Update: The patch is now live on PC and mobile! If you don’t see it on mobile, go to the app store and try updating manually. Enjoy!
Blizzard just published 32.0 patch notes! The update launches tomorrow (March 18). It’s a pre-patch for Into the Emerald Dream expansion launching next week + Standard rotation, but it also contains some other stuff. You can find a summary below:
Into the Emerald Dream – This patch contains data for the new Hearthstone expansion launching on March 25. All of the cards from the set have already been revealed. Learn more about it with our Expansion Guide.
Year of the Raptor – A new Standard year is upon us. Year of the Raptor starts on March 25, as soon as the new expansion releases. 2023 expansions (Festival of Legends, TITANS and Showdown in the Badlands) and their mini-sets will rotate out, and we’ll be left with 2024 sets + Into the Emerald Dream. We’re also getting a big Core Set rotation, with over 80 cards getting swapped. You can learn more about it here.
Pre-Release Brawl – Another edition of Pre-Release Brawl launches with the patch. Players will be able to open their Into the Emerald Dream card packs early and compete with others in a special Brawl. Only Core Set, Event Set, The Great Dark Beyond (but without StarCraft) and Into the Emerald Dream cards will be available in the Brawl. Play up to 6 wins or 3 loses for extra rewards. The first entry is free – further entires cost 300 Gold, 400 Runestones or 2 Tavern Tickets. We’ll have a more in-depth coverage of the Brawl with some theorycrafted decks soon.
Community Days – Community days are back once again. Twitch drops will be active between March 18-22. Earn a total of 10 card packs, including 4 packs from Into the Emrald Dream expansion. Learn more with the Community Celebration blog post.
Standard & Wild Updates – The patch comes with some sweeping Standard & Wild balance changes. Over 20 cards that still remain in Standard will be nerfed, while over 40 cards that are set to rotate out to Wild are getting buffed (or rather, their previous nerfs reverted). What’s interesting is that there’s a week gap between the reverts and rotation, which means that the 40 un-nerfed cards will be playable in Standard for the last week before expansion. It should lead to some… rather explosive meta. We already covered the updates last week in this post.
Arena Updates – A new Arena rotation will start when the patch releases, retiring all of the previous runs (and thus compensating players with Tavern Tickets). The new drafting pool will include Into the Emerald Dream, The Great Dark Beyond, Perils in Paradise, Whizbang’s Workshop and Core Set (2024 version for now, but the drafting pool will be updated with 2025 version after it launches on March 25). As has been the case in the last few expansions, you will be able to draft new Emerald Dream cards before the expansion’s release. We’re also getting another Arena-exclusive card – Fleeing Treant, giving players easier access to Imbue synergies. This is the final Arena season before Arena revamp coming with Patch 32.2 (so roughly a month into the expansion).
Two New In-Game Events – Patch notes showcased two upcoming in-game events – “Into the Emerald Dream” and “Defend Amidrassil”. The first one rewards players with 15 card packs (including 6 Emerald Dream packs) and a new Rogue skin – Woodland Valeera. The second is focused on various game modes and gives players 3 Emerald Dream packs, 3 Tavern Tickets, 3 Battlegrounds Tokens and 6 Signature cards (2 copies of Twisted Treant, Kaldorei Priestess and Lunarwing Messenger). I hope that the event Quests won’t be as restrictive, because the currently ongoing Release the Raptor event is probably the worst one we ever had in that regard.
Shan Shui Signature Cards – On April 15, players will get access to three Signature cards in the iconic Chinese “Shan Shui” art style. They were already announced during the reveal season, you can watch the amazing showcase video here. One of them will be available for free to all players (The Curator) while the other two will be purchasable in shop (Tyrande and Naralex, Herald of the Flights).
Bug Fixes & Game Improvements – Just like every major patch, 32.0 also launches with TONS of bug fixes and smaller QoL changes. I assume that since it’s a massive patch, it will also introduce a bunch of new issues, but we’ll have a separate post for those after the patch’s release. Some interesting changes include capping Evolve effects at 10 mana (so if you evolve anything at or above 9 mana, it will transform into a random 10-drop) and Locations that summon minions disappearing first before doing the summoning (so now they will work if you use their last charge on a full board).
