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 unbanning Pyrotechnician.”
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.
Hearthstone patch 28.4.1 notes
| Card | Old | Hearthstone Patch 28.4.1 |
| Velarok, the Deceiver | 3/6 | 3/3 |
| Shattershambler | Battlecry: Your next Deathrattle minion costs (1) less, but immediately dies when played. | Battlecry: The next Deathrattle minion you play immediately dies. |
| Cactus Construct | Discover a 2-cost minion. Summon a 1/2 copy of it. | Discover a 2-cost minion. Summon a 1/1 copy of it. |
| Herald of Nature | If you’ve cast a Nature spell while holding this, give your other minions +1/+2. | If you’ve cast a Nature spell while holding this, give your other minions +1/+1. |
| Pendant of Earth | Discover a minion from your deck. Gain Armor equal to its cost. | Discover a minion from your deck. Restore Health to your hero equal to its cost. |
| Shattered Reflections | Choose a minion. Add a copy to your hand, deck, and battlefield. | Choose a minion. Add a copy of it to your deck and battlefield. |
| Dew Process | 2 mana | 4 mana |
| Boogie Down | 3 mana. Summon two 1-cost minions from your deck. Finale: Give them Taunt. | 4 mana. Summon two 1-cost minions from your deck. Finale: Summon another. |
| The Garden’s Grace | Give a minion +5/+5 and Divine Shield. costs (1) less for each mana you’ve spent on Holy spells this game. | Give a minion +4/+4 and Divine Shield. costs (1) less for each Mana you’ve spent on Holy spells this game. |
We’ve created the table above to help you compare the balance changes outlined by the Hearthstone patch 28.4.1.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds updates
| Card | Old | Hearthstone Battlegrounds Patch 28.4.1 |
| Archlich Kel’Thuzad | At the end of your turn, destroy the Undead to the left of this and resummon it. | At the end of your turn, destroy the Undead to the left of this and resummon an exact copy. |
| Moroes, Steward of Death | 6/1. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +2/+6. | 5/1. Reborn. Deathrattle: Give your Undead +1/+5. |
| Hawkstrider Herald | [Tier 5] 5/2 | [Tier 6] 6/2 |
| Mystic Sporebat | 5/1 | 3/1 |
| Land Lubber | [Tier 2] 3/4 | [Tier 3] 4/5 |
| Moon Bacon Jazzer | 1/3 | 2/3 |
| Geomagus Roogug | 3/6. Whenever a Blood Gem is played on this, play a Blood Gem on a different friendly minion. | 4/6. Divine Shield. Whenever a Blood Gem is played on this, play a Blood Gem on a different friendly minion. |
| Prickly Piper | 3/1 | 5/1 |
| Paint Smudger | 3/2 | 5/3 |
| Fleeting Vigor | [Tier 4] Give a minion +6/+6 until next turn. | [Tier 3] Give a minion +7/+7 until next turn. |
| Shiny Ring | [Tier 3] | [Tier 2] |
| Staff of Enrichment | [3 Gold] | [2 Gold] |
| Primal Staff | [Tier 4] | [Tier 5] |
| Dreamer’s Embrace | [Tier 5] | [Tier 4] |
| Planar Telescope | [Tier 4] | [Tier 3] |
| Overconfidence | [Tier 2] | [Tier 3] |
| Natural Blessing | Choose a minion. Give all minions that share a type with it +3/+2. | Choose a minion. Give all minions that share a type with it +2/+2. |
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.
| Hearthstone Arena Patch 28.4.1 |
| Forge of Wills and Transfer Student removed from the draft pool. |
| Butch, Amalgamate, Mage Armor, and Crusty, the Crustacean removed from the treasure pool. |
| Appearance rate of all Mini-Set cards increased. |
| Appearance rate of Sludge on Wheels decreased. |
| Appearance rate of Kobold Miner and Burrow Buster decreased in Rogue and Warlock. |
That’s all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates!