Hearthpwn

Hearthstone Year in Review

Wow! This past year has flown by and it's quite hard to believe in just a few short days we'll be heading into 2017. It feels like League of Explorers just came out and now we're getting ready to say goodbye to it early next year. A lot has happened in 2016, good and bad, and it's time to reflect!

We've put together a review of the past year of everything Hearthstone, and would love to hear about what your favourite moments of the past year were. It's important that we mention:

• We saw two new expansions and one adventure this year for a total of 311 new cards!
• The awesome community members here on HearthPwn created over 300,000 new decks!

Looking for our 2015 year in review? We've got that available here.

Hearthstone in 2016

Let's take a look at the past 12 months of Hearthstone.

• Feb 2

  A New Way to Play

  Blizzard announced that things would be changing this year, and changing big time.

  The goal was to open up design space and to keep the game feeling fresh so its out with the old and in with the new! Our normal ladder was to be split into two different game modes, Standard and Wild, and the Curse of Naxxramas adventure alongside the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion was going to Wild.

  Blizzard Says: Standard will help make for a more dynamic and balanced metagame. A select set of cards makes each new card have more impact! The developers will have more freedom to design exciting new cards. It lets newer players jump in faster without having to collect as many cards.

• Mar 11

  Whispers in the Tavern

  After a few months since League of Explorers launched, Blizzard announced a new expansion! This expansion was Whispers of the Old Gods and it featured the old gods of Warcraft lore along with their crazy cultists. 

  The announcement was made on the second anniversary of Hearthstone's release, and was set to really change the meta since Standard and Wild were being released with the set.

• Mar 14

  More Deck Slots!

  It Happened. The community had spoken, screamed, and tortured the Twitter accounts of Blizzard employees and it finally happened. On this magical day we saw the light and our collections were forever relieved for the number of decks we could store doubled from 9 to 18.

  All it took was a scrollbar.

  We jest, there was certainly more to it than that, but it was fun to read the comments of community members when the solution to the problem was finally displayed to the world.

  Oh yeah, along with the new deck slots, Blizzard also implemented the deck recipes feature which provides players with pre-determined decks in-game provided that they have the cards to create them. They haven't been that bad!

• Mar 14

  Lady Liadrin the Ninja New Paladin Hero

  Out of nowhere in the same patch that introduced the new deck recipes, a new cosmetic hero, of Paladin flavor, was brought to us.

  After not seeing much out of new heroes for quite some time, Lady Liadrin was made available for free to those that get a World of Warcraft character up to level 20.

• April 14

  Platform Exclusive Heroes Part 1

  What does the World Wildlife Fund and Hearthstone have in common? Khadgar!

  Apple ran a special event for a week or so called Apps for Earth and it brought several of the big game developers on the app store to offer exclusive content to their players in the name of protecting the planet. Blizzard was one of these companies and they decided to release another new hero in Mage flavor.

  

  This didn't go over well with everyone for a few reasons. Another Mage hero was seen as lame because it was now the third hero for the class when many still didn't have a second, but more importantly, only people who had access to an iOS device capable of running Hearthstone were able to purchase the hero.

  This marks the first time a hero was exclusive to a single platform, and one of the least popular ones at that. There has been no word on whether we'll see Khadgar again.

• Apr 20

  Keeping Hearthstone Fresh

  Mike Donais took to the Hearthstone blog to talk about some upcoming changes which would forever change the Hearthstone landscape as we knew it. Several cards from the classic and basic sets were set to receive changes to ensure future cards would have an impact on Standard.

  • Ancient of Lore - Now draws 1 card instead of 2
  • Force of Nature - Mana cost decreased from 6 to 5, Treants no longer have Charge and no longer die at the end of the turn
  • Keeper of the Grove - Health reduced from 4 to 2
  • Ironbeak Owl - Mana cost increased from 2 to 3
  • Big Game Hunter - Mana cost increased from 3 to 5
  • Hunter's Mark - Mana cost increased from 0 to 1
  • Blade Flurry - Mana cost increased from 2 to 4 and only affects Minions
  • Knife Juggler - Attack reduced from 3 to 2
  • Leper Gnome - Attack reduced from 2 to 1
  • Arcane Golem - Health increased from 2 to 4, no longer has Charge
  • Molten Giant - Mana cost increased from 20 to 25
  • Master of Disguise - Stealth granted by this card now only lasts until the start of the next turn

  These nerfs were talked about across the land and they were very welcome additions to the game. They would then go live a few days later in the Old Gods patch.

