Greetings Acolytes! We are proud to announce a balance patch including changes that we have been working on as part of our roadmap towards more robust improvements to the card pool and the general quality of life of the game experience. The most substantial improvements are geared toward increasing the playability of some things we felt were unfairly neglected, including Pass Down The Crown, Brain Drinker, and Tiny Hoof. Additionally, encounters against Beasts such as Hydrozoan Hivemind and The Crumbling City have been revamped in order to increase the strategic options available at the player's disposal and to achieve more equitable chances of success for a wider variety of deck archetypes. Here are some of the more noticeable changes included in the patch, although there are more minor bug fixes and general improvements not mentioned below. Buffs • Afflicted Nomad’s triggered ability now deals damage whenever an enemy ability is Ignited in addition to whenever one is Infested. • Made Pass Down The Crown more playable by changing its Seasons requirements from Summer, Fall, and Winter to Spring, Summer, and Fall. Nerfs • Removed Overkill from The Yearning Woods’ Hanger Tantrum. • Crows summoned by Prophet of Ruin now fulfill the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy even when they die from being overflowed from the board. • Increased Radd-Head Trapper’s mana cost from 2 to 3 and increased its Attack from 1 to 2. • To allow creature-deficient decks to stand a chance, Uncovered Goldcap’s rage requirements for its abilities have been changed to be 1 for Befuddling Spores, 2 for Wind-Up Punch, and 3 for Fungi Flurry. • To curb the multiplicative increase of infestations from Marrow Maggot, it was changed from a 3/2 that Infests two random abilities when it attacks to a 3/3 that Infests one random ability when it attacks. • Increased the cooldown on Maestro Maev’s Crescendo ability from 3 to 4 turns in order to encourage more viable strategies against her. • Increased Burden cost of Bundle of Snakes from 1 to 2 in order to increase the challenge against Borrowed Life deck archetypes. Reworks • To increase synergy with the rest of the card pool, Brain Drinker’s passive ability has been changed from “When you reduce my mana cost, do it three times” to “The first time you cast a spell each turn, reduce my cost by 1”. • In order to form a more cohesive encounter with more of a strategic sense of push and pull, The Shambling City’s Titanic Strike ability has been changed to Excavate, which is a Counterattack that deals 5 and refills its Remaining Residents by the amount overkilled. • Reworked Tiny Hoof from “When you summon a creature with Frontline, grant it +2 health” to “Grant the first creature you summon each turn +1 health, or +2 health if it has Frontline” to improve its synergy with the rest of the card pool. • Reworked the Hivemind ability to “Creatures that could have attacked, but did not, deal their damage to the oldest Jellyfish, and take damage equal to its remaining counters.” This change offers more strategic options to the encounter since you can now choose between damaging the Hivemind directly or picking off its Jellyfish friends one by one. • Reworked Lord Bug from a 5/5 with “Overlord: Summon two Lone Ladybugs” to a 4/4 with “Overlord: Grant myself +1/+1 and summon a Lone Ladybug” and reworked Monarch Butterfly from a 6/6 with “Overlord: Summon two Lord Bugs” to a 5/5 with “Overlord: Grant myself +1/+1 and summon a Lord Bug” with the intent to reduce their tendencies to overcrowd one’s board. Bug Fixes • Damage based on the percentage of the enemy’s maximum health now scales correctly against the Prophet of Ruin after the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is fulfilled. • Fixed a bug in the Gilded Grifter encounter that would display damage intended as being dealt to creatures when it would really be dealt to the player. • Grafting a card with a reduced cost no longer resets the card’s cost. • Death March now generates the correct amount of mana reliably. Clarity Improvements • Clarified vocabulary and/or improved wording on Man With The Goat’s Head, Death March, Ferrous Firebomb, Sword Runner, Wave of Lava, and Wildfire Drake. • Reworded Infest abilities to “bursting infestations” rather than “summoning your infest creatures”.