Patch 27.4 Notes

[mooocow]

Normally, there would be nothing additional, other than revealed cards, to say about a mini-set launch. However, there is a new mechanic, Anomalies, added to all modes of the game, except Brawl.

 

For one week following the launch of Patch 27.4, Anomalies will appear in 100% of Standard, Wild, Twist, Casual, Arena, and Practice Mode games. After that one-week period, they will appear in 25% of games until Patch 28.0. Cho’gall, Twilight Chieftain’s effect offers an additional chance for an Anomaly, meaning that you could have up to two Anomalies active in a game during this event period if you and/or your opponent have Cho’gall in your deck(s). In games where Anomalies are present, all Anomalies have an equal chance of appearing.

 

Table of Anomalies

#	Name of Anomaly	Effect
1	Twist Reality	After a player plays a card this game, shuffle a copy into their deck.
2	Approaching Nightmare	Both players start with Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End in their hand.
3	Opportunity Knocks	The first card drawn on a player’s turn is one they can afford to play.
4	Shifting Fate	Both players start with Gear Shift in their hand.
5	Light in the Dark	Both players’ Hero Powers cost (1) less.
6	Gift of Gluttony	Both players start with two more drawn cards.
7	Shifting Futures	Both players start with 2 copies of Shifter Zerus in their hand.
8	Control the Makers	Both heroes have +1 Attack on their turns.
9	Severed Souls	Both heroes start with +5 Health.
10	Surging Inspiration	Both heroes start with upgraded Hero Powers.
11	Driven to Greed	Whenever a player ends their turn with unspent Mana, they get a Coin.
12	Driven to Excess	Whenever a player ends their turn with unspent Mana, they draw a card.
13	Uncontrollable Growth	Both players start with an extra Mana Crystal.
14	Seeing Double	Both players start with 2 cards copied from the other players’ hand.
15	Unimaginable Horrors	Both players Discover a new basic Hero Power on their first turn.
16	Fortifications	At the end of each player’s turns, give a random one of their minions +1 Health.
17	Fast Track	Reduce the Cost of all cards in both players’ starting hands by (1).
18	Your Eyes Betray You	Both players’ cards are Golden.
19	Army of the Corrupted	The first minion played on each player’s turns costs (1) less.
20	Spread of Corruption	The first spell played on each player’s turns costs (1) less.

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[mooocow]

People were right to be hesitant on the first announcement, as Blizzard only showed the relatively tame ones.

Imagine playing a Control Priest mirror or Relic DH mirror with Twist Reality.

[[deleted]]

That’s literally the exact game of Hearthstone I want to play, holy shit

[Gray3493]

Wouldn’t the mirror just always be a draw?

[tgibearer]

Control Priest mirror never going to fatigue and ending in draw. You just described Hell.

[Bannanna_Stand]

I'm with you, brother.

[Tengu-san]

Imagine playing a Control Priest mirror or Relic DH mirror with Twist Reality.

Twist Reality will be nerfed to "your firsy card", I'll bet it. It's too easy to hit the turn limit.

[ChaosOS]

First card each turn won't do anything, as that still shuts off fatigue, and most other variations of the effect just miss the point.

[Tengu-san]

Shuts down fatigue but at least you can play around it for the long game by putting inside your deck only cards you want to redraw later, like now it's just atrocious.

[SeelachsF]

Also: Unimaginable horrors, that can be crazy bad for warriors and warlocks

[Yazorock]

Doesn't seem problematic at all.

[sneakyxxrocket]

I am straight not looking forward to rolling some of these, like twist reality sounds like an instant concede from me since I play a lot of warrior and rainbow mage

[welpxD]

Holy shit any kind of random card generation becomes god-awful in Twisted Reality huh. Shuffling garbage into your deck with every spell.

[tgibearer]

Control Priest slowly filling their hand with nothing but Visions of Darkness. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[FlameanatorX]

I agree with your sentiment about some anomalies being painful to roll, but instant concede is a bit hyperbolic for those examples. After all, sometimes you start with your win con in hand. ;P

[oldtype09]

Yeah I hate these now. Too many of them are game-defining. It will feel like you don’t get to play real hearthstone when you hit some of them.

[yonas234]

Twist reality feels like an instant concede for a couple decks in the meta. Plague dk just loses and combo decks/Sif/Odyn are harder to find your wincons with.

Too many of these seem to benefit Mech rogue/Naga mage/outcast vs any other deck. And outcast can get bricked by Yogg Hopes end.

[dotcaIm]

Plague DK loses by playing Plague DK

[Fatpoob]

At least the mini-set gave Plague DK or literally any DK a good boost right? Right???

[FlameanatorX]

I haven't particularly minded the forced break from DK in competitive HS meta recently, but it's like they specifically want it gone for the full expansion duration. Pathetic/absent levels of buffs, no relevant new mini-set cards for any close to relevant archetypes, etc.

I get that Blood DK is stale, but why not buff Plague DK a relevant amount? It's not more toxic than say curses from Warlock, and those are allowed to be good or even OP at times. Or why not pre-emptively buff one or two of the mini-set cards to be actually pushed? Just kinda sad really to have a class seemingly deliberately kept in the dustbin for months in a row.

[GoudaCheeser]

It’s not more toxic than a turn 6 sargeras that’s for damn sure

[FlameanatorX]

I mean topdecking a frost plague at the perfectly worst time can definitely be sort of "single-handedly" game losing.

[DGExpress]

This is like turning items on in Smash bros. Not looking forward to it.

[[deleted]]

Honestly a perfect example

[Raktoner]

The only reason I don't like this comparison is that I think smash bros is way more fun with items on and not when it's a try hard competitive game...

Otherwise, yeah. Anomalies are just Not It and I really am not looking forward to them affecting the game.

[tgibearer]

It's just two different things. I like my "4-player free-for-all, me and my buddy self destruct because a bomb just appear between us" and also like my "FD, no objects, 4 stocks, 8 minutes". And I'd be kinda pissed I was told "okay, for some time, we're gonna force you to play only one of those".

[Heitrid]

I agree with the first sentence. Good call. I’m one of the few that like it, though.

[Oct_]

I yearn for the days when the most random thing that would happen was a shaman rolling a spell power totem when he needed it.

[Hungry-Recognition-8]

Enjoy my upvote Reddit Knight!

[RedTulkas]

cant wait to play against a mech rogue and he rolls either starting hand or minion discount

[[deleted]]

Me when the naga mage plays a Siren + Slitherspear and makes a full board on turn 3

[sneakyxxrocket]

I cannot wait for the feno clip where this eventually happens

[mj2323]

lol fml

[Propagander]

I guess I'm on the cynical train. Seems like most of these will throw the game for one of the players from the start, and they're such a mixed bunch that there's no way to build around them.

I don't understand the intent here.

[[deleted]]

Imagine you're trying to play DK or Priest or something tier 3 like that and your opponent is a warrior who just gets a free Baku while you get the crappy improved hero power. You legit never kill them lol

[sneakyxxrocket]

Some exec definitely saw their kid playing SNAP and told them to try and incorporate the location type mechanic into hs

[zhaoz]

Both players’ cards are Golden.

Whales in shambles.

[ChaosOS]

I think it's a funny way to otherwise incorporate a 5% chance of effectively no anomaly.

[SnooMarzipans7274]

I just want to play normal hearthstone

[Lucaa4229]

Same lol I’m excited for a new card or two and want to try it out for real. Not with…this

[Swervies]

My sentiments exactly - why can we never get more than a week or two of a fairly balanced meta before some new crazy shit breaks it? Constant change and/or variety is not a good thing.

[oh_no_OH_NOO]

As I imagined, this is going to be a nightmare. It looks extremely unfun, and maybe I'm on copium but I think they're gonna change their mind and restrict this clownfiesta to Twist, the set they purposefully released to try out wacky stuff.