  Rest in Peace Leper Gnome.

• Apr 24

  We're Not Sorry

  The 'sorry' emote was removed from the game. It was replaced with the less than optimal 'wow' emote.

  Sorry was largely viewed as a negative emote and was a source of frustration for players which lead the way to the more positive, and definitely never able to be used sarcastically, 'wow' emote.

• Apr 26

  Whispers of the Old Gods

  Whispers of the Old Gods releases! The new expansion included 134 new collectible cards which featured quite a dark theme and had ties into the old gods of Warcraft lore. There was also a really cool street art advertising campaign.

  

  Those that were around for the launch event of Old Gods, which ran up until July 5, were able to crack open 13 free card packs provided that they completed some games in the new Standard mode. Additionally, C'Thun and Beckoner of Evil are given to all players for free upon the opening of an Old Gods pack.

  Set Highlights: Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, C'Thun, N'Zoth, the Corruptor, Call of the Wild, Flamewreathed Faceless, Evolve, Darkshire Councilman.

  Learn more about Whispers of the Old Gods in our Old Gods Guide.

• July 12

  Mrglglgl! 

  Morgl the Oracle, a new Shaman hero, was introduced via a new patch which implemented the Recruit-a Friend system into Hearthstone. This was the second cosmetic hero introduced this year and it started generating some more excitement around heroes again. 

  Morgl, and classic packs, are obtainable through the new system which requires that you invite a friend to the game and that they get up to level 20. The first friend that gets to 20 that you invite earns you the new Shaman hero and up to four additional invites will grant you a classic pack.

  Luckily, you don't actually need any friends to get this lovable Murloc as we showcased.

• Aug 11

  Five Weeks in Karazhan

  Medivh is a party animal, and we're all invited to his latest adventure, One Night in Karazhan! The adventure included 45 new collectible cards which were themed around spell synergies, Secrets, minion summoning, and random drops through new portals.

  

  We saw improvements to Aggro Shaman with the set which lead to plenty of salt, Tempo Mage continuing to be a solid force, and OTK Warrior tactics through that damn Arcane Giant.

  Set Highlights: Barnes, Arcane Giant, Cloaked Huntress, Babbling Book, Priest of the Feast, Spirit Claws.

  And then there was Purify...

  Learn more about One Night in Karazhan in our Karazhan Guide.

• Sept 8

  State of the Arena

  Dean Ayala announced that we'd be seeing 45 class cards removed in arena to help balance the classes for the first time ever.

  Every class with the exception of Paladin has at least 2 cards removed, with most having at least 6. The changes were welcomed by the community as lot of the cards which were removed were ones which players never picked and contributed to easier choices or severe disappointments.

  Dean Says: We're looking to develop additional solutions to balance Arena as well, such as the ability to adjust the rate that individual cards show up in your draft depending on a designer input value. If we pursue that route, there is still the matter of deciding on the best way to go about using that tool to achieve balance for each of the nine classes and still have Arena feel fun and different each run.

• Sept 12

  Welcome to the Inn

  There's always a lot of talk about the new player experience and how it could always be better, and on this day Blizzard agreed, although not for the first time.

  

  A new package was announced that would enter the in-game shop later on which added the Welcome Bundle. The bundle gives players 10 classic card packs and one legendary class card from the classic set for the low price of $5.

• Sept 30

  Anduin's New Friend

  Tyrande.

  Tyrande Whisperwind was datamined in a patch just a couple of weeks prior and she was simply flagged as a Special Promotion. It was then on this day at TwitchCon 2016 that a new feature called Twitch Prime was announced and would be giving away digital goodies for games, the first of which was Tyrande.

  This wasn't the most popular topic within the community for a few weeks, and even to this day. There was a regional restriction based on where Amazon Prime was available which shut down many players from legitimately obtaining the new Priest hero and card back, and the promotion only ran for a one month period so if you snoozed, you're outta luck!

