Hearthstone 36.2.2: six nerfed cards refunded in full dust, which ones to keep and which to disenchant before September 1st

Hearthstone update 36.2.2 has been rolling out since Tuesday, August 18, 2026, 5:55 PM Paris time. It weakens six cards in Constructed, and only these six are eligible for a refund: "You'll be able to recover the full dust value of the above cards for two weeks after update 36.2.2 goes live," the development team writes in the official notes.

The six are Maiev Shadowsong, Gallagio Gastronomics Employee, Vinh, the Vengeful, Tol'vir Stoneshaper, Arcane Tripwire, and Jade Guardians. So you have a decision to make, and a deadline to make it by. The Battlegrounds mode also gets a long list of adjustments, which we cover separately.

Let's cut straight to the point: of these six cards, only one truly changes in nature. The other five lose a health point, a tempo turn, or two mana crystals, but still do what you crafted them for in the first place. The full refund is an opportunity, not an order.

A patch about variety, not power

The development team says it plainly right at the start: "The current top decks are at relatively similar power levels, but many of you shared your disappointment about the most common play patterns and the lack of variety among viable competitive choices."

That's the key to reading this patch: Blizzard isn't saying one archetype was winning too much, but that too few archetypes were playable. The nerfs hit cards that locked down the early turns, and the list of buffs is noticeably longer than the list of nerfs.

The six refundable cards and what the dust gives back

Normally, disenchanting only returns a fraction of the crafting cost. During the window, a weakened card returns exactly what it cost to craft: based on the game's crafting values, 1,600 arcane dust for a Legendary instead of 400, 400 for an Epic instead of 100, 40 for a Common instead of 5. Blizzard doesn't restate these amounts in its notes.

The two Legendaries carry most of the weight here: getting 40 dust back from the Gallagio Gastronomics Employee won't change your stockpile at all.

Keep or disenchant: card by card

Maiev Shadowsong goes from 1/4 to 1/3 and keeps her entire effect: the minion you play gains +3/+3 and falls asleep for a turn. Blizzard is targeting her turn 2 window: "Reducing her health should open up more counterplay opportunities without losing her upgrade potential." She remains a neutral Legendary, playable across all eleven classes: disenchanting her would be a poor decision.

Jade Guardians is the clearest case: the spell's text hasn't changed a single word, only the cost climbs from 3 to 5 crystals. The team is raising it "to preserve its potential, but push back the arrival of these high-impact towers to later." You'll play the same card, two turns later.

Arcane Tripwire loses one point of damage, from 5 to 4. The full math is more telling: the spell places two copies of itself in your deck, meaning three triggers if you draw them all, so 12 points of damage instead of 15. A drop of a fifth, on a spell that stays at 3 crystals.

Gallagio Gala Star goes from [1] 1/3 to [2] 2/3, text unchanged. The body grows along with the cost: it's a curve shift, not a loss of function.

Ver'rmin isn't modified as a card: it remains a 6-crystal Shaman legendary, 6/7. What changes is one of its two Hero Powers. Half of its kit therefore comes out of the patch untouched, and disenchanting it would mean throwing away both versions of the deck for a nerf that only affects one.

Tol'vir Stoneshaper is the only one of the six that changes in nature. Before, the 5-crystal spell replayed every 1-crystal cost card played during the game, targeting opponents when possible. Now, at 4 crystals, it summons every 1-crystal cost minion played during the game. Spells are no longer replayed: the card draw and face damage disappear, leaving only the board. Blizzard owns this removal of the "card draw and sustain" that let Hunter maintain pressure longer than an aggressive deck should.

Our verdict: keep it if your Hunter list is built around 1-crystal minions, since it now costs one crystal less to fill the board. Only consider disenchanting it if you were playing it for the value of your 1-crystal spells: in that case, the card you had built no longer exists.

What this patch makes obsolete in your decks

The Vir'naal version of Shaman loses its first two turns. The Hero Power Vir'naal's Magic, which makes your first minion each turn cost 2 crystals less, now gains the note "(Unlocks on turn 3)." The justification is direct: "one of the points that seems to bother the community the most is the speed at which the Shaman hero Vir'naal can wrap up games." Your turns 1 and 2 are now played at full price, which removes the openings that took over the board before the opponent's first response. The second Hero Power, Sir Finley's Strength, isn't mentioned in the notes: it comes out of the patch as is.

Shaman receives compensation in the same document: Flame Imp Summoning gets back its 1-crystal reduction on the discovered minion. "One of the most powerful tools of the Shaman hero Vir'naal is being toned down with this update. We are therefore restoring Flame Imp Summoning to its original power level," the team writes. The class loses speed and regains value.

Soul Immolation drops from 3 to 2 mana, the second pivot point moved by this patch. This Demon Hunter spell transforms your hero power into Stellar Collapse: at 2 mana, the setup arrives a turn earlier, and both copies fit into a single turn at 4 mana instead of 6. The same deck gets two other tweaks: Irida Voidseeker sends your deck into the Void "except for one card," and Zealous Demon gains Taunt on top of its Battlecry.

What becomes playable again

No buffed card qualifies for a refund: the window only covers nerfs.

Crowd Control deserves a close look: the deck bonus has changed in nature. Before, having 25 or more cards added 2 damage to a 3-mana spell; now, it removes 2 mana from a spell that costs 5. But your deck size shrinks with every draw, so the discount mostly kicks in during the early turns, while the two-wave version is built for a late-game turn. In exchange, these two successive waves clear Divine Shields, which 4 damage in one hit couldn't do. Cunning Improviser, meanwhile, gains a mana and loses a point of health but casts two random Mage Secrets instead of one: it goes from a minor tempo play to a game-ending trigger.

The refund window: our calculation, not the official date

Let's be honest about this. Blizzard is sticking with "two weeks after deployment" and is publishing no end date. Deployment happened on August 18, 2026: two weeks later, the calculation lands on September 1, 2026. Treat this date as our own deduction, not an official announcement: neither the closing day nor the time has been confirmed.

The practical takeaway is simple: don't wait for the last day. A window announced in weeks, with no set date, could close at a time nobody has communicated, and a missed disenchant at the normal rate only returns 400 dust for a Legendary instead of 1,600. In order:

1. Check which of the six cards you actually own, in both regular and Golden versions.
2. Immediately set aside Maiev Shadowsong, Verr'Minh, Jade Guardians, Arcane Tripwire, and Gallagio Goon: they keep their function.
3. Only make a decision on Tol'vir Stoneshaper, and only if you're not playing a Hunter deck built around 1-mana minions.
4. Make your decision by the end of August, not the morning of September 1.

What's coming next: update 36.4, on August 25 at 7 p.m.

The patch notes announce what's next: "The next major update will be the release of the class sets, followed by a new balance pass." This update is numbered 36.4, and Blizzard has set the release of the Azerothian Fugitives class sets, for rogues, warlocks, priests, and warriors, for August 25 at 7 p.m. Paris time.

Good news for your dust stash: 36.4 arrives during the refund window and not after it. So you'll get to see the new cards before it closes, and you'll know whether Jade Guardians or Confrontation at the Ruins finds a place back in the reworked lists. Blizzard doesn't say, however, whether the balance pass following 36.4 will reopen refunds.

The schedule comes down to three dates: 36.2.2 live since August 18, 36.4 on August 25 at 7 p.m., and the refund window closing around September 1 according to our calculations. Between the two, only one decision really commits your dust: Confrontation at the Ruins.