Hearthstone

Patch 26.0, launching tomorrow, is the venue for Hearthstone’s latest expansion, Festival of Legends, launching April 11! The Patch also paves the way for the new Year of the Wolf, adjusts Battlegrounds, Duels, and Arena, and more.

Festival of Legends is About to Begin!

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Festival of Legends, starts the show on April 11! The new 145-card expansion features the new Finale keyword, Legendary musicians and songs, instrument weapons, Harmonic spells, Soloists, and more! See all the new cards in the official Card Library today. This is your last chance to get your Pre-Purchase bundle, only available until the expansion goes live next week!

With the launch of Festival of Legends comes a new Rewards Track, with tons of showstopping cosmetics, XP boosts, cards, card packs, and a huge infusion of Gold! Check out our upcoming Rewards Track Refresh blog for details.

Card Rotation and Core Set Changes

The launch of Festival of Legends kicks off the next Hearthstone year: the Year of the Wolf! With that, comes the Standard rotation. That means that Forged in the Barrens, United in Stormwind, and Fractured in Alterac Valley will be rotating out of Standard. Standard will then be comprised of Voyage to the Sunken City, Murder at Castle Nathria, March of the Lich King, Path of Arthas, Festival of Legends, and the free Core Set.

The Core Set has a huge update for the Year of the Wolf! Over 70 cards are being swapped out for new ones in the free Core Set. On top of that, dozens of existing and new Core cards are getting adjustments for the new year. Finally, the Core Set is bringing back the Tradeable and Magnetic keywords, and introducing a new Priest keyword, Overheal. You can learn more about all the Core Set changes in our dedicated Year of the Wolf blog and video.

The cards that are being adjusted in the Core Set will be adjusted on April 4, with Patch 26.0. The swap of cards entering and leaving the Core Set will take place when the new Hearthstone Year begins with the launch of Festival of Legends on April 11!

Special Event – Legends Take the Stage

On April 18, after you’ve hashed out your setlist and tuned up your instruments, an expansion celebration event will take place using the in-game Event system. From April 18 to May 2, complete Event Quests to earn Event XP on a special event rewards track! Complete the rewards track for four Signature cards (2 copies each of two non-Legendary cards), a Standard Pack, and a Festival of Legends Pack.

Signature Cards Update

Signature Cards have a totally new look for Festival of Legends! Festival of Legends’s Signature cards feature vibrant full-color art, Golden-style animations, and a new, thinner frame to show off more of the art. Additionally, their card text is moved off the card and shown via tooltip instead, so the art can take center stage.

Starting with Patch 26.0, all Signature cards (even those from March of the Lich King) will also have duplicate protection and be able to be disenchanted* for the same value as if they were Golden cards. Signature Cards still can’t be crafted because we still want them to feel special. Due to these changes, we’ve removed the rule that if you are awarded a Signature card when you already have all Signature cards, you’d get a Golden Legendary card, instead—now you will just receive a duplicate Signature card that can be disenchanted.

* As with all other cards, the exception is special card grants, like events and the Rewards Track.

Card Balance Updates

The following cards are being adjusted with Patch 26.0. Most of these adjustments are reversions to prior changes, in preparation for these cards rotating into Wild:

• Final Showdown (the first phase of the Demon Hunter Questline)
  • Old: Draw 6 cards in one turn.
  • New: Draw 4 cards in one turn.​

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• Caria Felsoul
  • Old: [7 Mana] 7 Attack, 7 Health. Battlecry: Transform into a 7/7 copy of a Demon in your deck.
  • New: [6 Mana] 6 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Transform into a 6/6 copy of a Demon in your deck.

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• Razormane Battleguard
  • Old: 2 Attack, 2 Health
  • New: 2 Attack, 3 Health

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• Kolkar Pack Runner
  • Old: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: [2 Mana] 2 Attack, 3 Health

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• Dragonbane Shot
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

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• Arcanist Dawngrasp (the final reward from Sorcerer’s Gambit, the Mage Questline)
  • Old: Battlecry: For the rest of the game, you have +2 Spell Damage.
  • New: Battlecry: For the rest of the game, you have +3 Spell Damage.

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• ​Arcane Burst (Magister Dawngrasp’s hero power)
  • Old: Deal 2 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +1 damage.
  • New: Deal 2 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +2 damage.

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• ​Conviction
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]​

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• ​Level Up!
  • Old: [6 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]

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• Cold Blood
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]​

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• ​Garrote
  • Old: Deal 2 damage to the enemy hero. Shuffle 2 Bleeds into your deck that deal 2 more when drawn.
  • New: Deal 2 damage to the enemy hero. Shuffle 3 Bleeds into your deck that deal 2 more when drawn.

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• ​EVIL Miscreant
  • Old: 1 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: 1 Attack, 5 Health

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• ​​Forsaken Lieutenant
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

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• ​​Tame the Flames (the final phase of Command the Elements, the Shaman Questline)
  • Old: Play 3 cards with Overload.
  • New: Play 2 cards with Overload.

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• Granite Forgeborn
  • Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: 4 Attack, 5 Health

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• ​​Dark Pact
  • Old: Destroy a friendly minion. Restore 4 Health to your hero.
  • New: Destroy a friendly minion. Restore 8 Health to your hero.

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• ​The Demon Seed (each phase of the Warlock Questline)
  • Old: Take 8 damage on your turns. (Each phase of the Questline)
  • New: Take 10 damage on your turns. (Each phase of the Questline)
  • The Demon Seed is no longer banned in Wild.

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• Stealer of Souls
  • Old: [6 Mana] 4 Attack, 6 Health. After you draw a card, change its Cost to Health instead of Mana.
  • New: [4 Mana] 2 Attack, 6 Health. The first card you draw each turn costs Health instead of Mana.
  • Stealer of Souls is no longer banned in Wild.

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• ​Fiery War Axe
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

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• ​​Warsong Commander
  • Old: After you summon another minion, give it Rush.
  • New: Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less Attack, give it Charge.

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• ​Mor’shan Watch Post
  • Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: 3 Attack, 5 Health

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• ​Ice Revenant
  • Old: Whenever you cast a Frost spell, gain +1/+1.
  • New: Whenever you cast a Frost spell, gain +2/+2.

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• ​Faceless Corruptor
  • Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: 5 Attack, 4 Health

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• ​Goldshire Gnoll
  • Old: [11 Mana]
  • New: [10 Mana]

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Dev Comment: Pandaren Importer will also be reverted, in a patch after it has rotated to Wild.

The Demon Seed and Soul Stealer will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 26.0.

Battlegrounds Updates

Minion Updates

• Replicating Menace
  • Old: 3 Attack, 1 Health
  • New: 3 Attack, 2 Health

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• Wargear
  • Old: 5 Attack, 5 Health
  • New: 6 Attack, 5 Health

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Minion Pool Updates

• Sire Denathrius has been returned to the hero pool.
• Friend of a Friend has been returned to the minion pool.

Duels Updates

On April 4, the current Duels season will end, ratings will be reset, and ongoing runs will be concluded. At that time, Rastakhan’s Rumble and Festival of Legends will be added to card pool offerings; also on April 4, Rastakhan’s Rumble and E.T.C., Band Manager will be available for initial deck construction. The rest of the Festival of Legends set will be available for deck construction when Festival of Legends launches on April 11.

Hero Power Updates

• Outlander (Demon Hunter)
  • Old: After you play the left- or right-most card in your hand, gain +1 Attack this turn.
  • New: If you played a card with Outcast this turn, add a random Fel spell to your hand.

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• Illidari Strike (Demon Hunter)
  • Old: [1 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

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• Starseeker (Druid)
  • Old: After you cast 3 spells in a turn, add a Moonfire to your hand.
  • New: After you cast 4 spells in a turn, add a Moonfire to your hand.

• Well Equipped (Hunter)
  • Old: Equip a random weapon and set its Durability to 1.
  • New: Equip a random weapon from your class and set its Durability to 1.

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• Power Up (Paladin)
  • Old: Give a minion Windfury and Divine Shield. Overload: (1).
  • New: Give a minion Windfury and Divine Shield. Overload: (2).

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• Connections (Rogue)
  • Old: [1 Mana] Add a random 1-Cost minion to your hand.
  • New: [Passive] At the start of your turn, add a random 1-Cost minion to your hand.

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• ​​Vile Concoction (Rogue)
  • Old: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: And +1/+1 and Stealth for 1 turn.
  • New: Give a minion Poisonous. Combo: Add a Concoction to your hand.

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Treasure Updates

• ​​Moonbeast (Druid)
  • Old: [4 Mana] 4 Attack, 6 Health.
  • New: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 5 Health.

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• Herding Horn (Druid)
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

• Gatling Wand (Mage)
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [3 Mana]

• Humble Blessings (Paladin)
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]

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• ​​Addarah (Priest)
  • Old: [7 Mana]
  • New: [8 Mana]

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• Tempest’s Fury (Shaman)
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]

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• Gift of the Old Gods (Warlock)
  • Old: Draw 2 Corrupt cards, then Corrupt them.
  • New: Discover 2 Corrupt cards, then Corrupt them.

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• ​​Collector’s Ire (Warrior)
  • Old: [4 Mana] Summon a Mech, Pirate, and Dragon from your hand.
  • New: [7 Mana] Summon a Mech, Pirate, and Dragon from your deck.

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• ​​Pact of the Lich (Drek'Thar)
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [6 Mana]​

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• Devout Blessings (Vanndar)
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [6 Mana]

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• ​​Rending Ambush (Vanndar)
  • Old: [6 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]

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• Stalker’s Supplies (Vanndar)
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]

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Arena Updates

On April 11, when Festival of Legends launches, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Core
• Voyage to the Sunken City
• Murder at Castle Nathria
• March of the Lich King
• Path of Arthas
• Festival of Legends

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Cards that cost Health (or Armor) instead of Mana no longer count as “dealing damage.” That means, for instance, the player will still pay that Health if they are Immune or have Divine Shield. This change does not apply to spending Health instead of Gold in Battlegrounds (e.g., Leeching Felhound).

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where copying a deck code with E.T.C., Band Manager in it would not properly transfer over card quality.

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where copying a deck code with E.T.C., Band Manager in it would not override an existing Band in a deck.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where the “Pick a Replacement” interface did not work with E.T.C.’s Band.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Ring of Tides would get stuck on its first transformation.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where, if Orion, Mansion Manager was summoned by a triggered Secret, his effect would then trigger based off that same Secret.
• [Hearthstone] Invincible’s card text was updated to match its current, intended function.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Grand Magister Rommath’s Battlecry would replay the spells in the order they were played instead of in random order.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Infused Sinfueled Golem’s stats could be Silenced.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed bugs with Build-A-Beast Zombeast effects.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Inkmaster Solia’s effect would be “spent” even if the card played is Countered.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where bots on ladder could sometimes start the game with 40 Health.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where bots on ladder could have Infused versions of cards in their decks, pre-Infused.
• [Battlegrounds] Cosmetics can now be search by a Hero’s base name (e.g., “Scabbs Cutterbutter” or “Scabbs” or “Cutterbutter”), or by rarity.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Stalker’s Supplies did not include Improved ZOMBEEEES!!! and Improved Motion Denied as intended.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug in the Renown upgrade interface causing soft locks.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where the Dat Ashbringer Treasure did not apply its buff to all levels.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where unlocking the Death Knight class automatically granted all Death Knight’s Golden Core set.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where the “Wither? You killed her!” achievement could not progress.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where players did not earn game-end Event XP after playing a bot.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a visual bug with the Hedanis Priest Hero Skin’s Hero Power animation.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where the Inzah Shaman Hero Skin did not play its special Hero Power animation.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 25.6.2 is a data-only balance patch, launching today with several updates to Battlegrounds.

Battlegrounds Updates

Armor Updates

The following heroes will now have less Armor:

• Trade Prince Gallywix now has 7 Armor
• Patches the Pirate now has 8 Armor, or 10 Armor in high MMR lobbies
• Death Speaker Blackthorn, Deathwing, and Elise Starseeker now have 10 Armor
• Jandice Barov and Sindragosa now have 12 Armor

The following heroes will now have more Armor:

• George the Fallen now has 13 Armor
• Forest Warden Omu and Millificent Manastorm now have 14 Armor
• Ambassador Faelin, Lord Barov, Master Nguyen, Silas Darkmoon, and Tess Greymane now have 15 Armor
• N’Zoth and Ragnaros the Firelord now have 16 Armor
• Chenvaala now has 17 Armor
• Nozdormu now has 18 Armor

Buddy Updates

Living Nightmare (Kurtrus Ashfallen's Buddy)

• Old: After you buy a minion, minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1 this turn.
• New: After you buy a minion, minions in Bob’s Tavern have +2/+1 this turn.

