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20.8 Patch Notes - Expansion Pre-Order, Battlegrounds, Duels, Fire Festival & More

Blizzard just published patch notes for patch 20.8 featuring balance changes for Duels & Battlegrounds, expansion pre-purchase, and more!

Quote from Blizzard

The 20.8 patch, releasing on July 1, brings pre-purchase for Hearthstone’s newest expansion, United in Stormwind! It also features major updates for Battlegrounds and Duels, and future fun in the form of the Fire Festival, Book of Mercenaries Kurtrus, and Book of Heroes Gul'dan!

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Pre-Purchase United in Stormwind

United in Stormwind will launch worldwide on August 3 with 135 new collectible cards! You can find the full schedule for card reveals, and see which cards were announced today, by visiting the card library, here. Check back frequently—the list will be updated with new cards as they’re revealed!

The United in Stormwind Mega Bundle includes 80 United in Stormwind card packs, five Golden United in Stormwind card packs, two random United in Stormwind Golden Legendary cards, the Lady Katrana Prestor Mage Alternate Hero, the Lady Katrana Prestor card back, the Ve’nari Alternate Battlegrounds Bartender (Pre-Purchase),* and Battlegrounds Perks**!

The United in Stormwind Pre-Purchase Bundle includes 60 United in Stormwind packs, two random United in Stormwind Legendary cards, and the Lady Katrana Prestor card back!

PRE-PURCHASE

*Bartender Ve’nari will also be available for pre-purchase before United in Stormwind goes live as a standalone item and can only be redeemed once per account. Bartender Ve’nari will be usable in-game, in the Battlegrounds game mode, no later than August 31, 2021.** Battlegrounds Perks are available upon purchase and expire at the end of the United in Stormwind expansion cycle.

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Log in and Get Flightmaster Dungar for Free

Near or far, Flightmaster Dungar can take you wherever you need to go! Log into Hearthstone after the 20.8 patch goes live to receive the Flightmaster Dungar Neutral Legendary minion, for free, available to play immediately! Limited one per account.

Battlegrounds Updates

NEW HERO

Kurtrus Ashfallen

• Final Showdown
  • [Passive] Buy 3 minions in 1 turn to give them +2/+2 and progress this.
• Gain Momentum
  • [Passive] Buy 4 minions in 1 turn to give your hand and board +2/+2 and progress this.
• Close the Portal
  • [Passive] Buy 5 minions in 1 turn to give ALL your minions this game +2/+2.

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to Kurtrus before it's formally released on July 15.

NEW MINION

Archdruid Hamuul

• [Tier 6] Battlecry: Refresh Bob's Tavern with your most common minion type.

RETURNING & REMOVED HEROES

• The Lich King has returned to the Battlegrounds Hero pool. There must always be a Lich King!
• Shudderwock has been temporarily removed from the Battlegrounds Hero pool.

Galakrond

• Galakrond’s Greed         
  • Old:   [Costs 0] Replace a minion in Bob's Tavern with a minion from a higher Tavern Tier.
  • New: [Costs 1] Choose a minion in Bob's Tavern. Discover a higher Tier minion to replace it.

Trade Prince Gallywix

• Smart Savings
  • Old:   [Costs 1] Add a Gold Coin to your hand.
  • New: [Passive] After you sell a minion, get 1 extra Gold next turn. (Can exceed 10)

Maiev Shadowsong

• Imprison
  • Old:   Make a minion in Bob’s Tavern Dormant. After 2 turns, get it with +1 Attack.
  • New: Make a minion in Bob's Tavern Dormant. After 3 turns, get it with +1/+1.

UPDATED HEROES

Edwin VanCleef

• Sharpen Blades
  • Old:   Give a minion +1/+1 for each minion you've bought this turn.
  • New: Give a minion +2/+1 for each minion you've bought this turn.

Dinotamer Brann

• Battle Brand
  • Old:   [Costs 1] Refresh Bob’s Tavern with Battlecry minions.
  • New: [Passive] After you buy 5 Battlecry minions, add Brann Bronzebeard to your hand. (Once per game)

Illidan Stormrage

• Wingmen
  • Old:   Start of Combat: Your left and right-most minions attack immediately.
  • New: Start of Combat: Your left and right-most minions gain +2 Attack and attack immediately.

Sindragosa

• Stay Frosty
  • Old:   [Passive] At the end of your turn, Frozen minions get +2/+1.
  • New: [Costs 0] Freeze a minion in Bob's Tavern. Frozen minions get +2/+1 every turn.

Guff Runetotem

• Natural Balance
  • Old:   Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+1.
  • New: Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +1/+1.

