A new page in the history of the game. When Expansions Go Wild

The tavern is about to face a life-changing change! We are proud to announce the introduction of different game formats to Hearthstone! We hope they will appeal to both beginners and veterans. Thanks to standard format Hearthstone will remain exciting and accessible for years to come, while in freestyle everything you already know about the game and what you love about it will be preserved.

new standard

The Standard format will allow players to fight in Play Mode using only the latest Hearthstone cards. You can create decks in this format only from the basic and classic sets of cards (you will always have them), as well as from those that appeared in the game in the current and previous calendar years. For the duel, we will select opponents for you who have decks built according to the same standard format.

The standard format will allow Hearthstone to sparkle with new colors.

• It will make the metagame more dynamic and balanced.
• The set limit will make each card more meaningful!
• Developers will have more freedom when creating new maps.
• It will be easier for beginners to join the game as they won't have to collect a lot of cards.

The Standard format is only for Friendly Duels, Ranked Play, and Casual, not Arena, Solo, and Adventure.

Free - will!

Wild is just a new name for the version of the game you're used to and where anything can happen. While Standard focuses on newly released maps and strives to balance the latest gameplay, Wild format allows you to have a lot of fun in the conditions you are already familiar with. Of course, over time and as new cards are added, it will become more and more unpredictable!

The gameplay itself in this format will not undergo any changes: you, as always, will be able to complete tasks, earn gold, fight for a rating, win card backs, strive for the Legend rank and build wild decks from your entire collection of cards. If you decide to use a wild deck in a ranked or regular game, then a player with a wild format deck will also become your opponent.

Forward to the legend!

With the introduction of the standard format, you will be able to choose which of the two formats to participate in ranked games. In each you will have a different rank, and therefore you may well get the "Legend" in both wild and standard formats. However, you will receive a reward at the end of the season for reaching the highest rank in one of the modes. So choose which one you like best!

Time for a change

The upcoming introduction of formats to the game is a great opportunity to weigh and evaluate what Hearthstone is at this stage. While we're usually quite reticent about changing cards to improve balance (and will continue to do so in the future), next year is a great opportunity for us to re-evaluate a number of core and classic cards (including class cards) and add to them description of a number of long-awaited amendments.

We'll share more information about which cards will be changed and why closer to Standard's release.

More deck space!

Yes, you finally have more deck space! We have prepared a small gift that you will receive shortly before the introduction of the standard format into the game: if you unlock all nine heroes, then your collection will be replenished with nine additional deck slots, which means you will have eighteen of them in total!

Release the Kraken!

Standard is coming to Hearthstone this spring! When that big day arrives, you'll be able to build standard decks from the following sets:

• Base
• Classical
• Black Mountain
• big tournament
• League of Explorers
• New addition (spring 2016)

Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins & Gnomes Packs will not be able to use in standard format. Every year after the release of the first expansion, card sets released before the previous year will be excluded from the standard format.

The standard format will have an annual cycle. The symbol of each new year in Hearthstone will be one of the zodiac constellations shining in the night sky of Azeroth. The appearance of a new constellation above the horizon heralds the beginning of the year and is accompanied by noisy fun and jubilation wherever Hearthstone is played!

The first standard year will be named the year of the Kraken so get ready for a sea of ​​events!

For free bread

This year, adventures and expansion packs that are not included in the standard format, namely Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins and Gnomes, will be removed from the store. If you still need cards from these sets (for Wild or Collection), you can craft them with Arcane Dust - even adventure cards that weren't possible before. Speaking of adventures, if you purchased at least the first wing from an adventure before it went out of rotation, you can still buy the rest of the wings and complete the walkthrough.

Not long left!

The developers have worked hard on the standard format and are eager to see how Hearthstone will be transformed with it, the gameplay will come to life, and add-ons will begin to play a more significant role. In addition, this innovation will not be slow to affect the competitive element of the game, because it is in the standard format that the Hearthstone Championship Tour will be held! All in all, we believe that the standard format will be the quintessence of all that Hearthstone has to offer.

We hope you share our enthusiasm and look forward to your feedback.

