Blizzard just posted a huge developer insights blog, talking about class identity and announcing 10 new Classic Cards (of which 2 Basic) being added as replacements for previous Hall of Famed cards. You might be thinking, but we only needed 8 replacements? Well, additionally two new cards will be moving to the Hall of Fame: Vanish and Mind Blast.
Here are the 10 new cards being added to the Classic (and Basic) set in the next major update:
Quote from BlizzardAs Hearthstone expands and more patrons make their way to the tavern, it becomes increasingly important for us to revisit past designs to make sure we are building on the right foundation. Over the past 5 years of evolution and growth, we’ve learned a lot about what makes each of the classes in Hearthstone different and what unique experiences players should have when playing each of these classes. Headed into our next update, we’d like to take this opportunity to outline our current class identity philosophy and to share our thoughts on where we see each class in the future.
Establishing Class Identity
When defining a class’s identity, we’re primarily concerned with staying true to the following three guidelines: adhere to a class’s “fantasy”, define the things the class should excel at, and establish where the class should struggle.
When looking at the fantasy of each class we want to capture the emotion of the class through gameplay. That could mean charging headfirst into battle as a Warrior, wielding devastating magical spells as a Mage, or plotting the perfect combination of moves as a Rogue. Once we know what makes a class tick, we can make better decisions about what cards fit and empower that fantasy.
Establishing stronger class identities serves several purposes. Giving classes better defined characteristics allows us to have more freedom when creating new mechanics. We can push further into the extremes knowing that each class has downsides to balance out new power. It also enables more counter-play when there is a clearer understanding of a class’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, the knowledge that a Druid is weak against big minions lets you start planning your strategy from the start of the match, with little to no knowledge of your opponent’s specific deck.
Class Breakdown
Here’s a brief look into how we currently picture each of the classes:
- Strengths: These are the things that a class focuses on and excels at.
- Limitations: These are aspects that might show up a few times in a class, but they are very limited in power level and the number of cards.
- Weaknesses: These are aspects that a class either doesn’t have or struggles to achieve effectively.
Druid: Attuned with nature, Druids rely on the magic of the wild, massive beasts, and swarms of woodland creatures. Their toolbox allows them the versatility to pivot from defense to aggression. However, they have limited ways to directly clear out enemy minions.
- Strengths: Mana generation, giant minions, minion swarms, card draw, Beasts
- Weaknesses: Destroying big minions, board clear
Hunter: Hunters use their wit, ferocity, and an army of beasts fighting alongside them to destroy their competition. Although they lack in defense, their aggression allows them to push through before they need it. A well-timed Secret or Deathrattle can help them gain clutch advantages against their opponent.
- Strengths: Beasts, face damage, Secrets, Deathrattle
- Limitations: Card draw and generation, board clear, Taunt
- Weaknesses: Healing
Mage: Mages have mastered the arcane arts and use their wide range of spells to take on even the most aggressive of opponents. Their defensive cadre is limited—while a good Mage usually has a useful tool to deal with any situation, a great Mage conjures the right tool when they need it.
- Strengths: Spells (big and small), damage spells, Secrets, board clear
- Limitations: Minion swarms
- Weaknesses: Healing, Taunt, minion buffs
Paladin: Paladins are great champions who support their minions with buffs, healing, and divine shields; however, they are not afraid to get their hands dirty when the time comes. They are methodical, controlling the battlefield through debuffs and focused attacks instead of destructive spells. Strength and persistence are the keys to a Paladin’s victory.
- Strengths: Minion swarms, minion buffs and debuffs, healing, Divine Shield, Secrets
- Limitations: Cost reduction
- Weaknesses: Direct damage spells, destroying big minions
Priest: Priests balance holy light and shadow magic to defeat their opponents. They control a battle’s outcome using powerful spells with situational applications. While not the most aggressive, they are able to generate, copy, and use combinations of cards to create a powerful army.
- Strengths: Healing, narrow but powerful spells, copying, single-minion buffs, Deathrattle
- Limitations: Card draw
- Weaknesses: Face damage spells, multi-minion buffs
Rogue: Rogues hide in the shadows, planning for the perfect time to strike. They may be sneaky and nimble, but they lack strong defenses and regeneration, forcing them to act quickly to incapacitate an opponent. Their innate ability to generate, draw, and burgle cards allows them to build up and execute on many synergies.