Learn more with the official blog post below:
Patch 32.0, launching tomorrow, makes the final preparations for Hearthstone’s next expansion and the Year of the Raptor!
Step Into the Emerald Dream on March 25
Into the Emerald Dream, Hearthstone’s next expansion, launches on March 25! The new 145-card expansion includes the new Imbue and Dark Gift keywords, Legendary Wild Gods, and more! See all the new cards in the Card Library today. Don’t forget to grab your Pre-Purchase bundles before you wake up and they’re gone!
With the launch of Into the Emerald Dream comes a new Rewards Track, filled with dreamy goodies like XP boosts, cards, Gold, card packs, and more! Check out the Rewards Track Refresh blog for details. Then grab some tasty nappetizers to get the expansion started: a launch gift of five free packs!*
* 4 Year of the Pegasus Packs and 1 Into the Emerald Dream Pack. Free packs will be available to claim from the in-game Shop from March 25 to April 15.
Pre-Release Tavern Brawl and Community Days
The Into the Emerald Dream Pre-Release Tavern Brawl begins tomorrow, with Patch 32.0, and runs until expansion launch on March 25. Crack open your packs early, build a deck, and compete in a mini competition to win more Into the Emerald Dream prizes!
Everyone will get one free entry into the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl. Ater that, entries will cost 2 Tavern Tickets, 300 Gold, or 400 Runestones. In each run, you will lock in a deck and then play until you get 6 wins or 3 losses, and then get prizes based on how well you do.
The eligible card pool for the brawl will be:
Core Set (before rotation)
Event Set (before rotation)
The Great Dark Beyond (without Heroes of StarCraft)
Into the Emerald Dream
See what your favorite creators are dreaming up and earn more packs to use in the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl during an extended 5-day Community Days event! See the dedicated Community Activations blog for more information about the Pre-Release Tavern Brawl and Community Days.
Hearthstone Card Updates
Dev Comment: This patch includes our usual Wild update pass, where we make adjustments to cards about to enter Wild. But this year we’re also making changes to several cards that are staying in Standard. These changes are to cards that would be overly powerful or unfun in the new meta, so that we can jump right Into the Emerald Dream and get the Year of the Raptor off to a roaring start! The following updates will go live with Patch 32.0, on March 18.
Dreadhound Handler
Old: 2/2
New: 2/1
Infestor
Old: 3/2. Deathrattle: Your Zerg minions have +1/+1 for the rest of the game.
New: 4/2. Deathrattle: Your Zerg minions have +1 Attack for the rest of the game.
Hydration Station
Old: [8 Mana]
New: [10 Mana]
Alien Encounters
Old: Summon two 2/5 Beasts with Taunt. Costs (1) less for each card you Discovered this game.
New: Summon two 2/4 Beasts with Taunt. Costs (1) less for each card you Discovered this game.
Painter’s Virtue
Old: Lifesteal. After your hero attacks, give minions in your hand +1/+1.
New: After your hero attacks, give minions in your hand +1/+1.
Holy Glowsticks
Old: Lifesteal. Deal 4 damage. Costs (1) if you’ve cast a Holy spell this turn.
New: Lifesteal. Deal 4 damage to a minion. Costs (1) if you’ve cast a Holy spell this turn.
Timewinder Zarimi
Old: Battlecry: Once per game, if you’ve summoned 8 other Dragons, take an extra turn.
New: Battlecry: Once per game, if you’ve played 8 other Dragons, take an extra turn.
Raza the Resealed
Old: Battlecry: For the rest of the game, your Hero Power refreshes whenever you play a card.
New (reworked): Battlecry: Shuffle copies of 5 random friendly minions that died this game into your deck. They cost (0).
Orbital Halo
Old: Give a minion +2/+1 and Divine Shield. Costs (0) if you played an adjacent card this turn.
New: Give a minion +1/+1 and Divine Shield. Costs (0) if you played an adjacent card this turn.
Domino Effect
Old: [3 Mana]
New: [4 Mana]
Kerrigan, Queen of Blades
Old: [7 Mana]
New: [8 Mana]
Zergling
Old: Battlecry: Summon a copy of this.