Enhance-o Medico (Enhance-o Mechano’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health. Minions in Bob’s Tavern with Taunt, Reborn, Divine Shield, or Windfury have +1/+1 for each.
• New: [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Minions in Bob’s Tavern with Taunt, Reborn, Divine Shield, or Windfury have +2/+2 for each.

Sr. Tomb Diver (Reno Jackson’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] Deathrattle: Make your right-most minion Golden.
• New: [Tavern Tier 1] Taunt. Deathrattle: Make your right-most minion Golden.

Raging Contender (Captain Hooktusk’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 1] 4 Attack, 2 Health. ‘Trash for Treasure’ offers 3 options instead of 2.
• New: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 4 Health. After you use ‘Trash for Treasure,’ gain Gold equal to the removed minion’s Tavern Tier.

Frostwolf Lieutenant (Drek’Thar’s Buddy)

• Old: Avenge (3): Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1 Attack for the rest of the game.
• New: Avenge (2): Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1 Attack for the rest of the game.

Unearthed Underling (Lich Baz’hial’s Buddy)

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Whenever your hero takes damage, this minion gains +3/+3 instead. (2 left this turn.)
• New: 2 Attack, 2 Health. Whenever your hero takes damage, this minion gains +2/+2 instead. (2 left this turn.)

Jr. Navigator (Elise Starseeker’s Buddy)

• Old: Reduce the Cost of your Hero Power by (2).
• New: Reduce the Cost of ‘Lead Explorer’ by (2).
• Dev Comment: Junior Navigator has been removed from E.T.C.’s hero power pool.

Arfus (The Lich King’s Buddy)

• Old: 4 Attack, 3 Health.
• New: 6 Attack, 3 Health.

Festergut (Professor Putricide’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 2 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 2 Health.

Apostle of Galakrond (Galakrond’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 5 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 4 Health.

Elder Taggawag (Queen Wagtoggle’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 3 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 2 Health.

Flight Trainer (Galewing’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 4 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 3 Health.

Piloted Whirl-O-Tron (Sneed’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 4 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 3 Health.

Mawsworn Soulkeeper (The Jailer’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

Lucifron (Ragnaros the Firelord’s Buddy)

• Old: 5 Attack, 3 Health.
• New: 6 Attack, 5 Health.

Burth (Silas Darkmoon’s Buddy)

• Old: 3 Attack, 6 Health.
• New: 5 Attack, 6 Health.

Wandering Treant (Greybough’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 7 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 5 Health.

Nathanos Blightcaller (Sylvanas’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 5] 3 Attack, 6 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 6] 6 Attack, 6 Health.

Warden Thelwater

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 6 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 4] 2 Attack, 6 Health.

Muckslinger

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 5 Attack, 3 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 5 Attack, 5 Health.

Titanic Guardian (Pyramad’s Buddy)

• Old: 6 Attack, 2 Health
• New: 5 Attack, 2 Health.

Tentacle of C’Thun (C’Thun’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] 1 Attack, 1 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

Loyal Henchman (Arch-Villain Rafaam’s Buddy)

• Old: 6 Attack, 6 Health.
• New: 4 Attack, 6 Health.

Buddy Tavern Tier Updates

The following Buddies are now a lower Tavern Tier:

• Enhance-o Medico, Sklibb, Demon Hunter, and Sr. Tomb Diver are now Tavern Tier 1.
• Apostle of Galakrond, Crazy Monkey, Eclipsion Illidari, Elder Taggawag, Flight Trainer, Many Whelps, Mawsworn Soulkeeper, SI:7 Scout, Tamuzo, and Wandering Treant are now Tavern Tier 2.
• Baby Elekk, Dagwik Stickytoe, Festergut, Piloted Whirl-O-Tron, Spirit Raptor, and Street Magician are now Tavern Tier 3.
• Baby N’Zoth is now Tavern Tier 4.

The following Buddies are now a higher Tavern Tier:

• Brann’s Epic Egg, Lil’ K.T, Muckslinger, and Tentacle of C’Thun are now Tavern Tier 3.
• Acolyte of Yogg-Saron, Imperial Defender, Kil’rek, Maxwell Mighty Steed, Nexus Lord, Raging Contender, Varden’s Aquarrior, and Warden Thelwater are now Tavern Tier 4.
• Baby Kodo, Captain Fairmount, Clockwork Assistant, Crimson Hand Centurion, and Ticket Collector are now Tavern Tier 5.
• Nathanos Blightcaller is now Tavern Tier 6.

Minion Pool Updates

• Chronormu has been removed from the minion pool.
• Razorgore has been returned to the minion pool.

Bug Fixes

• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where some Buddy visuals were missing from the “Last 5 Warbands” under certain circumstances.
• [Collection] Fixed an issue where Diamond Zephrys appeared in-client before he was ready. He will return, and be earnable, when the time is right.

Patch 25.6, launching today, sets the stage for Hearthstone’s next expansion: Festival of Legends! The patch also brings Battlegrounds Buddies back with an updated system, new friends, and more. So grab your Buddy and your pre-purchase bundle, the show is about to begin!

Pre-Purchase Festival of Legends

Hearthstone’s next expansion, Festival of Legends, is coming this April! Azeroth’s greatest musician, E.T.C., is putting together a massive music festival, featuring the best artists in 11 different musical genres—each with its own Legendary musician minion and song spell. Grab your gear and prepare for the opening act, it’s almost time for the Festival of Legends!

Festival of Legends is jam-packed with 145 new collectible cards. You can learn more in the Festival of Legends Announcement blog. Two pre-purchase options are available now so that you don’t miss a beat when the expansion launches.

Pre-purchase

Log in and Get E.T.C., Band Manager for Free!

Log in to Hearthstone now for your first steps towards stardom with the free E.T.C., Band Manager Legendary card!* With E.T.C., you can form a three-piece band while building your deck and then call any band member up to the stage when the time is right. Try-outs are now open! What cards are making it into your band?**

* Limited one per account. After Patch 26.6, E.T.C., Band Manager will be granted upon opening your first Festival of Legends pack, instead of upon logging in.

** E.T.C.’s band follows deckbuilding rules for the deck E.T.C. is in—so you can’t use the band to get extra copies of a Legendary card, or cards from another class. Any card can be in the band, not just minions, but certain cards don’t have what it takes to make the band. Cards with Start of Game effects, Maestra of the Masquerade, Whizbang the Wonderful, Zale Shadowcloak, and the Galakrond forms are banned from the band at launch. The Galakronds are expected to be un-banned in a future update, after some bug fixes. Additionally, E.T.C., Band Manager can’t be drafted in Arena and does not appear in Duels deckbuilding or card buckets.

Card Updates

Test Subject has been unbanned in Wild and has had its text updated.

• Old: Deathrattle: Return any spells you cast on this minion to your hand.
• New: Deathrattle: Shuffle any spells you cast on this minion into your deck.

Test Subject will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 25.6.

Join the Headliner’s Tour

On Warm up for the Festival of Legends with a special in-game event. Choose one of three headliners to follow on tour as they make their way to the Festival of Legends. From March 14 to March 28, you can complete daily and special Event Quests to earn Event XP towards your selected event Rewards Track. The Event Quests offered will correspond to the classes represented in your chosen Rewards Track. Complete the event Rewards Track to earn three class packs, one Festival of Legends pack, and a hero skin of your selected headliner!

Don’t worry about missing the other headliners’ shows, the hero skins that you do not earn will be available for purchase in the in-game shop during Patch 26.0.

New Battle Bash: Corgi Cup Collection

A new Battle Bash is here for Corgle fans everywhere! This limited-time curated collection* of Battlegrounds cosmetics includes ten Corgi Cup themed items: an Epic Strike, an Epic Board, five different Epic Hero Skins, a Rare Bartender, and two sets of three Rare Emotes. Purchasing the Battle Bash will immediately unlock 2 Hammers you can use to Bash for random prizes from the collection. Each Top 4 finish during the Battle Bash period unlocks another Hammer.

On March 21, a new Battle Bash is coming for Corgle fans everywhere! That means everyone has a random chance to score their favorite prize for free! It also means that players purchasing the Battle Bash will only need seven Top 4 finishes during the Battle Bash period to unlock all the prizes.

* Each Battle Bash collection will only be available as a whole collection for a limited time. However, individual items within the collection may become available at a later time. For more details, see the full disclosures site.

Battlegrounds Updates

General Updates

• Battlegrounds Buddies are back for the mid-season update!
• Heroes now have 30 starting Health (except for Patchwerk) and Armor Tiers are being removed. Instead of a range of Armor, each hero will have a set amount of Armor, from 5-20.
• The starting Cost to upgrade from Tavern Tier 4 to Tavern Tier 5 has increased from 9 Gold to 11 Gold.
• Some Buddies had their minion types adjusted to match the minion type updates since Buddies were last in the Tavern.

Buddies are Back and Better than Before!

Buddies are returning for every hero that had a Buddy last time they were around. Heroes that didn’t already have their Buddy are making a new friend!

Buddies work a little bit differently this time around. Instead of a complicated Buddy Meter, there’s now a Buddy Button that you can press at any time to get your Buddy. The Buddy Button’s initial cost is based on your Buddy’s Tavern Tier, and is reduced by 3 Gold each time you win or tie a combat, or reduced by 2 Gold each time you lose a combat.

Like with the previous Buddy Meter, the Buddy Button can be activated up to twice per game. The first time you press the Button, you’ll get one copy of your Buddy; the second time you press the Button, you’ll get two copies. The cost to press the Button resets and is slightly increased after you press it the first time.

New Hero

E.T.C., Band Manager

• Hero Power - Sign a New Artist (4 Gold): Discover a Buddy. (Unlocks at Tier 2.)
  • Dev Comment: To avoid unwanted and ineffective interactions, the “Sign a New Artist” Buddy pool has the same limitations as Friend of a Friend.

• Buddy – Talent Scout (Tavern Tier 5)
  • 4 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry: Make a Buddy Golden.

E.T.C., Band Manager will be guaranteed in every game for the first 2 weeks after the launch of Patch 25.6.

Hero Power Updates

Shudderwock – Snicker-snack

• Old: [1 Gold] Add a 1/1 Shudderling to your hand that repeats all Battlecries you’ve played. (Twice per game).
• New: [0 Gold] Trigger a friendly minion’s Battlecry.
• Dev Comment: Shudderwock is still banned in Beast lobbies.

Queen Wagtoggle – Wax Warband

• Old: [1 Gold] Give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+1.
• New: Passive. Start of Combat: Give 3 friendly minions of different types stats equal to their Tavern Tiers.

New Buddies

Queen Azshara – Imperial Defender

• [Tavern Tier 3, Naga] 2 Attack, 4 Health. Whenever you cast a Spellcraft spell on a different minion, you also cast it on this.

Ozumat – Tamuzo

• [Tavern Tier 3, Beast] 4 Attack, 4 Health. Avenge (2): Upgrade ‘Tentacular’ by +1/+1.

Lady Vashj - Coilfang Elite

• [Tavern Tier 2, Naga] 3 Attack, 4 Health. After a Spellcraft minion appears in Bob’s Tavern, get a copy of its spell.

Heistbaron Togwaggle – Waxadred, the Drippy

• [Tavern Tier 4, Dragon-Elemental] 7 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: Refresh Bob’s Tavern with the highest Tier minion from each opponent’s last Warband.

Murloc Holmes – Watfin

• [Tavern Tier 3, Beast] 2 Attack, 6 Health. After you guess correctly with ‘Detective for Hire,’ get a plain copy of the minion.

Sire Denathrius – Shady Aristocrat

• [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 2 Health. Battlecry: Discover a Quest. Complete it to get a 8-Gold Coin Pouch.
• Note: Due to a bug found late in patch development, Sire Denathrius (and Shady Aristocrat) will be temporarily banned at launch.

