Hearthstone is about to receive its first expansion of the new season, and that means a changeover in Standard format play marked by a new year. This will be the Year of the Hydra, and Blizzard has announced some big changes to the Core Set. And this year’s Core Set will be bigger than before, and include the legendary treasure-hunting idiot, Reno Jackson. The rest of the League of Explorers will be there too, but folks, Reno! Jackson!
When the Year of the Hydra launches on April 12 with the Voyage to the Sunken City expansion, the Core Set will grow to a whopping 250 cards–57 being rotated out and 72 others rotated in, making the set 15 cards larger than last year. That date will also cycle out Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, to make room for the new year of content.
The most significant inclusion in the new year is the return of the League of Explorers, the fan-favorite breakout characters who were also introduced in an adventure of the same name. Those cards had huge effects that will return for this year’s: Brann’s battlecry-doubling effect, Sir Finley’s hero power switching, Elise’s card-generating, and of course, Reno’s full heal. Other notable returns include Wild Pyromancer and Acolyte of Pain for a powerful card draw combo, and the Druid legendary Fandral Staghelm.
Gallery
Blizzard also promised that as part of this new year of content, it will be focused on “sustainability and optimization.” That means quality-of-life improvements like better client stability and in-game reporting, as well as just nice-to-have features like the ability to equip a random hero skin. With hero skins getting more and more expansive you may want to mix it up.
The Core Set started last year as a way to invite new players into Hearthstone, as well as better manage balance for the year of content. Rather than a single standard pool of cards that remain in circulation forever, Blizzard begins every new year of content by picking cards from all previous Hearthstone expansions to be included in this year’s Core Set. That set is available for free to all players whether the cards are part of your permanent collection or not, as it’s meant to be the foundation for this year’s new expansions.
Voyage to the Sunken City launches on April 12. The expansion has an underwater theme and introduces a new Naga minion type, as well as the keywords Colossal for huge minions that span multiple cards and Dredge for surfacing cards from the bottom of your deck. Pre-orders bundles are available now, and once the expansion launches there will be a new Tavern Pass reward track.
Source: Gamespot
