Hearthstone: Blizzard is refunding players – and nerfing – an infamously expensive card

Blizzard has spoofed Hearthstone’s infamous Drek’Thar card – which sold for $25 – and offered refunds to players who already bought it.

The Diamond Drek’Thar, a premium version that could only be purchased by paying $25 (or 3,000 in-game gold), was released in early April, prompting significant player outcry due to its high price. In Hearthstone’s latest patch (as reported by PC Gamer), Blizzard significantly toned down all versions of the map, which obviously would have left paying players dissatisfied.

Apparently anticipating further backlash, Blizzard is automatically giving 3,000 gold to players who already bought Drek’Thar and even letting them keep the card (although it probably won’t be profitable in competitive play now anyway). However, players who purchased Drek’Thar with real money will not be refunded as they too will only receive the equivalent of 3,000 gold.

Diamond Drek’thar should summon 10 drops because it costs freakin’ more than every single minion in my deck. pic.twitter.com/CwX7KvhRHu

– Hearthstone Top Decks💙 (@HSTopDecks) April 5, 2022

If Drek’Thar was the highest cost card (in terms of mana) in a player’s deck, it would previously summon two random minions onto the board, making it ideal for high-speed swarm decks. However, after the nerf, Drek’Thar will only summon one, greatly reducing its effect.

The move appears to have been largely well-received by fans, who have welcomed Blizzard’s response to the backlash and relatively generous offer of an apology. The refunded gold could notionally be used if Blizzard decides to release another Diamond card exclusively through its store, but given the backlash over Drek’Thar, it seems unlikely that will be the case.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally thinks about tweeting @thelastdinsdale. He’ll be talking about The Witcher all day.