New Classic Cards Coming to Hearthstone, Tournaments On Hold, Halloween, New Welcome Bundle, New Paladin Hero
Hearthstone is getting some big updates soon! Check out everything that is coming in the coming months including new classic cards!
- Blizzard is currently happy with the meta. They are keeping their eyes on Giggling Inventor
- Mages, Warlocks, and Rogues are getting new classic cards to fill in holes. These are brand new cards.
- New ranks are being added for new players only. New players will start at rank 50.
- Tournament Mode has been put on hold.
- Fireside Gatherings will have more brawls to choose from.
- The Welcome Bundle is returning but instead of giving class legendaries, it includes one of six classic dragon legendaries.
- If you previously purchased the welcome bundle, you can buy it again.
- Hallow's End returns October 17th with Dual Class Arena like last year.
- A new Paladin Hero will be available through a special deal, arriving during Hallow's End. The hero is "Sir Annoy-O".
- According to art on the press site, it looks like you may get Sir Annoy-O with a special purchase of 20 Witchwood packs. Not confirmed.
This is one time where you really don't want to skip the annnoucement post, so read that down below.
New Cards
Four new cards are being added to the Classic set in a future update. We've got dedicated discussion threads for each one.
Discuss this Card
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Blog Post
Quote from DaxxarriWelcome to Hearthstone’s first In the Works update. Here we’re giving you a brief look at what’s coming in the next few months for Hearthstone—game updates and events, esports, and more!
There’s a lot to talk about, so read on to find out what’s in store.
Game Updates
The State of the MetaWe’ve seen the meta-game start to stabilize in the wake of The Boomsday Project’s release. Decks like Odd Warrior, Odd Paladin, Token Druid, Tempo Mage, Taunt Druid, Zoo Warlock, Quest Rogue, Secret Hunter, Even Paladin, Deathrattle Hunter, and Even Warlock, have all been top performers.
While those decks stand out from the pack slightly, there are effective decks from every class. Evolve Shaman and Combo Priest have both seen success, for example.
Overall we’re happy with the excellent diversity of decks we’re seeing at all levels of Ranked Play.
Cards to WatchGiggling Inventor is hugely popular and shows up in a lot of decks. We intended for Giggling Inventor to be powerful because we’ve found that having powerful neutral Taunt minions tends to make games more interesting. We’ve seen that with cards like Sludge Belcher and Tar Creeper in the past. Cards that fulfill this role need to be strong to get that job done, but there’s a line where they might be too good.
We aren’t planning any changes to Giggling Inventor for now, but we’re keeping an eye on it in the meantime. We’d like to know what you think.
Wild BalanceThere’s been an ongoing discussion within the team regarding how Wild should play. Right now, Wild feels somewhat like Standard but with an elevated power level and a vast library of cards. Should Wild live up to its name more, where we allow really crazy and powerful combos to happen, even in the early game? Generally, it’s harder for any one strategy to be dominant in Wild since everything is so powerful and everyone has access to so many tools, but do we want those strategies to exist? We know that there are players who would prefer to have a mode that offers that kind of gameplay.
There’s also the point to consider that the reason to have multiple modes in Hearthstone is for them to play differently, so there are downsides to trying to put the reins on Wild too much. But we also recognize that there might be decks like Naga Sea Witch that become too prevalent and simply aren’t fun to play against.
We’d love to hear your opinions about what you want from Wild. What do you think of how it is now, and what’s the role you see for it in the future of Hearthstone?
New Classic CardsIf you’ve been playing Hearthstone for a while, then you already know that with each new Hearthstone year, we’ve chosen certain cards to rotate out of the Standard format. Some of those cards have been part of the Classic format, which is usually an evergreen part of the Standard format.
A few of the cards that left Standard were Class cards, but we want each Class to have a roughly equal number of cards available in the Classic set. To accomplish that, we’re adding four all-new cards to fill the gap.
Here are the new Class cards being added to the Classic set. You’ll be able to craft them or open them in Classic card packs next month:
When designing these cards we are thinking about new players’ first experiences playing Hearthstone. They should be relatively straightforward while still creating some exciting moments. They also give players a chance to see and play with cards that they don't own. At the same time it’s important that they aren’t so powerful that they limit future design or cause problems (since they’ll be in Standard for longer than 2 years.)
Looking forward, we expect more cards to join the Hall of Fame. There are also still some gaps in Classic where neutral Legendary cards joined the Hall of Fame, so we’re considering adding some new cards to the Classic set in the future.
