Hearthstone patch 37.0.2 rebalances the Old Gods

Hearthstone's November 3 patch 37.0.2 adjusts Standard, Arena and Battlegrounds after Reign of the Black Empire reshaped deckbuilding. Blizzard says the changes aim to make room for more strategies following temporary bans.

C'Thun's power moves later

The developers reduce the strength of cards that activate C'Thun early while increasing his own ability multiplier from three to four. Warlock combinations, Priest requirements and early board strength also receive attention.

Why the expansion changes deck choices

The official expansion guide explains the unusual structure behind those balance decisions. Its four Old Gods are neutral Legendary cards, but a deck can contain only one of them. Each offers four distinct abilities and can invoke two per turn instead of making an ordinary attack.

Those powers are each usable once per game. After all four have been spent, the Old God can attack directly. Choosing one therefore affects both the deck's overall plan and the sequence of decisions after the card reaches the board.

The separate Assemble keyword introduces another form of planning: it creates a minion by combining card text with a choice from a defined pool.

For players revisiting a saved deck, checking the updated card text is a better starting point than assuming its previous opening sequence still works.