Sylvanas Windrunner – Nathanos Blightcaller

• [Tavern Tier 5, Undead] 3 Attack, 6 Health. Battlecry: Remove a friendly minion. Give its stats to its neighbors.

The Jailer – Mawsorn Soulkeeper

• [Tavern Tier 3, Undead] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Summon 3 random Tier 1 minions.

Enhance-o Mechano – Enhance-o Medico

• [Tavern Tier 2, Mech] 2 Attack, 3 Health. Minions in Bob’s Tavern with Taunt, Reborn, Divine Shield, or Windfury have +1/+1 for each.

Professor Putricide – Festergut

• [Tavern Tier 4, Undead] 5 Attack, 2 Health. Deathrattle: Summon a random Undead Creation.

Teron Gorefiend – Shadowy Construct

• [Tavern Tier 3, Undead] 3 Attack, 4 Health. After a friendly minion dies, give its neighbors +1/+1.

Buddy Effect Updates

Drek’Thar - Frostwolf Lieutenant

• [Tavern Tier 3] 7 Attack, 4 Health. Avenge (3): Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1 Attack for the rest of the game.

Vanndar Stormpike – Stormpike Lieutenant

• [Tavern Tier 3] 4 Attack, 7 Health. Avenge (2): Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1 Health for the rest of the game.

Elise Starseeker – Jr. Navigator

• [Tavern Tier 2] 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Reduce the Cost of your Hero Power by (2).

Galewing – Flight Trainer

• [Tavern Tier 3] 3 Attack, 4 Health. Your flightpaths trigger twice.

Queen Wagtoggle – Elder Taggawag

• [Tavern Tier 4] 5 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Gain 1 Gold for each minion type you control.

Silas Darkmoon – Burth

• [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 6 Health. Whenever you Discover a minion, give it +4/+4 and upgrade this by +1/+1.

Aranna Starseeker – Sklibb, Demon Hunter

• [Tavern Tier 2] 4 Attack, 4 Health. After you buy a minion, your next Refresh costs (0).

The Lich King – Arfus

• [Tavern Tier 3, Beast-Undead] 4 Attack, 3 Health. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give it this minion’s Attack.

Trade Prince Gallywix – Bilgewater Mogul

• [Tavern Tier 3] 6 Attack, 3 Health. Choose One – Give a minion +1 Attack for each Gold you’ve spent this turn; or +1 Health.
• Dev Comment: A few Buddies had their effects changed from Battlecry effects to functionally similar effects so that their gameplay would generally stay the same, but they wouldn’t be too powerful with Brann.

Tickatus – Ticket Collector

• [Tavern Tier 4] 6 Attack, 6 Health. When you sell this, Discover a Darkmoon Prize from the next prize turn.

Yogg-Saron – Acolyte of Yogg-Saron

• [Tavern Tier 3, Murloc] 5 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this, spin the Wheel of Yogg Saron.

Cariel Roame – Captain Fairmount

• [Tavern Tier 4] 7 Attack, 5 Health. Choose One - ‘Conviction] gives an additional +2 Attack for the rest of the game; or +2 Health.

Millificent Manastorm – Elementium Squirrel Bomb

• [Tavern Tier 4, Mech] Deathrattle: Deal 2 damage to a random enemy minion for each of your Mechs that died this combat.

Master Nguyen – Lei Flamepaw

• [Tavern Tier 1] 2 Attack, 5 Health. ‘Power of the Storm’ offers 3 options instead of 2.

Captain Hooktusk – Raging Contender

• [Tavern Tier 1] 4 Attack, 2 Health. ‘Trash for Treasure’ offers 3 options instead of 2.

New Minions

Poetic Pen Pal

• [Tavern Tier 2] 2 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry: Reduce the Cost of your next Buddy by (2).

Leeching Felhound

• [Tavern Tier 3, Demon] 3 Attack, 3 Health. This costs Health to buy instead of Gold.

Fireworks Fanatic

• [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Whenever you get a minion you already have, give your minions +1/+1.
• Dev Comment: This effect triggers whenever a minion is added to your hand, through any means, when you already have a minion of the same name either in play or in your hand.

Dr. Boombox

• [Tavern Tier 4, Mech] 7 Attack, 1 Health. Deathrattle: Deal 7 damage to the 2 nearest enemy minions.

Sly Raptor

• [Tavern Tier 4, Beast] 1 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Summon another random Beast. Set its stats to 7/7.

Gem Smuggler

• [Tavern Tier 4, Quilboar] 3 Attack, 4 Health. Battlecry: Play a Blood Gem on all your other Quilboar.

Bonemare

• [Tavern Tier 5, Undead-Beast] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: Give a friendly minion +4/+4 and Taunt.

Minion Updates

Shell Collector

• Old: 3 Attack, 1 Health
• New: 2 Attack, 1 Health

Annihilan Battlemaster

• Old: Battlecry: Gain +1 Health for each Health your hero is missing.
• New: Battlecry: Gain +2 Health for each Health your hero is missing.
• Dev Comment: This change is to compensate for the decrease in Heroes’ maximum base Health.

Minion Pool Updates

• Tarecgosa has been moved from Tavern Tier 3 to Tavern Tier 4.
• Rendle the Mistermind, Kaboom Bot, Savannah Highmane, and Houndmaster have been removed from the minion pool.
• Archdruid Hamuul was also removed from the minion pool.

Armor and Buddy Tier Updates

With the updated Buddy System, most Buddies have adjusted Buddy Tavern Tiers. Additionally, Armor Tiers are now gone. Instead of a range of Armor, Heroes have a set amount of Armor every game, between 5 and 20. Every Hero’s new Armor amount and Buddy Tier are as follows:

* These Heroes have the largest winrate disparities between lower-MMR and higher-MMR players. To account for this, their Armor totals will be different in higher-MMR lobbies, as follows: Dancin’ Deryl will have 15 Armor; Ini Stormcoil will have 13 Armor; Maiev will have 10 Armor; Patches the Pirate will have 14 Armor; and Ysera will have 10 Armor.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Updated Multicaster’s card text to indicate how many cards it will draw (no functional change).
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Gnome Muncher would always attack the enemy hero in the case of a tie.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Queensguard counted spells that were Countered.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Choose One effects could target Dormant minions.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Scourge Rager died before being counted as being Played or Summoned.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Talented Arcanist’s effect would apply to spells discarded by the first spell played.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Avian Watcher did not gain Taunt from its effect.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Enhancification effects are not preserved by Magnetic.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug that could cause more than 7 minions to fit on the board.
• [Mercenaries] Improved performance on mobile and low-spec devices.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a visual bug with the Old Gods’ Diamond Portraits.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed bugs with several Treasures and Abilities that did not function as intended.
• [Solo Content] Fixed a bug where completing a Book of Heroes would not grant the crown over the completed class.
• [Social] Added Battlegrounds opponents to the “Recent Opponents” list.
• [Social] Minor graphical improvements to the Friends List user interface.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug with the animations in the Varian Wrynn legendary skin.
• [Shop] Added support for the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD).
• [Shop] Fixed a bug where the shop was closed for some players on Windows devices.
• [Shop] Fixed a bug where the Leeroy emote was not included when purchasing the Corgi Cup Fanatics emotes.
• [Achievements] Fixed a bug with The Grind Never Stops achievement would not count if the cards were played on different turns.
• [General] Fixed a bug causing crashes on Android devices.
• [General] Fixed miscellaneous localization and card text issues.
• Misc. other bug fixes, text updates, and game improvements.

Patch 25.4.3 is a data-only patch launching March 2 with the following updates.

Hearthstone Card Updates

Dev Comment: Overall, this is a little bit of a lighter patch for Standard. We just had a big infusion of cards with the mini-set, so this patch is just looking to address two major outliers after that card infusion. We’re excited to see where the mini-set lands after these adjustments.

For Wild, we’ve been discussing potential updates to the mode. In this patch, we’re making changes to help curb some of the mode’s negative play experiences. We don’t view these changes as exhaustive, but we are working on some more long-term updates that we’re excited to share once they are more solidified.

Construct Quarter

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [4 Mana]

• Dev Comment: Frost Death Knight is the best deck in Standard after the mini-set and Construct Quarter is the stand-out card in that deck and in other Death Knight decks. This change is both an acknowledgment of the strongest deck in the format and the strongest card in that deck.

Goldshire Gnoll

• Old: [10 Mana]
• New: [11 Mana]

• Dev Comment: Before the rise of Frost Death Knight, Evolve Shaman was the biggest outlier in the format. This change is to keep Evolve Shaman in line after the adjustment to Construct Quarter. Goldshire Gnoll is an important enabler for the deck’s bad play patterns, and this makes those play patterns slower and less powerful, while still allowing Evolve Shaman to play with the exciting new cards they got in the mini-set.

Grey Sage Parrot

• Old: Battlecry: Repeat the last spell you’ve cast that costs (5) or more.
• New: Battlecry: Repeat the last spell you’ve cast that costs (6) or more.

Spectral Pillager

• Old: [6 Mana] Combo: Deal damage equal to the number of other cards you’ve played this turn.
• New: [5 Mana] Combo: Deal 2 damage to a minion for each other card you’ve played this turn.

Cataclysm

• Old: [4 Mana] Destroy all minions. Discard your hand.
• New: [5 Mana] Destroy all minions. Discard 2 cards.

The above cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 25.4.3.

Battlegrounds Updates

Minion Pool Changes

• Sin’dorei Straight Shot will now only appear in games with Undead.
• Archdruid Hamuul has been temporarily returned to the minion pool (just until Patch 25.6).

Minion Changes

Ghoul of the Feast

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health. Avenge (1): Give a friendly minion of each minion type +2 Attack.
• New: 2 Attack, 5 Health. Avenge (2): Give a friendly minion of each minion type +3 Attack.

Legion Overseer

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health.
• New: 4 Attack, 2 Health.

Chronormu

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health.
• New: [Tavern Tier 5] 6 Attack, 6 Health.

Magmaloc

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health.
• New: 1 Attack, 1 Health.

Vanessa VanCleef

• Old: 3 Attack, 7 Health.
• New: 3 Attack, 4 Health.

Jelly Belly

• Old: 3 Attack, 5 Health.
• New: 3 Attack, 6 Health.

Groundshaker

• Old: 2 Attack, 6 Health.
• New: 3 Attack, 8 Health.

Felstomper

• Old: 3 Attack, 8 Health. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +2 Attack.
• New: 3 Attack, 7 Health. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +3 Attack.

Grease Bot

• Old: [Tavern Tier 6] 4 Attack, 7 Health. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +3/+2 permanently.
• New: [Tavern Tier 4] 3 Attack, 6 Health. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+1 permanently.

Duels Updates

Hero Power Updates

Ghoul Blitz

• Old: Summon a 1/1 Ghoul with Charge and Reborn. It dies at end of turn.
• New: Summon a 2/1 Ghoul with Charge. It dies at end of turn.

Arcane Craftiness

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Scourging

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Call of Madness

• Old: [1 Mana] Summon a 0/1 Voidfiend.
• New: [2 Mana] Summon a 0/2 Voidfiend.

Shadow Mend

• Old: Restore 3 Health to a character. If it is still damaged, draw a card.
• New: Restore 2 Health to a character. If it is still damaged, draw a card.

Bruising

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [0 Mana]

No Guts, No Glory

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [1 Mana]

Warmaster’s Frenzy

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [1 Mana]

Signature Treasure Updates

Gluth

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Deathstrider

• Old: [4 Mana]
• New: [3 Mana]

Bonecrusher

• Old: [8 Mana]
• New: [6 Mana]

Carrot on a Stick

• Old: [3 Mana] 2 Attack, 3 Durability
• New: [2 Mana] 1 Attack, 3 Durability

Stalking Pride

• Old: [5 Mana]
• New: [4 Mana]

Wand of Dueling

• Old: 3 Durability
• New: 5 Durability

Fractured Spirits

• Old: [4 Mana] Silence a minion. Then summon 2 copies of it.
• New: [6 Mana] Summon 2 copies of a minion, then Silence it.

Shadow Word: Void

• Old: [5 Mana] Destroy a minion and summon 0/1 Voidfiends equal to its Health.
• New: [4 Mana] Destroy a minion and summon 0/2 Voidfiends equal to half its Health, rounded up.

