Hearthstone Dev Tracker

Patch 29.2.2, launching later today, contains big updates to Hearthstone and Battlegrounds.

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: This patch is a little different than our usual balance patches—it’s more about the general design direction of the game than it is about particular power outliers (though we hit a few of those, too). Right now, there are a lot of cards that can remove player agency and raise the power level of the game beyond where we want for a 4-set meta. We’re looking at a variety of these meta-defining cards in this patch, from OTK-style cards to powerful AoE effects that make it feel like your minions don’t matter.

There will always be cool, dreamy cards in Hearthstone—that's part of what makes Hearthstone Hearthstone—but these types of cards can sometimes be disproportionately more fun to play with than play against. We don’t want these kinds of cards to make up the most powerful and prevalent archetypes in the game, especially i...

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Patch 29.2, launching on April 16, brings Battlegrounds Duos and Season 7, Once Upon a Tavern! 

This story has lots of chapters, so you can use this Table of Contents to help you find what you need: 

Table of Contents

• Introducing Battlegrounds Duos 
• Battlegrounds Season 7 
• ...

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This patch, coming when you least expect it, includes updates to Standard, Wild, Battlegrounds, and more!

Hearthstone Updates

General Updates

• Cards in your deck will now be in a random order. We’d get more into the specifics about this change, but we’re not sure that’s a rabbit hole worth exploring.
• Before queueing for a match, you’ll now select whether you want to go first or second, and then get paired with a player who has made the opposite selection.
• You’re not imagining it: the toys in Whizbang’s Workshop do move when you’re not looking.
• You can now pet the dog in Hearthstone.

Card Updates

Shadowstep

• Dev Comment: For player sentiment reasons, Shadowstep has been removed from Core. A new card, called Step, will be added into Core in its place. 

...

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Patch 29.0.3, launching today, includes the following balance changes to Standard and Battlegrounds.

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: We hope you’re enjoying Whizbang’s Workshop so far! We’ve seen you experimenting with lots of new cards and archetypes across most classes—and finding a few outliers. This patch is mostly to weaken those outliers and to offer a couple higher-confidence buffs based on early data.

The following cards have been adjusted to be weaker:

Tigress Plushy

• Old: [3 Mana]
• New: [4 Mana]

Deputization Aura

• Old: Your left-most minion has +3 Attack and Lifesteal. Lasts 3 turns.
• New: Your left-most minion has +1 Attack and Lifesteal. Lasts 3 turns.

...

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Happy anniversary! Today, March 11, marks 10 years since the launch of Hearthstone. We’re celebrating with a Community Day and Patch 29.0, including the groundwork for Whizbang’s Workshop, the Core Set rotation, in-game rewards, and more! 

Schedule and Quick Reference 

There’s a lot happening with this patch, so we’ve organized it into a quick breakdown. You can click on the links to jump to that portion of the Patch Notes. 

Show Schedule

March 11 

• Patch 29.0 Launch 
• Community Day (March 11-12) 
• ...

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Patch 28.6.2, launching today, includes the following changes to Standard and Battlegrounds.

Hearthstone Updates 

Dev Comment: We have two goals this patch. First, we want to weaken some of the meta outliers. Second, we want to experiment with smaller buffs across several cards that are rotating out of Standard soon—especially in classes that are currently weaker—to see if we can give them one last hurrah. Our hope is that players will try out and enjoy some of these strategies during these last few weeks before they go. This is an experiment, so we’ll be tracking player sentiment and play data to see if this works out. 

The following cards were adjusted to be less powerful: 

Sludge on Wheels 

• Old: 2/5 
• New: 2/4 

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Patch 28.6, launching today, introduces Hearthstone’s next expansion, Whizbang’s Workshop, brings Quests back to Battlegrounds, and kicks off 10-year anniversary celebrations throughout the Tavern! 

Pre-Purchase Whizbang’s Workshop, Get Early Access Epics 

Find your new favorite toy in Hearthstone’s next expansion, Whizbang’s Workshop, coming March 19! Whizbang is opening up the doors to his world-famous workshop—the place where all of Azeroth’s greatest toys are made. He’s got Wind-Up Toys, Miniatures, and nonstop nostalgia. Find a new favorite toy or build your own—you can make all your wishes come true in Whizbang’s Workship! 

Whizbang’s Workshop has 145 all-new collectible cards. You can learn more about what’s in store in the ...