New Player Experience ImprovementsEven at Rank 25, competition in the Tavern can be fierce, especially if you’ve never played Hearthstone before. We’d like to ease new players into the fray a little more gently, so we’re taking some steps toward improving the new player experience. Here’s what newcomers to the Hearthstone tavern can expect to find:
New players will start at Rank 50. Ranks 50 through 26 will be for new players only, and just like ranks 25 through 20, you can’t lose Stars while ranking up. Once a player achieves Rank 25, they’ll never drop below that rank again. We hope this gives players who are new to Hearthstone a little more time to get used to the Tavern, and we’ll also be giving them a few free gifts along the way to help them get up to speed. If you’re an experienced player making an additional account, there will be an option to skip the New Player Experience (and some loot, so consider carefully!) so you can get back into the competition faster. There are a few more details that we’ll provide in the future, but that’s the gist of it!
In-game Tournaments UpdateEarlier this year we talked about adding a new feature to Hearthstone that would make it easier to organize tournaments for Fireside Gatherings and private events. The team has been working on this feature for some time, and it was originally slated to arrive this year. Unfortunately, In-game Tournaments are now on hold, so we wanted to take this opportunity to explain why.
We have a lot of plans to improve many features of Hearthstone, including its social experience, and In-game Tournaments are an important part of that. Tournaments can serve many different audiences, but the implementation we’d arrived at catered to a very specific audience of players. Instead of broadening Hearthstone with an exciting new way to play, it felt “tacked on”, and wasn’t integrating well into the larger Hearthstone experience.
Ultimately, we were forced to conclude that we needed to think about how and where we want to improve Hearthstone’s overall social experience before we can tackle adding a satisfying and robust implementation of In-game Tournaments that all players can enjoy. As developers, sometimes we have to make the difficult decision to step away from a design that isn’t working. We no longer felt that the end result would deliver on everyone’s expectations or the high standards we have for Hearthstone.
As a result, while we want to revisit In-Game Tournaments at a later date, the feature is on hold for the foreseeable future.
Fireside GatheringsIf you’ve never attended a Fireside Gathering, or organized one of your own, you’re missing one of the most fun ways to enjoy Hearthstone with friends! They’re more fun than ever—including private events in your own home—so drop by the Fireside Gatherings site and check it out.
Innkeepers are soon going to have even more options to spice up their events. It was already possible to experience Fireside Brawls (Tavern Brawls that can only be experienced at Fireside Gatherings), and now they’ll have a whole menu of Brawls to choose from to offer their attendees. In addition to the rotating monthly Fireside Brawl, Innkeepers will be able to select one additional Fireside Brawl from a curated library of brawls that their patrons will have access to during their Fireside Gathering.
EsportsThe 2018 HCT Fall Championship is coming mid-October! Watch it live on stream or live in-person at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles.
It’s going to be a thrilling event to witness, and if you can be there live, it gets even better! You’ll get to meet Hearthstone developers, enjoy pick-up tournaments on-site, snap up cool stuff like Hearthstone and Blizzard Arena merchandise and earn the Thrill of Victory card back just for attending!
You can get your tickets here. Get them fast before they sell out as seating is limited!
Welcome Bundle’s Roaring ReturnOkay, it never left, but it IS getting a majestic make-over. It will still offer 10 Classic card packs at a very low price (great time to try to pick up those new Classic Class cards!), but instead of a random Class Legendary card, it will now include one of six Legendary dragons from the Classic set: Alexstrasza, Deathwing, Malygos, Nozdormu, Onyxia, or Ysera!
There’s even better news! What could be better than dragons, you ask? Even if you’ve purchased the Welcome Bundle before, you’ll be able to grab this one too!
Upcoming Game Events
Hallow’s End
The Headless Horseman returns for another spooktacular Hallow’s End event starting October 17! Just like last year, the Tavern will be decked out in horrific fashion, the dual Class Arena returns, and you’ll face the Headless Horseman in the Tavern Brawl. In the spirit of the season, we’re tossing a few more treats in the bag this year, and we’ll let you know all about them as the Headless Horseman’s return draws nigh.
Hallow’s End also marks the arrival of a friendly new Paladin Hero who will be available for purchase as a part of a special deal!