New: Battlecry: Summon a 1/1 Zergling.
Jim Raynor
Old: [7 Mana]
New: [8 Mana]
Viking (Lift Off and Starport Token)
Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 7 Armor.
New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 5 Armor.
Liberator (Lift Off and Starport Token)
Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 2 damage to all enemies.
New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Raven (Lift Off and Starport Token)
Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 3 random Bonus Effects.
New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, gain 2 random Bonus Effects.
Banshee (Lift Off and Starport Token)
Old: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 5 damage to a random enemy.
New: Starship Piece. When this is launched, deal 3 damage to a random enemy.
The Ceaseless Expanse
Old: 15/15
New: 10/10
Incindius
Old: [6 Mana]
New: [7 Mana]
Bob the Bartender (Recruit a Minion option)
Old: Put an enemy minion into your hand. Your opponent gets 3 Coins.
New: Put a copy of an enemy minion into your hand. Your opponent gets 3 Coins.
Zilliax Deluxe 3000 (Virus Module)
Old: 1/4. Elusive, Poisonous, Reborn
New: 2/5. Elusive, Poisonous
Gorgonzormu
Old: [3 Mana] 3/3
New: [4 Mana] 4/4
Arkonite Defense Crystal
Old: Taunt. Deathrattle: Gain 6 Armor. Starship Piece.
New: Taunt. Deathrattle: Gain 4 Armor. Starship Piece.
The disenchantable cards above, plus Lift Off and Starport, will be eligible for full dust refunds for two weeks following Patch 32.0.
Wild-Focused Updates
Reska, the Pit Boss
Old: [25 Mana]
New: [20 Mana]
Sickly Grimewalker
Old: [4 Mana] 3/5
New: [3 Mana] 2/4
Blindeye Sharpshooter
Old: [4 Mana] 3/3
New: [3 Mana] 1/3
Desert Nestmatron
Old: 3/4
New: 3/5
Splish-Splash Whelp
Old: [3 Mana] 3/2
New: [2 Mana] 2/1
Cactus Construct
Old: Discover a 2-Cost minion. Summon a 1/1 copy of it.
New: Discover a 2-Cost minion. Summon a 1/2 copy of it.
Doomkin
Old: [7 Mana]
New: [6 Mana]
Shattered Reflections
Old: Choose a non-Titan minion. Add a copy of it to your deck and battlefield.
New: Choose a minion. Add a copy of it to your hand, deck, and battlefield.
Starstrung Bow
Old: 5/2
New: 6/2
Saddle Up
Old: [4 Mana]
New: [3 Mana]
Awakening Tremors
Old: Get three 3/1 Worms. They cost (1).
New: Get three 4/1 Worms. They cost (1).
Inquisitive Creation
Old: [5 Mana]
New: [4 Mana]
Chaos Creation
Old: Deal 5 damage. Summon a random 5-Cost minion. Destroy the bottom 5 cards of your deck.
New: Deal 6 damage. Summon a random 6-Cost minion. Destroy the bottom 6 cards of your deck.
Showdown
Old: [3 Mana]
New: [2 Mana]
Keeper’s Strength
Old: [5 Mana]
New: [4 Mana]
Prismatic Beam
Old: [8 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemy minions. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.
New: [7 Mana] Deal 3 damage to all enemies. Costs (1) less for each enemy minion.
Thirsty Drifter
Old: [7 Mana]
New: [6 Mana]
Injured Hauler
Old: Overheal: Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions.
New: Overheal: Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions.
Lab Constructor
Old: [5 Mana]
New: [4 Mana]
Shattershambler
Old: The next Deathrattle minion you play immediately dies.
New: The next Deathrattle minion you play costs (1) less and immediately dies.
Coppertail Snoop
Old: 3/2
New: 4/3
Flash of Lightning
Old: [3 Mana]
New: [2 Mana]
Crash of Thunder
Old: [6 Mana]
New: [5 Mana]
Staff of the Nine Frogs (generated by Doctor Holli’dae)
Old: 1/9
New: 2/9
Aftershocks
Old: Deal 1 damage to all minions, three times. Costs (1) less if you cast a spell last turn.
New: Deal 1 damage to all minions, three times. Costs (2) less if you cast a spell last turn.
