Hearthstone Patch 36.2.2 Nerfs Warden Maiev and Tasty Lobster, With Full Dust Refunds
Blizzard pushed Hearthstone patch 36.2.2 live today, a balance-only update that cuts five Standard cards, buffs eleven more, and takes a hard swing at Tasty Lobster in Battlegrounds. Every nerfed card is refundable for full dust for two weeks, so the disenchant window is open now on PC and mobile alike.
What Hearthstone patch 36.2.2 nerfs
Five cards were reduced. Warden Maiev drops from a 1/4 to a 1/3. Gallagio Goon moves from a 1-mana 1/3 to a 2-mana 2/3, which prices it out of the earliest turns entirely. Confront the Tol'vir gets cheaper but far narrower: it falls from 5 mana to 4, and instead of replaying every 1-Cost card it now only summons each 1-Cost minion.
- Warden Maiev — 1/4 becomes 1/3
- Gallagio Goon — 1 mana 1/3 becomes 2 mana 2/3
- Confront the Tol'vir — 5 mana, replay all 1-Cost cards, becomes 4 mana, summon each 1-Cost minion
- Arcane Tripwire — 5 damage becomes 4
- Jade Guardians — 3 mana becomes 5
Jade Guardians taking a two-mana increase is the largest single swing on the list. Arcane Tripwire's cut is smaller but changes which minions it kills outright, which matters more than the number suggests.
The buffs, and why some of them cost more
Blizzard said the buff list targets underperforming decks and classes rather than the top of the ladder, and that several cards were reshaped to better support the strategy they were built for instead of just handed bigger numbers. In a few cases the mana cost went up so the effect could go up further.
- Soul Immolation — 3 mana down to 2
- Aya, Lotus Kingpin — now generates 3 counterfeits instead of 2
- Blazing Invocation — the discovered minion costs 1 less mana
- Hellraiser — gains Taunt
- Vulcanos — damage up from 2 to 3, with an upgraded Plume
- Staff of Trickery — 1/3 becomes 1/4
- Irida Sinseeker — keeps 1 card in your deck rather than sending everything
- Tricksy Improviser — 4 mana 4/4 becomes a 5 mana 4/3 that casts two secrets
- Infest the Scullery — 4 mana for a 4-Cost minion becomes 5 mana for two 3-Cost minions
- Crowd Control — 3 mana to 5, with a stronger effect attached
Tricksy Improviser is the clearest example of the trade. It loses a point of health and a mana slot, but doubling the secret output changes what the card is for.
Tasty Lobster gets halved in Battlegrounds
Battlegrounds took the sharper edit. Blizzard called Tasty Lobster "highly prevalent and remarkably consistent" in the early meta and cut its Deathrattle in half: it used to hand +1/+1 to two friendly Beasts, and now gives +1/+1 to one random friendly Beast. It also loses Taunt, so it no longer soaks a hit while it does that.
Hoarding Hyena stays banned for this patch. Blizzard is holding it out until the rest of the changes settle. Beyond the Beast package, the patch pulls several Trinkets from the pool outright, adjusts costs and text on others, and shifts which Dark Gifts show up in which availability windows.
Dust refunds and where the patch applies
The five nerfed cards can be disenchanted for their full crafting cost for two weeks from the patch going live. That refund covers the card itself, not other copies in the same set, so it is worth checking golden copies before you disenchant anything you still play.
Hearthstone runs from a shared build across Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, and the balance changes apply everywhere. On phones and tablets the client update comes through the Play Store or App Store, so a stale app is the usual reason the numbers on your screen do not match the notes.
Blizzard scheduled a Dev Update video for 10:00 a.m. PDT on the day of the patch covering Hearthstone, Battlegrounds and new Class Sets. The patch notes themselves do not detail what those Class Sets contain.
If free-to-play card grinding is your thing, our round-up of the best gacha games for Android covers the other end of that genre, and the best mobile games with no ads list is worth a look if Hearthstone's store screens wear on you. On the shop-sim side, TCG Card Shop Simulator hits 1.0 on September 15 with a price rise attached. And if Battlegrounds lobbies are stuttering on desktop, our guide to choosing the right RAM for your PC is the cheapest place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Hearthstone patch 36.2.2 nerf?
Five cards were reduced: Warden Maiev from a 1/4 to a 1/3, Gallagio Goon from a 1-mana 1/3 to a 2-mana 2/3, Confront the Tol'vir from 5 mana replaying all 1-Cost cards to 4 mana summoning each 1-Cost minion, Arcane Tripwire from 5 damage to 4, and Jade Guardians from 3 mana to 5.
How long do the dust refunds last?
Cards nerfed in patch 36.2.2 can be disenchanted for their full crafting cost for two weeks after the patch went live. After that window closes they return to the normal disenchant value, so decide before it expires.
What happened to Tasty Lobster in Battlegrounds?
Its Deathrattle was cut in half. It previously granted +1/+1 to two friendly Beasts and now grants +1/+1 to a single random friendly Beast. It also lost the Taunt keyword, so it no longer absorbs an attack on the way out.
Is Hoarding Hyena back in Battlegrounds?
No. Blizzard kept Hoarding Hyena banned through patch 36.2.2 and said it will decide based on how the meta settles once the rest of the changes take hold. There is no date attached to its return.
Does patch 36.2.2 apply to Hearthstone on Android and iOS?
Yes. Hearthstone shares one build across Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, and the balance changes apply to every version. Mobile players pick the update up through the Play Store or App Store, so update the app if the card text still shows old values.