Without a doubt, you have questions, and therefore the developers offer you a section "Questions and Answers". If something is still unclear to you, they are always ready to help!

As you know, about a year ago, card sets in Hearthstone were divided into 2 formats - Wild and Standard. Add-ons that have been in the game for a certain period of time are sent to the Wild format. This is to ensure that the game's meta is constantly changing without clogging the game with thousands of maps from multiple expansions. Plus, players have to come up with new types of decks and playstyles using a more limited set of cards.

So, the basic rules for the transition of additions to the Wild format:

• Sets are changed once a year;
• Basic and classic cards are always part of the Standard format, and do not participate in transitions;
• The standard format is limited to add-ons that have appeared in the game no more than two years ago;
• The time of the change of the Standard coincides with the release of the first expansion in the new calendar year;
• The first addition of the new year also has the name of the new year according to the Hearthstone horoscope.

Rotation history in Hearthstone

Year of the Kraken

Launched with the release of the Whispers of the Old Gods add-on.

The Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins & Dwarves expansion cards have moved to Wild.

Promo cards and reward cards have also gone to Wild.

Year of the Mammoth

Started along with the release of the Expedition to Un'Goro add-on.

Additions "Black Mountain", "Grand Tournament", "League of Explorers" moved to the Wild format.

Some cards from the Core and Classic sets have made their way into the Wild Hall of Fame.

Year 2018 (Name not yet known)

Will start with the release of the new 2018 expansion.

Whispers of the Old Gods, Party in Karazhan, and Mean City of Gadgetzan will move to Wild.

It is possible that some of the other cards will also move to Wild, but there has been no information about this yet.

Standard format will include Classic, Basic, Expedition to Un'Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne, Kobolds and Catacombs, Name of the first expansion of 2018 expansions.

Popular cards that will leave next year (Goodbye )

Below are some of them

The authors of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft decided to divide the gameplay into two formats: standard and free. With the introduction of the standard version, the company will solve the problem of "unfair" games between newcomers and long-livers of the World of Warcraft. In the free passage, all the Hearthstone "chips" beloved by the players will remain.

OTHER STANDARDS, OTHER DECKS

What changes have the developers prepared? In the standard life mode, gamers will only be able to fight with the help of relatively new maps. The decks are made up of Classic, Basic, and sets that have appeared over the course of this and last year. To fight you will find an opponent with a deck similar to yours. That is, there will not be big differences and superiority in strength.

The new format is designed to create a more fair and balanced gameplay - veterans and beginners will play approximately the same cards. Due to the set limit, the value of each available card will increase. The developers themselves hope that the planned standard will somewhat “untie” their hands when creating new instances and images. The newly created Standard Hearthstone format will be available in Ranked Play, Friendly Adventures and is a good place to learn the rules.

FREEDOM AND UNPREDICTABILITY!

The free version of the passage is just the old format, but with a new name. This is all the same unpredictability, prankism and freedom of action for which players love Hearthstone so much: . There will no longer be an emphasis on balance and balance in fights - anything can happen. Free play will allow you to have a killer time in the arena, single player and adventure mode. Over time, the player will have more and more cards, which will make the format even more unpredictable and "non-linear".

Spring updates practically do not affect the free passage. Players can continue to rank, build decks, complete quests, win gold and card backs. As before, Legend status will be available to players, which will still be difficult to achieve. If you want to go into the regular and rating format of the game, you will also be matched with an opponent with a free deck.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RATING?

In ranked games, you can participate in one of the formats or both at once. It will be enough for the player to choose the one, the passage of which is easier for him. In each format, the participants will have a separate rank, so you can get the “Legend” both there and there. Naturally, some will not be able to get it anywhere! But in any case, the reward at the end of the season will be one and it will be determined by the best results in one of the modes.

WAITING FOR CHANGE!

The developers of Hearthstone with the introduction of spring changes want to evaluate all the baggage that the game carries. In 2016, a certain number of cards will be re-evaluated, and some amendments will be made to their descriptions. The authors of the game are in no hurry to make changes to the sets for the sake of balance, and honestly admitted that they are not going to do this in the future. But the new format forces us to reconsider the composition of the classic (including class cards) and core sets. It seems that the developers have not yet decided which maps will be changed and for what reason. We'll have to wait for the updates!

