Hearthstone Dev Tracker

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Lady Prestor and Kazakus have been pulling the strings from the shadows all year. But while they’ve been scheming, the mercenaries of the Horde and Alliance have grown stronger, and closer. Now these max-level heroes have formed a raiding party, and are charging headlong into Onyxia’s Lair. They’ll have to use all they learned this year to take down powerful Dragons and recover the fallen Naaru!

The Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set, launching worldwide on February 15, consists of 35 distinct cards: 4 Legendary cards, 1 Epic card, 14 Rare cards, and 16 Common cards. Those new cards can be found in Fractured in Alterac Valley packs, or you can get the entire 66-card* Mini-Set for $14.99 or 2000 Gold! For...

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Patch 22.4, launching on February 15, includes updates to Battlegrounds, Mercenaries, Duels, Arena, the new Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, and more!

Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set Launches on February 15!

Things are heating back up after the cold of Alterac Valley! Enter Onyxia’s Lair in the Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, coming February 15! After a year of growth, our heroes are max level and ready to raid with these 35 new cards. Get them in Fractured in Alterac Valley packs, or get the entire 66-card Mini-Set* for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. For the first time ever, we are also offering the option to buy an all-Golden set of all 66 Mini-Set cards for $69.99!

Onyxia’s Lair Mini-Set card reveals start today! Follow ...

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Patch 22.2.2, launching today, includes balance changes for Battlegrounds and Duels, along with a handful of bug fixes.

Battlegrounds Updates

MINION POOL CHANGE

• Archdruid Hamuul has been removed from the minion pool.

BUDDY CHANGES

Elementium Squirrel Bomb (Millificent Manastorm’s Buddy)

• Old: Deathrattle: Deal 4 damage to a random enemy minion. Repeat for each of your Mechs that died this combat. → New: Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to a random enemy minion for each of your Mechs that died this combat.

Eclipsion Illidari (Illidan Stormrage’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 2] “Wingmen” also gives “Immune while Attacking” for one a...

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Below are the Arena leaderboards for November 1, 2021 - January 1, 2022. Arena rankings reflect players’ best 30 consecutive runs throughout a season. The players featured below have exhibited top-notch deckbuilding skills, in-the-moment decision making, and unyielding dedication to achieve a most noteworthy feat!

For an Arena run to be included in this season, its end time must have been between November 1, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. and January 1, 2022 at 9:59:59 a.m.

Dynamic ladder rankings are now also available for the Standard and Wild ladders.

Americ...

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It’s Lunar New Year in the Tavern come February 2! Celebrate with a holiday Tavern Brawl, a Legendary Quest chain, new thematic cosmetics, and more!

Remember to Claim Your Free Dancing Lion Card Back

First things first, if you haven’t already claimed your Dancing Lion Card Back, now is the time! Celebrate the Lunar New Year with this festive new card back—may it bring you lucky draws in the new year!

The Dancing Lion Card Back was designed by a player named Xi Luo, the winner of a Hearthstone Card Back Design Competition for our fan...

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We’re in the process of deploying a hotfix that includes some balance changes for Battlegrounds and Duels, and a handful of bug fixes.

Developer’s Note: Because this is a hotfix change, the changes will not show correctly while hovering over the minions in the shop, on the hero select screen, or when hovering over the Buddy Meter. This will be corrected in a future update.

Hero Changes

Elementium Squirrel Bomb (Millificent Manastorm’s Buddy)

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4

Minion Changes

Tarecgosa

• Old: [Tavern Tier 3] → New: [Tavern Tier 4]

...

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Are you ready to earn an invite to the second Masters Tour of 2022? With the Masters Tour taking place March 18 - 20, players can now register for one of the Qualifiers on Battlefy or fight their way to the top of the February Ladder for their shot at the $250,000 (USD) prize pool and points toward promotion to Grandmasters: Last Call!

Here are all of the ways you can snag an invite for the second Masters Tour of the year:

• Win one of 60 online Masters Qualifiers between February 4 and February 27 on Battlefy.
• Have a Top 50 win rate over 10+ Qualifiers without winning.
• Top 32 finishe...

