Critter Wrangler
- Old: 2/5. Whenever you cast a spell on a minion, give it +2/+2.
- New: 3/6. Whenever you cast a spell on a minion, give it +3/+3.
Soft-hearted Siren
Living Azerite
- Old: [Tier 4] 6/6
- New: [Tier 3] 4/4
Iridescent Skyblazer
- Old: 4/8. Whenever a friendly Beast takes damage, give a friendly Beast other than it +1/+1 permanently.
- New: 3/7. Whenever a friendly Beast takes damage, give a friendly Beast other than it +2/+1 permanently.
Moon-Bacon Jazzer
- Old: [Tier 2] 2/3
- New: [Tier 3] 2/5
Karmic Chameleon (Golden version only)
- Old: Avenge (5): Transform into a copy of the minion to the left of this.
- New: Avenge (5): Transform into a Golden copy of the minion to the left of this.
Land Lubber
- Old: [Tier 3] 4/5
- New: [Tier 4] 5/6
Phyresz
- Old: 3/3. Battlecry: Discover a plain copy of a different minion that you have exactly one of.
- New: 4/4. When you sell this, Discover a plain copy of a different minion that you have exactly one of.
Famished Felbat
- Old: 9/6. At the end of your turn, your other Demons consume a minion in the Tavern to gain its stats.
- New: 9/5. At the end of your turn, your Demons each consume a minion in the Tavern to gain its stats.
Lesser Trinket Updates
Belcher Portrait
- Old: Get an ‘Operatic Belcher’. Whenever a friendly minion loses Venomous, it gains +3/+3 permanently.
- New: Get an ‘Operatic Belcher’. Whenever a friendly minion loses Venomous, it gains +4/+4 permanently.
Kaboom Bot Portrait
- Old: Get a ‘Kaboom Bot’. Your Kaboom Bots’ Deathrattles deal 8 extra damage.
- New: Get a ‘Kaboom Bot’. Your Kaboom Bots’ Deathrattles deal 10 extra damage.
Dalaran Cheese Wheel
- Old: [0 Gold] Minions in the Tavern have +1/+1. Upgrades every 5 times you Refresh.
- New: [1 Gold] Minions in the Tavern have +1/+1. Upgrades every 4 times you Refresh.
Blingtron’s Sunglasses
- Old: [3 Gold]
- New: [4 Gold]
Azeroth Model Globe
- Old: [1 Gold]
- New: [0 Gold]
Rewinder Portrait
- Old: [4 Gold]
- New: [3 Gold]
Bob-blehead
- Old: The Tavern no longer offers cards from Tier 1 or Tier 2.
- New: Gain 2 Gold. The Tavern no longer offers cards from Tier 1 or Tier 2.
Greater Trinket Updates
Bronzebeard Portrait
- Old: Get a ‘Brann Bronzebeard’. Your Brann Bronzebeards are both Murlocs and Dragons.
- New: Get a ‘Brann Bronzebeard’ and a random Battlecry minion. Your Brann Bronzebeards are both Murlocs and Dragons.
Redeemer Portrait
- Old: [8 Gold] Get a ‘Nalaa the Redeemer’. Tavern spells cost (1) less.
- New: [5 Gold] Get a ‘Nalaa the Redeemer’. Tavern spells cost (1) less (but not less than 1).
Belcher Portrait
- Old: Get an ‘Operatic Belcher’. Whenever a friendly minion loses Venomous, it gains +12/+12 permanently.
- New: Get an ‘Operatic Belcher’. Whenever a friendly minion loses Venomous, it gains +14/+14 permanently.
Dalaran Cheese Wheel
- Old: [2 Gold] Minions in the Tavern have +2/+2. Upgrades every 5 times you Refresh.
- New: [5 Gold] Minions in the Tavern have +2/+2. Upgrades every 4 times you Refresh.
Azerite Portrait
- Old: [1 Gold]
- New: [4 Gold]
Twin Sky Lantern
- Old: [2 Gold]
- New: [1 Gold]
Promo Portrait
- Old: [1 Gold]
- New: [0 Gold]
Pool Updates
- Aggem Thorncurse will stay removed from the Minion Pool.
- Primalfin Portrait, Shaman Prayer Beads, and Precious Pearl have been removed from the Trinket Pools.
- The Eye of Sargeras will be removed from the Trinket Pool if you have Souvenir Stand.
- Tickatus Sticker has been removed from the Mystery Cube.
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
- [Hearthstone] Various Discover cards (Master’s Call, Font of Power, Crystalsong Portal, Omega Assembly, Maruut Stonebinder, and some PVE cards) have been adjusted to more clearly and accurately account for cards gained through Discover versus alternative effects. We don’t normally give refunds for these types of bug fixes/general rules updates, and these changes won’t have any gameplay impact in most games, but we’ve decided to include Master’s Call in this patch’s refund period due to its specific changed interaction with Alien Encounters.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Blood Gems sometimes didn’t work when you had the Training Certificate Trinket.
- [General] Fixed a bug where the “Hearthstone has been updated!” message could sometimes block players even when no update was available.