We just rang in the Chinese New Year earlier this month, declaring it the Year of the Dog. But Azeroth has its own calendar, and Activision Blizzard has declared 2018 the Year of the Raven for Hearthstone.
The Year of the Raven, which begins today, brings several new changes and updates to the digital collectible card game. The first is the usual set rotation. Sets that were released two years ago (2016) will move out of Standard play and into Wild: Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan, and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. This will keep only the most recently released sets, which released last year, in Standard play.
Standard format will include the following sets:
- Basic
- Classic
- Journey to Un’Goro
- Knights of the Frozen Throne
- Kobolds & Catacombs
- Unannounced 2018 Expansions
As in previous years, there will be three major expansions to Hearthstone in 2018. Blizzard has revealed that each set will contain over 130 new cards as well as new single-player content. The first expansion typically arrives in April.
A few cards within the Classic set are being retired, er, inducted into the Hall of Fame. Basically they’re being moved from Standard to Wild for balance reasons:
- Ice Block
- Coldlight Oracle
- Molten Giant
A new Warcraft hero has been added this year. The centaur dryad Lunara can be earned as an alternate druid hero by winning 10 games in the updated Standard format (Ranked or Casual).
And finally, daily quests have been given a sizable boost, lowering requirements and raising gold rewards. The Class Victory quest once required two wins with one or two classes, with a 40 gold payout. Now you only need one win to earn 50 gold.
Hearthstone is rated T for Teen, and available on PC (Battle.net) and mobile devices.
