Hearthstone patch 28.2.3 is the last scheduled patch of 2023.
The latest Hearthstone patch just nerfed Dragon Druid alongside more updates to the Standard game mode plus Battlegrounds. Patch 28.2.3 also temporarily banned Pyrotechnician. Read on for the Hearthstone patch 28.2.3 notes and details.
Hearthstone patch nerfs Dragon Druid
Hearthstone patch 28.2.3 nerfed overperforming decks such as Dragon Druid and Paladin ones. According to the developers, Dragon Druid is now more tolerable in the early game. Meanwhile, Paladin’s board clears are now lower in power.
For Hearthstone’s Dragon Druid nerf, Splish-Splash Whelp is now a 2 mana 1/1 instead of 2/1. Meanwhile, Desert Nestmatron is now a 4 mana 3/4 instead of a 3/5 Dragon minion. As for Paladin’s board clears, Keeper’s Strength now costs 5 mana instead of 4 mana. As for Prismatic Beam, it now requires 8 mana instead of 7 mana and deals damage to all enemy minions instead of all enemies.
“The overall goals for this patch are to make buffs across underperforming classes, decks, and cards, especially ones from Showdown in the Badlands, and to weaken a few overperforming decks that are keeping other decks down,” according to the developers. “Our intent isn’t to kill these decks that players generally like, but to bring them down a little to make more room in the meta.”
Here are all of the nerfed cards in the new Hearthstone patch:
| Card Name | Hearthstone Patch 28.2.3 Update |
| Keeper’s Strength | Old: [4 Mana] New: [5 Mana] |
| Prismatic Beam | Old: [7 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemies. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion. New: [8 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemy minions. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion. |
| Splish-Splash Whelp | Old: 2/1 New: 1/1 |
| Desert Nestmatron | Old: 3/5 New: 3/4 |
| Staff of the Nine Frogs (Generated by Doctor Holli’Dae) | Old: 2/9 New: 1/9 |
| Arcane Wyrm | Old: 1/2 New: 1/1 |
| Pyrotechnician | Temporarily banned. |
Hearthstone patch 28.2.3 bans Pyrotechnician
Pyrotechnician is currently banned in Hearthstone. According to final design lead Aleco Gereco, this is because of the emerging Dire Druid deck on ladder.
“We weren’t able to get a balance change for the newly emerging Fire Druid into this patch, so we’re temporarily banning it until we can reassess in our next balance window,” the official announcement also stated.
New Hearthstone patch buffs
| Card Name | Hearthstone Patch 28.2.3 Update |
| Elise, Badlands Savior | Old: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, summon 4/4 copies of 4 random minions in your deck. New: Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, summon 5/5 copies of 4 random minions in your deck. |
| Pip the Potent | Old: [4 Mana] 3/5 New: [3 Mana] 3/3 |
| Invasive Shadeleaf | Old: Deal 8 damage to an enemy minion. Save any excess in a 1-Cost Bottle. New: Deal 10 damage to an enemy minion. Save any excess in a 1-Cost Bottle. |
| Ra-den | Old: Deathrattle: Summon each other minion you’ve played this game that didn’t start in your deck. New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Summon each other minion you’ve played this game that didn’t start in your deck. |
| The Azerite Scorpion (Rogue Excavate Treasure) | Old: Battlecry: Get 4 random spells. If you’ve Excavated 8 times, they cost (0). New: Battlecry: Get 4 random spells. They cost (1) less for each time you’ve Excavated this game (but not less than 1). |
| Velarok Windblade | Old: While this is in your hand, play three cards from other classes to reveal Velarok’s true form! New: While this is in your hand, play a card from another class to reveal Velarok’s true form! |
| Shell Game | Old: [3 Mana] New: [2 Mana] |
| Barrel of Sludge | Old: [2 Mana] When this is played, discarded, or destroyed, deal 3 damage to the lowest Health enemy. New: [3 Mana] When this is played, discarded, or destroyed, deal 4 damage to the lowest Health enemy. |
| Furnace Fuel | Old: [4 Mana] New: [3 Mana] |
| Pop’gar the Putrid | Old: Your Fel spells cost (1) less and have Lifesteal. New: Your Fel spells cost (2) less and have Lifesteal. |
| Maw and Paw | Old: 1/8 New: 2/8 |
| Climactic Necrotic Explosion | Old: Lifesteal. Deal 5 damage. Summon 2 1/1 Souls. (Randomly improved by Corpses you’ve spent). New: Lifesteal. Deal 6 damage. Summon 3 2/2 Souls. (Randomly improved by Corpses you’ve spent). |
| Corpse Bride | Old: Battlecry: Spend up to 10 Corpses. Summon a Risen Groom with stats equal to the amount spent. New: Battlecry: Spend up to 10 Corpses to summon a Risen Groom with Taunt and that much Attack and Health. |
| Khaz’goroth | Old: 4/4 New: 4/5 |
| Slagmaw the Slumbering | Old: Dormant for 8 turns. (Excavate to awaken 2 turns sooner). New: Dormant for 6 turns. (Excavate to awaken 2 turns sooner). |
| Horseshoe Slinger | Old: [3 Mana] 2/2 New: [2 Mana] 1/1 |
Above are all of the buffed cards in Hearthstone patch 28.2.3. This patch is also the last scheduled patch of 2023.
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