MORE CARD SPACE!

Players will also receive an unexpected "bun" - when opening all nine pieces of heroes, the gamer will be presented with the same number of new places for decks. That is, now you will have 18 of them. It is convenient, visual, yes, and just beautiful! Perfectionists, rejoice, now everything will lie in its place.

YEAR OF THE KRAKEN ON THE WARKRAFT CALENDAR

New standard decks will be available in the following decks: Classic, Core, Grand Tournament, Explorers League, Blackrock Mountain, and a new one coming out this spring that has yet to be named. The Goblins & Gnomes and Curse of Naxxramas collections are too old to be usable in the new standard game format. Year after year sets will come and go ㅡ that's life, that's normal!

The standard mode will be “attached” to its own annual cycle. The symbol of the period will be the constellation that has risen above the land of Azeroth. The departure of the old constellation and the appearance of a new one in the sky predict the beginning of the year. The world of Hearthstone will celebrate the holiday with buzz, fun, and the release of new card sets. A new gaming "era" will soon open the year of the Kraken.

RISE FROM SECURITY DUST

The authors will soon remove the outdated adventures "Goblins and Gnomes" and "Curse of Naxxramas" from the Hearthstone store, as they will not be included in the standard mode anyway. But players for collection or free time in the worlds of Warcraft can still have time to collect adventure cards or buy wings that allow them to complete the passage. If you have a part of the item, you can definitely get the rest, don't be discouraged! Gamers are now given the ability to create their desired instances of Arcane Dust, including those that could not be created prior to the release of the update.

SUMMARY IN A PAIR OF OFFERS FROM DEVELOPERS:

Hearthstone is trying to improve, revitalize and diversify the game by introducing a "fair" format for beginners and leaving a free mode for all adventurers. With each outdated set and remote adventure, players' collections will be replenished with rare and hard-to-find cards. As a result, wild decks will include both old and new sets. Spectacular and exciting Hearthstone Championship Tour will be held on the standard.

If something is not clear to you and you are afraid to start, you can always see how pro-gamers operate in the world of Hearthstone. For example, Jason Somerville's streams will help a beginner get comfortable. By the way, you can ask the players your questions, they are happy to chat! In the meantime, listen to the designer's thoughts on the new format:

Hello dear readers!

2017 brings a lot of cool things to Hearthstone like new content, co-op modes with friends, improvements and more!

Plans for the Year of the Mammoth in Hearthstone

2017 marks the end of the Year of the Kraken and the start of a new Hearthstone year. year of the mammoth. With the beginning of each new year in Hearthstone, standard format update. Officially year of the mammoth kick off with the release of the first major expansion of 2017, while maps The Grand Tournament and Blackrock Mountain and Explorers League DLCs will go to freeform.

Card Set Rotation Coming Soon!

Last year we introduced two new ways to play Hearthstone: standard And free.

IN standard format players can only use basic and classic cards, as well as those that have been added to the game recently. This keeps the game fun and accessible as new card packs are released. The main task standard format- keep the interest in Hearthstone and make it easier for beginners to learn the basics of the game. Thanks to him, you do not need a lot of cards to create an effective deck. standard format also gives developers more freedom in terms of creating new maps.

However, during year of the kraken it happened that some classic cards did not fit well with our concept. When any cards are added to decks too often and considered "must have", it limits the variety of options available to players. Decks become monotonous, potentially interesting ideas for using certain cards fade into the background, and gameplay feels less dynamic. Cards in Hearthstone should be used for their intended purpose, depending on what type of deck the player is trying to build.

Therefore, in order to achieve our goal, we will add a new element to Hearthstone - "Hall of Fame". IN "Hall of Fame" will include cards from basic and classic sets, removed from the standard format . They can still be used in freeform . The cards we place in the Hall of Fame will also include reward cards..

Below is information about which cards will be in the Hall of Fame during year of the mammoth.