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Patch 22.2, launching on January 25, includes a massive Battlegrounds update, tons of Duels changes, balance changes for Standard and Wild, a new building to the Mercenaries Village, bug fixes, and more!

Card Updates

The following cards have been adjusted down in power level:

Shadowcrafter Scabbs

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]
  • Dev Comment: Rogue has seen significant increases in playrate and winrate since the last patch, and Scabbs is a pretty clear outlier in terms of power. We expect this change to make a fairly large impact in the strength of Rogue archetypes across the board.

Wildpaw Gnoll

• Old: [Costs 5] 4 Attack, 5 Health → New: [Costs 6] 3 ...

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The Battle for Alterac Valley is over and the Alliance has claimed victory! In celebration of their feat, all players will receive a Diamond copy of the Alliance leader, Vanndar Stormpike, at some point in the next major patch period!

But the question Horde players keep asking themselves is, how did it come to this?

From the get-go, the Alliance had a sizeable numbers advantage on the battlefield. Right before the launch of Fractured in Alterac Valley, the Alliance had signed up approximately 57% of players to join their cause while the Horde had only recruited approximately 43%. That helped put the Alliance ahead by about 76 million Honor going into the expansion launch.

The Horde fought valiantly in the face of this overwhelming foe! At the start of...

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Starting tomorrow, Winter Veil comes to the Tavern! Throughout the Winter Veil celebration, you’ll be able to use special event emotes and participate in some fun activities, too.

Legendary Quest Chain

Give yourself the gift of free packs! Starting on December 21, you can embark on a Legendary Quest Chain to celebrate Winter Veil. The Quest Chain includes three quests, each awarding 1 Fractured in Alterac Valley Pack and 1 Standard Pack, for a total of 6 Packs!

Two Seasonal Tavern Brawls Return

First, the Gift Exchange tavern brawl is back! In this holiday classic, you and your oppo...

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Patch 22.0.2, launching today, includes balance changes for Standard and Battlegrounds, a system update for Mercenaries, and more!

Standard Balance Updates

Dev Comment: We’re coming up on two weeks since the launch of Fractured in Alterac Valley and, while players are still finding success with quite a variety of strategies, we want to open up the format further. This patch is mainly focused on weakening some of the stronger, combo-centric strategies that have had long-term success throughout the Year of the Gryphon.

The following cards have been adjusted down in power:

Celestial Alignment

• Old: [Costs 7] → New: [Costs 8]
  • Dev Comment: Although Celestial Alignment is not usually a card used for from-hand, burst damage, it does frequently allow for absurd turns that happen a little earlier than we feel is healthy. Moving it up a mana should allow for more setup and co...

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Posesi of Japan is the 2021 Hearthstone World Champion! After beating glory 3-2 in the final match, Posesi has joined the Hall of Champions and taken home $200,000 (USD) in prizing. 

Speaking with TJ following his victory, Posesi was full of emotion. “I’m very happy, because I am finally the champion. Once it hit and we went 2-2, I was like ‘it really happened, oh my god am I going to lose here?’ I have to give a shoutout to the entire Japanese community!”    

Day one began with the eight competitors split into two groups. In Group A, Posesi, ...

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As we enter 2022, the Hearthstone Esports team is reexamining how to best nurture the long-term sustainability of competitive Hearthstone and how best to support this incredible, and global, community. From an expanded World Championship to new seasonal Masters Tour tournaments, the sunsetting of Grandmasters, and the introduction of monthly Battlegrounds events, Hearthstone Esports is evolving, and we can’t wait to share the new ecosystem with you!

With so much going on or changing in 2022, here is a quick breakdown of what you can expect before jumping into the full announcement:

• 2022 World Championship will feature 16 players: four from Grandmasters, four from China, and eight from Masters Tours.
• ...

