It’s been a couple of weeks since Hearthstone released Forged in the Barrens. But it looks like there may be some changes needed as Patch 20.0.2 was released. It brings updates to Standard, Battlegrounds, Duels, and Arena.
Under Standard, one of the changes is the increase in cost for Deck of Lunacy from two to four. In a post, the dev team revealed that they wanted to remove the game-warping effect that it had, particularly on the first two turns. This nerf means that No Minion Mage Decks are somewhat slowed.
Paladins are also going to have some issues with the durability of Sword of the Fallen lowered by one. The team explained that this card wasn’t only powerful but also resulted in an early-game with too many Secrets in play. With the nerf, the overall value of the card is reduced, and hopefully making turns with three to four Secrets uncommon.
Meanwhile, Jandice Barov had her cost increased by one. This is mainly to make sure that her stat output is much more appropriate. Nerfed as well is Pen Flinger having damage now limited to minions.
Finally, there are changes to the Watch Posts. Both Far Watch Post and Mor’shan Watch Post have their health reduced by one. The team shared that these cards were planned to serve as a tech package, especially when it comes to some game plans. Lately, however, they have been experiencing high win rates and this nerf makes sure they’re much easier to deal with.
Other Balance Updates
Other balance updates that arrived with this new patch include:
- Battlegrounds
- Returning Heroes
- Queen Wagtoggle
- Wax Warband
- Old: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+1
- New: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+1.
- Wax Warband
- Captain Hooktusk
- Trash for Treasure
- Old: [Costs 1] Remove a friendly minion. Discover a random one from a Tavern Tier lower.
- New: [Costs 0] Remove a friendly minion. Choose one of two from a Tavern Tier lower to keep.
- Trash for Treasure
- Queen Wagtoggle
- Returning Heroes
- Minion Updates
- Steward of Time
- Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +1/+1.
- New: 3 Attack, 3 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +2/+1.
- Pack Leader
- Old: 2 Attack, 3 Health
- New: 3 Attack, 3 Health
- Monstrous Macaw
- Old: 4 Attack, 3 Health
- New: 5 Attack, 3 Health
- Herald of Flame
- Old: 5 Attack, 6 Health
- New: 6 Attack, 6 Health
- Wildfire Elemental
- Old: 7 Attack, 3 Health
- New: 7 Attack, 4 Health
- Lieutenant Garr
- Old: 5 Attack, 1 Health
- New: 8 Attack, 1 Health
- Lil’ Rag
- Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health
- New: 6 Attack, 6 Health
- Steward of Time
- Duels
- Ace in the Hole
- Old: [Costs 2]
- New: [Costs 3]
- Rally the Troops
- Old: After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (5) less.
- New: After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (3) less.
- Connections
- Old: [Passive]
- New: [Costs 1]
- Ace in the Hole
- Arena Updates
- Updated the appearance rate of cards in Arena to ensure class balance remains close to the ideal 50% win rate.
- The win rate of Demon Hunter and Priest should now be decreased.
- The win rate of Druid, Hunter, Rogue, and Shaman should now be increased.
- Removed from Arena:
- Far Watch Post
- Mor’Shan Watch Post
- Crossroads Watch Post
- Kargal Battlescar
What do you think of these changes?