Demonology 101

• Old: [7 Mana]
• New: [6 Mana]

Gift of the Heart

• Old: [6 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Treasure Pool Updates

• “Be Our Guest” has been removed from Treasure Pool 1.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Updated Hawkstrider Rancher’s text to say “Whenever” instead of “After.” This is a text-only change to make the text match how the card currently functions.
• [Hearthstone] Added the “Mech” tag to The Purator.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Ironweave Bloodletter would heal whenever either player spent Corpses.
• [Collection] Removed reference to Diamond Zephrys from Achievements. He will return—and be able to be earned—once he’s ready.

Return to Naxxramas on February 14

Reinforcements are on their way to the Battle for Silvermoon in the March of the Lich King Mini-Set: Return to Naxxramas! A new Location, a new Colossal minion, several new Dual-Type minions, and more can be found in this Mini-Set of 38 all-new cards to add to your collection. Get them in March of the Lich King packs, or as a complete 72-card* Mini-Set. Get the normal version in-game for 1500 Runestones or 2000 Gold, or get the all-Golden version for $69.99 or 10,000 Gold. The all-Golden version comes with a bonus Diamond copy of the Thaddius, Monstrosity Legendary minion!

* 4 Legendary cards, 1 Epic card (x2), 17 Rare cards (x2), and 16 Common cards (x2).

Battlegrounds Updates

General Updates

• You can now see how many cards your opponent has in their hand during combat.
• Drek’Thar, Greybough, N’Zoth, Onyxia, The Jailer, and Vanndar will now only be offered in games where at least one of Beasts, Demons, Mechs, or Undead are in the minion pool.
• Cyborg Drake and General Drakkisath received text-only updates to improve their clarity; neither change was a functional change.

New Hero

Teron Gorefiend (Armor Tier 1)

• Rapid Reanimation
  • [0 Gold] Choose a friendly minion. Start of Combat: Destroy it. Once you have space, resummon an exact copy.

Teron Gorefiend will be guaranteed in every lobby for two weeks after his launch. Except that, during this initial period and going forward, Teron Gorefiend will not be offered in any lobbies in which neither Undead nor Beasts are in that game’s minion pool.

Mercenaries Updates

Introducing Mythic Boss Rush

Mythic Boss Rush is here for action-packed end-game Mercenaries PvE content! At its core, Mythic Boss Rush is like a Zone where all the Bounties are short battles against a series of Bounty Bosses—without any filler, like Points of Interest or regular minion battles. Each day, a new Boss Rush will become available until they reset weekly.

Each Boss Rush consists of 3 Bounty Boss fights and then a final fight of two Bounty Bosses at the same time! The bosses all have random anomaly effects that make them stronger, based on a sliding difficulty setting you can choose for yourself. You earn Renown for each Boss Rush clear, with most of your rewards coming from your first clear, based on the difficulty setting you chose.

In Mythic Boss Rush, Renown can be spent to upgrade your Mercenaries even beyond Maxed! Spend your Renown on Abilities, Equipment, or shared Treasures, and get additional stat boosts with your upgrades. Those upgrades persist from Boss Rush to Boss Rush, from week to week, so you can take on tougher bosses and get more rewards over time. These upgrades don’t carry over to the other parts of Mercenaries, so you don’t need to keep pushing if you’d rather focus on The Fighting Pit or regular Bounties.

You’ll be able to unlock Mythic Boss Rush via a free upgrade to the Travel Point. The upgrade becomes available once you’ve unlocked Heroic Bounties and have at least one Maxed Merc.

New Factions and Updated Types

We’re adding Factions to Mercenaries! Factions are an additional classification system for grouping Mercs (similar to Types), representing various groups of characters in the game. A Mercenary’s Faction is depicted by a flag in the upper right corner of their card. These Factions are Horde, Alliance, Explorer, Empire, Legion, and Scourge. Additionally, “Pirate” is being converted from a Type into a Faction. We’re updating how several Abilities, Equipment, and Treasures interact with these new Factions, allowing for new synergies across types. Finally, we’re giving several Mercs a second Type with new dual-type Mercenaries, for even more potential combos and synergies between your Mercs!

Check out the recent Mercenaries Update for more information about dual-Types, the new Factions, and more.

New Mercenaries

Jandice Barov (Legendary Caster)

Undead-Human, Scourge—6/74 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Wondrous Rapidity 5: (Arcane – Speed 4) Deal 14 damage to enemies opposite this. If you don’t have an Image, summon one.
  • Phantasmal Image: Undead 0/1. Can’t Attack. Deathrattle: Give a random enemy +5 Arcane Weakness.
• Mistress of Illusion 5: (Arcane – Speed 2, Cooldown 1) Summon an Image with “Deathrattle: Give a random enemy +5 Arcane Weakness. Whenever this Merc takes damage this turn, that Image takes it instead.
• Whirl of Illusion 5: (Arcane – Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Deal 15 damage to a random enemy. Each friendly Images repeats this. If you don’t have an image, summon one.

Equipment:

• Vengeful Rune 4: Deathrattle: Deal 4 damage to a random enemy for each friendly Undead that has died this game.
• Phantasmal Guardian 4: Passive: Takes 4 less damage for each friendly Image. Your Images have +24 Health.
• Ritual Tome 4: Passive: Whenever one of your Images dies, gain +4 Arcane Damage until the end of the turn.

Lord Godfrey (Epic Caster)

Undead-Human—12/80 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Cursed Bullets 5: (Shadow—Speed 3) Deal 10 damage to an enemy. Give them +3 Shadow Weakness.
• Brutal Backhand 5: (Shadow—Speed 6) Gain +5 Attack and Attack an enemy. Deathblow: Deal damage equal to this Merc’s Attack to adjacent enemies.
• Pistol Barrage 5: (Shadow—Speed 9, Cooldown 1) Gain +5 Health and deal 11 damage to all enemies. Repeat for each of your Undead that have died this turn.

Equipment:

• Spectral Spectacles 4: Cursed Bullets always deals critical damage and gives +2 more Shadow Weakness.
• Gilnean Rapier 4: Brutal Backhand grants an additional +4 Attack.
• Worgen Tooth Necklace 4: Passive: Has +4/+4 for each enemy of a different role.

Lilian Voss (Epic Fighter)

Undead-Human, Horde—12/88 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Reluctant Leadership 5: (Speed 5) Attack an enemy. Your Undead characters deal 6 damage to it.
• Rescue Mission 5: (Speed 9) Give a character “Deathrattle: Summon a 5/5 Rescued Student.” Summon a 25/25 Stringent Follower with Taunt.
  • Rescued Student: Undead-Human, Horde
  • Stringent Follower: Undead-Orc, Horde
• Fainting Feint 5: (Speed 2, Cooldown 2) The first time this dies this turn, resummon it with 30 Health remaining. Attack an enemy. (Starts off Cooldown)

Equipment:

• Tears of the Fallen 4: Passive: After one of your other Mercs dies, summon a 25/25 Stringent Follower with Taunt.
• Gandling’s Register 4: Battlecry: Summon two 10/10 Rescued Students.
• Blades of the Annointed 4: Passive: Your other Undead characters have +4/+4.

Arfus (Epic Fighter)

Undead-Beast, Scourge—12/87 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Fetch! 5: (Speed 5) Attack an enemy and steal 5 Attack for your other friendly characters.
• Frigid Bark 5: (Frost – Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Give all enemies +5 Frost Weakness. Your next Frost ability casts twice.
• The Frozen Bone 5: (Frost – Speed 7, Cooldown 1) Attack all enemies and slow them by (5) this turn. Deal damage to each equal to their highest speed ability.

Equipment:

• His Master’s Voice 4: Passive: +4 Attack. This Merc’s abilities are (4) Speed faster if a friendly Lich King is in play.
• Good Boy 4: Passive: +10 Health. After a friendly character dies, gain +2 Frost Damage.
• Downward Dog 4: Deathrattle: Enemies are permanently (4) Speed slower.

Mr. Bigglesworth (Epic Caster)

Undead-Beast, Scourge—8/78 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Deadly Cute 5: (Shadow – Speed 4) Deal 12 damage. Summon two 5/5 Pretty Kitties.
  • Pretty Kitty: Undead-Beast, Deathrattle: Deal 5 damage to a random enemy.
• Headpats 5: (Speed 5, Cooldown 1) Give your Beasts +3/+8 and a random keyword.
• Feline Fine 5: (Shadow – Speed 9, Cooldown 1) Deal 15 damage to an enemy. Trigger one of your Deathrattles at random.

Equipment:

• Playful Ooze 4: Deadly Cute deals 4 more damage.
• Extra Bone 4: Deathrattle: Give your Undead, Beasts, and Scourge characters +5/+10.
• Purrfect Plot 4: Deathrattle: Fill your board with 5/5 Pretty Kitties.

Kel’Thuzad (Rare Protector)

Undead-Human, Scourge—8/85 Maxed Stats

Abilities:

• Archlich’s Edict 5: (Frost – Speed 4) Deal 12 damage to an enemy. Your Undead characters deal 3 more damage to that target this turn.
• Curse of the Scourge 5: (Shadow – Speed 3, Cooldown 1) Give a friendly character +16 Attack and Taunt this turn and Deathrattle: Deal 11 damage to all enemies.
• Frost Blast 5: (Frost – Speed 5, Cooldown 2) Freeze an enemy and deal 21 damage to adjacent enemies.

Equipment:

• Phylactery of Kel’Thuzad 4: Each time an Undead character dies, Kel’Thuzad takes 2 less damage, up to a total of 8.
• Don’t Hurt My Kitty! 4: Each time a Mr. Bigglesworth is damaged, Kel’Thuzad deals 8 damage to all enemies. Your Kel’Thuzad and Mr. Bigglesworth have +20 Health.
• Bloodsurge 4: Passive: Whenever one of your Undead act, your summons gain +4/+4.

Arena Updates

New Arena Leaderboard!

With Patch 25.4, we’ll be introducing a new Arena leaderboard to the Hearthstone Leaderboards page. Arena will be able to be selected from the dropdown and will automatically update throughout the season, like the other modes.

Similar to before, standings will be based on a modified average wins per Arena run throughout an entire Arena season (minimum 30 runs). Will you be an Arena leader?

New Arena Season

On February 14, when Return to Naxxramas launches, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Core
• Forged in the Barrens
• United in Stormwind
• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Voyage to the Sunken City
• Murder at Castle Nathria
• March of the Lich King (including Return to Naxxramas)
• Path of Arthas

Duels Update

• Cards from Return to Naxxramas have been added to deckbuilding and card buckets.

Corgi Cup Cosmetics

The Corgi Cup, the biggest event in the sport of Corgle, brings out all the biggest—and stumpiest—athletes and corgi fans! Celebrate the Corgi Cup with special corgi-themed Hearthstone skins and Battlegrounds emotes. Why? Why not?!

New Diamond Versions of Iconic Cards

Reno Jackson, Patches the Pirate, and Zola the Gorgon now have shiny new Diamond versions that you can earn by completing the Legendary 5 Achievement for their respective original sets. The Diamond versions of Reno and Zola will be unlocked in Core when they are unlocked through their Achievements.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Features] Expanded audio settings.
• [Features] Hearthstone Tutorial is now replayable.
• [Hearthstone] All classes will now have Corpses tracked throughout the game, in case they generate a Corpse-spending card. The Corpse Counter will be displayed while there are any Death Knight cards in a zone you can see (like in your hand or in play).
• [Hearthstone] Several minions have had their minion Types adjusted to better match what they are.
• [Hearthstone] Souleater Scythe’s effect will now trigger after any “Start of Game” effects.
• [Hearthstone] Double Cross can no longer trigger if your hand is full.
• [Hearthstone] Scribbling Stenographer will no longer be discounted if the card played is Countered.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where both Blademaster Okani and Objection can both Counter the same minion played (thus wasting one of the Counter effects).
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Lady S’Theno counted Armor as though it were Health.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where School Teacher’s Nagaling could not properly use temporary mind control effect cards.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Malignant Horror could sometimes summon a copy even when it was functionally dead.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Scourge Illusionist’s effect was not limited to minions.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where certain minions would cause a brief pause when the Shop is refreshed.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Vast Wisdom did not trigger the Staking a Claim passive treasure.
• [Arena] Fixed a bug where The Sunwell was not able to be drafted.
• [Collection] Fixed a bug where Prince Renathal sometimes did not work with the “Complete My Deck” function.
• [Collection] Fixed a visual bug with the Omen hero skin’s hero tray.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 25.2.2 is a data-only patch, launching today, that includes updates to Standard, Battlegrounds, Duels, and more!

