Hearthstone’s Patch 18.6.1 brings sweeping changes to Duels and Battlegrounds

Treasures, hero balance in both modes, and minion types in Battlegrounds are all getting adjusted.

Dylan Ladd

Published: Nov 4, 2020 04:20 pm

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

Duels updates

Treasures

Mr. Bigglesworth has been removed from the active Treasures pool.
Dev Comment: Mr. Bigglesworth was a very bad kitty and snuck into the pool, he has now been removed and is being dried off.

Party Portal

Old: 6 Health → New: 4 Health

Amalgamate

Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 0]

Spyglass

Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Canopic Jars

Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Wish

Old: [Costs 11] → New: [Costs 10]

Pure Cold

Old: [Costs 6] → New: [Costs 5]

Crystal Gem

Old: On your first turn you have 2 Mana Crystals. → New: On your first two turns you have 1 extra Mana Crystal.

Class Treasures

Demon Hunter’s Summoning Ritual

Old: [Costs 4] → New: [Costs 5]

Rogue’s Deadly Weapons 101

Old: Give your weapon +2/+1. Combo: Also give it Poisonous. → New: Give your weapon +2/+2. Combo: Also give it Poisonous.

Shaman’s Totemic Power

Old: Summon a random Totem. If you’re Overloaded, summon a non-basic Totem as well. → New: Summon a random Totem. If you’re Overloaded, summon a non-basic Totem instead.

Warlock’s Dark Arts

Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

Warrior’s No Guts, No Glory

Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]

What this means for the Duels meta

Since multiple neutral treasures are receiving updates, this benefits players who were unlucky and unable to get initially strong treasures, evening out the power difference a little bit. In addition, overperforming and powerful classes with strong Hero Powers or treasures, like Shaman and Demon Hunter, are receiving nerfs to make their pick rate less auto-pickable and more for players who enjoy that class.

On the opposite end of this spectrum, classes with weaker Hero Powers, like Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior, are all receiving buffs to make them more enticing to play. Overall, these changes assist in keeping the new game mode fresh and exciting until the next season.

Battlegrounds updates

Hero changes

Nefarian has been removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

Queen Wagtoggle

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

The Curator

Menagerist
Old: Start the game with a 1/1 Amalgam with all minion types. → New: Start the game with a 1/2 Amalgam with all minion types.

Hooktusk

Trash for Treasure
Old: [Cost 0] Remove a friendly minion. Get a random one from a Tavern Tier lower. → New: [Cost 1] Remove a friendly minion. Discover a random one from a Tavern Tier lower.

Rat King

A Tale of Kings
Old: Whenever you buy a minion of a specific type, give it +1/+2. Swaps type each turn. → New: Whenever you buy a minion of a specific type, give it +2/+2. Swaps type each turn.

Rakanishu

Tavern Lighting
Old: Give a random friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier. → New: Give a friendly minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier (targeted).

George the Fallen

Boon of Light
Old: [Costs 3] → New: [Costs 2]

Ysera

Dream Portal
Old: At the start of your turn, add a Dragon to Bob’s Tavern. → New: Bob always offers an extra Dragon whenever the Tavern is refreshed.

The Great Akazamzarak

Prestidigitation
Old: [Costs 2] → New: [Costs 1]
Effigy removed from Secret pool.

Galakrond

Galakrond’s Greed
Old: [Costs 1] → New: [Costs 0]
No longer Freezes.

Tess Greymane

Bob’s Burgles
Old: Refresh Bob’s Tavern with minions from your last opponent’s warband. → New: Refresh Bob’s Tavern with your last opponent’s warband.

Elise Starseeker

Lead Explorer
Recruitment Map now costs 2 (down from 3).

Lord Barov

Friendly Wager
Now gives your gold back on ties (1 gold refunded).

Minion updates

Elementals will no longer be a minion type in every match.

Wrath Weaver

Old: 1 Attack, 1 Health. → New: 1 Attack, 3 Health.

Yo-ho-Ogre

Old: [Tier 3] 2 Attack, 8 Health. → New: [Tier 2] 2 Attack, 5 Health.

Iron Sensei

Old: [Tier 4] → New: [Tier 3]

Southsea Strongarm

Old: [Tier 4] 5 Attack, 4 Health. → New: [Tier 3] 4 Attack, 3 Health.

Ripsnarl Captain

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

Lightfang Enforcer

Old: At the end of your turn, give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+1. → New: At the end of your turn, give a friendly minion of each minion type +2/+2.

Gentle Djinni

Old: [Tier 5] → New: [Tier 6]

Lieutenant Garr

Old: 8 Attack, 1 Health. → New: 5 Attack, 1 Health.

Lil’ Rag

Old: 6 Attack, 6 Health. → New: 4 Attack, 4 Health.

Dread Admiral Eliza

Old: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +1/+1. → New: Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +2/+1.

Amalgadon

Old: Battlecry: For each different minion type you have, Adapt randomly. → New: Battlecry: For each different minion type you have among other minions, Adapt randomly.

What this means for the Battlegrounds meta

With Elementals no longer consistently in the pool, this allows other and older strategies to take place since Elementals have been prominent in all stages of the game. In addition to no longer being guaranteed in the minion type pool, Elementals themselves are also receiving nerfs. The changes are lowering the consistency of late-game Elementals by reducing their stats, like Garr and Lil’ Rag, or increasing their Tavern Tier cost, like the Gentle Djinni.

Aside from Elemental nerfs, minion types around Elementals have received sweeping buffs at all stages for Demons, Mechs, and Pirates. This allows those minion types to remain competitive since their pick and win rates have declined over time with the inclusion of Elementals.

Menagerie strategies are also receiving adjustments to their mid and late game. While the Amalgadon nerf will hurt its consistency since it can no longer count itself as an adaption option, the revert to Lightfang Warden’s old nerf will give Menagerie an opportunity to stave off a weak early game much more easily than she was able to in the past. Curator’s Amalgam is also receiving a one health buff that will help him be a potent pick again since the two newest types, Elementals and Pirates, didn’t synergize too well with a free 1/1 minion that was already on the board.

As with other recent Battlegrounds updates, lower-performing heroes have been buffed or adjusted. While top-tier heroes have been mainly untouched this patch, buffing the less-popular heroes will allow the disparity between their power levels to be less drastic and more even.

Out of all the buffs coming to the newest heroes, one of the more peculiar ones to look out for is the buff to Elise Starseeker. The one gold discount alongside the ability to specifically look out for minions will improve her consistency at a potent level.

You can try out all of these changes when Hearthstone Patch 18.6.1 is released tomorrow, Nov. 5.

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Author

Dylan Ladd

My name's Dylan! I play card games, write about them, and I'm making one too! I'm also into a ton of other competitive games (MOBAs and Fighting Games especially). Sometimes you can catch me streaming on Twitch!