A new patch arrived in Hearthstone and it brings balancing changes focused on Standard and Battlegrounds. For Standard, there are some interesting nerfs that may appear small but actually have a big impact.
Patch 20.2.2 also introduces an update to the Duels Treasure Pool. In particular, both Orb of Revelation and Rally the Troops have been moved from Passive Treasure Pool 2 to Passive Treasure Pool 2 Ultra Rare.
The Nerfs
There’s a lot to unpack in the changes for Standard so we’ll just have to give the highlights. One of these updated the First Day of School:
- Old: [Costs 0] Add 2 random 1-Cost minions to your hand.
- New: [Costs 1] Add 3 random 1-Cost minions to your hand.
The dev team shared that this nerf was done to impact the early-game strength of Paladin. With this, the card should have a better value role instead of a curve enabler.
Nerfed as well is Hysteria, which now costs four mana to cast. The team said that the problem with Hysteria before was it became an option even before opponents have the time to think about how to interact with it. This slight increase in the mana cost should now allow for more committed decisions.
Getting the same nerf is Refreshing Spring Water, now with five mana cost. The increase should lower the frequency of extreme turns and make sure that the deck is more in line with other current options.
The Buffs
Of course, some buffs are introduced in this patch. The team revealed that one of the goals is to allow for deck diversity, not only in terms of class options but also gameplay. This is why the changes are focused on struggling archetypes and classes like:
- Razorboar
- Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health
- New: 3 Attack, 2 Health
- Dark Inquisitor Xanesh
- Old: Reduce the Cost of all Corrupt cards in your hand and deck by (2).
- New: Reduce the Cost of all Corrupt and Corrupted cards in your hand and deck by (2).
- Unbound Elemental
- Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health
- New: 3 Attack, 4 Health
- Tidal Surge
- Old: [Costs 4]
- New: [Costs 3]
Read more about the changes that arrived with Patch 20.2.2 here.