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: In general, our recent patch cadence has been faster than it has been in the past. This can make it more painful when updates are a little slower, such as around the holiday break period. We’re discussing as a team how to make the patch schedule work a little better for future holiday periods.

This is the first patch after the new March of the Lich King expansion where we have enough data to make significant and informed buffs to the new cards. Now that we have seen where the set’s archetypes landed on a power basis, we know where we can safely inject a bit of power.

The following cards are being adjusted to be less powerful:

Wildpaw Gnoll

• Old: Rush. Costs (1) less for each card you’ve added to your hand from another class.
• New: Rush. Costs (1) less for each non-Rogue class card you’ve added to your hand.

​Dev Comment: Dual-class cards that are Rogue and another class will not reduce the cost of Gnoll.

Sinstone Graveyard

• Old: Summon a 1/1 Stealthed Ghost. (Has +1/+1 for each other card you played this turn!)
• New: Summon a 1/1 Ghost. (Has +1/+1 for each other card you played this turn!)

Dev Comment: We recognize that Rogue has been a little too good (for a little too long) at higher ranks. The change to the Gnoll/Maestra interaction is a major change to the class intended to substantially shakeup how it looks and plays, while the Sinstone Graveyard change gives opponents more of a chance to respond to the big Rogue pop-off turns.

Final Showdown (the first phase of the Demon Hunter Questline)

• Old: Draw 4 cards in one turn.
• New: Draw 6 cards in one turn.

Sinful Brand

• Old: [1 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Demon Hunter is the other best performing class at high levels of play, so these changes are intended to adjust its power. Sinful Brand was chosen as a card to target because it punishes opponents for simply playing the game, a play pattern that we don’t like being too powerful or prevalent.

Shockspitter

• Old: [3 Mana] 2 Attack, 2 Health
• New: [4 Mana] 3 Attack, 3 Health

Dev Comment: Hunter is the top class at most parts of the ladder. When we changed Shockspitter to 3 mana in Patch 25.0.3, we expected that it would remain powerful after that change and debated whether we should just change it to 4 at that time. We decided that we didn’t want to hit Hunter too hard all at once. Now that we’ve seen how the card performs at 3 mana, we think it can use another nudge—especially with the other top performers being adjusted down around it.

Glacial Advance

• Old: Deal 4 damage. Your next spell this turn costs (2) less.
• New: Deal 4 damage. Your next spell this turn costs (1) less.

Dev Comment: Frost Death Knight is performing well right now, so we wanted to slightly shave some of its power to make sure it stays in line with the rest of the meta after the other changes this patch. This adjustment takes away a little bit of the deck’s explosive burst-from-hand capabilities.

Astalor Bloodsworn (changes to all three phases)

Astalor Bloodsworn (phase 1)

• Old: Battlecry: Add Astalor, the Protector to your hand. Manathirst (4): Deal 2 damage.
• New: Battlecry: Add Astalor, the Protector to your hand. Manathirst (5): Deal 2 damage.

Astalor, the Protector (phase 2)

• Old: Battlecry: Add Astalor, the Flamebringer to your hand. Manathirst (7): Gain 5 Armor.
• New: Battlecry: Add Astalor, the Flamebringer to your hand. Manathirst (8): Gain 5 Armor.

Astalor, the Flamebringer (phase 3)

• Old: Battlecry: Deal 8 damage randomly split between all enemies. Manathirst (10): Deal 16 instead.
• New: Battlecry: Deal 7 damage randomly split between all enemies. Manathirst (10): Deal 14 instead.

Dev Comment: Players seem to really enjoy the power and flexibility of Astalor. At the same time, that power and flexibility has made Astalor a near auto-include in almost every deck in the meta. These changes are designed to bring Astalor’s power more in line with what we want from a Neutral, general-purpose utility card like this. We still hope and expect that Astalor remains a powerful option for many decks so that players can continue to enjoy this card.

The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 25.2.2.

The following cards are being adjusted to be more powerful:

Battlefield Necromancer

• Old: At the end of your turn, raise a Corpse as a 1/2 Risen Footman with Taunt.
• New: At the end of your turn, raise a Corpse as a 1/3 Risen Footman with Taunt.

Boneguard Commander

• Old: Taunt. Battlecry: Raise up to 6 Corpses as 1/2 Risen Footmen with Taunt.
• New: Taunt. Battlecry: Raise up to 6 Corpses as 1/3 Risen Footmen with Taunt.

Unholy Frenzy

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Blood and Unholy Death Knight are both still underperforming in Standard. Death Knight is difficult to balance because individual cards within the class tend to be very strong, but we found a couple spots where we felt we could add a little bit of power to individual cards to make them more appealing.

Wither

• Old: [2 Mana]
• New: [1 Mana]

Bonecaller

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 2 Attack, 5 Health

Haunting Nightmare

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Haunt a card in your hand. When you play it, summon a 3/3 Soldier.
• New: 4 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Haunt a card in your hand. When you play it, summon a 4/3 Soldier.

High Cultist Basaleph

• Old: [5 Mana]
• New: [4 Mana]

Dar’Khan Drathir

• Old: [8 Mana]
• New: [7 Mana]

Infantry Reanimator

• Old: [6 Mana]
• New: [5 Mana]

Dev Comment: Most Undead aggro decks have been underperforming compared to what we were expecting. Our changes here are to encourage exploration of those archetypes. We discussed potential changes to Undead Neutral cards, but opted to target the class cards this patch instead.

Vengeful Walloper

• Old: [7 Mana]
• New: [6 Mana]

Energy Shaper

• Old: [4 Mana] 3 Attack, 5 Health
• New: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 4 Health

Vast Wisdom

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [2 Mana]

Timewarden

• Old: [4 Mana] 3 Attack, 5 Health
• New: [3 Mana] 3 Attack, 4 Health

Asvedon, the Grandshield

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Cast a copy of the last spell your opponent played.
• New: 3 Attack, 4 Health. Taunt. Battlecry: Cast a copy of the last spell your opponent played.

Disruptive Spellbreaker

• Old: 4 Attack, 5 Health
• New: 4 Attack, 6 Health

Last Stand

• Old: [4 Mana] Draw a Taunt minion. Double its stats.
• New: [1 Mana] Draw a Taunt minion. Manathirst (7): Double its stats.

Nellie’s Pirate Ship (the Colossal appendage to Nellie, the Great Thresher)

• Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add Nellie’s Pirate crew to your hand. They cost (1) less.
• New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add Nellie’s Pirate crew to your hand. They cost (2) less.

Remornia, Living Blade

• Old: 4 Attack, 10 Health
• New: 5 Attack, 10 Health

Dev Comment: Warrior seems to be the class that needs the most help in the current meta, so we’re giving them the most buffs here. With Last Stand, we wanted it to feel more impactful and flexible, and we have a great new mechanic in Manathirst that gives us that kind of flexibility. This isn’t the type of change that we normally do, but this was a good opportunity for us to make this card a little fresher and more interesting. We’re also making a few changes to some older, exciting cards, to provide the class that boost it needs.

Battlegrounds Updates

Hero Armor Changes

The following heroes have less armor:

• Onyxia and Sneed are now Armor Tier 2 (2-5 Armor).

The following heroes have more armor:

• Pyramad was moved to Armor Tier 3 (3-6 Armor).
• Sylvanas Windrunner was moved to Armor Tier 4 (4-7 Armor).

Card Changes

Thorncaptain

• Old: 4 Attack, 1 Health
• New: 4 Attack, 2 Health

Eternal Knight

• Old: 4 Attack, 1 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 1 Health

Ghoul of the Feast

• Old: Avenge (1): Give a friendly minion of each minion type +3 Attack.
• New: Avenge (1): Give a friendly minion of each minion type +2 Attack.

Pufferquil

• Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 2 Attack, 6 Health

Ripsnarl Captain

• Old: When another friendly Pirate attacks, give it +2/+2.
• New: When another friendly Pirate attacks, give it +3/+3.

Master of Realities

• Old: [Tavern Tier 5] 6 Attack, 6 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health

Anub’arak, Nerubian King

• Old: [Tavern Tier 5] 5 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Your Undead have +2 Attack for the rest of the game (wherever they are).
• New: [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Your Undead have +1 Attack for the rest of the game (wherever they are).

Magmaloc

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 1 Attack, 1 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 5] 3 Attack, 3 Health

Soulsplitter

• Old: [Tavern Tier 4] 4 Attack, 2 Health
• New: [Tavern Tier 5] 5 Attack, 2 Health

Vanessa VanCleef

• Old: Whenever this attacks, give your Pirates +2/+1 permanently.
• New: Whenever this attacks, give your Pirates +2/+2 permanently.

Cyborg Drake

• Old: 2 Attack, 8 Health. Divine Shield. Your Divine Shield minions have +10 Attack.
• New: 2 Attack, 10 Health. Divine Shield. Your Divine Shield minions have +8 Attack.

Sinrunner Blanchy

• Old: 4 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 3 Health

Toxfin

• Old: Tavern Tier 6
• New: Tavern Tier 5

Grease Bot

• Old: After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+2 permanently.
• New: After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +3/+2 permanently.

Felstomper

• Old: 3 Attack, 7 Health. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +3 Attack.
• New: 3 Attack, 8 Health. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +2 Attack.

Sister Deathwhisper

• Old: 4 Attack, 11 Health. Whenever a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+3 permanently.
• New: 4 Attack, 9 Health. Whenever a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+2 permanently.

Eternal Summoner

• Old: 8 Attack, 1 Health. Deathrattle: Summon 2 Eternal Knights.
• New: 6 Attack, 1 Health. Reborn. Deathrattle: Summon 1 Eternal Knight.

Dev Comment: If Eternal Summoner is picked as the first pick from Professor Putricide’s hero power, you can no longer be offered a Reborn or Poisonous minion as the second option.

Duels Updates

Card Pool Update

• To the Front! has been banned from deck building and card buckets.

Hero Power Updates

• Scourging (Death Knight):
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]


• Illidari Strike (Demon Hunter)
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]


• Harvest Time! (Druid)
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [3 Mana]


• Frost Shards (Mage)
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]


• Call of Madness (Priest)
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [1 Mana]

Passive Treasure Update

• Bitter Cold
  • Old: +2 Frost Damage
  • New: +1 Frost Damage

Signature Treasure Updates

• Glaciaxe
  • Old: [4 Mana] 5 Attack, 2 Durability
  • New: [4 Mana] 3 Attack, 2 Durability


• Wings of Glaciaxe (generated by Glaciaxe)
  • Old: [4 Mana] 2 Attack, 5 Durability. Windfury, Deathrattle: Summon four 1/1 Zombies with Reborn.
  • New: [4 Mana] 2 Attack, 3 Durability. Windfury, Deathrattle: Summon three 1/1 Zombies with Reborn.


• Crimson
  • Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health
  • New: 2 Attack, 2 Health


• Blade of Quickening
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]


• Academic Research
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]


• Herding Horn
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [3 Mana]


• Ol’ Faithful
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]


• Flo Slatebrand
  • Old: [6 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]


• Slate’s Syringe
  • Old: [3 Mana]
  • New: [2 Mana]


• Reno’s Torch
  • Old: Deal 4 damage. Combo: Shuffle a copy of this card into your deck that deals 2 more damage.
  • New: Deal 4 damage. Combo: Shuffle a copy of this card into your deck that deals 1 more damage.


