Hearthstone 26.6 Patch Notes – TITANS expansion, Twist Game Mode, In-Game Events, Battlegrounds Update, Community Day and more!

Patch 26.6, the next major Hearthstone update, is launching today. While the main focus is the new expansion reveal, it comes with a ton of different interesting stuff. Here’s a patch summary:

• TITANS Expansion – A new Hearthstone expansion was just announced. It’s centered around Titans, mythical creators of the universe, and beings who created life in Azeroth. The expansion launches on August 1.
• Twist Game Mode – Announced last week, Hearthstone is getting a brand new game mode. It has no one specific format – available expansions and deck building rules will rotate every season or a couple of seasons.  The first format is called “New Age” and it uses cards from Ashes of Outlands onwards, without Neutrals. If you don’t own the right cards but still want to play the format, you can purchase six different Battle-ready decks (regular for 3200 Gold or $19.99 and golden for 12000 Gold or $79.99).
• In-Game Events – Patch comes with two new in-game events. The first one (Twist – New Age) starts on July 3 and lasts for a week. It gives you 6 card packs in total. The second event (Fire Festival Returns) lasts from July 11 to August 1 and gives you a total of 6 packs, one Battlegrounds Hero skin, and a Demon Hunter portrait as rewards.
• Battlegrounds Update – Patch 26.6 comes with a massive Battlegrounds update. We have a bunch of balance changes, but also new minions, minion pool updates, and a return of Quests (on July 11). If you like Battlegrounds cosmetics, Blizzard is also introducing Epic Bartenders with animated portraits.
• Special Community Day Event – To celebrate the launch of Twist format and TITANS expansion announcement, Blizzard is launching the first-ever Community Day. Twitch drops will be active across the whole Hearthstone category. You can earn up to 11 card packs for 6 hours of watch time (two card packs per hour for the first five hours, then one TITANS pack for the final hour).
• Bug Fixes & Game Improvements – Just like always, major patches come with a lot of bug fixes and QoL changes, bigger and smaller. One worth mentioning is that Mercenaries is now officially relegeated to the “Modes” category and Tavern Brawl is back on the main screen. Let’s hope it means that more brand new Tavern Brawls will be released soon!

Check out full patch notes below:

Patch 26.6, launching today, is a massive patch that brings a new Hearthstone Mode, sets up the return of Battlegrounds Quests, and heralds the coming of Hearthstone’s next expansion: TITANS!

Pre-Purchase TITANS

Get ready to meet your makers in Hearthstone’s next expansion, TITANS, coming August 1! In the beginning, massive titan world-souls shaped life on Azeroth. Now, they’re coming to shape Hearthstone! With mythical characters and out-of-this-world effects, this is the dawn of the age of the TITANS!

TITANS is bursting with primordial power and 145 new collectible cards. You can learn more in the TITANS Announcement Blog. Two pre-purchase options are available now so you can start forging decks as soon as the expansion launches.

PRE-PURCHASE

Log in and Get the Prison of Yogg-Saron for Free!

Log in to Hearthstone now for your first taste of TITANS with the free Prison of Yogg-Saron Legendary Location card!* When the titans came to Azeroth, they found it infected by chaotic Old Gods, deeply embedded into the planet. The titan-forged armies defeated the Old Gods, but were unable to safely remove them. So, instead, they locked the Old Gods away in massive, enchanted prisons. Now, the Legendary Prison of Yogg-Saron, Hearthstone’s first-ever neutral Location, is yours to watch over—just beware of Yogg-Saron’s creeping, chaotic influence.

* Limited one per account. After Patch 27.6, Prison of Yogg-Saron will be granted upon opening your first TITANS pack, instead of upon logging in.

Hearthstone’s Newest Mode: Twist

Patch 26.6 will kick off the Beta seasons of Hearthstone’s newest Mode, Twist! Twist will be replacing Classic. Like the other Hearthstone Modes, Twist is a constructed format where you build a deck and compete in a ranked ladder climb. But, unlike Standard and Wild, each Twist season has a special twist on the eligible card pools or rules! In Twist, you can replay all your old favorite cards, but see them in a whole new light.

The Twist Beta period will run during Patch 26.6. For that Beta period, the following sets will make up the eligible Twist card pool (but with no neutral cards):

• Core
• Demon Hunter Initiate
• Ashes of Outland
• Scholomance Academy
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Forged in the Barrens
• United in Stormwind
• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Voyage to the Sunken City
• Murder at Castle Nathria
• March of the Lich King
• Path of Arthas
• Festival of Legends

Don’t worry if you don’t have cards from all those sets, we’ll be offering 6 Battle-Ready Decks specially created for this Twist format, such as Libram Paladin, Weapon Rogue, and Questline Druid! These decks are perfect for players who don’t have the cards for the format and just want to jump right into the fun. Each of these Battle-Ready decks will be offered in regular (3200 Gold or $19.99) and all-Golden (12000 Gold or $79.99) versions.

You can learn more about our current and upcoming plans for Twist in the official Twist announcement blog.

In-Game Event: Twist—New Age

To further celebrate the Twist Beta, we’re throwing a special in-game event. From July 3-July 11, you can complete Twist-based Event Quests to earn Event XP on the special event rewards track. Complete the rewards to earn six packs from Hearthstone’s New Age that you can use in the Twist Beta seasons, one from each of: Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, Forged in the Barrens, Fractured in Alterac Valley, and United in Stormwind!

In-Game Event: Fire Festival Returns

The Fire Festival is back! From July 11-August 1, join the annual midsummer celebration with special Event Quests and prizes for both Traditional Hearthstone and Battlegrounds. Complete Event Quests to earn Event XP on the special event rewards track. Complete the rewards track to earn three Standard Packs, two March of the Lich King Packs, a Festival of Legends Pack, the Sparkhoarder Togwaggle Battlegrounds Hero Skin, and the Felblaze Illidan Demon Hunter skin.

Battlegrounds Updates

With Patch 26.6, Battlegrounds is getting the following updates to heroes and minions.

Hero Power Updates

Cariel (Conviction)

• [1 Gold] Give 2 friendly minions +1/+1. (After you upgrade the Tavern, choose an improvement!)
  • United Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives stats to an additional friendly minion.
  • Offensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +2 Attack.
  • Defensive Stance: For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +2 Health.
• Captain Fairmount
  • Choose One – For the rest of the game, ‘Conviction’ gives an additional +2 Attack; or +2 Health.
    • Dev Comment: This is a text-only change with no functionality update.

Dancin’ Deryl (Hat Trick)

• Passive. When you buy a minion, give it a +1/+1 Hat that passes to a friendly minion when sold.

Deathwing (ALL Will Burn!)

• Passive. Start of Combat: Give ALL minions +2 Attack permanently.

Death Speaker Blackthorn (Bloodbound)

• [1 Gold] Get 2 Blood Gems. (Twice per turn.)

Drek’Thar (Lead the Frostwolves)

• Passive. Avenge (2): Give your minions +1 Attack permanently.

Edwin VanCleef (Sharpen Blades)

• [1 Gold] Give a minion +1/+1. Upgrades after you buy 4 minions.

Illidan Stormrage (Wingmen)

• Passive. Start of Combat: Your left and right-most minions gain +2/+1 and attack immediately.

Ini Stormcoil (MechGyver)

• Passive. After 10 friendly minions die, get a random Mech.

King Mukla (Bananarama)

• Passive. At the start of your turn, get 2 Bananas and give everyone else one.

Kurtrus Ashfallen (Glaive Ricochet)

• Passive. Once per turn, after you buy 4 minions, Discover a plain copy of one of them.

Onyxia (Broodmother)

• Passive: Avenge (3): Summon a 3/1 Whelp. It attacks immediately.

Overlord Saurfang (For the Horde!)

• [1 Gold] Give a minion in the Tavern +2/+1. (Doubles every 3 turns!)

