Hearthstone 18.2 Patch Nerfs Secret Passage And Darkglare

Coming in the Hearthstone 18.2 patch, many cards are receiving nerfs and buffs, as Blizzard looks to level the playing field. Many overpowered cards have been limited, and lesser cards have been buffed to increase their power. These changes affect both the Standard and Wils formats.

Here is what's changed to cards in the Hearthstone 18.2 patch.

Nerfed Cards

Secret Passage

Whereas Secret Passage used to allow for five cards to be swapped from your deck, you can now only switch four cards, limiting the new options. The card now reads: "Replace your hand with four cards from your deck. Swap back next turn."

Still costing just one mana, Secret Passage still remains as one of the more powerful cards, packing immense value for money, or mana in this case. You may see Secret Passage pop up around a more aggressive package now.

Darkglare

Darkglares cost has been reduced, as as the power of its abilities. Now only costing two mana, you will deal less attack damage and gain less health. You will also only regenerate one mana too. The card now reads as: "After your hero takes damage, refresh a Mana Crystal.", costing two mana, gaining two attack and three health points.

This nerf was mainly a result of its unrivalled power in the Wild format. With this nerf, the swing potential of Darkglare will become less brutal, not allowing for a complete overhaul of buffed Molten and Flesh Giants.

Cabal Acolyte

Health is the issue here, as Blizzard chop Cabal Acolyte's health bonus by a third. The card still reads the same, as "Gain control of a random enemy minion with 2 or less attack", however, the health has been reduced from six to four.

Alec Dawson, Hearthstone's Game Designer, has stated on Twitter that "going to 4 Health will tone down some of its defensive capabilities on turn 4 and post-Spellburst effect. Acolyte was one of the best performing cards in Priest and we want these sort of effects (mind control-esque) to be a deckbuilding choice".

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Buffed Cards

Totem Goliath

The overload of Totem Goliath has been halved, from two to one. With his attack also being increased by one, the card now reads: "Summon all four basic Totems. Overload: (1)".

The main effects of this is the cut to the previously harsh Overload cost, as now you can play two of the cards for the same price, effectively doubling its effectivity. It could also be paired with cards such as Bloodlust, should the Goliath have died. 

Archwitch Willow

All of the stats on the Archwitch has been reduced. It now only costs eight mana whilst giving you five health and attack bonus. The card still remains the same, stating "Summon a random Demon from your hand and deck".

Whilst the minus two to the health and attack bonus may disappoint fans of Archwitch Willow, and may look like a nerfing, the reduce of mana is huge. the main appeal is the ability to summon game-changing Demons, which now becomes cheaper to do so. The Hearthstone 18.2 Patch is now here to check out.

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Image via Blizzard Entertainment