• Britz Blazebucket
  • Old: [2 Mana]
  • New: [3 Mana]


• Karl the Lost
  • Old: [8 Mana]
  • New: [10 Mana]


• Forge in Light
  • Old: [6 Mana]
  • New: [7 Mana]


• Devout Blessings
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [5 Mana]


• Herald of the Scaled Ones
  • Old: [5 Mana] 4 Attack, 6 Health
  • New: [4 Mana] 4 Attack, 5 Health


• Droplet of Insanity
  • Old: [4 Mana]
  • New: [3 Mana]


• Scion of the Deep
  • Old: [2 Mana] 2 Attack, 4 Health
  • New: [1 Mana] 1 Attack, 3 Health


• Sr. Navigator
  • Old: [5 Mana] 2 Attack, 10 Health
  • New: [4 Mana] 2 Attack, 6 Health


• Staff of Renewal
  • Old: 10 Mana
  • New: 8 Mana


• Green Shell
  • Old: [2 Mana] 1 Attack, 2 Durability
  • New: [3 Mana] 1 Attack, 3 Durability


• Spymaster’s Gambit
  • Old: [7 Mana]
  • New: [8 Mana]


• Invoke the Void
  • Old: [7 Mana]
  • New: [6 Mana]


• Grizzled Reinforcement
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]


• Collector’s Ire
  • Old: [5 Mana]
  • New: [4 Mana]


• Brewster, the Brutal
  • Old: [7 Mana] 8 Attack, 6 Health
  • New: [6 Mana] 7 Attack, 5 Health

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug resulting in unintended changes to Magister’s Apprentice.
• [Hearthstone] Text fixes to Magister Dawngrasp and Wildheart Guff.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Hematology could be used while you have 0 Corpses, resulting in the mana being spent and no effect happening.

Patch 25.2, launching today, brings Battlegrounds Season 3 and more!

Battlegrounds Season 3 is Here!

Good news, everyone! Battlegrounds Season 3 brings Professor Putricide’s new Hero Power, Undead and dual-type minions, and tons more new and updated heroes and minions!

General Updates

• On January 17, Battlegrounds Season 2 will end and Battlegrounds Season 3 will begin. That means that rankings will reset, Battlegrounds Quests will be removed, minion pools will update, and the Battlegrounds Track will switch over. All rewards that were earned, but not yet claimed, from the Season 2 Track will be automatically claimed.
• The 15-damage Damage Cap will now persist until both a hero has died and the game has reached turn 8 (the 10 Gold turn).
• Armor will now appear overlayed on health bars on the scoreboard.
• Undead and dual-type minions have been added as a regular part of Battlegrounds. The same number of minion types will be in each Battlegrounds game (meaning an additional minion type will be excluded each game after this change). If either type of a dual-type minion is in a game, the dual-type minion will be in that game.
• Undead will appear in every lobby for 2 weeks after the patch; they will then appear in 75% of lobbies for an additional 2 weeks. Then they will be part of the regular rotation of minion types.
• For a short time after the launch of Undead, turns 5+ will be 5 seconds longer to allow players time to learn the new cards. This is expected to be reverted in a planned hotfix following the patch.

New Battlegrounds Track

When the new Battlegrounds Season begins, rewards on last Season’s Battlegrounds Track will no longer be able to be earned, all rewards that were earned and not yet claimed will be automatically claimed, and a new Battlegrounds Track will begin. The Season 3 Battlegrounds Track features 40 new Battle for Silvermoon themed cosmetics, including 4 Legendary Hero Skins, 3 Epic Hero Skins, 8 Rare Hero Skins, 1 Rare Board, 1 Rare Bartender, and 9 Rare Emotes!

For more details about the Season 3 Battlegrounds Track, see our Season 3 Announcement Blog.

Hero Updates

Professor Putricide has been reworked with new art and a whole new Hero Power for his return to the Hero Pool!

Professor Putricide

• Build-An-Undead
  • [4 Gold] Craft a custom Undead. (3 Creations left!)

​Dev Comment: When you build an Undead, you’ll be offered two sets of 3 minions to merge together. One set tends to have persistent in-combat rules while the other set tends to have keywords and in-shop effects. All minion offerings will be at or below your Tavern Tier. The Build-An-Undead pools include both minions that are available in Bob’s Tavern and minions that are unique to this effect. Putricide’s creations are unnatural, so they can’t be tripled.

Professor Putricide will be available in all games for two weeks after launch.

Millificent Manastorm (Tinker)

• Old: Passive. Mechs in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1.
• New: Passive. Whenever you summon a Mech, give it +2 Attack.

Lord Jaraxxus (Bloodfury)

• Old: [1 Gold] Give your Demons +1/+1.
• New: [1 Gold] Choose a friendly Demon. It consumes a minion in Bob’s Tavern to gain its stats.

Pyramad (Brick by Brick)

• Old: [0 Gold] Give a minion +2 Health. (Gains +1 Health each turn you don’t use this!)
• New: [0 Gold] Give a minion +1 Health. (Gains +1 Health each turn you don’t use this!)

Galewing (Dungar’s Gryphon)

• You can no longer choose the same Flight Path twice in a row.

• Westfall
  • Old: Passive. In 1 turn, give your left-most minion +2/+1.
  • New: Passive. In 1 turn, give your left-most minion +2/+2.

• Ironforge
  • Old: Passive. In 3 turns, Discover a minion of your Tavern Tier.
  • New: Passive. In 2 turns, gain 2 Gold.

• Eastern Plaguelands:
  • Old: Passive. In 5 turns, your next Tavern Tier upgrade costs (6) less.
  • New: Passive. In 3 turns, Discover a minion of your Tavern Tier.

Updated Hero Armor Tiers

Many heroes have had their Armor Tiers adjusted for the new season. All armor tiers are as follows:

New Minions

Risen Rider [Tavern Tier 1, Undead]

• 2 Attack, 1 Health. Taunt, Reborn.

Rot Hide Gnoll [Tavern Tier 1, Undead]

• 1 Attack, 4 Health. Has +1 Attack for each friendly minion that died this combat.

Thorncaptain [Tavern Tier 1, Quilboar/Pirate]

• 4 Attack, 1 Health. After a card is added to your hand, gain +1 Health until next turn.

Scarlet Skull [Tavern Tier 2, Undead]

• 1 Attack, 2 Health. Reborn, Deathrattle: Give a friendly Undead +1/+2.

Eternal Knight [Tavern Tier 2, Undead]

• 4 Attack, 1 Health. Has +1/+1 for each friendly Eternal Knight that died this game (wherever this is).

Nerubian Deathswarmer [Tavern Tier 2, Undead]

• 1 Attack, 3 Health. Battlecry: Your Undead have +1 Attack for the rest of the game (wherever they are).

Blazing Skyfin [Tavern Tier 2, Dragon/Murloc]

• 1 Attack, 3 Health. After you play a Battlecry minion, gain +1/+1.

Corpse Refiner [Tavern Tier 2, Undead/Pirate]

• 2 Attack, 3 Health. Avenge (4): This sells for 1 more Gold.

Jelly Belly [Tavern Tier 3, Undead]

• 3 Attack, 5 Health. After a minion is Reborn, gain +3/+3.

Ghoul of the Feast [Tavern Tier 3, Undead]

• 2 Attack, 4 Health. Avenge (1): Give a friendly minion of each type +3 Attack.

Lich Doctor [Tavern Tier 3, Undead]

• 3 Attack, 2 Health. Taunt. At the start of your turn, give your minions that died last combat +1/+1.

Felemental [Tavern Tier 3, Elemental/Demon]

• 3 Attack, 1 Health. Battlecry: Minions in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1 for the rest of the game.

Soulsplitter [Tavern Tier 4, Undead]

• 4 Attack, 2 Health. Reborn. Start of Combat: Give a friendly Undead Reborn.

Handless Forsaken [Tavern Tier 4, Undead]

• 2 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Summon a 2/2 Hand with Reborn.

Possessive Banshee [Tavern Tier 4, Undead]

• 2 Attack, 7 Health. Battlecry: Give an Undead +2/+7.

General Drakkisath [Tavern Tier 4, Dragon]

• 2 Attack, 8 Health. Battlecry: Add a 2/1 Smolderwing to your hand that gives another Dragon +5 Attack.

Peggy Sturdybone [Tavern Tier 4, Pirate]

• 6 Attack, 5 Health. After a card is added to your hand, give another friendly Pirate +1/+1.

Chronormu [Tavern Tier 4, Dragon]

• 4 Attack, 4 Health. While this is in the Tavern, gain the stats of any minions sold.

Magmaloc [Tavern Tier 4, Elemental/Murloc]

• 1 Attack, 1 Health. At the end of your turn, gain +1/+1. Repeat for each minion you played this turn.

Pufferquil [Tavern Tier 4, Naga/Quilboar]

• 2 Attack, 4 Health. After a spell is played on this, gain Poisonous until next turn.

Sin’dorei Straight-Shot [Tavern Tier 4]

• 3 Attack, 4 Health. Windfury. Divine Shield. Whenever this attacks, remove Reborn and Taunt from the target.

Anub’arak, Nerubian King [Tavern Tier 5, Undead]

• 5 Attack, 3 Health. Deathrattle: Your Undead have +2 Attack for the rest of the game (wherever they are).

Hungering Abomination [Tavern Tier 5, Undead]

• 3 Attack, 4 Health. Avenge (1): Gain +1/+1 permanently.

Cyborg Drake [Tavern Tier 5, Mech/Dragon]

• 2 Attack, 8 Health. Divine Shield. Your Divine Shield minions have +10 Attack.

Sinrunner Blanchy [Tavern Tier 5, Undead/Beast]

• 4 Attack, 4 Health. Reborn. This is Reborn with full Health and enchantments.

Titus Rivendare [Tavern Tier 5]

• 1 Attack, 7 Health. Your Deathrattles trigger an extra time.

Eternal Summoner [Tavern Tier 6, Undead]

• 8 Attack, 1 Health. Deathrattle: Summon 2 Eternal Knights.

Colossus of the Sun [Tavern Tier 6, Undead]

• 6 Attack, 6 Health. Divine Shield, Reborn.

Sister Deathwhisper [Tavern Tier 6, Undead]

• 4 Attack, 11 Health. After a friendly minion is Reborn, give your Undead +1/+3 permanently.

Felstomper [Tavern Tier 6, Demon/Beast]

• 3 Attack, 7 Health. After you summon a minion in combat, give your minions +3 Attack.

Mecha-Jaraxxus [Tavern Tier 6, Mech/Demon]

• 3 Attack, 15 Health. Battlecry: Add a random Mecha-Demon to your hand.

• Rusted Reggie: 5 Attack, 5 Health. Windfury. Can Magnetize to Mechs and Demons.

• Magtheridon Prime: 1 Attack, 10 Health. Taunt. Can Magnetize to Mechs and Demons.

• Baltharak: 10 Attack, 1 Health. Reborn. Can Magnetize to Mechs and Demons.

Greta Gold-Gun [Tavern Tier 6, Naga/Pirate]

• 2 Attack, 9 Health. Spellcraft: Make a different friendly Naga or Pirate Golden until next turn.

Minion Pool Updates

• Icky Imp and Budding Greenthumb have been returned to the minion pool.
• Peggy Brittlebone, Baron Rivendare, Saltscale Honcho, Glyph Guardian, Yo-Ho-Ogre, Stasis Elemental, Majordomo Executus, Bonker, Mechano-Egg, Baby Krush, Palescale Crocolisk, Imp Mama, Tony Two-Tusk, Draconid Enforcer, Razorgore the Untamed, Witchwing Nestmatron, Imprisoner, Khadgar, and Mythrax the Unraveler have been removed from the minion pool.

Other Minion Updates

• Micro Mummy has gained the Undead minion type.
• The Golden version of Amber Guardian will now hit two minions with the effect (giving each +2/+2 and Divine Shield), instead of doubling the effect on one minion (giving it +4/+4 and Divine Shield).

Mercenaries Update

• Sir Finley can now be acquired through all normal means.

Special In-Game Event: Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is right around the corner and this year we’re doing it in style with the new in-game Event System. From January 17 to January 31, you can complete daily and special Event Quests to earn Event XP towards the event Rewards Track. Complete the event Rewards Track to earn three Battlegrounds Hero Skins!

Heroic Tavern Brawl Returns!

