Hearthstone 23.0.3 patch notes target Kazakusan and pirates

Those that have been engaged in the Hearthstone meta should be familiar with how Standard is going. Opponents will race to the end of their deck, only to play the legendary dragon Kazakusan and fill their deck with game-changing treasures. If you haven't stopped Kazakusan from coming down, you're likely going to lose the game. On top of that, anybody could play him. At least that was the case until Tuesday's 23.0.3 patch, which is making this legendary a little bit fairer.

The following changes are coming to both Standard and Wild Hearthstone, as noted by the Hearthstone website:

Kazakusan (Neutral): Now activates if you've played four other Dragons this game. (Changed from activating if all minions in your deck are Dragons.)
Miracle Growth (Druid): Now costs 8 mana. (Up from 7 mana.)
Secure the Supplies (Third part of Warrior Questline)(Warrior): Play 3 Pirates. (Up from 2 Pirates.)
Pufferfist (Neutral): Now has 3 Health. (Down from 4 Health.)
Switcheroo (Priest): Now swaps Health only. (Changed from swapping stats.) Also banned from Wild play.
Kael'thas Sunstrider (Neutral): Every third spell you cast each turn costs 1 mana. (Up from 0 mana.)

A few adjustments are coming to Hearthstone Battlegrounds, as well. New hero character MechGyver will now receive a new Mech after 12 friendly minions die, which is three more than before. On top of that, Varden's Aquarrior (Varden Dawngrasp's Battlegrounds Buddy) is getting an extra Health, SI:Sefin is having its Avenge count increased by one, Coldlight Seer is getting bumped up to Tavern Tier 4, and Baby Krush is having its stats (and its Devilsaur's stats) reduced by one across the board.

The Pirate Warrior Quest should be a little more fair with Tuesday's update

Here are the rest of the changes coming to Hearthstone today:

Hearthstone Duels

Humble Blessings (Paladin): Now costs 4 Mana. (Up from 3 Mana.)
Academic Research (Druid): Gain 1 empty Mana Crystal each time a friendly minion dies. (Changed from gaining 1 Mana Crystal.)
Valorous Display (Warrior): Now costs 6 Mana. (Down from 7 Mana.)
Tempest's Fury (Shaman): Now costs 4 Mana with 3 Attack. (Up from 3 Mana and 2 Attack.)
Power Up! (Sir Finley's Hero Power): Now has Overload: (1).
Scales of Justice (Shaman): Now costs 6 Mana. (Up from 5 Mana.)
Ol' Faithful (Warrior): Now costs 4 Mana. (Up from 3 Mana.)

Bug fixes/improvements

Cards like Twinbow Terrorcoil and Electra Stormsurge will now only work on spells that you cast from your hand, rather than spells cast by other cards you control, such as Nagalings or Cast When Drawn cards.
Granted Lokholar to players who should have been granted Lokholar with their free new/returning player deck selection.
Updated Unstable Evolution's text to represent that it now has the "Echo" keyword.
Fixed bugs with the user interface for Bob’s Bazaar in Tombs of Terror, preventing progression.

The 23.0.3 patch changes should be reflected in Hearthstone immediately and should help stop the Kazakusan rampage. Or, at the very least, it will make it a little more manageable. It should also help curb the onslaught of Pirate Warriors that have taken over the meta. We'll keep watching the changing Hearthstone meta at Shacknews. We'll be back with the latest updates.