Patch Overview
Official notes: 35.6.2 Patch Notes · Patch comparison: /patch-notes/243002-to-244584A tuning pass that adjusts the minion pool, nudges several Undead and Murloc cards, trims some Dragon-enabling pieces, and does a broad sweep of Trinket costs.
Developer commentary
"We're overall quite happy with the meta after the midseason update, but there were a few adjustments we wanted to make. First, we buffed several minions to support Beasts, Murlocs, Quilboar, and Undead, and brought back Felhorn, Costume Enthusiast, and Trench Fighter for some extra help.
For nerfs, we focused mostly on Dragons. One notable card we chose not to nerf directly is Ring Bearer. While its power level is fairly reasonable, its play rate is very high. We wanted to keep the strategy viable, but make it significantly less prevalent. To do that, we removed Egg of the Endtimes (and its related Trinkets) to reduce how easily and consistently the comp can be assembled.
For Trinkets, our changes are fairly straightforward, focused on smoothing out the power of the highest- and lowest-performing options. We also banned several Trinkets from specific Anomalies that were causing unfun or unintended interactions."
— Battlegrounds development team
At a glance
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Total tracked changes | 95 |
| Added cards | 3 |
| Removed cards | 4 |
| Changed cards | 88 |
By bucket:
| Bucket | Added | Removed | Changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minions | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Trinkets | 0 | 0 | 74 |
| Spells | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Pool changes
Returning minions
Three minions rejoin the pool:
- Felhorn (Tier 3)
- Trench Fighter (Tier 4)
- Costume Enthusiast (Tier 5)
Removed minions
Egg of the Endtimes is the headliner removal. Per the dev note, it was pulled to reduce how consistently Ring Bearer builds come together — and Egg of the Endtimes Portrait has been removed from both the Lesser and Greater Trinket pools for the same reason.Minion changes
Dragons
The two Chromadrake variants both have their Battlecry values reduced, offering less raw tempo:
- Bronze Chromadrake — Battlecry buff to other Dragons: +4/+2 → +3/+1
- Green Chromadrake — Battlecry buff to other Dragons: +2/+4 → +1/+3
Undead
Dustbone Devastator loses 1 Attack (2 → 1) but the Rally bonus to your Undead increases from +1 to +2 Attack game-wide. Dead Sea Ravager also loses 1 Attack (5 → 4), but now spreads its Attack to 4 targets instead of 3 via Rally — one more minion gets the buff each time it fires. Skeletal Strafer drops from 6/6 to 5/5 and the Avenge threshold goes from (2) to (1).Murlocs
Bream Counter gets bumped up across the board: base stats 5/5 → 6/6 and the hand-buff per Murloc played increases from +5/+5 to +6/+6. Primitive Painter is a combined change: stats drop from 3/8 to 2/7, but the buff it gives Murlocs for each Tier-3-or-below card you play increases from +1/+2 to +2/+2. Moon-Bacon Jazzer moves from Tier 3 to Tier 2 and loses some health (2/5 → 2/3).Mechs
Holo Rover moves from Tier 4 to Tier 5, gains Divine Shield, and gets +2 Health (4/4 → 4/6). The Rally effect — getting a random Magnetic Mech — stays the same. Hot-Air Surveyor moves in the opposite direction, from Tier 5 to Tier 4, with reduced stats (4/8 → 3/7). It's easier to pick up earlier.Pirates
Brazen Buccaneer drops 1 Attack (6 → 5) and the Attack component of its end-of-turn Pirate buff decreases from +3 to +2 per card played this turn. The Health component stays at +3.Spell changes
Butchering — the Undead self-sacrifice spell — sees its game-wide Attack bonus increase from +3 to +5 per cast. Big buff.