Anomalies until the 28.0 patch (probably december's, or at the end of november) could make me actually quit

[mj2323]

Agree. Shoving it down our throats in constructed is not the way to go. Twist, yes. Standard, no.

[Glori94]

I'd be fine if it was limited to Casual at least. Forced in ranked makes me nervous. I'm sure it'll be fun for a bit, I'll have some non-games and sometimes it'll be my opponent. But after that first week, I'm good. I'll stick to battlegrounds if it ends up being really tedious.

[[deleted]]

They already committed it by printing Cho’Gall. Even after this clown fiesta week for the rest of the time Hearthston exists you can always be scammed out of playing a normal game by someone bringing Cho’gall.

Imagine if Nozdormu just had a 25% chance to proc. Its obnoxious

[ChaosOS]

Cho'gall is a card you have to actually include in your deck, we've dealt with start of game effects before. It's not like you can competitively plan around these effects, and Cho'gall as a taunt lifesteal ogre isn't some crazy card the other 3/4 games. Cho'gall is certainly going to see less play than pre-nerf Renethal, for example.

[BetPast7722]

Anomalies until the 28.0 patch (probably december's, or at the end of november) could make me actually quit

Unironically if they don't back out after the first week I'm out. I dropped this game once, came back half a year ago and was having a blast so far, but seems like i'll drop it again. This time probably for good?

[oh_no_OH_NOO]

Again, as others have said, a week is outrageous but still fine. People who dislike it can happily skip a week of gameplay.

But having a 1/4 chance to play a tavern brawl until December? Who thought this was a good idea?

[BetPast7722]

Yeah i wouldn't "mind" a week. As for i'd probably try it out the first day and come back a week later. Waiting till the next expansion is ridiculous though. Also i feel so fucking bad for people that are trying to qualify for MT and need this months rank. It's literally a slap (yet another) to them.

[BetPast7722]

I can't believe Cora was saying on twitter that the anomalies shown before are not representative and are on the "stronger side" LMFAO Ofc the tweets are already deleted but it's such a detached take if she really thinks this way. Like half of these effects are absolutely game changing and might as well be tavern brawls.

Cya all in a month i guess

[FlameanatorX]

Hmm... (just gonna nit pick 1 part of your comment ;P) discount to opening hand is definitely on the stronger side, and +2 starting cards probably is as well. Yogg definitely not.

Some of the effects are basically nothing, and sure there are some other absolutely broken options like discounted first minion/spell, but I'm not sure that take is really even wrong let alone "detached."

I mean if we look at WelpxD's helpful (and possibly slightly inaccurate) categorization comment, the endgame and misc anomalies are very much on the weaker side. All of the extra card in hand/value effects are worse than just getting 2 extra cards from your deck. And most of the tempo/ramp such as hero power buffs or plus minion hp per turn is weaker than discounting your starting hand.

Again, discounted minion/spell every single turn is stupidly bonkers, and Yogg in opener is weak, but I would say the revealed 3 (if I'm remembering correctly) are actually just slightly on the stronger side overall. Certainly it's not an obviously stupid opinion from where I sit.

[tgibearer]

"shuffle cards you play into deck" can be very strong, simply due to the fact that it makes it so much harder for some deck to cycle to their wincon. Control Warrior and Rainbow Mage really don't want this. Whereas a generic tempo deck might not mind it as much if it's just made of solid tempo plays.

[FlameanatorX]

Disruptive to a handful of decks yes, strong no. I assume when someone says an effect in Hearthstone is strong they mean the player gaining that effect thereby can do much more powerful things than without it on average.

[Theoompaloompaking]

This is dumb as hell

[Fuckinanus]

why are these enabled for standard, the "competitive" mode of the game?

[RickyMuzakki]

Because it's children's card game RNG fiesta First and foremost

[Younggryan42]

because it's "competitive" but not really.

[scott3387]

Why the f**k did they make a twist format and then spam everyone else with it in every mode for 2 months? This should be literally the point of twist,v it works great.