Forge of Wills
Old: [4 Mana]
New: [3 Mana]
Crescendo
Old: [3 Mana]
New: [2 Mana]
Sludge on Wheels
Old: 2/4
New: 2/5
Waste Remover
Old: 5/7
New: 7/7
Azerite Snake
Old: Battlecry: Your hero steals 7 Health from the enemy hero.
New: Battlecry: Your hero steals 10 Health from the enemy hero.
Movement of Pride (generated by Symphony of Sins)
Old: Draw a minion. Reduce its Cost by (6).
New: Draw your highest Cost minion. Reduce its Cost by (6).
Odyn, Prime Designate
Old: [9 Mana]
New: [8 Mana]
Deepminer Brann
Old: [8 Mana]
New: [6 Mana]
Battleworn Faceless
Old: [3 Mana]
New: [2 Mana]
Sanitize
Old: [6 Mana] Deal damage equal to your Armor to all minions. Forge: Gain 4 Armor first.
New: [4 Mana] Deal damage equal to your Armor to all minions. Forge: Gain 3 Armor first.
Craftsman’s Hammer
Old: Whenever your hero attacks, gain 3 Armor.
New: Whenever your hero attacks, gain 4 Armor.
Yogg-Saron, Unleashed
Old: [10 Mana]
New: [9 Mana]
Reno, Lone Ranger
Old: [10 Mana]
New: [8 Mana]
Pozzik, Audio Engineer
Old: 4/4
New: 5/4
Molten Giant
Old: [22 Mana]
New: [20 Mana]
Celestial Projectionist
Old: [3 Mana] 3/3
New: [2 Mana] 3/2
Rowdy Fan
Old: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +3 Attack while this is alive.
New: Battlecry: Choose a minion. It has +4 Attack while this is alive.
Snake Oil (generated by Miracle Salesman and Snake Oil Seller)
Old: [1 Mana]
New: [0 Mana]
New Year Rotation and Core Set Update
When Into the Emerald Dream launches on March 25, the Year of the Raptor will begin! At that time, cards from the Year of the Wolf (Festival of Legends, TITANS, and Showdown in the Badlands) will rotate out of Standard. Updates to the Core Set and the Event Set card pools will also happen at that time. Core Set card text changes will take place with the patch, on March 18. See the Welcome to the Year of the Raptor blog for more details on the Core Set updates.
Year of the Raptor Board Added
The new Year of the Raptor game board will be added with the launch of Into the Emerald Dream and will appear more frequently than other boards this entire year. This one board represents all three expansions for the year and will update with each expansion launch.
In-Game Event: Release the Raptor!
The Release the Raptor in-game event, which started on March 4, will end on March 25. Wrap it up now before it’s gone! See the 31.6 Patch Notes for full details.
In-Game Event: Into the Emerald Dream
Live out your Dreams and Nightmares as you explore the Emerald Dream! From March 25-April 15, complete event quests to earn XP on the special rewards track. Each day, you will receive a new Dream daily quest; if you are daring, you can re-roll your Dream daily quest and receive one from the Nightmare! Daily quests representing the Nightmare are harder to complete, but grant more event XP.
Don’t lose sleep over your choices—however you complete the event track you will earn a slew of rewards to kick off the new Hearthstone year: 6 Into the Emerald Dream Packs, 3 Year of the Pegasus Packs, 3 The Great Dark Beyond Packs, 2 Perils in Paradise Packs, 1 Whizbang’s Workshop Pack, and the Woodland Valeera Rogue Hero Skin.
In-Game Event: Defend Amirdrassil!
The World Tree is under attack! From April 22-May 13, complete event quests across Modes to earn XP on the special rewards track. Complete the rewards track to earn: 3 Into the Emerald Dream Packs, 3 Tavern Tickets, 3 Battlegrounds Tokens, and 6 Signature Cards from Into the Emerald Dream (2 Twisted Treant, 2 Kaldorei Priestess, and 2 Lunarwing Messenger)!