  Blizzard did come out and state that they were discussing alternative methods for other regions to receive Tyrande, but we've still yet to see any announcements about it.

• Oct 3

  The Great Nerf of Yogg-Saron, Esports Hero

  We don't very often see nerfs in Hearthstone, but Patch 14830 arrived and with it brought the nerf cannon to the front lines to tweak problematic cards in both design space and the straight up OP.

  We saw the following cards get changed.

  • Call of the Wild now costs 9 mana, up from 8 mana.
  • Execute now costs 2 mana, up from 1 mana.
  • Rockbiter Weapon now costs 2 mana, up from 1 mana.
  • Tuskarr Totemic now reads "Battlecry: Summon a random basic Totem."
  • Abusive Sergeant now has 1 Attack, down from 2.
  • Charge now costs 1 mana, down from 3, and reads “Give a friendly minion Charge. It can’t attack heroes this turn.”
  • Yogg-Saron, Hope's End now stops casting spells when it leaves the battlefield or is silenced.

  The changes shut down some Shaman play, put Call of the Wild into a spot where it was no longer over-performing, and got rid of some SMOrc from our friend Garrosh. Oh yeah, and Yogg-Saron was changed too!

  Our Hero of Esports, the RNGinator himself, would no longer be a large competitive force. Not only was Yogg frustrating to face on the ladder, but he gave wins to players that even though they got outplayed in every aspect, were able to make a comeback.

  You won't be missed Yogg.

• Oct 20

  Murloculous Deglobalization

  In a surprising turn of events, Hearthstone Patch 15181 released and changed up a few of our cuddly friends.

  Grimscale Oracle, Coldlight Seer, Murloc Tidecaller, and Murloc Warleader no longer effect or are effected by Murlocs on the enemy field.

  The reasoning behind these changes was to improve Murloc mirror matches which before the changes meant one player was usually killing himself by playing his own minions. 

  The patch also added a plethora new quests to the game which required playing class-specific cards, playing minions of certain types, or dropping certain keywords onto the field. In total, 35 new quests were added.

• Nov 5

  Pavel Wins the Hearthstone World Championships 2016

  Ostkaka has been dethroned as Pavel takes the title of Hearthstone World Champion! Pavel defeated DrHippi 4-2 in the finals to take home $250,000! Check out his decklists below.

  Pavel

  1. Pavel's Malygos Druid - BlizzCon World Championships 2016 9000
  2. Pavel's Tempo Mage - BlizzCon World Championships 2016 4680
  3. Pavel's Malygos Miracle Rogue - BlizzCon World Championships 2016 9680
  4. Pavel's Midrange Shaman - BlizzCon World Championship 2016 6520
  5. Pavel's C'Thun Warrior - BlizzCon World Championships 2016 10740

  Find more decks from the 2016 HS World Championships.

• Dec 1

  Meme Streets of Gadgetzan

  The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, the final content patch of the year, releases! The new expansion included 132 new collectible cards which featured a new mechanic called tri-classes. Tri-class cards are cards which can only be used by three classes and in the case of Gadgetzan, were tied thematically to three crime families.

  • Jade Lotus - Druid, Rogue, Shaman
  • Kabal - Mage, Priest, Warlock
  • Grimy Goons - Hunter, Paladin, Warrior

  The expansion brought in new Highlander cards like our buddy Reno Jackson, who will rotate out of Standard next year, and some interesting new mechanical themes for deck build-arounds. Grimy Goons are all about buffing minions in-hand, the Jade Lotus build up powerful Jade Golems, and the Kabal are into Reno decks and Potions.

  Some of the more popular decks as of posting are Renolock, Aggro Shaman, Miracle Rogue, and Pirate Warrior.

  Set Hightlights: Kazakus, Patches the Pirate, Dirty Rat, Drakonid Operative, Jade Idol.

  Learn more about Mean Streets of Gadgetzan in our Gadgetzan Guide.

Here's to a Happy and Glorious 2017

Thanks for your continued support of HearthPwn, it's been a fantastic year and we can't wait to enjoy what Hearthstone has to offer next year and more importantly, make the site even better! From us to you, have a Happy New Year and we'll see you then!