Neutral cards

Developer Comment: The first three of the six cards that will soon be available only in Wild are neutral cards that are found in a large number of decks and do not allow new cards to reach their full potential. This is more true for cards with a cost of 5 units. mana or more, since usually players add only a few of these cards to the deck.

Azure Dragon - a powerful neutral card that turned out to be too versatile and became one of the most popular cards in the game. We want players to choose from multiple useful minions for the same price, rather than adding Azure Drake automatically to their decks.

Like the Azure Dragon Sylvanas Windrunner is one of the best cards for 6 units. mana. In addition, she has the most powerful death rattle in the game - the priest card "Mind Control", for example, costs 10 units. mana. In the future, we are going to add powerful new combos based on effects like Deathrattle to the game, and in combination with Sylvanas, they will be too powerful.

Ragnaros often used in decks designed for both control and a combination of aggression and control. In some cases, when decks are designed for an aggressive playstyle, this card can be seen even at the end of the match. This card is for 8 units. mana is very powerful and immediately brings significant benefits, as a result of which it was added to decks without much thought. When evaluating other cards of the same value, players only tried to understand how they were inferior or superior to Ragnaros, without thinking about what is best for this or that type of deck. Dozens of cards worth from seven to nine units. mana was almost not used, since the choice was simple for the players - they took Ragnaros, while in some decks only one expensive card is required.

class cards

Overwhelming Power allows you to extremely effectively trade creatures or deal high damage, spending only 1 unit. mana. We decided to move this card to Wild, as otherwise players would be able to deal huge damage and use too powerful combos. Many classic cards are included in Warlock decks that aren't affected as much by new additions. The changes we have prepared will allow us to increase the variety of cards in Warlock decks over time.

The frost mage deck has been around for over three years now and is pretty fun to play with. However, we would like to see more diverse decks used by mages with each new expansion. Transfer ice spear Wild Mode will increase deck variety in Standard Mode, while still being very effective in Wild Mode. ice spear also limited the scope of our designers' imagination, as it prevented us from adding powerful spells to the game that deal damage or allow you to create copies of cards. Also, Ice Lance has a lot of damage, and therefore this card is often included in many combos that deal 30 damage. damage per turn.

The stealth mechanic is a very powerful weapon, and it can be very difficult to counter it at times (this is especially noticeable when playing for certain classes). In Hearthstone, for every action there must be a reaction, but disguise with each turn makes it more difficult to deal with the creatures of the rogue. We considered going Wild to Auctioneer Goblin, but ended up choosing a map disguise, as the successful use of Auctioneer requires an extremely high level of skill. We believe that as a result of the proposed change, the efficiency Goblin Auctioneer will decrease, and the games that use this card will become more intense.

Our plan was to give players a temporary opportunity to disenchant classic cards that fell into Hall of Fame, at full price. But we don't want you to rush to spray all the great cards just because they got into the Hall of Fame, because it could undermine the foundations of the wild format, which we also do not forget.

Therefore, we decided: we will give you dust just like that, but let the cards remain!

It will be like this: we will refund you the full cost for the maximum number of standard Hall of Fame cards that you could use in your deck (assuming that you can have regular and gold versions of cards). That is, if you have at least one Golden Ragnaros, you will receive 3200 Arcane Dust! Your Arcane Dust will be replenished automatically when the Year of the Mammoth begins when you log into the game.

Adventures in additions

Remembering the past, I would like to say that we have learned a lot during the year of the Kraken. One of the areas we're going to be focusing on in the Year of the Mammoth is expanding the ability to create new decks and increasing the variety of decks in Hearthstone. In order to achieve this goal and provide players with a greater experience, we will change the schedule for the release of expansions.

Previously, additions and adventures alternated. At the beginning of the Year of the Mammoth, we released a major expansion containing approximately 130 new cards, then added 45 more cards in the middle of the year, and finally, at the end of the year, we released another full-fledged expansion.

At the beginning year of the mammoth we are planning to release an expansion containing approximately 130 new cards. In the middle and at the end of the year we will also release two more expansions, each of which will include approximately 130 cards.

Why change something?

