Blizzard has disclosed details on the latest Hearthstone Closed-Beta update it released yesterday. The update has fixed issues like players not being able to re-enter the Area after being dropped out from the client before they could collect their rewards. The company has also taken this opportunity to make some changes to cards that use the Freeze mechanic, and have offered an explanation as to why.
For those who don’t know, Freeze is an ability within Hearthstone , like Taunt, Haste or Flying are abilities from, say, Magic: The Gathering . As implied by the name, Freeze freezes a targeted character–or hero–so that said hero cannot attack their following turn (unless they become frozen during their turn, in which case they’ll be unfrozen in their next turn), rendering them almost paralysed until their ailment wears off. I say “almost” because the inflicted hero can still use their hero power while frozen and can still use and command cards as usual. The only thing that Freeze does is stop the hero (you) from using themselves to attack the opposing hero, and you’re still able to defend yourself if attacked.
What Blizzard has done with Freeze is simply upped its mana cost for three Mage cards that use the ability, which are as follows:
Blizzard’s mana cost is now 6 (up from 5).
Cone of Cold’s mana cost is now 4 (up from 3).
Frost Nova’s mana cost is now 3 (up from 2).
“We understand that the Freeze mechanic can be frustrating to play against,” Blizzard mentioned in the patch notes, “and we wanted to make changes that would allow the Mage’s opponent some additional time to be aggressive with their minions and well as slow the overall pacing of the control-based Mage play style.”
Finally, In addition to Freeze’s slight nerf, the patch has also changed the amount of dust you gain from disenchanting certain Expert cards, temporarily making the end yield equal to the amount of dust required to craft it in the first place. The affected cards are both Blizzard and Cone of Cold.
Source: Hearthstone Blog and Hearthstone Freeze wiki entry .