New Hearthstone patch nerfs Druid, Mage, and Hunter decks

The latest Hearthstone patch features a Ramp Druid nerf alongside nerfs to Mage and Hunter decks in an attempt to stabilize the current meta. Hearthstone patch 24.2.2 also includes updates to Battlegrounds and Duels.

Druid, Mage, and Hunter nerfs in latest Hearthstone patch

According to the developers, Hearthstone patch 24.2.2 is focused on making the Standard meta more stable and diverse. This arrives in the form of adjustments to cards such as Wildheart Guff and Edwin, Defias Kingpin.

Wildheart Guff has an updated battlecry and hero power that grants the player empty mana crystals instead of full ones. This is to account for the power of the Ramp Druid deck. As for Edwin, Defias Kingpin, it’s now a 4 mana 4/4 as opposed to a 3 mana 3/3.

• Wildheart Guff: New: Battlecry and Hero Power grant empty mana crystals.
• Edwin, Defias Kingpin: New: [Costs 4] 4 Attack, 4 Health

Next, Magister Dawngrasp’s hero power, Arcane Burst, now gains +1 damage instead of +2 damage after an honorable kill. Meanwhile, the Nightcloak Sanctum location card is also nerfed from 3 durability to 2 durability. By decreasing the power level of Arcane Burst and Nightcloak Sanctum, the Mage class is now less frustrating to play against during the mid and late game.

• Arcane Burst: New: Deal 2 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +1 damage.
• Nightcloak Sanctum: New: 2 Durability

The Quest Hunter deck is similar in terms of being difficult to play against. Therefore, Defend the Dwarven District, which is part of the Hunter Questline, now requires players to deal damage with 3 spells instead of 2.

• Defend the Dwarven District: New: Deal damage with 3 spells.

As for other card updates, they include Kael’thas Sinstrider costing 8 mana, Smothering Starfish increasing to 4 mana plus the School Teacher and Alliance Bannerman minions getting power adjustments.

• Kael’thas Sinstrider: New: [Costs 8]
• Smothering Starfish: New: [Costs 4]
• School Teacher: New: 4 Attack, 4 Health
• Alliance Bannerman: New: 2 Attack, 2 Health

Hearthstone Battlegrounds updates and more

Alongside the start of the new Battlegrounds season, the game mode has several armor tier changes plus Reward difficulty adjustments.

Meanwhile, Toggwaggle’s The Perfect Crime is now 10 gold instead of 9. As for Minion updates, they include nerfs to Nether Drake, Legion Overseer and Amber Guardian. Lava Lurker, Party Elemental and Yo-Ho-Ogre are among the buffed minions.

There are several Quest baseline adjustments as well, including ones to Track the Footprints, Follow the Money, and Reenact the Murder. Reward adjustments pertain to Tiny Henchman, Alter Ego, and Staff of Origination. The full list can be viewed in the Battleground section of the official patch notes.

For the Duels game mode, several hero powers received changes alongside updates to Signature Treasures and Passive Treasures. Hero powers such as No Guts, No Glory War Commands and Frost Shards now cost one more mana. The same goes for Signature Treasures such as Traktamer Aelessa, Magister Unchained and Warden’s Insight. The full list can be viewed within the official announcement.