Blizzard just announced some big nerfs to some popular cards in Hearthstone (Free) and Druid players are the ones who suffer the most here. The patch will arrive on iOS and Android later today and is the December Balance Update. Blizzard says these nerfs and changes are to improve the long term health of both Standard and Wild gameplay. They also want feedback for the timing of the update and the card changes.

The big nerfs for me are Wild Growth and Nourish. Both get bumped to one cost higher and now cost 3 Mana and 6 Mana respectively up from 2 and 5 Mana. Level Up also costs 1 Mana more which is what Blizzard is doing to combat Odd Paladin. The other nerfs include Saronite Chain Gang that now summons another Saronite Chain Gang instead of a copy, Leeching Poison that now only gives your weapon Lifesteal for one turn as opposed to permanently. Leeching Poison costs 1 less Mana after the December Balance Update. As with all balance changes and card changes, players will be able to disenchant the cards changed for full Arcane Dust value for two weeks after the patch.

Rastakhan’s Rumble just went live earlier this month with Rumble Run following last week. It is always interesting seeing how Blizzard handles balance with each expansion. I’m quite happy with them adding single player content with each card expansion so more of my friends who don’t really invest a ton of time into playing for cards can still have fun with it. I look forward to seeing Druids after this patch.