Trinket changes
Pool adjustments
- Egg of the Endtimes Portrait removed from both Lesser and Greater Trinket pools
- Chromatic Tear returned to the Lesser Trinket pool (with a reworked effect — see below)
Anomaly and hero bans
Several Trinkets are now restricted in specific contexts:
- Double Stitch Needle banned in Murloc games
- Chillmere Mosaic banned from Millhouse and Sindragosa
- Warband Whistle and Gold-Plated Compass banned in False Idols
- Transcribing Typewriter banned in Mystery Cube
- Lava Lamp banned from Souvenir Stand
- Trip Vouchers, Souvenir Stand, and Stuffed Coin Purse banned in Lesser Fortune
Lesser Trinket text changes
| Trinket | Change |
|---|---|
| Chromatic Tear | [Cost 5 → 2] Generates 2 random Chromadrakes per turn → 1 random Chromadrake per turn |
| Mysterious Orb | Gain 10 Gold → Gain 8 Gold |
| Stuffed Coin Purse | Reaching Tier 6 gives 15 Gold → 12 Gold |
| Copper Coil | Magnetize buff +2/+1 → +1/+1 |
| Stormcoil Sticker | Trigger after 7 friendly minions die → after 8 |
| Bleeding Heart | [Cost 0 → 1] Trigger after 9 friendly minions die → after 8 |
| Nerglish Phrasebook | Hand buff after playing a minion +3/+2 → +3/+3 |
| Booty Bay Brew | Pirate buff per Gold spent +4/+2 → +4/+3 |
| Tiger Carving | Give a random friendly minion +3 Attack → give another minion +3/+1 |
| Mama Bear Sticker | Beast summon buff +4/+4 → +5/+5 |
| Cursed Crystal | [Cost 3 → 1] Tavern Refresh buff +2/+2 → +3/+3 |
Greater Trinket text changes
| Trinket | Change |
|---|---|
| Baller Portrait | Repeat threshold: play 8 Elementals → play 9 |
| Beatboxer Portrait | [Cost 6 → 4] Get Beatboxer + 1 random Magnetic Mech → Get Beatboxer only |
| Bewitched Ribbon | [Cost 6 → 4] In-combat bonus +3/+2 → +2/+2 |
| Copper Coil | Magnetize buff +3/+3 → +3/+2 |
| Heart of the Forest | Improve threshold: cast 5 Tavern spells → cast 6 |
| Shark Cannon | Spend trigger: 9 Gold → 10 Gold |
| Sky Golem Portrait | Deathrattle buff +3/+3 → +2/+2 |
| Orb of the Unknown | Bonus Gold +3 → +4 |
| Redeemer Portrait | Nalaa extra buff +3/+3 → +4/+4 |
| Defiler Portrait | Fodder buff in Tavern +7/+7 → +10/+10 |
| Tiger Carving | Give a random friendly minion +5 Attack → give another minion +6/+2 |
| Gilnean Thorned Rose | Avenge buff +3/+3 → +4/+5 |
| Artisanal Urn | Undead Attack bonus +12 → +15 |
| Surveyor Portrait | Blood Gem extra buff +4/+4 → +6/+6 |
Cost-only highlights
Lesser Trinket cost reductions include Blessing Portrait (3 → 0), Demonic Tapestry (3 → 1), Pilgrimp Sticker (4 → 2), and Bazaar Sticker (1 → 0). Cost increases include Rylak Portrait (2 → 4), Sellemental Portrait (4 → 5), and Sunken Anchor (5 → 6). Greater Trinket cost reductions include All-Purpose Kibble (5 → 2), Thornspike Pauldron (5 → 2), Guiding Candle (3 → 1), and Timeworn Candelabra (2 → 0). Cost increases include Electrode Attractor (2 → 5), Behemoth Portrait (0 → 2), and Boom's Monster Portrait (0 → 2).Anomaly changes
Fly the Flag — the spell generated by this Anomaly now limits targets to Tier 6 or below, rather than any minion.Timing adjustments were made to several Anomalies to give more thinking time at key decision points: +10 seconds on Turn 1 for Anomalous Expedition, +15 seconds on Turn 5 for Anomalous Conflux, and +15 seconds on Turn 8 for Anomalous Timeline.
For the full field-level diff, see the patch notes comparison page.