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Hearthstone balance patch impacts Odd Paladin, Kingsbane Rogue, and more

A new Hearthstone balance patch was announced during the wee hours of Wednesday morning and is set to shake up the current meta by taking aim at Odd Paladin, Kingsbane Rogue, Ramp Druid, and Shudderwock Shaman.

Ozzie Mejia

December 18, 2018 11:38 PM

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The Hearthstone team is getting ready to go home for the Winter Veil holiday, but they do have one surprise in store for its players. Rather than leave the community speculating on the next round of balance changes, the team has suddenly unveiled those balance changes out of the blue late Tuesday night. On top of that, those changes are set to take effect almost immediately with a Wednesday update.

The following cards are set to receive changes. Hearthstone players may want to sit down for this one, because these are huge:

• Wild Growth: Will cost 3 mana. (Up from 2)
• Nourish: Will cost 6 mana. (Up from 5)
• Level Up!: Will cost 6 mana. (Up from 5)
• Saronite Chain Gang: Now reads: Taunt. Battlecry: Summon another Saronite Chain Gang.
• Leeching Poison: Will cost 1 mana. (Down from 2). Now reads: Give your weapon Lifesteal this turn.

Wild Growth and Nourish's changes are aimed at curbing Ramp Druid play and will impact that deck significantly. Level Up! will almost certainly destroy the Odd Paladin deck that's currently running amok in the Standard meta. Saronite Chain Gang's change is set to impact a variety of decks, from the Zoo Warlock to the Shudderwock Shaman. Then there's Leeching Poison. Blizzard has saved the biggest change for last, as this takes a huge bite out of Kingsbane Rogue and takes away that deck's ability to sustain itself. This is a wide-reaching patch that wipes out a handful of Standard and Wild staples that are currently topping the Hearthstone meta, one that Blizzard is not only releasing just before the holidays, but also releasing at a time when there are no competitive tournaments to take into consideration.

There's a lot to absorb here and Shacknews will have a further breakdown on Wednesday morning. For now, check out the full list of changes on the Hearthstone website and be sure to catch up on our full coverage of the recent Rastakhan's Rumble expansion.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?