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Pyrotechnician also makes its return.
The latest Hearthstone patch nerfed Thaddius alongside Excavate Rogue, Treant Druid, and more. It also brought back Pyrotechnician, which was banned back in December 2023. Read on for the Hearthstone patch 28.4.1 notes and breakdown!
Hearthstone nerfs Thaddius, Monstrosity and unbans Pyrotechnician
The newest Hearthstone patch nerfed Thaddius, Monstrosity. This neutral legendary Undead minion has been in Standard for a long time, helping with early one-turn lethals. Therefore, the update will let players have more agency in Standard. With that said, the Hearthstone developers brought back Pyrotechnician to account for this nerf.
“We don’t think combo play patterns are inherently bad, and Thaddius isn’t a power outlier right now, but he has been in Standard for a long time and has facilitated several decks with early one-turn kills and low feelings of agency,“the developers explained. “We think it’s time to make another adjustment to Thaddius and see what Standard looks like when he’s significantly weaker. Now that we’ve been able to make this change to Thaddius, we’re unbanningPyrotechnician.”
Hearthstone patch nerfs Excavate Rogue
Hearthstone patch 28.4.1 also nerfed Excavate Rogue through Velarok, the Deceiver and Shattershambler. Since Excavate Rogue existed prior to the new Mini-Set, the game’s developers decreased its power to encourage new strategies. The changes to Velarok, the Deceiver and Shattershambler will reduce steamrolling in the early game.
Hearthstone patch nerfs Treant Druid, Mill Druid, and more
As for the other balance updates in Hearthstone patch 28.4.1, the developers acknowledged Cactus Construct’s power across the powerful Druid deck archetypes. Meanwhile, the Herald of Nature nerf will make the fight against Treant Druid boards easier. Pendant of Earth also got nerfed, but it will still work as a defensive tool. Additionally, Shattered Reflections also got nerfed alongside Dew Process.
“Shattered Reflections was causing too many reflections, leading to repetitive gameplay — so we took one reflection away,“the official patch notes stated. “Finally, we weakened Dew Process because the game is less fun when decks like Mill Druid are extremely competitive and meta-warping — we still want cards like that to exist for players who like that type of gameplay, but we don’t want them to be the prevailing ladder strategy.”
As for Paladin players, the Boogie Down and The Garden’s Grace spells received updates. According to the developers, Boogie Down has been a popular card since its release. Meanwhile, The Garden’s Grace’s nerf will reduce burst potential.
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Hearthstone patch 28.4.1 notes
We’ve created the table above to help you compare the balance changes outlined by the Hearthstone patch 28.4.1.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds updates
In addition to the above updates, Hearthstone Battlegrounds and Arena also received some changes. Hearthstone Battlegrounds, in particular, saw the removal of Reckless Investment, Leaf Through the Pages, and Titus’ Tribute.
Hearthstone Arena updates
Meanwhile, the Arena game mode saw adjusted offering rates, the removal of Forge of Wills and Transfer Student from the draft pool, treasure pool updates, and more. Below are the updates,as stated by Blizzard.
That’s all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Hearthstonenews and updates!