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Patch 28.4.1, launching today, brings bug fixes and balance changes to Hearthstone and Battlegrounds!

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: This is our first balance patch after the launch of the Delve into Deepholm mini-set. The overall goal of the patch is to help the mini-set launch in two ways: 1) reducing the power and popularity of some of the dominant decks from before the mini-set that are continuing to see lots of play; and 2) toning down some mini-set cards that didn’t land how we wanted.

It’s too early in the new meta for buffs, but we’ll keep an eye out for those opportunities in our upcoming balance patches. Looking a little further ahead, some of the cards we’re adjusting are cards that will be rotating out of Standard with the next expansion—we'll take another look at them when the time comes to see if they should be reverted once they’re out of Standard.

Vela...

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Patch 28.4, launching tomorrow, digs up the new Mini-Set, Delve into Deepholm, plus updates to Arena and Twist, and a new seasonal event!

Delve into Deepholm

The Bloodrock Mining Co. dug deeper and deeper until they found something amazing: a whole new world beneath the surface! Teeming with elemental energy, this new land brings dual-class cards, new Excavated Treasures, new singleton payoffs, and more!

The Delve into Deepholm Mini-Set has 38 all-new cards. Get them in Showdown in the Badlands packs or as a complete 72-card* Mini-Set. Get the norm...

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Patch 28.2.3 is a data-only patch going live today with updates to Standard and Battlegrounds. This patch is our last scheduled patch for the year, and our aim is to make the most fun patch we can for the holiday break. We hope you enjoy and we’ll see you in the Tavern—and in the new year!

Standard Updates

Dev Comment: The overall goals for this patch are to make buffs across underperforming classes, decks, and cards, especially ones from Showdown in the Badlands, and to weaken a few overperforming decks that are keeping other decks down. Our intent isn’t to kill these decks that players generally like, but to bring them down a little to make more room in the meta.

Paladin has been the biggest overperformer since the last adjustment. We’re targeting its AoE board clears because that’s a mechanic we want Paladin to have access to, but not excel in. There are other potential targets that we looked at...

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Patch 28.2.1 is a data-only patch launching today with the following updates.

Hearthstone Updates

Dev Comment: This is our balance patch for Worlds! We specifically requested this early balance window so that we could make changes that we think will make the coolest Worlds possible! Overall, we think the meta is in a good spot, with most classes having something interesting to play and most top decks having play patterns we’re comfortable with. That lets us take a high confidence, step-wise approach with this patch, instead of making risky, drastic changes.

Enrage Warrior was the biggest standout we wanted to adjust down, and we wanted to make Sif Mage a bit more attackable. We’re also taking this opportunity to buff some underperforming archetypes, especially with new cards. Excavate as a whole got a little love with buffs to a Treasure at each rarity, the Neutral Burrow Buster, and a couple low-p...

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Patch 28.2, launching tomorrow, brings Battlegrounds Season 6, the Spellslinger’s Saloon, updates to the shop and new player progression, and more!

Saddle Up for Battlegrounds Season 6!

Belly up to the saloon in Battlegrounds Season 6, the Spellslinger’s Saloon. This here saloon’s serving up all new spells, purchased directly from the Tavern. Sit down with over 40 new Tavern spells, over 30 new minions, an update to the Undead minion type, and more!

On December 5, Battlegrounds Season 5 will end and Season 6 will begin. That means rankings will be reset, Anomalies will be removed, and the Battlegrounds Track will switch over. All rewards that were earned from the Season 5 Track, but not yet claimed, will be automatically claimed.

New Mechanic—Tavern Spells

Battlegrounds Season 6 ...

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Patch 28.0.3 is a data-only patch, launching today, with the following updates.

Hearthstone Card Updates

Dev Comment: The team is pretty happy with the launch of Showdown in the Badlands. We’re seeing players having fun, exploring, and having success with a variety of decks and strategies. This is a lighter patch based on early data, designed just to hit the biggest feels and power outliers. We’ll continue to watch how the meta develops after these changes as we evaluate data and feedback for our next balance patch, scheduled for late next week, to set up for the World Championships on December 16 and 17!

Blindeye Sharpshooter

• Old: 1/5
• New: 1/3
• Dev Comment: Naga Demon Hunter is an outlier, but it is also one of the popular new archetypes from the expansion, so this change is designed to make the deck weaker without killing it. This change...

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