Patch Notes Digest: 241958 to 242566

Patch Overview

A broad balance pass with two new minions, a Demon tier swap, focused Dragon nerfs through their trinkets, and a very large number of Trinket cost adjustments — the most since the Trinket economy was first introduced.

Developer commentary

"There are a lot of balance changes in this patch, so we wanted to highlight our overall goals. For minion changes, we focused more on buffs than nerfs to lift up underperforming types. Most of these changes target Pirates and Mechs, with some buffs for Murlocs, Undead, and Quilboar as well.

On the nerf side, we swapped Famished Felbat with Twisted Wrathguard to keep Demons in check while lowering the power of Fodders. We also brought back P-0UL-TR-0N, with nerfs to it and Stomping Stegodon, to keep that strategy balanced.

We originally planned to nerf Dragons, but after reviewing the data, most of their overperformance came from Egg of the Endtimes Portrait and Chromatic Tear. As a result, we kept our balance adjustments focused on their Trinkets.

Speaking of Trinkets, our main goal was to smooth out the power between the highest and lowest performers. We also removed some of the least-picked options to keep your offerings compelling. We'll keep an eye on these changes and make further adjustments as needed.

Our mid-season update is just around the corner, and we're looking forward to sharing more very soon. We'll see you in the Tavern!"

— Battlegrounds development team

At a glance

By bucket:

New minions

Two minions enter (or return to) the pool:

• Dreaming Thornweaver
• Holo Rover

Minion changes

Highlighted: Demon tier swap

The most structurally significant minion change is a direct tier swap between two Demons:

• Famished Felbat — drops from Tier 6 to Tier 5, stats reduced (9/5 → 6/3). Per the dev commentary, this is aimed at lowering the power of Fodder-based builds.
• Twisted Wrathguard — moves from Tier 5 to Tier 6, stats increase (4/4 → 8/8). Moving up a tier while gaining stats changes when this can realistically be played and how it fits into late-game Demon boards.

Both minions are now at different points in the curve than before, so any build plan involving either will need to account for the new timing.

Other multi-field changes (stats + text or tier)

Several minions received combined stat and text or tier adjustments:

• King Bagurgle — Tier 3 → 4, base stats 2/3 → 4/4, Battlecry buff +2/+3 → +4/+4 on all other Murlocs
• Brazen Buccaneer — stats 4/4 → 6/6, end-of-turn Pirate buff +2/+2 → +3/+3
• Bream Counter — stats 4/4 → 5/5, hand-buff per Murloc played +4/+4 → +5/+5
• Mrglin' Burglar — Health 8 → 10, hand-buff +5/+4 → +5/+5
• Dastardly Drust — Health 3 → 4, per-Pirate-gained buff increases; Golden buff +4/+2 → +6/+6
• Moonsteel Juggernaut — stats 6/6 → 8/8, generated Satellites 4/4 → 6/6
• Drustfallen Butcher — Health 9 → 7, Avenge threshold (4) → (3)
• Nalaa the Redeemer — Health 7 → 6, Tavern spell trigger buff +3/+2 → +4/+3
• Charging Czarina — stats nerfed 6/2 → 4/1, Divine Shield trigger buff +3 → +4 Attack
• P-0UL-TR-0N — stats 8/8 → 10/10, Avenge threshold (4) → (5)

Stat-only changes

Text-only changes

• Sky Admiral Rogers — Gold threshold to trigger a Bounty decreases from 10 to 9 (-1 Health as well)
• Stomping Stegodon — Rally buff decreases from +4 Attack to +3 Attack

Spell changes

Trinket changes

Highlighted: Dragon nerfs via trinkets

As the dev team noted, the decision was made to leave Dragon minions largely untouched and instead address their overperformance through two specific trinkets:

• Egg of the Endtimes Portrait — previously gave 2 Eggs immediately on pickup. Now gives 1 Egg and repeats every 2 turns. Cost 4 → 2. The effect is spread out over time rather than front-loaded; the cost reduction likely reflects how much less immediately powerful the new version is.
• Chromatic Tear — previously gave all 5 Chromadrakes at once. Now gives 2 random Chromadrakes and repeats at the start of each turn. Cost 3 → 5. Like Egg of the Endtimes, the delivery cadence changes from a single burst to a drip — but here the cost goes up, suggesting the new repeating version is considered at least as powerful as the old one over a full game.

These two are the primary lever the team used for Dragon balance in this patch.

Biggest story: cost economy reshuffle

Over 80 Trinkets received cost adjustments. Notable cost reductions:

Notable cost increases:

Other reworked trinkets

Several other Trinkets had their effect meaningfully redesigned alongside cost changes:

• Pocket Cyclone — previously cast Easterly Winds twice on purchase. Now casts it once. Still repeats each turn. Cost 5 → 3.
• Young Murk-Eye Sticker — previously triggered all friendly Battlecries at end of turn. Now triggers only the left- and right-most minions' Battlecries. Cost 6 → 4.
• Gold Pendant — Tier cap expands from Tier 3 to Tier 4 or below. Cost 0 → 1.
• Bluegill Flippers — previously buffed the left-most minion in hand. Now buffs the left-most minion in hand and warband, but stat values decrease (+4/+4 → +3/+3).
• Blood Golem Sticker — removes the 3-times-per-combat cap. Cost 3 → 5.

Text-only buff examples

Practical takeaway