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Following two Grandmasters seasons and six Masters Tours, we are gearing up to conclude the year with the Hearthstone 2021 World Championship! With $500,000 (USD) on the line, the top eight players in the world are set to meet this weekend on December 18-19 to see who will join the Hall of Champions and finish off 2021 as the next Hearthstone World Champion.

We recently asked each of the competitors a series of quick-fire questions to learn more about them ahead of the weekend’s tournament. Let’s get to know the two European contenders!

Frenetic – The Striker

With his championship victory at Masters Tour Montreal in 2020, ...

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Following two Grandmasters seasons and six Masters Tours, we are gearing up to conclude the year with the Hearthstone 2021 World Championship! With $500,000 (USD) on the line, the top eight players in the world are set to meet this weekend on December 18-19 to see who will join the Hall of Champions and finish off 2021 as the next Hearthstone World Champion.

We recently asked each of the competitors a series of quick-fire questions to learn more about them ahead of the weekend’s tournament. Let’s get to know the two Americas contenders!

Nalguidan - The Legionnaire

...

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Gather ‘round and listen in, it’s time for Tavern Talks, the series that highlights some of the amazing members of our fine tavern!

Kristal is an immensely kind and endearing Hearthstone player from Brazil who’s recently garnered a following as a streamer! Here, she talks about how she found her way to the Tavern, her approach to the game, and what it’s been like playing in front of an audience. So, pull up a chair, it’s time for Tavern Talks!

The following interview has been edited for readability and translated from Portuguese.

Question: Tell us about yourself!

My name is Berenice, I am a 74-year-old lady who is delighted with this new opportunity to be part of the Hearthstone community, which is opened a new world for me...really.

Since I was a child, I've always enjoyed playing cards with my friends, as well as riding bikes around town. At home, due to my mother's guidelines, I was always a quiet person...

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The Hearthstone 2021 World Championship is here! Beginning this Saturday, December 18, the top eight Hearthstone players in the world face-off in the latest Hearthstone expansion, Fractured in Alterac Valley, to determine who will walk away with the grand prize of $200,000 (USD). Connect your Battle.net and YouTube accounts to earn Fractured in Alterac Valley packs as you watch your favorite competitors battle to join the Hall of Champions! And be sure to catch Hearthstone Esports product lead, Alex Barhorst, as he joins TJ on the desk following Match 2, on December 18, to unveil the 2022 program details. You won’t want to miss a single moment of what is bound to be a truly legendary weekend of competitive Hearthstone, only on ...

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As the year begins to wind down, the Hearthstone team prepares for its pre-holiday break tradition: Free Your Mind! Free Your Mind is an informal and voluntary hack-a-thon where members of Team 5 can choose whether to band together on group projects or go it alone to work on personal passions for the final weeks of the working year. The only rule is that whatever you work on has some tie-in to Hearthstone!

Several features and systems in Hearthstone today were born from Free Your Mind projects, such as the option to equip a random Card Back, copy and pasting of deck codes, deck reordering, the offline Collection Manager, the tech behind Battlegrounds parties, your Golden cards appearing as Golden in Arena drafts, and the ability to search for dust refunds in your Collection! There are other Free Your Mind projects that end up improving live game systems and tools behind the scenes.

There are also many Free Your Mind projects that did not make it to the live server....

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Grab your coat and your faction’s tabard, adventurers, because Fractured in Alterac Valley is now live worldwide with 135 new collectible cards, the return of Hero cards, the new Honorable Kill keyword, Objectives, and mo...

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It’s almost time for another Rewards Track refresh! When the Rewards Track refreshes with the Fractured in Alterac Valley launch, all players will automatically be granted any unclaimed rewards on both the free track and the Tavern Pass track (if purchased), and a completely new Rewards Track of unlockable loot will take its place.

Note: Vanessa VanCleef is an Epic Mercenary, not a Legendary as shown here. Check out the patch notes for details!

Fractured in Alterac Valley Rewards Track

The Rewards Track for Fractured in Alterac Valley will include packs from Fractured in Alterac Valley, Standard packs, Tavern Tickets, a random Epic card, two random Legendary c...

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