Dev Comment: There were two clear meta offenders that we wanted to address in this patch: Yogg-Saron and the Druid class. Recent additions from the mini-set made for overly-powerful neutral board control tools that were warping the meta. These, combined with stand-out Druid cards, made for a Druid shell that was able to cover its class weaknesses and utilize any number of “finishers” to end the game. These changes focus on weakening the Druid shell that facilitated these powerful finishers, while also removing negative play experiences that we believe are causing more pain than fun. After those adjustments, the Jailer and Tony are out on probation, but we’ll be keeping an eye on them, and the rest of the meta, as we head into the Showdown in the Badlands.

Embrace of Nature

• Old: [1 Mana]

• New: [2 Mana]

Rake

• Old: [1 Mana]

• New: [2 Mana]

Dev Comment: Druid has a lot of redundancy right now, but Embrace of Nature and Rake are two cards that stand out as particularly integral to the class. They are also both too efficient for their cost. We considered other adjustments to Druid, but these were the two most stand-out choices.

Prison Breaker

• Old: Battlecry: If you’ve cast 5 or more spells this game, deal 3 damage to all enemies.

• New: Battlecry: If you’ve cast 5 or more spells this game, deal 2 damage to all enemies.

Dev Comment: The current suite of neutral board clears are a bit too punishing to minion-based decks. This change is to open up a bit of space in the meta for early minion strategies.

Yogg-Saron, Unleashed

• Old: [15 Mana] Costs (1) less for each spell you’ve cast this game.

• New: [9 Mana] After you use an ability, cast 2 random spells.

Dev Comment: When we made Yogg-Saron, we wanted it to be a powerful, exciting marquee card for the mini-set. Unfortunately, it ended up being too overpowered for too long. We’re removing the cost adjustment effect instead of bumping up its cost for two reasons: 1) we want the card to be played in more than just spell-spamming decks; and 2) this is the change we’re most confident will land at the power level we want. We replaced the cost reduction effect with the new random-spells effect because we wanted something that represented the character’s relationship with magic—and madness!

Tony, King of Piracy

• Old: [5 Mana] Both players’ decks are swapped. Finale: Draw a card.

• New: [7 Mana] Battlecry: Replace your deck with a copy of your opponent’s. Finale: Draw a card.

• Tony is also now Unbanned in Wild.

Dev Comment: When cards are causing problems when they’re played the way they’re designed to be played, that means they’re ripe for a redesign. Piracy is not a victimless crime, and Tony only really appeared when he was causing problems. This change keeps the essence of his effect, but avoids the sharp play experiences he caused.

The Jailer

• Old: Battlecry: Destroy your deck. For the rest of the game, your minions are Immune.

• New: Battlecry: Destroy your deck. This minion gains Immune.

• The Jailer is also now Unbanned in Standard and Wild.

Dev Comment: There was some concern that The Jailer would still work too well even with the updated Tony, so we’re making an adjustment here to tone down The Jailer as well and remove a lot of the polarizing situations he could enable.

All versions of the above cards that can be disenchanted will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 27.6.2.