I wanted this to kinda reflect the Blizzard announcements for Years, so this is my submission. Enjoy it!
For reference, this is what those look like .
The Year of the Griffin Charges Forward!
Each Hearthstone Year is symbolized by one of the zodiac constellations twinkling in Azeroth’s night sky. The moment when a new constellation comes into alignment heralds the start of the year and a time of jubilation and raucous revelry wherever Hearthstone is played!
This year, we wave farewell to the Year of the YEAR NAME and prepare to greet the Year of the Griffin!
NUMBER years ago, we introduced a New Way to Play, which brought the Standard and Wild game formats to Hearthstone.
In order to keep Hearthstone exciting and accessible as more cards are added, Standard allows players to use the most recently released cards, as well as a core of Basic and Classic cards. Our intention with Standard is to keep the game feeling fresh for all of our players, and to allow newer players to jump into Hearthstone quickly, without the need to collect lots of cards to build a competitive deck. Standard also gives our developers more freedom when designing new cards for the future.
When we release the first new expansion each year, every set that wasn’t released in the same year or the year prior will cycle out and no longer be part of the Standard format.
If you want cards for Wild play or just to fill out your collection, you’ll be able to craft them using Arcane Dust—even cards from Adventures (like EXPANSION ) that were previously un-craftable.
While no longer available for purchase in-game, you can also purchase content that is exclusive to Wild from the Blizzard Shop.
From the Griffin's Roar
Hearthstone’s astrological clock is tick-tocking toward the new Hearthstone Year, and when the next expansion arrives, you’ll also be greeted with a Standard format!
You’ll be able to build Standard decks using the following sets:
- Basic
- Classic
- EXPANSION
- EXPANSION
- EXPANSION
- The first expansion of this year!
Meanwhile, the following sets have become exclusive to Wild, along with all previous sets:
- EXPANSION
- EXPANSION
- EXPANSION
A new Hearthstone Year also means three new expansions! And, for the first time in Hearthstone history, we at Blizzard** are giving a sneak peek of what is to come. ** Not actually Blizzard.
Hall of Fame Inductees
To help meet the goal of keeping Hearthstone fresh, certain cards from the Classic set will become exclusive to the Wild format. These cards will be added to the Hall of Fame set. This year, the following cards will be promoted to the Hall of Fame:
- Leeroy Jenkins : This Neutral Legendary is a powerful card, and has always been a piece of Standard aggressive decks. Leeroy Jenkins has always been an extremely powerful finisher, and the downside has been too weak. It's time to make more room for Standard aggressive decks.
- Doomsayer : Doomsayer is becoming exclusive to Wild because in many aspects, it is unhealthy to the game. A potential board clear on turn 2, it essentially causes your opponent to waste a turn doing nothing, and as a result, the card is too powerful to stay in the Standard format.
- Doomguard : Charge as a mechanic is very uninteractive, and a somewhat cheap Charge minion in general can create toxicity in the Standard format. Doomguard has prevented us from accessing the design space we've wanted, and so we've decided to push it to Wild.
Just like last year, you can keep your copies of these card once they move to the Hall of Fame, and you’ll also be granted the full Arcane Dust value for each card (up to the maximum number that can be used in a deck).
The dust will be automatically awarded once you log-in after the Year of the Raven begins.
New Warrior Hero: Varian Wrynn
Varian Wrynn was the former King of Stormwind and former High King of the Grand Alliance. During the First War when Varian was a young boy, his father King Llane was murdered and Stormwind was sacked by the Orcish Horde. In his adulthood, Varian stood as King, and fought to protect Stormwind with his own life, wielding sword and shield.
Varian Wrynn seeks to protect his people both on the battlefield, and in casual card game fights, but regardless, he's up to the task.
Win 10 games of Hearthstone in Standard Ranked or Casual mode after the next expansion officially launches to add this brave warrior of Stormwind to your collection.
