Happy New Year! The year of the mammoth draws to a close in Hearthstone Calendar and that Year of the raven is imminent. The new year will be heralded with the release of the next expansion, so we can expect a lot of changes for the digital trading card game.
The new Hearthstone Standard Rotation
Probably the biggest change concerns the card sets that make up the standard format. Once the expansion and the year of the raven arrive, the Standard rotation from the following sets:
- Base
- Classic
- Journey to Un'Goro
- Knight of the Frozen Throne
- Kobolds and catacombs
- The new, previously unnamed, extension
Conversely, this means that 3 of the older card sets are in Wild format migrate:
- The whispers of the old gods
- One night in Karazhan
- The streets of Gadgetzan
The developers always use the beginning of such a Hearthstone epoch to say goodbye to some single cards in the wild format. For example, had to start the mammoth Ragnaros take his hat off.
This time it hits 3 relatively surprising candidates:
- Ice block
- Depth light oracle
- Molten giant
Especially with the magicians, the loss of their strongest defensive card should cause some excitement and shake up the decks they are playing.
The explanation for "pushing" the deep light oracle into the Wilde Format gives a little hint about possible new cards:
"At the same time, it limits us in developing cards with battle cry and effects that return servants to the hand."
So the assumption is that a map is similar to us Brann Bronzebeard ("All battle cry effects are triggered twice") expected. Because such combinations made Mill villains or warriors extremely strong and the opponent had little countermeasures once the combination was drawn.
A tiny hint about the 3 extensions planned for this year was given in the form of the corresponding symbols:
At least the 2nd symbol could do that World of Warcraft Look familiar to fans. The symbol stands for the Ethereals that we first encountered in Outland, for example, in the “Burning Crusade” expansion. The speculations for the first symbol point to the Emerald Dream or Moonglade, which would suit Lunara as the new druid heroine.
For the third expansion we might expect trolls, because the lower half of the symbol could represent troll tusks. But so far that's all pure speculation.
Daily quests:
There is also a lot going on with the quests, all quests that previously gave 40 gold are now worth 50 gold. Many of the higher quests have easier goals, e.g. instead of playing 20 servants, only 12 etc.
In-game tournaments
A special new feature that is still under development are tournaments. It should be possible to create your own tournament, similar to the Fireside Gatherings. Initially, Blizzard only provides an opponent assignment and checking the deck list, but further features are planned.
The game fell to the writer of this article Puzzle pirates one, there is a similar function in this one and a lively scene developed with tournaments and events organized by the community. There you can play tournaments every day and without the hassle of registering. If the Hearthstone tournament mode is similarly extensive and at the same time easy to carry out, a completely new competition scene is sure to await us.
New heroine: Lunara
“As the daughter of a demigod and granddaughter of the moon goddess and a god of nature, you have a reputation to defend. Lunara is more than up to the task - she is a relentless defender of the wilderness and the immortal proof of the cruelty of nature. "
Win 10 after the next expansion is released Hearthstone-Play in rated or unrated mode of the standard formatto add this fierce defender of nature to your collection.
With the appearance of the expansion, the chance of Maiev also expires, so secure it for you as long as you can:
Last chance for Maiev! With the release of the first new expansion in 2018, you will no longer have access to the quest to get Maiev Shadowsong. So don't forget to get Maiev before the next expansion launches before you miss your chance!
More information about the year of the raven will be available in the context of a Live streams on March 2nd at 8:00 p.m. our time. There answer Game Director Ben Brode and lead producers Yong Woo all important questions about the new Hearthstone year.
