I did not receive any free legendary cards upon log in with the introduction of patch 32.0. I at first thought this maybe just normal, but upon conversing with a friend, getting free legendary cards at these intervals are a reoccuring thing. (They showed me through Discord that they did.) My apologies for not being able to provide a more indepth explaination, as I am rather new still.
I have not heard anything about free legendaries. Legendaries from pre-order bundles were given after patch. Maybe your friend got those.