A Peek into the Year of the Griffin
Finally, what you all have been looking forward to reading. It's time to unveil some of our favorite things about this coming year.
Expansion I: Legends of Azeroth
Toki seems to have fiddled with the strings of fate again, because all of a sudden you've travelled back in time to the great Battle for Azeroth! In this expansion, you'll see the Alliance and the Horde desperately fighting for a foothold in Azeroth.
Card I: Scaling Bandit
Scaling Vandal is a unique take on Legends of Azeroth's keyword of choice: Rally! Rally means that after this minion attacks, it will trigger the written ability. Keep in mind, it occurs AFTER, meaning the Scaling Vandal can still take damage. We think that the Rally keyword lets us simplify our card text, and is very flavorful with the expansion.
Card II: Lyhllian, Blood Master
Lyhllian, Blood Master is a powerful Warlock from the olden days of Azeroth. A member of the Horde, he serves to fight the Alliance with his powerful blood magic.
We made Lyhllian in order to provide some really interesting combos for Warlock, some of which you'll see in Legends of Azeroth. He's just an all-around fun card.
Expansion II: Secrets of the Undercity
In the Secrets of the Undercity, you explore the Undead capital deep beneath Lordaeron. Home to the Forsaken, but also to some of the Scourge, the Undercity is a twisted maze of catacombs, dungeons, and crypts full of dangerous creatures.
Card III: Recycle
Recycle is a prime candidate for showing off the latest tribe of Hearthstone: Undead! Undead minions exist in groups throughout Hearthstone, and Undead abilities trigger based on the number of Undead minions that have died, either in that turn or in the game. Here, we have Recycle: a Warlock buffing spell, based on whether or not at least 3 Undead minions have died this game. If only one of them has died, it's a 3 mana +2/+2; otherwise, its a 3 mana Blessing of Kings .
Card IV: Lor'themar Theron
Lor'themar Theron is the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas, the land of the Blood Elves, but many Blood Elves live in the Undercity. Lor'themar is a very important character to World of Warcraft's lore, and we wanted to give him a powerful, yet flavorful, ability to reflect that. Here, you can see the direction we intend to go with Warrior as a class, but also the general theme of some of the Undercity cards.
Expansion III: Depths of Vashj'ir
The final expansion of the Year of the Griffin is Depths of Vashj'ir. Vashj'ir is this massive underwater biome in World of Warcraft, and we wanted to use it because it reflects the oceanic theme that we're going for with this expansion. In Depths fo Vashj'ir, the entirety of Azeroth is threatened by the nagas of the deep, and its up to you to stop them!
Card V: Captain Cookie
Captain Cookie is a notorious character from World of Warcraft, and a character that we've wanted to make in Hearthstone for a long time. Fortunately, we can now give a peek into Captain Cookie in a way that allows us to show off the two main tribes you'll be seeing in Vashj'ir: Murlocs and Pirates. I know it sounds like aggressive times, but the minions and other things you see in Vashj'ir will be all sorts of types, so don't assume the worst quite yet.
Card VI: Nazjatar, Naga City
With Depths of Vashj'ir, we're unveiling a new card type: Locations! Locations last for four of your turns, and have a potentially powerful effect that can effect both players. The Location available to Jaina doubles potential Spell Damage - for example, Malygos gives Spells +10, instead of +5. Tons of fun Locations like this will be available, along with counters for them, in Depths of Vashj'ir.
Let us know in the comments upvotes below what you think of this coming Year!
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While this card does not actually prevent the taking of Fatigue damage, it does put it to good use. At the start of your turn (while your deck is empty, and after you draw a card) you will summon a random minion of cost equal to the amount of damage you took (5 dmg. --> 5 cost summon). However, this card also allows for you to put to use any card-draw you might have left over from earlier in the game, if you decide it's worth it, of course.
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I voted Mete-Defining because it's cards like this that keep Hunter out of the Meta
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Earth Shock