Hearthstone update nerfs the Mage's freeze mechanic, Blizzard explains why

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment has issued a new update to its card battler, this time nerfing the Mage's stock of freeze spells. Basically, the studio realised that they were becoming a royal pain.

In a Hearthstone blog update, Blizzard explained, "We understand that the Freeze mechanic can be frustrating to play against, 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."

As such, the Blizzard spell now costs six mana, up from five. Cone of Cold’s mana cost has gone from three to four, and 4 Frost Nova’s now costs three mana, up from two.

Here's the rest of Blizzard's patch notes:

General

• Certain Expert cards have been changed and the amount of dust that you get from disenchanting these cards have been temporarily increased such that it is equal to the amount of dust that it would have originally cost to craft those cards. Affected cards are:
• Blizzard
• Cone of Cold

Mage

We understand that the Freeze mechanic can be frustrating to play against, 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.

• 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).
• Bug Fixes
• Resolved an issue where certain account states could prevent new Arena runs from being started. Previously impacted accounts should now be able to properly start new Arena runs.

Were you finding the Mage's cold spells annoying? Let us know below.

Via Eurogamer. Looking for Hearthstone strategies? We've got you covered.