- Strengths: Combo cards, destroying individual minions, card draw, weapons, Deathrattle
- Weaknesses: Taunt, healing, board clear, multi-minion buffs
Shaman: Shamans wield the power of the elements along with their trusty totems. While they may not be able to generate resources as quickly as a Mage, they are able to overload their Mana Crystals with lightning, allowing them to ramp up for a burst of power faster than other classes. Shamans are thus rewarded for planning a few turns ahead by tuning their mana curve. Shamans also have strong tools to adapt to many situations. Although they are not as versatile as a Druid’s Choose One cards, they are able to extend their capabilities in ways other classes might not be able to.
- Strengths: Minion swarms, damage spells, Totems, Elementals, Murlocs
- Weaknesses: Card draw, card generation
Warlock: Sometimes sacrifices need to be made for power, and when you get demons involved this is often the case. The Warlock is comfortable with this bond and can manage all their resources (including their Health) in order to defeat their opponent. Their inherent ability to draw cards—with a sacrifice—allows them to keep the power flowing.
- Strengths: Powerful sacrifice effects, card draw, minion swarms, disruption, Demons
- Weaknesses: Face damage spells, big healing
Warrior: Warriors thirst for the battlefield. Primarily a martial class, they incorporate Armor, weapons, and minions to destroy their opponents. The minions who fight alongside each Warrior tend to be bigger and stronger, and they employ Rush and Taunt to control the flow of battle.
- Strengths: Armor, weapons, Taunt, destroying minions
- Limitations: Card draw and generation
- Weaknesses: Face damage spells, multi-minion buffs, minion swarms
Neutral: Neutral cards allow classes to extend their strengths to reach a specific goal with their deck or to make up for some of their weaknesses. For example, a Paladin can add Neutral Murlocs to help them round out their deck, or a Hunter may use a Neutral card that gives them a small amount of healing so they can stay in the fight longer. These cards are generally lower in power level so a class can never completely overcome their weaknesses.
Addressing Identity Issues
As we’ve worked to define what each class should bring to the table, we’ve found several cards that don’t match our established class identities. We’ll continue to adjust the Basic and Classic sets as needed, but for this update we’ve decided to address the following two cards: Mind Blast and Vanish.
While we like Rogues’ knack for getting out of sticky situations with targeted removal, Vanish allows them to effectively clear an entire board. This negates one of their intended weaknesses, reduces our ability to design towards their strengths, and makes it much harder for players to strategize against a Rogue.
Mind Blast gives Priests the ability to inflict a large amount of direct Face damage. We want to limit the amount of damage that Priests are able to deal from their hand, which will allow us to make cards that better emphasize their strengths in controlling the game.
We’ll be replacing these two cards with effects that better speak to their classes’ core fantasies:
For Priests, we’ve added Radiance since we wanted to have a low-cost spell that could be used for tricky spell synergies that also provided a powerful baseline heal for the class. Plaguebringer provides Rogues with another way to destroy minions and further establishes this class as the masters of Poison.
Since these are Basic and Classic cards (and so not subject to set rotation), we want to be careful with their power level so that Hearthstone can continue to feel fresh with each new year. At the same time, we’d like to provide effects that are natural for their class and can be useful in the right circumstances.
Adding New Classic Cards
Over the past several years, we’ve taken steps toward further defining class identities and maintaining a healthy meta-game by moving some over-represented or design-limiting Classic cards into the Hall of Fame, and by adding new cards to this set whenever appropriate. For instance, in 2017 we moved both Ragnaros, the Firelord and Sylvanas Windrunner to the Hall of Fame, and we’ve more recently done the same for Divine Favor, Ice Block, and several other cards. Leading up to the release of Rastakhan’s Rumble in 2018, we also introduced some new cards to the Classic set, such as Pilfer, Icicle, and Tome of Intellect.
We’re always assessing the prominence and impact of cards from every set, including Basic and Classic, and will continue to make changes when we believe it makes for a healthier meta-game and a better experience for players. This may come in the form of additions to the Hall of Fame or with the introduction of new cards that we feel bring some fresh new options to players, while still being healthy for the game.
