The Year of the Raptor fast approaches as we enter the final days before the launch of Into the Emerald Dream. Brew up some decks, watch your favorite creators, check out upcoming balance changes, and join in the fun yourself in the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl; we’re planning quite the slumber party!
Theorycrafting Streams with Drops (March 13-14)
Join your favorite content creators as they take their first steps Into the Emerald Dream and theorycraft the new expansion. Featured players will be streaming their participation on their own personal streams, so make sure you’re following your favorite creators when they go live!
- NA/LATAM/EMEA players will play on March 13, 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (PDT)
- APAC players will play on March 14, 2:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. (PDT)
All participants need to include at least 10 Into the Emerald Dream cards in their decks (that can be 10 individual cards, 5 duplicates, or anything in between).
It’s a recurring dream! Your favorite casters will be returning for their Theorycasting stream on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel. Join them as they watch our theorycrafters dream up their creations, casting over games across participating players.
- Sottle, Lorinda, Edelweiss, and PocketTrain will be Theorycasting on March 14, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (PDT)
Twitch Drops will be enabled category-wide from March 13, 9:00 a.m. to March 14, 9:00 a.m. (PDT), so you can watch any Hearthstone stream you’d like to earn up to 2 Into the Emerald Dream packs (make sure you link your Twitch and Battle.net accounts so that your viewing time counts towards the drops). On top of that, participating streams will have Pre-Purchase Mega Bundle codes to give away to their audiences during the event!
Pre-Release Tavern Brawl Returns (March 18-25)
Starting with Patch 32.0, slip Into the Emerald Dream early in the returning Pre-Release Tavern Brawl. Open your Into the Emerald Dream packs early, build a deck, compete in a mini-competition, and earn prizes from the new expansion!
All players will get one entry into the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl for free. After that, each entry will cost 2 Tavern Tickets, 300 Gold, or 400 Runestones. On each run, lock in a deck and play until you get either 6 wins or 3 losses and earn more new cards based on how well you do!
In this second iteration of the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl, we are adjusting the eligible card pool to be the Core Set (pre-rotation), the Event Set (pre-rotation), The Great Dark Beyond (without the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set), and Into the Emerald Dream.
Dev Comment: This card pool was selected after feedback from the first Pre-Release Tavern Brawl told us you wanted to explore the new cards more and see less of the older cards. At the same time, we want to make sure that you have enough eligible cards to build complete decks—even if you didn’t buy any Pre-Purchase Bundles—so we didn’t want to fully remove all non-Emerald Dream cards from the event, either. We excluded the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set because its cards tend to be used together in bunches. We used the pre-rotation versions of the Core Set and Event Set because it avoided confusion and technical issues stemming from two versions of those sets being live at once. In our testing, this felt like a good balance of those competing interests, but we’ll keep listening to feedback and iterating on this event until we find what works best, so let us know what you think!
Community Days and More Drops (March 18-22)
Community Days return with free packs you can use in the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl! From March 18, 10:00 a.m. (PDT) to March 22, 10:00 a.m. (PDT), you can get up to 10 packs just for watching any Hearthstone stream (2 hours per drop)!
- 1st Drop: 3 Year of the Pegasus Packs
- 2nd Drop: 3 The Great Dark Beyond Packs
- 3rd Drop: 4 Into the Emerald Dream Packs
Tune in to your favorite streamers or host your own slumber party in this category-wide celebration of the Hearthstone universe!
The First Esports Open Qualifiers (March 21-23)
Hearthstone esports is already underway! From March 21-23, you can participate in the year’s first Open Qualifier events. For some players, this could be the first step to the World Championship! Sign-ups are now open:
- Americas Region: March 23, 9:00 a.m. (PDT)
- EMEA Region: March 22, 5:00 a.m. (PDT); March 22, 1:00 p.m. (CET)
- APAC Region: March 21, 5:00 p.m. (PDT); March 22, 9:00 a.m. (KST)
The Open Qualifiers will use the Standard format at the time of the event (meaning after the Patch 32.0 changes, but prior to the new Into the Emerald Dream cards and rotation). See all rules and program details in our dedicated esports blog.