Queen Azshara (Azshara’s Ambition)

• Passive. When your warband reaches 25 total Attack, begin your Naga Conquest.

Queen Wagtoggle (Wax Warband)

• Passive. Start of Combat: Give a friendly minion of each type stats equal to their Tavern Tiers.

Rakanishu (Tavern Lighting)

• [1 Gold] Give a minion stats equal to your Tavern Tier.

Tamsin Roame (Fragrant Phylactery)

• [0 Gold] Start of Combat: Destroy your lowest Health minion. Give its stats to your other minions.

Tavish Stormpike (Deadeye)

• [0 Gold] Take aim! Start of Combat: Deal 2 damage to your target (Doubles every 3 turns!)

The Great Akazamzarak (Prestidigitation and Street Magician)

• Snake Trap and Avenge have been removed from the Secret Pool.
• Reckoning and Magic Black Soulstone have been added to the Secret Pool.
  • Reckoning: After an enemy minion deals 3 or more damage, destroy it.
  • Magic Black Soulstone: After your last minion dies, summon 2 random Demons.

Armor Updates

The following heroes have been adjusted to have less Armor*:

• Ini Stormcoil now has 5 Armor at lower levels of play, but still has 10 Armor at higher levels of play.
• Deathwing now has 8 Armor.
• Onyxia and Queen Wagtoggle now have 10 Armor at higher levels of play and 7 Armor at lower levels of play.
• Cariel Roame now has 10 Armor at higher levels of play and 8 Armor at lower levels of play.
• Death Speaker Blackthorn, Drek’Thar, Kurtrus Ashfallen, and Tamsin Roame now have 10 Armor.
• Edwin VanCleef and The Great Akazamzarak now have 11 Armor.
• Dancin’ Deryl, Queen Azshara, and Tavish Stormpike now have 12 Armor.
• Overlord Saurfang now has 13 Armor.
• King Mukla now has 14 Armor.
• Rakanishu now has 15 Armor.

*Dancin’ Deryl and King Mukla’s new Armor totals are less Armor than they previously had at higher levels of play, but more Armor than they previously had at lower levels of play.

New Minions

Hungry Snapjaw [Tier 2, Beast]

• 4 Attack, 2 Health. After you summon a Beast, gain +1 Health permanently.

Cogwork Copter [Tier 2, Mech]

• 2 Attack, 1 Health. Divine Shield. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give a minion in your hand +1/+1.

Annoy-o-Troupe [Tier 5, Mech]

• 3 Attack, 6 Health. Taunt. Divine Shield. Deathrattle: Summon three 1/2 Mechs with Taunt and Divine Shield.

Minion Pool Updates

The following minions have been removed from the minion pool:

• Icky Imp
• Pupbot
• Metaltooth Leaper
• Budding Greenthumb
• Patient Scout
• Leapfrogger
• Gem Smuggler
• Faceless Disciple
• Treasure-Seeker Elise
• Dr. Boombox
• Sinrunner Blanchy
• Omega Buster
• Kangor’s Apprentice

The following minions have been returned to the minion pool:

• Imprisoner
• Annoy-o-Tron
• Yrel
• Spawn of N’Zoth
• Gemsplitter
• Briny Bootlegger
• Qiraji Harbinger
• Witchwing Nestmatron
• Champion of Y’Shaarj
• Baby Krush
• Cyborg Drake
• Grease Bot

Minion Updates

Annoy-o-Tron [Tier 1, Mech]

• 1 Attack, 2 Health. Taunt, Divine Shield.

Champion of Y’Shaarj [Tier 4]

• 3 Attack, 3 Health. Whenever a friendly Taunt minion is attacked, gain +1/+2 permanently.

Murozond [Tier 5, Dragon]

• [Regular version] 5 Attack, 5 Health. Battlecry: Get a plain copy of a minion from your last opponent’s warband.
• [Golden version] 10 Attack, 10 Health. Battlecry: Get a plain copy of a minion from your last opponent’s warband twice.
• Dev Comment: The regular version is a text-only update with no functional change, but the Golden version is both a text change and a functional change (it now gives two minions instead of one Golden minion).