On February 1, the fan-favorite Heroic Tavern Brawl (Standard format) is back for more grueling competition! This time, there will be a new special Legendary Quest tied to the Brawl for those who want to earn something they can use to show off their skill. Win 3 games in one Heroic Tavern Brawl run and you’ll get the new Ghoul Queen Scarlet Death Knight Hero Skin in addition to your other prizes! There will also be a Legendary Quest for players to win one game of any type in order to get a Standard Pack, so there is something for all players, even those who don’t want to participate in the Heroic Tavern Brawl.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Progression] Quests requiring you to deal damage of a particular spell type have been updated to require damage with one of two spell types.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Heart Strike was not affected by Spell Damage.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Anachronos’s effect interacted inconsistently with effects like Power Overwhelming, Habeas Corpses, and Goblin Prank. All these types of effects will now be removed when the minion returns from its journey through time.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Anachronos’s effect could cause a temporary disconnect in certain circumstances.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where Chromie’s Chaos Theory used the wrong effect animation.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where the Lor’themar Hero Skin used the wrong hero power animation.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where certain Mal’Ganis voicelines were incorrect.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where some of Ebon Assassin Garona’s voicelines and speech bubbles were swapped.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where certain card backs were automatically marked as “Favorite” when acquired.
• [Cosmetics] Corrected the “Obtained by” portion of the descriptions for the Scourge Coin and the Tinker Town Takeover Battlegrounds Board in the Collection Managers.
• [Shop] Fixed various shop presentation/visual bugs.
• Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.

Patch 25.0.4 is a data-only patch, launching today, that includes balance changes to Standard, Wild, Battlegrounds, and Arena, as well as bug fixes and more!

Hearthstone Changes

Dev Comment: Balance changes at this point in an expansion are made with early, somewhat limited data. For these changes, we like to address the most egregious power outliers and play patterns that we know we don’t like—cards that we’re likely to adjust down the line anyway as the meta evolves over time. We hope and expect to make some spicier changes in our next balance pass, once we have more data.

The following cards are being adjusted to be less powerful:

Unleash Fel

• Old: Manathirst (4)
• New: Manathirst (6)

Relic of Dimensions

• Old: [Costs 5]
• New: [Costs 6]

Dev Comment: The Manathirst on Unleash Fel felt like a non-factor that was almost always on anyway when you wanted to play the card. This change makes the card more interesting and helps reel in a Demon Hunter power outlier. Relics are prevalent and powerful—we like them and didn’t want to fully revert their power level, so we’re just touching the strongest Relic to make it a little less explosive.

Anub’Rekhan

• Old: Battlecry: Gain 8 Armor. This turn, your minions cost Armor instead of Mana.
• New: Battlecry: Gain 8 Armor. This turn, your next 3 minions cost Armor instead of Mana.

Dev Comment: This Brann-Anub’Rekhan combo is not a big winrate outlier, but it represents a play pattern we don’t like. We wanted to reduce lethality and remove the ability for the combo to let players dump their entire hand, while still allowing ramp strategies.

Boon of the Ascended

• Old: [Costs 4]
• New [Costs 5]

Priestess Valishj

• Old: [Costs 0]
• New: [Costs 1]

Dev Comment: Boon Priest is not common or overly powerful at most levels of play, but it is the best performing deck at high legend and it wins through frustrating play patterns. We wanted to give it a couple small adjustments to make it more in line with the rest of the meta, especially after the other adjustments in this patch.

Necrolord Draka

• Old: [Costs 4]
• New: [Costs 5]

Sinstone Graveyard

• Old: [Costs 2]
• New: [Costs 3]

Sketchy Information

• Old: [Costs 3]
• New: [Costs 4]

Forsaken Lieutenant

• Old: [Costs 2]
• New: [Costs 3]

Dev Comment: There are two Rogue decks that we want to adjust this patch. Deathrattle Rogue is a deck that can do some cool, fun things, but it’s too fast for most decks to deal with. We don’t want to destroy these synergies, but we do want to slow them down. Similarly, Miracle Rogue makes for very bad play experiences when their pop-off turns are too powerful too soon. We think it is fun and thematic for Rogue to have those turns where they play a bunch of cards and get rewarded for it, but we want to slow that turn down a little.

Prince Renathal

• Old: Your deck size and starting Health are 40.
• New: Your deck size is 40. Your starting Health is 35.

Dev Comment: Renathal had its run. He’s the most played card in the game and the meta has warped around him for a long time, so we are making this change to open the meta back up. At the same time, we know he’s one of the most popular cards we’ve ever made, so we wanted to preserve his core effect as an option for his fans.

Tome Tampering

• Now banned in Wild.

Dev Comment: Discard is a thematic Warlock archetype with many tools over the years. Those tools have combined into a disruptive force in the Wild meta. Tome Tampering is the powerful enabler that puts this deck over the format’s power level; banning that enabler will let players continue to use those thematic discard Warlock tools, but at a level that is more in line with the rest of the format.

The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 25.0.4 (Signature versions of Anub’Rekhan and all versions of Prince Renathal are not craftable).

We're taking a hard look at what systemic changes we want to make to Signature cards in the future, and have not finalized those decisions. This time, players who have the Signature version of Anub'Rekhan as of December 20th at 10am PST will receive a grant of 1600 Arcane Dust at login, later that week. Things may work differently in the future. We will share more information on those future plans once they're finalized.

The following cards are being adjusted to be more powerful:

Dev Comment: Death Knight is the cool new class that many players want to try out, so we’re making some adjustments to open them up a little and give them more toys to tinker with. Like with the nerfs, these buffs are designed to be higher confidence; we specifically looked for low playrate Death Knight cards that seemed primed for upgrades. We plan to take another look in the next balance pass.

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. Summon a Risen Groom with stats equal to the amount spent.

Malignant Horror

• Old: At the end of your turn, spend 5 Corpses to summon a copy of this minion.
• New: At the end of your turn, spend 4 Corpses to summon a copy of this minion.

Meat Grinder

• Old: Battlecry: Shred a random minion in your deck to gain 3 Corpses.
• New: Battlecry: Shred a random minion in your deck to gain 4 Corpses.

Blightfang

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

Stitched Giant

• Old: [Costs 10]
• New: [Costs 9]

Ymirjar Deathbringer

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 4 Attack, 3 Health

Rime Sculptor

• Old: 3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 4 Attack, 3 Health

Obliterate

• Old: Destroy a minion. Your hero takes damage equal to its Health.
• New: Destroy a minion. Your hero takes 3 damage.

Blood Tap

• Old: Give all minions in your hand +1/+1. Spend 3 Corpses to give them +1/+1 more.
• New: Give all minions in your hand +1/+1. Spend 2 Corpses to give them +1/+1 more.

Battlegrounds Updates

Quest Reward Updates

• The Kidnap Sack Quest Reward has been made harder to earn.
• The Hidden Treasure Vault and Teal Tiger Sapphire Quest Rewards have been made easier to earn.
• The Partner in Crime, Pilfered Lamps, Wondrous Wisdomball, and Yogg-tastic Tasties Quest Rewards will appear more frequently.

Dev Comment: As we approach the end of the season, we want all players to have a chance to experience some of the rarer Quests they may or may not have been able to find. Enjoy!

Minion Updates

Toxfin

• Old: Tavern Tier 4
• New: Tavern Tier 6

Dev Comment: Though not a power outlier at most levels, Toxfin has a limiting effect on what playstyles feel viable in Murloc lobbies. We are pushing Toxfin up to Tier 6 as a way to open up some space for more diverse strategies.

Minion Pool Updates

• Mechano-Tank and Interrogator Whitemane have been removed from the minion pool.
• Witchwing Nestmatron, Mechano-Egg, Mythrax the Unraveler, and Seafood Slinger have been returned to the minion pool.

Arena Updates

Arena draft appearance rates have been adjusted as follows:

• Death Knight and Paladin cards that generate more cards will appear less frequently.
• Death Knight cards that remove opposing minions and leave a board presence will appear less frequently.
• Low winrate cards from low performing classes will appear less frequently.
• High winrate cards from low performing classes will appear more frequently.
• Some Neutral cards will appear more or less frequently, depending on their performance in a given class.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Potion Belt could not Discover two of the same Concoction.
• [Hearthstone] The wording on Astalor, the Flamebringer has been updated for clarity; this is not a functional change.
• [Hearthstone] Grim Patron and Gruntled Patron will now once again leave Corpses. Adjusted the Corpse Explosion interaction so that it no longer chains infinitely.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Greatsword of the Ebon Blade would lose Durability whenever any card was played, not just minions.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug that made Scourge Strike unable to be played.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where the Scourging Hero Power doesn’t work if your board is full.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Hematology and Unholy Embrace did not count as consuming Corpses.
• [Duels] Fixed a bug where Unholy Embrace always filled your hand if you had any Corpses to spend when you played it.

Patch 25.0.3 is a data-only patch going live today with updates to two Standard cards.

Card Updates

Dev Comment: We set up this balance window to address any changes we wanted to make immediately after the expansion launched. Shockspitter is exactly that type of card, ending games sooner, more easily, and more consistently than we intended. Sire Denathrius is a card we have had our eyes on for some time, but we wanted to see how he performed in the new expansion first. With a couple days of data, we can see that it is still a very popular and polarizing card, warping early meta development in a way we want to address before the World Championship (December 16-18).

This balance update was reserved for only the most standout cards immediately after expansion unlock. We’ll continue to keep our eye on how the metagame develops and make any further adjustments needed in our next balance window, reserved for a few weeks from now.

Sire Denathrius

• Old: Lifesteal. Battlecry: Deal 5 damage amongst enemies. Endlessly Infuse (1): Deal 1 more.
• New: Lifesteal. Battlecry: Deal 5 damage amongst enemies. Endlessly Infuse (2): Deal 1 more.

Shockspitter

• Old: [Costs 2]
• New: [Costs 3]

The above craftable cards will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks following Patch 25.0.3. As a reminder, regular Sire Denathrius was a free card and can’t be crafted or disenchanted.

Other Hearthstone Updates

• Players who did not receive the uncraftable Legendary Sire Denathrius last expansion cycle will now be granted it upon opening their first Murder at Castle Nathria pack (along with Prince Renathal, which is already obtained in that way). It will be removed from the “Long Live the King” Achievement in a future patch to complete this swap over. As this is a grant of an uncraftable Legendary, there is no gameplay impact for any players who unlock him two different ways during that time period.

Patch 25.0, launching tomorrow, rallies the troops for Hearthstone’s newest expansion, March of the Lich King, launching December 6! This patch also includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, and Arena, as well as bug fixes and more.

March of the Lich King Launches on December 6!

Hearthstone’s next expansion, March of the Lich King, sets off on December 6! The new expansion includes 145 all-new cards, featuring the new Death Knight class, dual-type and Undead minions, the new Manathirst keyword, and more! See all the new cards in the official card library today, and don’t forget to get your pre-purchase bundle—this time, available until up to one week after expansion unlock!

The Mega Pre-Purchase Bundle is entirely focused on the Hearthstone mode this time, granting more cards than ever before, including Signature cards, Signature Packs, and the entire 49-card Path of Arthas set!*

* Path of Arthas includes 26 distinct Death Knight cards (2 copies of each, except for 1 copy of each of the 3 Legendary cards) that are not part of March of the Lich King and can’t be opened in packs. In addition to being included in the Pre-Purchase Mega Bundle, Path of Arthas cards can be crafted or purchased as a complete set after the expansion goes live.

With the launch of March of the Lich King comes a new Rewards Track with tons of cosmetics, XP boosts, packs, and a huge infusion of Gold! Check out our Rewards Track Refresh blog tomorrow for details.

Undead Invade the Tavern

A new minion type has been added with March of the Lich King, Undead! Hundreds of minions from past card sets have been given the new Undead type, along with an army of minions in this expansion. With the addition of Undead, we’ve also added Dual-Type Minions so that we can best capture the essence of these minions. Some past and new minions will now feature two minion types, such as Undead Dragons and Demon Pirates.

The Reborn keyword is making its return in March of the Lich King, and it will become a keyword we regularly use going forward. Minions with Reborn return to life with 1 Health the first time they die. Reborn is commonly featured on Undead minions, but you might occasionally see it on other cards as well.

Card Updates

Theotar, the Mad Duke

• Old: [5 Mana] 3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: [6 Mana] 4 Attack, 4 Health

Dev Comment: The release of a new class is an incredibly exciting moment for Hearthstone players everywhere, and a moment that we want to be as enjoyable and accessible as possible. Knowing the importance of this new class release, our plan with Theotar was to test out a smaller change to the card (from 4 to 5 mana in Patch 24.4.3) before potentially moving for a larger change if necessary. Theotar’s play rate did not drop as far as we would have liked it to with the smaller change, and is still higher than we would like it to be leading into March of the Lich King. Our aim with this second change is to lower the card’s play rate to ensure that the release of Death Knight is as fun as possible for players with a wide variety of interests and experience levels.