New Shan Shui Signature Cards
Starting on April 15, you can get three dreamy new Signature cards featuring the iconic Chinese Shan Shui art style:
Shan Shui Signature Tyrande and Naralex, Herald of the Flights will be available in their own bundles, or in one combined mega bundle. Shan Shui The Curator will be available to claim for free in the in-game Shop!*
* Shan Shui Signature The Curator will be available to claim in the in-game Shop from April 15-May 13. After that free claim period, it may become available for sale in the Shop at a later time.
Battlegrounds Update
Captain Bonerender
Old: [Tier 4] 5/5
New: [Tier 5] 6/6
Arena Updates
When Patch 32.0 launches, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The Arena pool will be adjusted so that the following sets make up the card pool* this season:
Into the Emerald Dream
The Great Dark Beyond (plus the Arena-only card, Wayward Probe)
Perils in Paradise
Whizbang’s Workshop
Core (note that the Core Set card list will update at expansion launch)
There will also be an additional Arena-only card added this season: Fleeing Treant!
* Several low-performing cards from these sets were removed from the draft pool to make for a more compelling draft process.
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
[General] Fixed a bug causing missing text on Pixel devices.
[Hearthstone] Cards that transform minions into ones that cost more (commonly called “Evolve” effects) are now capped at 10 mana. If the result would go over 10, then it results in a random 10-mana minion, instead.
[Hearthstone] Using the last charge on a location that summons a minion will now clear the location away first and then summon the minion (meaning there will now be space for the minion if your board is full).
[Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Planetary Navigator didn’t work with Murmur.
[Hearthstone] Fixed bugs with The Ceaseless Expanse’s tracking not counting cards destroyed when overdrawn, or destroyed in hand or deck by Flik Skyshiv.
[Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where cards that tracked cards played (such as Rat Trap) sometimes counted Countered cards and sometimes did not. Countered cards should not count towards this kind of tracking.
[Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Liberator (the Starship Piece) stopped dealing its damage to functionally dead minions (relevant if the minion has an effect that is triggered each time it is damaged, like Acolyte of Pain).
[Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Multi-Strike’s extra attack wouldn’t carry over after a hero skin transformation (like Metamorphosis Illidan’s).
[Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Chaotic Consumption wouldn’t be playable in certain edge situations.
[Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where playing a multi-class StarCraft card in a Tourist deck triggered the Tourist animation.
[Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where Signature Zergling, SCV, and Void Ray did not glow green when playable.
[Hearthstone] Fixed a visual bug where launching a Starship could cause the End of Turn button to turn green when additional moves could still be made.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where minions couldn’t be sold on turn 1 while the Lay of the Land Anomaly was active.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Knockoff Wisdomball didn’t respect the Bob-blehead Trinket.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Catacomb Crasher’s effect was triggered when Tavern spells couldn’t spawn into a Tavern (like if the Tavern was fully frozen or when Tess Greymane’s hero power spawned a Tavern without a Tavern spell).
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Loyal Mobster wouldn’t activate Tough Tusk.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Blade of Ambition could fail to copy the minion with the highest stats in the Warband.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where the Golden Hammer Spellcraft Spell was castable on Professor Putricide’s creations.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Lurker retained its base stats upon being Goldenized via the Golden Hammer.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a visual bug where rerolling a hero would give you a new hero with the default hero skin, instead of a toggled favorite.
[Battlegrounds] Fixed a visual bug where the rope burned during combat when the Match Fixing Anomaly was active.
[Collection] All in-client deck recipes and loaner decks will be updated with the launch of Into the Emerald Dream, so that they only include Standard cards after set rotation.
[Collection] Fixed a bug where Signature Prince Renathal could rarely drop from Packs.
[Progression] Fixed a bug where Quests and Tavern Brawl would show “0 days” in their tracking if less than one day remained.
[Cosmetics] Fixed bugs where various hero skins lacked hero power animations, lacked their golden frame when the class was golden, or lacked the “Happy New Year” fireworks.
[Cosmetics] Fixed a bug where transforming hero skins were temporarily untargetable during their transformations.
A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.
Important question no one asked, will the standard and class packs include cards from the new expansion? or we must wait to open them on March 25
Sorry for a late reply. No, Standard packs and alike won’t include new cards until expansion’s launch on March 25.
Maybe a dumb question but: Am I allowed to compete in the Prerelease Brawl if I didn’t buy any bundles?
Yes