A HUGE Balance Update Coming in Patch 32.0 (March 18)
Last, but certainly not least, several balance changes are coming soon, including our usual updates to cards soon rotating into Wild, as well as updates to cards that will be staying in Standard. These changes go live with Patch 32.0, on March 18. That means these changes will apply to the Theorycrafting event, the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl, the Esports Open Qualifiers, and, of course, the launch of Into the Emerald Dream. Take it all in, the fun starts tomorrow!
Standard-Focused Updates
Dreadhound Handler
- Old: 2/2
- New: 2/1
Infestor
- Old: 3/2. Deathrattle: Your Zerg minions have +1/+1 for the rest of the game.
- New: 4/2. Deathrattle: Your Zerg minions have +1 Attack for the rest of the game.
Hydration Station
- Old: [8 Mana]
- New: [10 Mana]
Alien Encounters
- Old: Summon two 2/5 Beasts with Taunt. Costs (1) less for each card you Discovered this game.
- New: Summon two 2/4 Beasts with Taunt. Costs (1) less for each card you Discovered this game.
Painter’s Virtue
- Old: Lifesteal. After your hero attacks, give minions in your hand +1/+1.
- New: After your hero attacks, give minions in your hand +1/+1.
Holy Glowsticks
- Old: Lifesteal. Deal 4 damage. Costs (1) if you’ve cast a Holy spell this turn.
- New: Lifesteal. Deal 4 damage to a minion. Costs (1) if you’ve cast a Holy spell this turn.
Timewinder Zarimi
- Old: Battlecry: Once per game, if you’ve summoned 8 other Dragons, take an extra turn.
- New: Battlecry: Once per game, if you’ve played 8 other Dragons, take an extra turn.
Raza the Resealed
- Old: Battlecry: For the rest of the game, your Hero Power refreshes whenever you play a card.
- New (reworked): Battlecry: Shuffle copies of 5 random friendly minions that died this game into your deck. They cost (0).
Orbital Halo
- Old: Give a minion +2/+1 and Divine Shield. Costs (0) if you played an adjacent card this turn.
- New: Give a minion +1/+1 and Divine Shield. Costs (0) if you played an adjacent card this turn.
Domino Effect
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [4 Mana]
Kerrigan, Queen of Blades
- Old: [7 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
Zergling
- Old: Battlecry: Summon a copy of this.
- New: Battlecry: Summon a 1/1 Zergling.
Jim Raynor
- Old: [7 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
Viking (Lift Off and Starport Token)
- Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 7 Armor.
- New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 5 Armor.
Liberator (Lift Off and Starport Token)
- Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 2 damage to all enemies.
- New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Raven (Lift Off and Starport Token)
- Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 3 random Bonus Effects.
- New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 2 random Bonus Effects.
Banshee (Lift Off and Starport Token)
- Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 5 damage to a random enemy.
- New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 3 damage to a random enemy.
The Ceaseless Expanse
- Old: 15/15
- New: 10/10
Incindius
- Old: [6 Mana]
- New: [7 Mana]
Bob the Bartender (Recruit a Minion option)
- Old: Put an enemy minion into your hand. Your opponent gets 3 Coins.
- New: Put a copy of an enemy minion into your hand. Your opponent gets 3 Coins.
Zilliax Deluxe 3000 (Virus Module)
- Old: 1/4. Elusive, Poisonous, Reborn
- New: 2/5. Elusive, Poisonous
Gorgonzormu
- Old: [3 Mana] 3/3
- New: [4 Mana] 4/4
Arkonite Defense Crystal
- Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Gain 6 Armor. Starship Piece.
- New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Gain 4 Armor. Starship Piece.
The disenchantable cards above, plus Lift Off and Starport, will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 32.0.
Wild-Focused Updates
Reska, the Pit Boss
- Old: [25 Mana]
- New: [20 Mana]
Sickly Grimewalker
- Old: [4 Mana] 3/5
- New: [3 Mana] 2/4
Blindeye Sharpshooter
- Old: [4 Mana] 3/3
- New: [3 Mana] 1/3
Desert Nestmatron
- Old: 3/4
- New: 3/5
Splish-Splash Whelp
- Old: [3 Mana] 3/2
- New: [2 Mana] 2/1
Cactus Construct
- Old: Discover a 2-Cost minion. Summon a 1/1 copy of it.