When moving Classic cards to the Hall of Fame, we always look to introduce new cards to this set in order to keep a healthy amount of easily-obtainable cards available to players in Standard format games. We’ve been working for quite a while on some new additions to the Classic set, and we feel that now is the perfect time to bring them into the game.
Here’s a look at the new cards that will be available in Classic card packs (and craftable with Arcane Dust) starting with the next major update:
Brightwing seems pretty decent! Though definitely only when running a dragon deck.
High Inquisitor Whitemane will be toyed around with a lot.
Arcane Devourer can definitely see experimentation.
IMO, Radiance is the weakest card. Everything else will be played around with. I'm honestly not going to underestimate any of it.
Is it just me or is "High Inquisitor Whitemane" just a worst Kel'Thuzad?
Eeeh, I wouldn't say worse.
She costs one less mana which makes her more usable than Kel'Thuzad and he rarely got more than one revive anyway considering his status as a removal magnet.
Well one of the greatest plus of Kel'Thuzad is that fact that it HAS to be removed. Its either you remove it or you can concede most of the time. So technically yeah, its worse Kel, but that fact it can be used a bit earlier is good anyway. Wild is wild for a reason, so comparing new cards to wild cards is not really relevant
Comparing cards with other cards already released in order to gauge their power regardless of the format seems quite relevant to me. Especially that I prefer the wild format.
Oh look another update and still no nerf to big priest, I'm surprised.
It's WILD there's no balance in wild it's a dumping ground for out of date sets.
This is the problem...
I agree but it's how they look at wild. If they actually cared they would make a new format that used rotating sets from previous editions and changed say every 6 months or something. that would give players a new pool of cards to play with that never saw interaction together at the same time without having all the OP/broken cards together at once.
That's interesting
What ????
For card generation Shaman has: Swampqueen Hagatha, Underbelly Angler, Haunting Visions, Earthen Might, Elementary Reaction, Sludge Slurper, Menacing Nimbus, Krag'wa, Hagatha DK, Witch's Apprentice
For card draw Shaman has: Mana Tide, Far Sight, Bogshaper, Storm Chaser, and Spirit of the Frog.
Shaman is one of the best classes in the game as far as card generation goes, especially spells. It is so good that Control Shaman often has hand size issues, while playing cards like Krag'wa or Hagatha DK.
Shaman's card draw is also very good, Aggro Shaman can draw through half of their deck with Spirit of the Frog and Shudderwock Shaman was a combo deck that heavily relied on card draw through Mana Tide and Far sight.
Before the year of raven, Shaman was one of the worst class to generate value... Then Hagatha arrived...
Keep in mind these are strength and weaknesses that apply to the BASE set. Expansions don't apply to this criteria. That's the whole point of an expansion to explore areas of a class that are weaker and create new and interesting decks. Applying that logic Card draw and generation is all but nonexistent in shaman's bas set of cards.
First of all Shaman has Mana Tide and Far Sight as card draw and they are pretty good. Secondly what's the point of class identity if they are going to completely destroy it in expansions ?
I don't mind few card draw or generation cards for Shaman, since it is their weakness, but here we have so much card draw and generation that Shamans are having hand size issues.
More mid-expansion updates? This is nothing but good for the game and shows the developers have listened to the majority of it’s player base. Good things are to come.
This is not good but pointless. It is pointless to add new cards to the game if they suck so much. The idea is good but the result will be pointless. Except to destroy Pogo Rogue.
This batch may be a little underwhelming but it shows us that the developers are planning on making regular changes in between expansions. This is healthy for the game, people often complain that Hearthstone is stale.
These particular changes may be pointless but the direction it shows the developers are taking the game is not.
Ahh i see we have another Blizzard internal play tester commenting on how bad the cards are because he spent months evaluating them behind closed doors. I guess design didn't want to listen to his superior knowledge through 100's of hours of carefully testing all of these cards. I mean how could he be wrong if knows it all and solved it all?
BTW: Pogo Rogue doesn't need vanish to play the deck. It was played in that deck as a long term value/board control card that complimented the hopper on occasion. The card in general though is way to powerful and it's been on their radar for some time for good reason.
I see only another frustrated person, sorry.
They forgot to put Dr. Boom, Mad Genius in hall of fame and to nerf Omega assembly, shield slam and Dyn-o-matic.