Patch 37.0.2: C'Thun and Warlock cut down

Patch 37.0.2 went live on November 3 with the first full balance pass for Reign of the Black Empire. It touches Standard, Wild, Arena and Battlegrounds. In Standard, Blizzard's target is clear: C'Thun and the Warlock decks built around it, with smaller hits to Priest and Handbuff Death Knight, and buffs for the other three Old Gods.

#Why these cards

Blizzard says the patch follows the temporary bans from launch week, and that C'Thun, Eye of the Empire "has emerged as the strongest of the four Old Gods". Rather than cut C'Thun itself, the team moves power out of the cards that switch on its abilities early and into C'Thun's own payoff. Warlock, one of C'Thun's main users, loses parts of its key combos (M.O.T.H.E.R., Bat Mask, Divergence) and its early board (Ritual of Summoning, Godfather Kazakus).

#Standard nerfs

• M.O.T.H.E.R.: costs 10 mana, up from 9.
• Wrath of C'Thun: 6 damage split randomly among enemies, down from 7.
• Domain of C'Thun: gives two other friendly minions +2/+2, down from +2/+3.
• Servants of C'Thun: the two Taunt Fanatics are 2/2, down from 2/3.
• Godfather Kazakus: Spurious Shiv gives +2/+2 (was +3/+3); Criminal Contract summons three random 2-Cost minions (was 3-Cost); Sentenced for Smuggling steals 1 card (was 2).
• Ritual of Summoning: summons two 2/4 C'thraxxi, down from 3/5.
• Bat Mask: setting a minion to 1/1 now works on non-Legendary minions only.
• Divergence: costs 7 mana, up from 5.
• Unstable Prototype: gives minions in hand +1 Attack instead of +1/+1. Blizzard says this is aimed at early boards across several classes, Handbuff Death Knight above all.
• Reach Equilibrium: each quest now asks for 6 Holy or 6 Shadow spells, up from 4.
• Sawbones: 6 mana 6/3, was 5 mana 5/3.
• Egg of Khelos: Khelos no longer has Taunt, reverting an earlier buff.

#Standard buffs

• C'Thun, Eye of the Empire: its abilities are now quadrupled, up from tripled, once the condition is met.
• Tinker: costs 1 mana, down from 2.
• Flamespitter: 3/2, up from 2/2.
• Grafted Knight: 3/4 with a triple Blood Rune cost, was 3/3 with double Blood.
• Dark Deacon: needs 1 Shadow spell cast while it's in your hand, down from 2.
• Elder Word: Manifest: summons two 3/4 Voidwings with Lifesteal instead of one 5/5.
• Setesh: 6 mana 6/6, was 7 mana 7/7.
• Decimation: costs 5 mana, down from 6.
• Aqir Swarmer: 4 mana 5/4, was 3 mana 4/2. The two Larvae it leaves now cost 0.
• Aqir Goliath: its Battlecry draws 2 cards, up from 1.
• Y'Shaarj, Titan Bane: costs 9 mana, down from 10.

#What about the banned cards?

Bat Mask, Divergence and Reach Equilibrium were banned in Standard in October, and Reincarnate in Wild. All four are changed in this patch. Blizzard describes the patch as its chance "to make more permanent changes" after the temporary bans, and says the Reincarnate change, which stops it targeting Legendary minions, is a "more targeted" fix for its Mastermind Yogg-Saron interaction. The notes don't say in so many words that the bans are lifted, so check the card's status in your collection before you build around it. The card library shows the ban markers we carry.

#Wild

• Reincarnate: non-Legendary minions only.
• Kobold Illusionist: now summons a minion from your hand and sets its stats to 1/1, instead of summoning a 1/1 copy.
• Mysterious Visitor: reduces the copied cards' Cost by 2, down from 3.
• Final Showdown, Gain Momentum, Close the Portal: each needs one more card drawn in a turn (5, 6 and 6).
• Battle at the End Time: Sir Finley, Sea Guide, Plot Twist and Gaslight Gatekeeper no longer count toward emptying your hand.

#Dust refunds

Every changed card gets a full dust refund for two weeks after the patch, as do a few cards tied to the C'Thun changes that the notes list. Blizzard says Spawn of C'Thun will only become refundable from Patch 37.2 because of a bug.

#Arena and Battlegrounds

Arena removes Kith'ix from the draft pool, makes eight cards appear less often and nine more often. Battlegrounds gets a large pass: Murcules returns to the pool and Expert Aviator leaves it, dozens of minions, Tavern spells and trinkets are retuned, and eleven Dark Gifts change. The full list is in the official notes.

#What to do now

C'Thun Warlock loses mana and stats across its whole package, so expect lists to change over the next few days. If you track your games, log a rebuilt list as a new deck in the Tracker so its record stays separate from the pre-patch version, and watch the live meta as post-patch games come in.

#Sources

• Blizzard: 37.0.2 Patch Notes