- New: Discover a 2-Cost minion. Summon a 1/2 copy of it.
Doomkin
- Old: [7 Mana]
- New: [6 Mana]
Shattered Reflections
- Old: Choose a non-Titan minion. Add a copy of it to your deck and battlefield.
- New: Choose a minion. Add a copy of it to your hand, deck, and battlefield.
Starstrung Bow
- Old: 5/2
- New: 6/2
Saddle Up
- Old: [4 Mana]
- New: [3 Mana]
Awakening Tremors
- Old: Get three 3/1 Worms. They cost (1).
- New: Get three 4/1 Worms. They cost (1).
Inquisitive Creation
- Old: [5 Mana]
- New: [4 Mana]
Chaos Creation
- Old: Deal 5 damage. Summon a random 5-Cost minion. Destroy the bottom 5 cards of your deck.
- New: Deal 6 damage. Summon a random 6-Cost minion. Destroy the bottom 6 cards of your deck.
Showdown
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [2 Mana]
Keeper’s Strength
- Old: [5 Mana]
- New: [4 Mana]
Prismatic Beam
- Old: [8 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemy minions. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.
- New: [7 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemies. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.
Thirsty Drifter
- Old: [7 Mana]
- New: [6 Mana]
Injured Hauler
- Old: Overheal: Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions.
- New: Overheal: Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Lab Constructor
- Old: [5 Mana]
- New: [4 Mana]
Shattershambler
- Old: The next Deathrattle minion you play immediately dies.
- New: The next Deathrattle minion you play costs (1) less and immediately dies.
Coppertail Snoop
- Old: 3/2
- New: 4/3
Flash of Lightning
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [2 Mana]
Crash of Thunder
- Old: [6 Mana]
- New: [5 Mana]
Staff of the Nine Frogs (generated by Doctor Holli’dae)
- Old: 1/9
- New: 2/9
Aftershocks
- Old: Deal 1 damage to all minions, three times. Costs (1) less if you cast a spell last turn.
- New: Deal 1 damage to all minions, three times. Costs (2) less if you cast a spell last turn.
Forge of Wills
- Old: [4 Mana]
- New: [3 Mana]
Crescendo
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [2 Mana]
Sludge on Wheels
- Old: 2/4
- New: 2/5
Waste Remover
- Old: 5/7
- New: 7/7
Azerite Snake
- Old: Battlecry: Your hero steals 7 Health from the enemy hero.
- New: Battlecry: Your hero steals 10 Health from the enemy hero.
Movement of Pride (generated by Symphony of Sins)
- Old: Draw a minion. Reduce its Cost by (6).
- New: Draw your highest Cost minion. Reduce its Cost by (6).
Odyn, Prime Designate
- Old: [9 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
Deepminer Brann
- Old: [8 Mana]
- New: [6 Mana]
Battleworn Faceless
- Old: [3 Mana]
- New: [2 Mana]
Sanitize
- Old: [6 Mana] Deal damage equal to your Armor to all minions. Forge: Gain 4 Armor first.
- New: [4 Mana] Deal damage equal to your Armor to all minions. Forge: Gain 3 Armor first.
Craftsman’s Hammer
- Old: Whenever your hero attacks, gain 3 Armor.
- New: Whenever your hero attacks, gain 4 Armor.
Yogg-Saron, Unleashed
- Old: [10 Mana]
- New: [9 Mana]
Reno, Lone Ranger
- Old: [10 Mana]
- New: [8 Mana]
Pozzik, Audio Engineer
- Old: 4/4
- New: 5/4
Molten Giant
- Old: [22 Mana]
- New: [20 Mana]
Celestial Projectionist
- Old: [3 Mana] 3/3
- New: [2 Mana] 3/2
Rowdy Fan
- Old: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +3 Attack while this is alive.
- New: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +4 Attack while this is alive.
Snake Oil (generated by Miracle Salesman and Snake Oil Seller)
- Old: [1 Mana]
- New: [0 Mana]
Pre-Purchase Now!
Don’t sleep through your chance to get a Pre-Purchase bundle, only available until expansion unlock on March 25! The Pre-Purchase Mega Bundle includes 90 packs, Legendary cards, and 4 Tavern Tickets that you can use to access the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl.
