Tomorrows Hearthstone patch will nerf Deck of Lunacy, Jandice, Pen Flinger, and more

Last week, Hearthstone lead designer Alec Dawson noted that much-needed balance changes to address the Hearthstone meta's descent into lunacy were on their way, and more details would be coming soon. Now, in a blog post just published, we've got those details—and yes, Deck of Lunacy is being nerfed. Its cost is doubling from 2 to 4 Mana, and hopefully that will be enough to prevent No Minion Mage from being such a regular annoyance on the ladder. (Right now there's a copy of Deck of Lunacy in 22.6 percent of all decks.)

While that's the card enraging players at the moment, Paladins are actually at the top of the win rate charts. They'll be taking a hit when Sword of the Fallen—which plays a Secret from your deck every time you attack with it—loses a point of durability, dropping from 3 to 2.

Watch Post cards, neutrals with powerful defensive abilities that rendered aggro decks basically useless, are taking a hit with Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post both losing a point of health (dropping from 4 to 3 and 5 to 4 respectively). The more expensive Crossroads Watch Post remains untouched, however.

Pen Flinger, which Ben "RidiculousHat" Goodman called "an annoying little jerk who has long overstayed his welcome" will receive the tweak that Goodman predicted, and will only be able to target minions from now on.

The final Standard balance update affects Jandice Barov, increasing her cost from 5 to 6 Mana. Her ability to summon two random 5-cost minions remains intact. According to the patch notes, "we don't intend to dilute Jandice's pool of summoned minions and that's not something we'd want to rely on for her balance."

The 20.0.2 patch is set to go live on April 13, which is tomorrow. Here are those changes in handy list format.

Deck of Lunacy:

     Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 4] 

Sword of the Fallen:

     Old: 1 Attack, 3 Durability → New: 1 Attack, 2 Durability 

Jandice Barov:

     Old: [Costs 5] → New: [Costs 6] 

Pen Flinger:

    Old: Battlecry: Deal 1 damage. Spellburst: Return this to your hand. → New: Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to a minion. Spellburst: Return this to your hand.  

Far Watch Post:

     Old: 2 Attack, 4 Health → New: 2 Attack, 3 Health 

Mor'shan Watch Post:

     Old: 3 Attack, 5 Health → New: 3 Attack, 4 Health 

The patch also brings balance updates for Battlegrounds. The state of play in Bob's Tavern may not be quite as contentious at the moment, but there are plenty of updates anyway.

RETURNING HEROES

Queen Wagtoggle:

    Wax warband
    Old: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+1. → New: Give a friendly minion of each minion type +1/+1. 

Captain Hooktusk:

    Trash for Treasure
    Old: [Costs 1] Remove a friendly minion. Discover a random one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: [Costs 0] Remove a friendly minion. Choose one of two from a Tavern Tier lower to keep.

MINION UPDATES

Steward of Time:

     Old: 3 Attack, 4 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +1/+1. → New: 3 Attack, 3 Health. When you sell this minion, give all minions in Bob’s Tavern +2/+1.