Grease Bot [Tier 6, Mech]

• Divine Shield. After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+2 permanently.

Quests are Returning to Battlegrounds!

That’s not all the updates for Battlegrounds. On July 11, Battlegrounds Quests are returning to Battlegrounds! Just as before, Quest-Reward options will appear on turn 4 (the 6 Gold turn) for you to choose how you want to play out the rest of your match! We have a few updates to Quests and Rewards this time around, so watch for more details coming soon.

New Product: Epic Bartenders

We’re continuing to expand our Battlegrounds offerings this patch with new Epic Bartenders. Epic Bartenders include alternate portraits and new voice lines, like Rare Bartenders, but also have a Golden frame and Golden-style animation on their portraits! Get the first ever Epic Bartender, Lillian Singh, available in the shop now.

Special Community Day Event!

This weekend, July 1-July 2, we’ll be hosting a special Community Day to celebrate the new Twist Beta and the upcoming launch of TITANS! By participating in Community Day, you can earn 11 free packs within 24 hours! From July 1, 12:00 p.m. (PDT) to July 2, 11:59 a.m. (PDT), earn six drops, each for watching 1 hour of any Hearthstone stream.

• First hour: 1 Ashes of Outland Pack + 1 Scholomance Academy Pack
• Second hour: 1 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Pack + 1 Forged in the Barrens Pack
• Third hour: 1 United in Stormwind Pack + 1 Fractured in Alterac Valley Pack
• Fourth hour: 1 Voyage to the Sunken City Pack + 1 Murder at Castle Nathria Pack
• Fifth hour: 1 March of the Lich King Pack + 1 Festival of Legends Pack
• Sixth hour: 1 TITANS Pack

Tune in to your favorite streamers and join them for this massive celebration of Hearthstone’s past and future! Make sure you link your Twitch and Battle.net accounts so that your viewing time counts towards drops.

Bug Fixes and Game Improvements

• [General] We’ve moved Tavern Brawl to the main menu and moved Mercenaries to the Modes button. Tavern Brawl, Mercenaries, and all other Modes are now unlocked by unlocking all Hearthstone classes.
• [General] Improved new player flow.
• [General] Fixed a bug where players could not adjust screen resolution.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where stealing Fizzle’s Snapshot from your opponent’s deck did not give any cards when played.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where triple-Rune cards were sometimes offered in Discover effects.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug on mobile where the deck selection screen would remain blurry after a match.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where cards destroyed from your opponent’s deck would show as coming and being destroyed from yours.
• [Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where JIVE, INSECT! would sometimes not transform the art of the card it targeted.
• [Battlegrounds] Bassgill can no longer summon Ambassador Faelin’s locked minions.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Ambassador Faelin’s locked minions could be made playable when becoming Goldenized by Upbeat Impressionist.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Golden Octasari, Wrap God’s Deathrattle would not trigger correctly with Titus Rivendare.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Vaelastrasz (Alexstrasza’s Buddy) did not always give you a Dragon of your Tavern Tier.
• [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where “All”-type minions added to Cookie, the Cook’s pot could result in no-type minions being offered in the Discover options. Cookie’s now gotten better training on following dietary restrictions.
• [Solo Content] Fixed a bug where defeating The Lich King in the Icecrown Solo Adventure would cause the game to lock on some devices.
• [Features] Fixed a bug where the iOS keyboard would appear and block the ability to share a deck code with a friend on mobile.
• [Progression] Fixed a bug where total win counts would not update unless the client was restarted.
• [Cosmetics] Fixed Frostmonger Sai and Crimson Knight Sai text emotes and voicelines.
• [Shop] Added a confirmation window for shop purchases made with Gold (to avoid accidental just-a-buys).
• Misc. other performance updates, game improvements, and bug fixes.

Source