At its core, adventures are colorful and thematically rich stories dedicated to the Hearthstone universe. Imagine that you have the opportunity to learn about the history of each of the card sets in the same way. For example, the story of the Jade Lotus gang can be framed in the form of several skirmishes of gangs of Gadgetzan. This would be a great addition to the main storyline of Mean City Gadgetzan. It is this idea that we would like to develop in the future. Imagine what would happen if you combined the cool missions from the adventures and the massive card sets from the expansions!

You will be able to expand your collection by purchasing expansion card packs in the same way as before. Additionally, in addition to expansions, we will be releasing free single player themed side missions that will not only provide interesting challenges, but will also expand the story of the game.

We would like to continue to be flexible and optimize the release of new content so that players can enjoy the game as much as possible. The first step in this direction will be the second expansion of 2017, and we plan to gradually develop this idea. Details about the new form of release of materials for the game we will publish later.

Oh, this unpredictable free format!

Wild will be even more fun to play with cards from The Grand Tournament, Blackrock Mountain, and Explorers League adventures! Players who prefer to play Wild will definitely find out that we plan to further develop it in 2017.

Sometime after the release of the next expansion, we plan to host a Heroic Brawl using Wild. With a plethora of cards at your disposal, even the most dedicated and experienced players and deck builders will have to work hard.

We also plan to increase the number of official Hearthstone Wild tournaments hosted by third parties and fans of the game with the support of Blizzard. Whether you're playing Hearthstone matches in Wild or Standard, we want all of the different formats and game modes to be truly fun for our community. We hope that we will be able to achieve our goal by supporting tournaments in both formats.

We're thrilled that Hearthstone matches using Wild are growing at such a fast pace. We will try to think of other ways we can support them in the future.

Gather at the Hearthstone Café

For those who don't know, Hearthstone Café (aka Fireside Gathering) is a great way to meet other people who are into Hearthstone as much as you are. These events are very important to us, and so during the Year of the Mammoth we are going to expand the support program for Hearthstone Café and add new features to the game that are designed specifically for use in these types of formats. We'll be posting fresh details on Hearthstone Café and Fireside Gatherings shortly before the release of the first major expansion of the year. You still have time to become a tavern owner!

Let's celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Mammoth together!

But that's not all we wanted to tell you about the Year of the Mammoth! For the release of the new expansion, we have prepared a lot of interesting things, including daily login rewards. Promotion time is limited! You can get Arcane Dust, Gold, and Card Packs from the expansion. In addition, a number of surprises await you in the weeks leading up to the expansion's release. .

Guardian Reward

Login rewards aren't everything! The players will have and other reasons to celebrate the coming of the Year of the Mammoth: a new hero will appear in the Hearthstone Tavern!

New rogue hero Maiev Shadowsong, left the veil of dusk to replenish your collection. For over 10,000 years, she had to endure Illidan's taunting that she was "not ready". Let the Burning Legion tremble! Adding Maiev to the collection will be much easier than biting your elbow. To add Maiev to your collection, you only need to complete ten normal or standard ranked matches after the release of the expansion.

Conclusion

Hearthstone has a lot of amazing things coming in 2017! We hope you enjoyed our short review. See you at the tavern!

Editorial Manacost

It looks like you still have some questions about the Hall of Fame and getting Dust. Let's try to clear everything up.

● First, the 6 cards that go to the Hall of Fame can be disenchanted if you don't need them. Blizzard is giving dust because they want you to just get it without getting rid of the cards. Cares about your collectible feelings. See 1st screenshot.
● Secondly, if you have a regular Ragnaros and a gold Ragnaros, then when the Year of the Mammoth comes, you will receive dust ONLY for gold. See 2nd screenshot.
● Thirdly, you will only get dust for the number of cards that can be placed in the deck. That is, it makes no sense to craft 10 Azure Dragons or 5 Ragnaros. You will only receive dust for ONE copy of the legendary card and for TWO copies of non-legendary cards. In this case, gold cards are in priority (see the previous paragraph).
● Fourth, when these cards become available only in Wild Mode, you can still craft them.

In theory, these are all the main points that relate to obtaining dust for cards from the Hall of Fame. If you have any other questions about this, ask in this thread Vkontakte vk.com/manacost?w=wall-66834402_986561