Blizzard offers refund for nerfed $25 Hearthstone card

Enlarge / Shine bright like a diamond.

Last month, Hearthstone broke a long-standing precedent by selling a single cosmetic card upgrade for a whopping $25 (or a similar amount of in-game currency). Now that the expensive card's power level is being scaled back, Blizzard is offering a generous refund to players who made that purchase—and it's letting them keep the ultra-rare card, to boot.

Drek'Thar has been an extremely popular Hearthstone card since its release in December alongside the Fractured in Alterac Valley set. Thanks to the card's ability to draw and summon two minions from your deck whenever cast (if your deck is constructed correctly), Drek'Thar was showing up in upward of 20 percent of all competitive decks this month, according to HSReplay.net statistics, and decks with the card were winning more than 60 percent of the time.

A diamond is forever

For months, Hearthstone players could find a Legendary Drek'Thar in regular packs, craft a copy by using in-game dust gained from excess cards, or earn a "free" Golden copy by completing various in-game quests. Starting April 5, though, Blizzard added a way to obtain a new version of Drek'Thar: pay $25 (or 3,000 in-game gold) to purchase an ultra-rare "Diamond" upgrade.