Overlord Saurfang

• For the Horde!
  • Old:   Give +1 Attack to the next minion you buy this turn. (Upgrades each turn!)
  • New: Give +2 Attack to the next minion you buy this turn. (Upgrades each turn!)

N'Zoth

• Avatar of N’Zoth
  • Old:   Start the game with a 1/1 Fish that gains all your Deathrattles in combat.
  • New: Start the game with a 2/2 Fish that gains all your Deathrattles in combat.

The Curator

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

King Mukla

• Bananarama
  • Big Banana rate increased to 50% (up from 33%).

MINION UPDATES

Deflect-o-Bot

• Old:   Divine Shield. Whenever you summon a Mech during combat, gain +1 Attack and Divine Shield.
• New: Divine Shield. Whenever you summon a Mech during combat, gain +2 Attack and Divine Shield.

Lieutenant Garr

• Old:   8 Attack, 1 Health
• New: 8 Attack, 8 Health

Refreshing Anomaly

• Old:   1 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 1 Attack, 4 Health

Bigfernal

• Old:   4 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 6 Attack, 6 Health

Razorgore, the Untamed

• Old:   2 Attack, 4 Health
• New: 4 Attack, 6 Health

Pack Leader

• Old:   3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 4 Health

Mama Bear

• Old:   4 Attack, 4 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +4/+4.
• New: 5 Attack, 5 Health. Whenever you summon a Beast, give it +5/+5.

Soul Juggler

• Old:   3 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 3 Attack, 5 Health

Nathrezim Overseer

• Old:   2 Attack, 3 Health
• New: 2 Attack, 4 Health

DARKMOON PRIZES RETURN IN 25% OF GAMES

• Darkmoon Prizes are returning and will appear in one out of every four Battlegrounds matches! Games featuring Darkmoon Prizes happen at random and are not guaranteed to show up in every fourth match you play—it’s possible to have several games in a row with Darkmoon Prizes, or several games without.

DARKMOON PRIZES UPDATES

Might of Stormwind

• Old:   Give your minions +1/+1.
• New: Give 3 random friendly minions +1/+1.

The Good Stuff

• Old:   Give minions in Bob's Shop +1 Health for the rest of the game.
• New: Give minions in Bob's Tavern +2 Health for the rest of the game.

Great Deal

• Old:   For the rest of the game, reduce the cost of upgrading Bob's Tavern by (2) at the end of your turn.
• New: For the rest of the game, reduce the cost of upgrading Bob's Tavern by (3) at the end of your turn.

I'm Still Just a Rat in a Cage

• Moved to from Prize Turn 3 to Prize Turn 2.

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Duels Updates

• Passive Treasures Cannibalism, Rally the Troops, Orb of Revelation, Band of Bees, and From the Swamp have been moved to Treasure Pool 2.

Dragonblood

• Old:   After a friendly Dragon dies, give your minions +1/+1.
• New: After a friendly Dragon dies, give your minions +1/+2.

Hold the Line

• Old:   Your Taunt minions have +2 Attack during your opponent's turn.
• New: Your Taunt minions have +3 Attack during your opponent's turn.

Invigorating Light

• Old:   After you play a Holy spell, restore 1 Health to all friendly characters.
• New: Whenever you play a Holy spell, give +1 Health to all friendly minions.

Cannibalism

• Old:   Whenever a friendly minion dies, give your minions +1 Attack.
• New: Whenever a friendly minion dies, give adjacent minions +1 Attack.

Rally the Troops

• Old:   After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (3) less.
• New: After you play your first Battlecry card in a turn, draw a card. It costs (2) less.

Endurance Training

• Old:   Your Taunt minions cost (2) less, but not less than (1).
• New: Your Taunt minions cost (3) less, but not less than (1).

Orb of Revelation

• Old:   After your first Discover in a turn, reduce the cost of spells in your hand by (2), but not less than (1).
• New: After your first Discover in a turn, reduce the cost of spells in your hand by (1), but not less than (1).

Special Delivery

• Old:   After you play a Rush minion, summon a copy with 1 Health remaining.
• New: After you play a Rush minion, summon a copy with 1 Health.

Corrupted Felstone

• Old:   Whenever you cast a Fel spell, give a minion in your hand +2/+2.
• New: Whenever you cast a Fel spell, give a minion in your hand +3/+2.

Flame Waves

• Old:   At the end of your turn, deal damage to all enemies for each Fire spell you've cast this turn.
• New: At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to all enemies for each Fire spell you've cast this turn.

Band of Bees

• Old:   Your minions that cost (2) or less have Poisonous.
• New: Whenever you play a minion that cost (2) or less, give it Poisonous.

From the Swamp

• Old:   Wheneveran enemy dies, raise a 1/1 Bloated Zombie.
• New: Afterthe first enemy dies each turn, raise a 1/3 Bloated Zombie.

