The latest Hearthstone patch features nerfs for Standard, Battlegrounds updates and more. Launched on June 16, Hearthstone patch 23.4.3 also has balance changes for a bunch of characters in the Mercenaries game mode.
Control Warrior and Fel Demon Hunter nerfs
According to the developers, the power level of the most powerful decks in Standard’s meta will be lowered, including Fel Demon Hunter and variants of Control Warrior.
Nerfed Warrior cards include Nellie’s Pirate Ship that’s summoned via Nellie, the Great Thresher, Shield Shatter, Tidal Revenant and From the Depths. These updates tone down the power as well as the higher win rates of both Control Warrior and Charge Warrior, with both deck archetypes sharing some key cards.
- Shield Shatter → New: Deal 4 damage to all minions. Costs (1) less for each Armor you have.
- Tidal Revenant → New: Battlecry: Deal 5 damage. Gain 5 Armor.
- Nellie’s Pirate Ship → New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Add Nellie’s Pirate crew to your hand. They Cost (1) less.
- From the Depths Old → New: [Costs 4]
Next, the Demon Hunter card nerfs encompass Caria Felsoul and Battleworn Vanguard. Like Warrior, Demon Hunter has experienced a significant win rate since the release of Throne of the Tides Mini-Set. Prior to Hearthstone patch 23.4.3, Caria Felsoul was able to get a copy of Xhilag of the Abyss out more quickly.
Battleworn Vanguard is now reduced by one health, to prevent it from easily sticking to the board in the early game.
- Caria Felsoul → New: [Costs 7] 7 Attack, 7 Health. Battlecry: Transform into a 7/7 copy of a Demon in your deck.
- Battleworn Vanguard → New: 2 Attack, 1 Health
Other card updates, include Wildpaw Gnoll, Lightforged Cariel, Spitelash Siren, Earthen Scales, Lightning Bloom, Mr. Smite and School Teacher.
- Wildpaw Gnoll → New: 3 Attack, 5 Health
- Lightforged Cariel → New: [Costs 8]
- Spitelash Siren → New: [Costs 5] 2 Attack, 6 Health
- Earthen Scales → New: [Costs 2]
- Lightning Bloom → New: Refresh 2 Mana Crystals. Overload: (2).
- Mr. Smite Old → New: [Costs 7]
- School Teacher → New: 4 Attack, 3 Health
Hearthstone patch updates for Battlegrounds and more
Meanwhile, Hearthstone Battlegrounds has some hero power updates. Onyxia Broodmother now summons a 3/1 Whelp instead of a 2/1 Whelp. Meanwhile, Ozumat’s passive still summons a 2/2 Tentacle with Taunt at the start of combat, but it now gains +1/+1 after the player sells a minion.
As for Pyramad, Brick by Brick now costs zero instead of one and gives a minion +2 health instead of +4. The ability also gains +1 health each turn that a player doesn’t use Brick by Brick. Tamsin Roame’s Fragrant Phylactery also got buffed; the hero power now destroys the player’s lowest health minion and gives its stats to five friendly minions instead of four.
In addition to several armor tier changes, minions such as Bubblette, Tarecgosa, Coldlight Seer, Waverider, Critter Wrangler, Corrupted Myrmidon and Tidemistress Athissa received tier, stats and buff updates.
In terms of Hearthstone Mercenaries, a bunch of characters received cooldown reductions for their abilities. Some of them include Alexstrasza’s Dragonqueen’s Gambit, The Lich King’s Death Coil and Yu’Lon’s Jadeflame Buffet. Speed buffs went to character abilities such as Tidemistress Athissa’s Wave Crush, Captain Hooktusk’s Cutthroat Negotiation and Uther’s Blessing of Protection.