Ice Revenant

• Old: Whenever you cast a Frost spell, gain +2/+2.
• New: Whenever you cast a Frost spell, gain +1/+1.

Dev Comment: The nerf to Ice Revenant might appear out of place, but it feels like a necessary one in a world where Death Knight has access to multiple cheap Frost spells (like Horn of Winter). In testing, we were frequently seeing Ice Revenants at game-ending sizes as early as turn 4, and the card was simply overshadowing many of the new and exciting things in the set.

Signature Cards are Here!

Signature is a new cosmetic quality (like Golden or Diamond) that cards can have, starting with Patch 25.0, featuring full-art images! Signature cards can’t be crafted or disenchanted; they can only be opened in packs or obtained through special means. Two are included in the Pre-Purchase Mega Bundle, along with regular and Signature March of the Lich King packs that will give you chances to open more! Learn more about Signature cards and Signature packs in our Expansion Announcement blog and explainer post.

Death Knight Prologue Available December 6

Play through the iconic story of the haughty prince Arthas Menethil as he forsakes the Light and becomes The Lich King, Hearthstone’s first Death Knight! The prologue will show you the strength of the Death Knight as you explore its new Hero Power and three Runes: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. Complete the Death Knight Prologue to unlock the Death Knight class and immediately receive 32 free Death Knight cards, added to the Core Set.

Death Knight Launch Event Starting December 6

To celebrate the launch of the March of the Lich King, a special expansion launch event will be taking place using the new Events system. From December 6 to December 20, complete daily Event Quests to earn Event XP on a special Event reward track! Complete the Event rewards track to get 6 Signature cards (2 copies each of three non-Legendary cards), a March of the Lich King pack, and a special Card Back.

A Winterveil Event will be coming later this patch. Stay tuned for more details on that event in the coming weeks.

Tavern Brawl: A Lich King Recipe – December 7

The deck recipe brawl is back for March of the Lich King! Choose one of Hearthstone’s now 11 classes and play with a battle-ready Standard deck. But this time, there’s a twist! When you choose Death Knight, you will randomly play with one of three decks, each highlighting a different rune.

Battlegrounds Updates

The following updates will go live with Patch 25.0, on November 29.

New Hero

Enhance-o-Mechano (Armor Tier 1)

• Enhancification
  • Passive. After each Refresh, give a minion in Bob’s Tavern Taunt, Reborn, Windfury, or Divine Shield.
  • Dev Comments: The odds for each enhancification are equal (25%), except that a minion won’t be given a keyword it already has. So if ALL minions in a shop offering already have one of the keywords, it will roll something else.

This new hero will be available in all lobbies for two weeks after patch launch.

New Quest Reward

Enhance-a-matic: At the start of your turn, get an Enhanced Part that gives +5/+5 and a random bonus.

Enhanced Parts:

• Mega Horn: Give a minion +5/+5 and Taunt.

• Blazing Blades: Give a minion +5/+5 and Windfury.

• Bunker Plating: Give a minion +5/+5 and Divine Shield.

• Death Rewinder: Give a minion +5/+5 and Reborn.

Dev Comment: The odds for each of the Enhanced Parts are equal (25%).

Mercenaries Updates

• Rattlegore can now be earned through all normal means.
• Chromie can be obtained on the 25.0 Rewards Track.

New Mercenary

Chromie (Epic Protector)

• Gnome—4/84 Maxed Stats
• Abilities
  • Rewind 5: (Arcane-Speed 8) Deal 17 damage to a character. Deathblow: Its neighbors go last next turn.
  • Reading Chromie 5: (Arcane-Speed 6, Cooldown 1) Deal 22 damage. Gains +5 damage each time you cast an ability with higher speed than this.
  • Change the Timeline 5: (Arcane-Speed 5, Cooldown 2) Gain +20 Health. For two turns, abilities with higher speed act first. (Starts off Cooldown.)
• Equipment
  • Stroke of Midnight 4: Battlecry: Activate Change the Timeline for one turn. It goes on Cooldown for 2 turns.
  • Chaos Theory 4: The first time this Merc dies, rewind to the start of the turn and give your characters +8 Health.
  • Body Euphoria 4: Start of Game: Give your Gnomes +10/+20.

Chromie and her Portraits will not initially be available through packs or crafting. They will be available through all normal means in a patch after the end of the 25.0 Rewards Track.

Duels Updates

General Updates

• On November 29, there will be a major change to how Duels card buckets function (discussed below).
• On November 29, March of the Lich King, Path of Arthas, and Knights of the Frozen Throne will be added to the Duels card buckets (subject to the new buckets logic). At the same time, Knights of the Frozen Throne will also be added to deckbuilding.
• On December 6, the current Duels season will end, ratings will be reset, and ongoing runs will be concluded.
• On December 6, March of the Lich King and Path of Arthas will be added to deckbuilding and the two new Death Knight heroes will be added to the hero pool.
• Death Knight deckbuilding rules will apply to the initial Duels deckbuilding phase, just like the Hearthstone mode.
• You are not required to complete the Death Knight Prologue to unlock the Death Knight heroes in Duels. However, you won’t have the Death Knight Core Set available to you in deckbuilding if you haven’t unlocked the class. If you don’t have any Death Knight cards, you will only be able to use Neutral cards in your deckbuilding.

Card Bucket Revamp

With Patch 25.0, the Duels card bucket system will be getting a major update. The “Group Learning” bucket will be removed entirely. All other buckets will be adjusted to give cards by expansion, instead of by grouped type of effect. Cards for buckets will be generated based on cards from your deck, then a bucket will be generated based on the associated bucket pool.

New Heroes

Shai Shadestorm (Death Knight)

• Hero Powers
  • Ghoul Blitz: [2 Mana] Summon a 1/1 Ghoul with Charge and Reborn. It dies at end of turn.
  • Gathering Storm: [2 Mana] Gain a Corpse. Draw a card.
  • Lichborne Might: [1 Mana] Give a friendly minion +3/+3. It dies at the end of your turn.

• Signature Treasures
  • Gluth: [4 Mana Minion—Undead Beast]
    • 4/2. Battlecry: Give your other Undead +2/+1 and Reborn.
  • Glaciaxe: [4 Mana Weapon]
    • 5/2. Deathrattle: Equip a 2/5 Wings of Glaciaxe.
      • Wings of Glaciaxe: [4 Mana Weapon] 2/5. Windfury, Deathrattle: Summon four 1/1 Zombies with Reborn.
  • Remembrance of Ice: [6 Mana Spell—Frost]
    • Resurrect the minions your Frost spells have killed this game.
  • Unholy Embrace: [4 Mana Spell]
    • Spend up to 10 Corpses and add an Unholy Rune card to your hand for each.
  • Gluth-sicle: [7 Mana Minion—Undead Beast]
    • 6/4. Battlecry: Summon two Undead from your deck and Freeze them.
  • Inexorable Ghoul: [5 Mana Minion—Undead]
    • 5/5. Rush Revive: (2)

Scarlet Leafdancer (Death Knight)

• Hero Powers
  • Blood Parasite: [2 Mana] Summon a 2/1 Bloodworm with Lifesteal.
  • Hematology: [1 Mana] Spend up to 3 Corpses. For each, reduce the cost of a card in your hand by (1).
  • Scourging: [2 Mana] Discover an Undead.

• Signature Treasures
  • Runed Soulblade: [4 Mana Weapon]
    • 3/4. After your hero takes damage, deal 1 damage to all enemies and lose 1 Durability.
  • Scourge Strike: [3 Mana Spell]
    • Gain 1 Corpse, destroy 1 enemy minion, and draw 1 card. (Improves during run)
  • Crimson: [1 Mana Minion—Undead Beast]
    • 1/1. Whenever your hero is healed, this minion gains that much Attack and Health.
  • Ironweave Bloodletter: [3 Mana Weapon]
    • 3/2. Battlecry: For the rest of the game, whenever you consume one or more Corpses, restore 2 Health to your hero.
  • Greatsword of the Ebon Blade: [3 Mana Weapon]
    • 1/5. Whenever you play a minion, give it Reborn and this loses 1 Durability.
  • Contagion Concoction: [2 Mana Spell]
    • Infect a minion with “Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to your hero, then infect a neighbor.”

New Passive Treasures

Cadaver Collector [Pool 1]: After the first time you gain a Corpse in a turn, gain 1 additional Corpse.

Blood Shields [Pool 1]: After the first time you spend a Corpse in a turn, gain 1 Health.

Ghouls Rush In [Pool 2]: After the first time your spend a Corpse in a turn, summon a 2/2 Risen Ghoul with Rush.

Cold Feet Pact [Pool 2]: At the end of your turn, summon a Risen Groom with stats equal to half your Corpse total.

New Active Treasure

Tiny Thimble [Pool 1]: 3 Mana, 3/3 Minion—Undead. Rush, Deathrattle: Add a Regular-Size Thimble to your hand.

• Regular-Size Thimble: 4 Mana, 5/5 Minion—Undead. Rush. After this attacks and kills a minion, gain +2/+2.

Arena Updates

On December 6, when March of the Lich King launches, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible card sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:

• Core
• Curse of Naxxramus
• Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
• Knights of the Frozen Throne*
• The Witchwood
• United in Stormwind
• March of the Lich King
• Path of Arthas

Additionally, Death Knight will be added as a playable class in Arena. When playing as a Death Knight, Arena deckbuilding will dynamically update as you pick cards so that the Death Knight Rune system is followed.

* As a reminder, Knights of the Frozen Throne will be rotated back out of the Core Set with the launch of March of the Lich King.

New Feature: Improved Duplicate Card Handling

We often include specific non-disenchantable cards as part of Reward Tracks, Events, Achievements, and Shop purchases. Starting with 25.0, if you claim one of these, but already own a lower quality copy that’s disenchantable, you’ll get a popup that offers to re-roll the lower quality copy to a different card of the same rarity from that card set.

For example, Diamond Grand Magister Rommath is on the March of the Lich King Tavern Pass. If you already own a Golden Rommath when you claim the Diamond, you’ll immediately get a popup offering to reroll Golden Rommath into a different March of the Lich King Golden Legendary (which, of course, respects duplicate protection). This feature also applies when you find a Signature card in a pack!

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Countered Secrets would not be revealed when Countered.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Immolate would not destroy cards that were Infused after being Immolated.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Afterlife Attendant would not progress a Huntsman Altimor’s Infuse form if the Infuse counter went to 0 while Altimor was in the deck.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Soul Seeker could result in an invisible card being summoned in certain circumstances.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Disarming Elemental’s Battlecry would not trigger if the person playing Disarming Elemental had an empty deck.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Silas Darkmoon’s rotation effect would kill Doomsayer.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Akama Prime was not stealthy enough and would lose Stealth when attacking.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Lotus Assassin was too stealthy and wouldn’t lose Stealth after Flare was played.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where certain visuals would remain on the board if the card causing them was Countered.
• [Battlegrounds] Elder Taggawag (Queen Wagtoggle’s Buddy) will now no longer have its effect blocked just because you control an “All” typed minion.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where The Golden Hammer Quest Reward could be used on an already-Golden minion, and then would result in that minion losing its Goldenization the following turn.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Leeroy Jenkins’s effect doesn’t work if he is mortally wounded and saved, and then later killed.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Ethereal Evidence didn’t respect minion type bans when offering Quest Rewards.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug causing disconnects and crashes under certain circumstances.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug that could lock players into a Bounty if they had an active Bounty with a mystery node when the Mysterious Stranger was removed from mystery nodes.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where completing a Heroic Bounty would not count for Tasks requiring a Normal Bounty completion.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where Neeru Fireblade’s Imp-losion only dealt damage once.
• [Mercenaries] Fixed a bug where PVE enemies would go first in Speed ties.
• [Collection] Fixed a bug where the “Complete My Deck” feature did not work with Prince Renathal decks.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where the level 100 Rewards Track Hero Skin could not be selected.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where players who reached the level 400 Rewards Track cap would no longer receive quests.
• [Shop] Fixed a bug where the “Back” button’s selection space was too small and placed where players could sometimes accidentally click into a product when they meant to go back.
• Misc. other improvements and bug fixes.