Hearthstone’s July 14th, 2020 patch brings quite a few nerfs to the game, as well as some new and returning heroes to Battlegrounds. Not only that, but the pre-order for the new Scholomance Academy expansion is included as well! There’s also a couple of new minions added to Battlegrounds, and Pirates are no longer guaranteed to appear in every game. We’re digging into the 17.6 update below.

Battlegrounds

The Battlegrounds mode is getting a new hero in Tess Greymane. She’ll have a hero power that costs 1-gold and will refresh Bob’s Tavern with minions from your last opponent’s warband. We’re also seeing the return of the King Mukla and Dinotamer Brand heroes. There’s some updates as well to existing ones. Aranna Starseeker and Captain Hooktusk have both had their hero powers updated. As for the minion pool, Pirate will no longer be guaranteed in every game. There’s also a new Amalgadon minion, and Goldrinn, the Great Wolf has been bumped up to tier 6.

Card Updates

These were announced previously, but Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, Corsair Cache, Metamorphosis, Kayn Sunfury, Warglaives of Azzinoth, Dragoncaster, Fungal Fortunes, Galakrond, the Nightmare, Galakrond, the Apocalypse, Galakrond, Azeroth’s End are all receiving nerfs. This is another balance pass for Demon Hunter who has been a target many times in the past. You can find the details of the changes in the notes below.

Here are the official patch notes via the Hearthstone website.

Battlegrounds Hero Pool Updates

NEW HERO

Tess Greymane

  • Bob’s Burgles [Cost 1] Refresh Bob’s Tavern with minions from your last opponent’s warband.

 Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Tess Greymane before the hero is formally released on July 28.

  • Refresh Bob’s Tavern with minions from your last opponent’s warband.

RETURNING HEROES

King Mukla

  • Bananarama [Cost 1] Get 2 Bananas. At the end of your turn, give everyone else one.

 Dinotamer Brann

  • Get 2 Bananas. At the end of your turn, give everyone else one.

  • Battle Brand [Cost 1] Refresh Bob’s Tavern with Battlecry minions.

 UPDATED HEROES

  • Refresh Bob’s Tavern with Battlecry minions.

Aranna Starseeker

  • Demon Hunter Training [Passive] Old: After you Refresh 7 times, Bob always has 7 minions. → New: After you Refresh 5 times, Bob always has 7 minions.

Captain Hooktusk

  • Old: After you Refresh 7 times, Bob always has 7 minions. → New: After you Refresh 5 times, Bob always has 7 minions.

  • Trash for Treasure [Cost 0] Old: Remove a friendly minion. Discover one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: Remove a friendly minion. Get a random one from a Tavern Tier lower.

  • Pirates are no longer guaranteed to appear in every Battlegrounds game.

NEW MINION

  • Old: Remove a friendly minion. Discover one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: Remove a friendly minion. Get a random one from a Tavern Tier lower.

Amalgadon

  • [Tier 6, All] 6 Attack, 6 Health Battlecry: For each different minion type you have, Adapt randomly.

  • Battlecry: For each different minion type you have, Adapt randomly.

UPDATED MINION

  • Goldrinn, the Great Wolf Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 6]

Craftable cards listed below will be eligible for a full dust refund for two weeks after the 17.6 patch goes live.

  • Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 6]

Dragonqueen Alexstrasza

  • Old: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, add 2 other random Dragons to your hand. They cost (0). → New: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, add 2 other random Dragons to your hand. They cost (1).

Corsair Cache

  • Old: Draw a weapon. Give it +1/+1. → New: Draw a weapon. Give it +1 Durability.

Metamorphosis

  • Old: Swap your Hero Power to “Deal 5 damage.” After 2 uses, swap it back. → New: Swap your Hero Power to “Deal 4 damage.” After 2 uses, swap it back.

Kayn Sunfury

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

Warglaives of Azzinoth

  • Old: [Cost 5] → New: [Cost 6].

Dragoncaster

  • Old: [Cost 6] → New: [Cost 7].

Fungal Fortunes

  • Old: [Cost 2] → New: [Cost 3].

Galakrond, the Nightmare

  • Old: Battlecry: Draw 1 card. It costs (0). → New: Battlecry: Draw 1 card. It costs (1).

Galakrond, the Apocalypse (Rogue)

  • Old: Battlecry: Draw 2 cards. It costs (0). → New: Battlecry: Draw 2 cards. They cost (1).

Galakrond, Azeroth’s End (Rogue)

  • Old: Battlecry: Draw 4 cards. It costs (0). → New: Battlecry: Draw 4 cards. They cost (1).

  • When random card back is selected, you will now see a randomized card back every time you open a pack and every time you open the Crafting menu. The UI has been updated with an icon on the top right that will indicate when you’re offline.

Pre-Purchase Scholomance Academy

Pre-purchase one or both Scholomance Academy bundles, available in-game and on the Battle.net web shop!

The Mega Bundle includes 85 Scholomance Academy card packs and, for the first time ever, 5 of those will be Golden Scholomance Academy packs—each filled with Golden cards! The Mega Bundle also includes one random Scholomance Academy Golden Legendary card, the Kel’Thuzad Mage Hero, the Kel’Thuzad card back, and a Tavern Pass, which includes 4 Arena tickets.

The Scholomance Academy Bundle includes 55 Scholomance Academy card packs, the Kel’thuzad card back, and a random Scholomance Academy Golden Legendary card.

PRE-PURCHASE NOW!

With today’s 17.6 patch all players can log in to receive two copies of the Epic Neutral minion, Transfer Student, for free!* Transfer Student has different effects based on which game board it’s played on, with 25 different effects in total, and can be slotted into your decks immediately!

*Limit two per account. Must log in by October 20 to claim.

When Scholomance Academy launches, the Arena will include cards from the following sets:

  • Scholomance Academy Demon Hunter Initiate Ashes of Outland Galakrond’s Awakening Descent of Dragons Saviors of Uldum Rise of Shadows Classic Basic

With the introduction of Dual-Class cards, we went back and applied a class specific frame to every weapon in Hearthstone. Class specific weapon frames will appear in-game starting July 30.