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Fire Festival Returns July 6

The Fire Festival is back! This year, Ragnaros is throwing a house party in the Firelands. Everybody’s invited! Complete Legendary quests for up to 6 Year of the Phoenix packs and finish all 7 quests to earn the Druid of the Flame Malfurion Hero Skin! Ragnaros’ Fire Festival Tavern Brawl will return on July 7, and on July 14 a completely revamped Burndown Brawl will take its place.

Check out our Fire Festival overview blog for more details on the party, the new Eternal Flame bundle, and a sneak peek at exciting updates coming to Battlegrounds in the future!

 

 

 

 

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New Cosmetic Coins Incoming

Stormwind is big on Trade, so you’ll need a lot of coins. Fortunately, we have two new Collectible Coins that will become available on August 3! Collect all 135 United in Stormwind cards to add the Lordaeron Coin to your Collection!

Stay tuned, we’ll reveal the second coin when we provide an update on what to expect from the Rewards Track for United in Stormwind in late July.

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Book of Mercenaries Kurtrus – Coming July 13

Kurtrus Ashfallen had a vision. He saw a Warlock in the Barrens summoning the dreadlord Anetheron, an evil demon who took everything from Kurtrus during the Third War. Abandoning his fellow Demon Hunters, Kurtrus sets out to stop the Warlock. On the way, he joins forces with Cariel Roame, Paladin of the Silver Hand, who hopes to find her long-lost sister in the Barrens. What they find on Dreadmist Peak, heart of the demon-worshipping Cult of the Burning Blade, will be revealed in Book of Mercenaries Kurtrus, launching on July 13. Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Demon Hunter pack, containing only Demon Hunter cards from Standard!

Book of Heroes Gul’dan – Coming July 20

Gul'dan himself would admit that he is no hero, but his villainous exploits are equally legendary. Banished from his original clan, he made a pact with a demon to get his revenge, and later oversaw the creation of the Horde, the Dark Portal, and the first death knight. All the while, Gul'dan was eager to see how much power he could obtain before it caught up with him…Defeating all 8 bosses in this linear adventure will reward 1 Warlock pack, containing only Warlock cards from Standard!

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Bug Fixes & Game Improvements

• A Daily Quest has been added for Nozdormu Day, which will appear on the 15th of every month if you have an available Daily Quest slot.
• Fixed a bug where Dark Inquisitor Xanesh was missing its keyword tooltip for Corrupted.
• Fixed a bug where the card generation animation would play twice if granted a ranked spell from Onyx Magescribe.
• Fixed a bug where High Abbess Alura would take no damage after casting Eye of C'Thun with her Spellburst effect, despite VFX showing damage taken.
• Fixed a bug Southsea Scoundrel was not drawing a card for the opponent if the card was a ranked spell.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where picking a non-Golden Tough Tusk with Mr. Bigglesworth’s Hero Power would give the minion permanent Divine Shield.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Tough Tusk would retain Divine Shield on defeated player’s boards.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug where Dynamic Duo would lose its stats after being tripled if Vol’jin’s Hero Power was used on it at any point.
• Fixed a Battlegrounds bug causing Reborn Rights (The Lich King’s Hero Power) to permanently give a minion Reborn under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Mercenaries Guff where incorrect VO would play when target buffing friendly minions.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Mercenaries Guff where Lady Anacondra would sometimes cast Serpent’s Bite on an already Poisonous minion.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Mercenaries Guff where the AI would sometimes not attack with Deviate Nightmare if it was their only minion.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Mercenaries Xyrella where Garona’s Hero Power read “…Kingslayers” instead of “…Kingsbane”.
• Fixed a bug with Book of Heroes Anduin where Lightspawn could be discovered with a 3-mana cost.
• Fixed a bug where the last two class challenges for some Adventures were not accessible on mobile devices.
• Fixed a bug where Golden Core Set cards drafted in Arena would not be Golden once in a match.
• Fixed a bug where the XP earned indicator was not showing on the end of match screen.
• Fixed a bug where the XP earned indicator would not play the level up animation after leveling.
• Fixed a bug where some players would be queued for a Casual game when intending to queue for Ranked.
• Fixed a bug where ranked medals would persist on the friends list, even after a friend had logged off.
• Fixed a bug where a notification for the last Legendary a friend opened would be displayed after adding a new friend, regardless of how long ago the Legendary had been obtained.
• Fixed a bug in the profile page where the tooltip for Arena wins was incorrect.
• Fixed a bug where the Sir Annoy-O Hero Skin entrance animation was missing trumpets.

United in Stormwind Card List & Expansion Guide

Learn more and see all the cards in our dedicated Card List.