Blizzard just posted a teaser of the upcoming balance update for Standard and Battlegrounds modes! It’s the second update for Across the Timeways expansion, and the first major BG update after Season 12’s launch.
In Standard, it’s the polar opposite of the last balance update. While the last one had only nerfs, this one is solely focused on buffs – 11 of them in total. And I think that’s a correct approach overall – the last balance patch tackled many of the annoying outliers, but it didn’t exactly create enough space for some of the new cards to shine. So a buff patch can push some of the new strategies. However, one potential issue I see with the patch is that buffs are mostly to very underpowered archetypes – No Minion Demon Hunter, Handbuff Priest or Rafaam Warlock. By itself, that’s a good thing in my opinion, those are recent decks that need the most help. However, they really need to nail those buffs, otherwise the archetypes will still be too weak afterwards. We’ll have to see once patch notes drop.
As for the Battlegrounds, as I’ve said at the beginning, this is the first patch after Season 12’s launch. The season was a big shake-up – both in the usual ways (new Heroes, minions, spells, pool changes), but also the introduction of Timewarped Tavern. It’s a special shop players go to on Turns 6 and 9, offering a variety of powerful options that can influence your build (or steer you in a new direction completely). Such big updates tend to have a lot of balance issues at first, simply because even with internal playtesting, it’s hard to predict how this sheer amount of new additions will affect things. The teaser lists almost 40 changes, but only for minions and spells. As usual, it’s safe to assume that we’ll also get some other changes like updates to Heroes and the new Timewarped cards. We’re also close to the next Battlegrounds season (likely to drop around early December) which itself should provide a massive meta shake-up.
Until the full patch notes are released, we only know what cards are affected and not how! The patch will drop tomorrow (December 11), most likely around 10 AM PT / 19:00 CET. Patch notes are usually released an hour before the update itself (at 9 AM PT / 18:00 CET).
For now, check out the teasers below:
Standard
Buffs
- Solitude
- The Eternal Hold
- Highborne Mentor
- Kaldorei Cultivator
- Timelooper Toki
- Cardboard Golem
- Divine Augur
- Power Word: Barrier
- Tiny Rafaam
- Green Rafaam
- Warchief Rafaam
Battlegrounds
Buffs
- Tardy Traveler
- Stuntdrake
- Fire Forged Evoker
- Ultraviolet Ascendant
- Metal Dispenser
- Charging Czarina
- Junk Jouster
- Whirling Lass-O-Matic
- Utility Drone
- Cannon Corsair
- Briarback Drummer
- Razorfen Flapper
- Champion of the Primus
- Ghoul of the Feast
- Forsaken Weaver
- Nalaa the Redeemer
Nerfs
- Acid Rainfall
- Red Volumizer
- Blue Volumizer
- Apexis Guardian
- Costume Enthusiast
- Dramaloc
- Sepulchral Sergeant
Mixed
- Prehistoric Tinkerer
- Embalming Expert
- Soulsplitter
Added to the Pool
- Bile Spitter
- Carapace Raiser
- Malchezaar, Prince of Dance
- Fauna Whisperer
- Dastardly Drust
Removed from the Pool
- Impulsive Trickster
- Yorik Smite
- Spellbound Soul
- Operatic Belcher