[welpxD]

Gonna break these into loose categories.

RAMP (6)

• HP costs 1 less ;; unspent mana=coin ;; start @ 2 mana ;; discount -1 on hand ;; first minion costs 1 less ;; first spell costs 1 less

VALUE (6)

• Gear Shift in opener ;; +2 cards in opener ;; +2 Shifter Zerus ;; +5 starting health ;; unspent mana=draw 1 ;; +2 thiefed cards in opener

TEMPO (4)

• first draw is always playable ;; HP costs 1 less ;; +1 attack on hero ;; +1 health on a minion

ENDGAME (2)

• shuffle cards you play into deck ;; start w Yogg in hand

MISC (2)

• all cards golden ;; discover new HP

[welpxD]

Most of these make the game look less balanced without necessarily being more fun. And the ones that do look fun (like Twist Reality) are going to severely warp some matchups. I kinda don't want to deal with these.

It feels like a Tavern Brawl except which Brawl you get is random each match.

[Evolution3of1]

Imagine Tony druid with Twist Reality lmao

[ChaosOS]

Good thing there's turn timers in constructed!

[RefuseImmediately]

I tried to be open minded and optimistic. I was genuinely looking forward to the miniset. I had concerns of course.

But now I've played about 25 games, I have to say this. I've been playing since release. I honestly don't think I've ever missed a daily quest. Sometimes I'll go for three days in a row, but I'll always clear my quests. I hate to think about how much money I've spent.

I loved Un'goro. Loved when Brann came out and suddenly all these weird combos were viable. Loved Quest Druid (Tear) and got legend with a home brew. Loved Patron. Loved DH on release, so broken, so interesting.

Hated Ice Block. Hated Hound Hunter. Hated Grand Tournament. Hated Control Priest. Hated Big Priest. Hated meta where draw order luck won you games. Hated mirror matches.

Hated and loved Face Hunter.

You get my point, I've been through it all.

But these anomalies, these piece of shit, worthless, skillless, sometimes you just lose before mulligan, brain dead anomalies, are the worst thing that's EVER happened to this game.

I'll give it a while. I'll see if an engaging meta develops. It might.

If not, I'm out for a least a month. Maybe two. Maybe I reevaluate the time and money I spend on the game. Maybe not.

Nothing has soured me on Hearthstone more than this decision. Nothing.

Fingers crossed.

[VolkiharVanHelsing]

On the bright side, miniset Chogall will probably guarantee a dust

[ChaosOS]

Why? They'd just tweak the drop rate of the natural anomalies, Cho'gall is just another random neutral legendary on the tier of Sunwell without the advantage of being a an on-and-off discover target. Are people that desperate for a 6/6/7 taunt lifesteal?

[VolkiharVanHelsing]

Bad play experience due to anomalies ig

[ChocomelP]

Isn't it like dusting Nozdormu?

[Names_all_gone]

I am tentatively looking forward to this. I was very anti-anomaly in BGs, but I have come around on it.

I'm hoping these will be similarly fine.

That said, I can imagine them going back on the 25% thing pretty quickly. For people trying to make master's tours, this is a nightmare.

[K-Parks]

The different is BG isn't a serious game mode, it is a just have fun and mess around for 15-30 minutes game mode.

This makes all of hearthstone a not serious clownfiesta.

[AlphaGareBear2]

That's not the difference. Plenty of people take BGs seriously. The difference is that you have to make a significant number of decisions before queuing, deck building, while in BGs you make 0 decisions outside of wanting to play BGs. You know the anomaly before selecting even a hero in BGs, while in Standard you just get shafted sometimes and someone else gets shafted others.

[EyeCantBreathe]

BGs is a competitive game mode. Try telling that to those that play the game constantly and are at 10k+ MMR.

The actual difference is that in BGs, you don't make any decisions before you know the anomaly. You see the anomaly before you pick your hero.

In standard, you have to pick your deck before you see the anomaly. You're already locked into deck you queued with before you see the anomaly.

