Hearthstone’s official Twitter account released a teaser about the year-end finals this evening, revealing a semi-important piece of news.
First, the finals require deck submissions by December 13th GMT, and the new Bob the Bartender card, which only went live on the 11th, has been confirmed to be unavailable so that players can better prepare for the battle. While this outcome is unfortunate, it was expected, and it’s certainly a loss that several Thief masters will not be able to showcase Bob’s version of Salsa Jump.
Second, the official tweet used the phrase “to allow players to prepare their lineups based on the current environment” when referring to the reason for Bob’s ban, suggesting that the next build balance patch will likely not be released before the tournament, but rather after December 15 (before the holiday season). As such, Sonia and Void Oracle are almost certain to make it to the top tier.