And that’s what’s In the Works for Hearthstone! Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to hearing what you think, so let us know on social media, or in the comments below.
great more card designs with a random effect...3 out of 4 even. Such lazy uninspired design.
new cards :PogChamp:
50 rank :LUL:
i prefer arthas
what are these new cards? random much
i dont want onixya and nozdormu (deathwing is sick)
now i wont destroy noobs
dual class is SO fun...
25 more levels of Whizbang vs. Whizbang. (or losing every match as F2P if that's your cup of tea) Obviously worth pushing off tournament mode to do.
You dont get it? if you ever were Rank 25 you won't see the new Ranks ever!
So is there any kind of confirmation that the legendary dragon does consider your collection and it thus is not possible to get a duplicate?
As far as I remember, they only ever said that this is the case when opening packs
I would also like to know this. I have 5 out of those 6 (the missing one being Alex) so the bundle's value for me entirely hinges on that question.
Interesting.
From normal calm rank 50 chicken to rank 25 angry chicken.
Ic wut you did there blizzard.
Nice catch. Which reminds me they forgot to implement Wronchi's mecha'chiken spell thou.
I guess Blizzard's intentions are for Tournament mode to beat the record of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy for longest development time.
Welcome to the Jungle.
They have an Appetite for Destruction.
Don't Cry.
Don't start a civil war here
We should stop, we’re beating a Dead Horse.
Its almost there. Just 9 lives more to go.
All we need is just a little patience.
So instead of rotating in some previous cards from old sets they print a bunch of new 'random' creation garbage? Why?
When I saw the new Classic cards, my first thought was "Are you kidding me??!". Ok, the very first thought was, that I was excited about them filling the holes, but as usual, the offered solution is about as disappointing as the problem itself was. I did want them to fill the holes, but not this way. Same can be said about the improvements to the new player experience, but I won't get to that now.
I get, why they went with those uh... "designs". I really do. But this just shows the difference between the old Hearthstone development staff and the new one. And it just makes me sad.
Where the old Hearthstone team was interested in some random effects, they were relatively few and most if not all of them had some "idea" to them. All the random Priest cards gave you information about your opponents deck, and it was a neat idea, that you could surprise your opponents by using his cards against him. Stuff like Knife Juggler or Sylvanas Windrunner or Mind Control Tech or Misdirection were also random, yes, but you could partially influence them, or at the very worst had a 1 in 6 or so chance for a specific outcome. There are still good and bad outcomes, but you had them in front of your eyes. You could realistically speculate what would happen.
The new Hearthstone randomness is just "pulling stuff out of your ass". Get that 1 in 30+ mage spell, that 1 in 50+ random class card from your opponents class, that 1 in 80 random 2-drop, that 1 in 60 random legendary, or whatever. It's uninvolving, impossible to use strategically, and ultimately good for nothing else but Trolden-moments.
This is part of the philosophy behind new cards, and most importantly, those cards will never be "problematic". And that's probably the main reason why they get added to Classic now. Team5 is just playing it safe. They don't want to make Classic special, or interesting, or even worth having. They didn't want to think of basic tools that could be taken into different directions, that would be strong core cards to have their good and bad times throughout the years. Classic these days is just meant to be there, so that a set of Evergreen cards is around for new and old/returning players, but nobody is really supposed to use them.
You can debate whether Power Overwhelming, Ice Lance or Conceal were too strong. But they had a mechanic. The classes had identities. There was some thought put into it. It was meant to be interesting. This is just "eh, just go with more random shit". It's SO BORING. SO damn lazy, I can't even believe they actually went with it. And THIS is supposed to make up for the good, cheap cards that were class defining, deck defining, and always worth having?! THIS meme-shit is supposed to be part of the Classic set now?
This is just wrong. Classic does not deserve this. The actual "classic" Hearthstone was relatively simplistic, but still interesting. Classes had identities. Class cards were meant to be powerful and special and unique. This is just "random" in three different flavours. No purpose, no thought behind it, not even an attempt to make up for what is missing, just the cheapest filler material they could come up with in their very limited creativity.
Now, I know that there is another card that is not random; the new epic mage spell. And that one is... pretty much "new Hearthstone" as well. I mean, there is a bit of thought behind it, but not really. Mage's "freezing" theme is oftentimes the excuse for filler cards in every other set, and like most of them, this one is overcosted as well. A spell that can't deal face damage, because that's "not interactive", with a weak side effect. At 1 mana, I would say "maybe", but for 2, it's just crap. I don't say it should be a new Ice Block, or Ice Lance for that matter, but this is also about as inoffensive and unremarkable as possible, another Shatter. It's just there, so there is "something".