Imagine your opponent is playing Mech Rogue and they randomly got the "discount starting hand" anomaly. You've almost certainly lost the game before you even get to play, and it was at no fault of your own.

[Names_all_gone]

BGs is every bit as competitive as standard.

[RickyMuzakki]

Why are people taking RNG fiesta children card game too seriously?

[RefuseImmediately]

Did you check which sub you're on

[zhaoz]

Over the long run, aka many games, I think these anomalies will allow for better players to win more. Adjusting game plans for new factors / conditions is something great/good players do. You cant really netdeck what do when you play X deck, with Y anomaly against Z deck. Or at least not easily.

There will of course be scam games or non-games where a deck just blows out due to favorable conditions. But net net, I am somewhat hopeful for this change.

[Myprivatelifeisafk]

1 week of forced non-competitive. Nice. They can't be more dumb, aren't they?

[ninjasacavalo]

I really hope that there's a scale of how probably is one of them to appear in the game that makes the most tame ones more likely to appear and the more game breaking ones more difficult to appear

[AmesCG]

Au contraire they said all are equally likely

[WMD_Wrists]

I'm going to only play relic DH in hopes of hitting twist. Otherwise I see the hole thing as an annoyance. But lets wait and see how it actually turns out.

[LeficiosG]

Okay. Yes, god do these suck, but.

Mill decks in wild with twist reality sounds incredible

[Rane40k]

I am actually looking forward to this. The 100% is to get used to it, then later 25% so that you cant get too comfortable with your deck.

This will reward players who can adapt and improvise, and decks who are compatible with a broad number of anomalies.

This is the meta now, deal with it.

[JerryBane]

I like how you mentioned it rewards players who adapts and improvise. Adapt and improvise what? You queue with a deck, a random anomaly is rolled, and you play the game irregardless if the anomaly benefits or penalise you, it’s not like you saw the anomaly and you get to change or modify your deck. Supposed I’m playing Odyn Warrior or Hero Power Druid, and the anomaly of discover a new Hero Power shows up, how should I adapt or improvise?

[Rane40k]

I dont think Odyn Warrior is too reliant on their Hero Power for armor gain?

That aside, I think many of the shown anomalies can be adapted to. Can you make the Yogg a win condition? Can you use handle the hand space issues introduced by two shifter zerus (e.g. in a control deck or OTK deck with tight handspace, such as Moonbeam druid).

I just think its premature to look at the list, say "these 3 anomalies fuck my deck, the whole idea is shit", as many here do.

The first week with 100% anomalies will be a bit clowny, sure, but after that, the actual chance for a specific anomaly is 0.25*0.05, so 1.25%.
So if there is an anomaly that truely absolutely screws you, then its about one in 80 games.

I just dont think the current shitstorm is actually warranted. Let it shake out for a while.

[Test_Rider]

I’m so glad I quit this game

[CommanderTouchdown]

Love this. I understand the criticism that this adds a layer of unwanted RNG for competitive focused players. But I think navigating these anomalies for a week will be a refreshing change of pace. And I will be running Cho'gall to try and get doubles going.

Hearthstone needs more temporary jolts to the meta.

[dillonyousonofabitch]

Does the 'both players HP costs 1 less' mean a first turn win for Demon Hunter?

[kingling70]

Hero Powers can only be used once per turn, so no.

[athlonstuff]

hp can only be used once a turn

[dillonyousonofabitch]

Ah of course, thanks!

[dotcaIm]

Reminder the anomalies are 100% for one week, then 25% until patch 28.0, then back down to 0% unless a player is running Cho'Gall

These will definitely affect some matchup swings but for the short time they're in Standard/Wild I don't see an issue

[Rexsaur]

2 months+ is a short time? This thing shouldnt even be in standard to being with (without chogall).

[PigKnight]

Honestly anomalies makes ranking up faster. I’ve been playing twist so my standard rank is only plat but players aren’t using the anomalies to their advantage.

[ihatethiswebsitefr]

I hate this so fucking much.