Hearthstone's "Year of The Mammoth" Removes 6 Classic Cards From Standard

[Steven Bogos]

Hearthstone's "Year of The Mammoth" Removes 6 Classic Cards From Standard

Six cards from the game's "classic" set will be retired from the game's Standard format when the Year of The Mammoth begins.

Last year, Blizzard completely shook up the way we play Hearthstone by introducing the Standard and Wild formats [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166244-Hearthstone-Introduces-New-Standard-And-Wild-Play-Formats#&gid=gallery_5588&pid=1]. The first year of Standard was dubbed the "Year of The Kraken," and only allowed players to play with sets released in 2016, and the game's classic set. Now that 2017 is upon us, the second year of standard play, the "Year of the Mammoth" is about to start, and its bringing with it some big changes. Chief among them is the removal of a few, "problematic" Classic cards from the format all together, as well as the removal of the "Adventure"-style expansion.

"To help meet our goals, certain cards from the Classic set will become exclusive to the Wild format. These cards will be added to the new Hall of Fame set, which will also include cards that are currently in the Reward set," wrote Blizzard. The cards that are being retired, and the reasoning behind the decisions, are as follows:

Azure Drake
Azure Drake is a strong Neutral card that ended up being a bit too versatile, and thus became one of the most played cards in the game. There should be more five drop options for players, rather than considering Azure Drake an auto-include.

Sylvanas Windrunner
Similar to Azure Drake, it's hard to see a card at the six mana cost out-value Sylvanas. In addition, Sylvanas has the most powerful Deathrattle effect in the game-as a comparison, the Priest card Mind Control costs 10 mana. We have exciting Deathrattle build-arounds coming soon, and in combination with Sylvanas, they would be too powerful for Standard.

Ragnaros the Firelord
Ragnaros is heavily played in both control and mid-range decks and even shows up as a finisher in certain types of aggro decks. His high immediate value and strength at the eight mana cost made the decision during deck-building, "Is this eight mana minion better than Ragnaros?" rather than, "Is this eight mana minion the best choice for my deck type?" Dozens of cards in the seven to nine mana range never saw play because Ragnaros was always the easy choice in that range, and some decks only want to run one high cost card.

Power Overwhelming
Power Overwhelming allows for extremely mana-efficient minion trades or high spikes of damage for only one mana. Keeping this card exclusive to Wild will prevent some crazy combinations and spike damage. Warlock decks also tend to use lots of Classic cards, so the decks changes less when new expansions release. This change will help increase the variety of cards in Warlock decks over time.

Ice Lance
Freeze Mage is a fun deck that has been around for over three years now, and we'd like to see more variety with Mage decks after each major release. This move allows Freeze Mage to continue existing in Wild, while creating more variety in Standard. Ice Lance also prevented us from making powerful Spell Damage cards and designs that allowed you to duplicate your cards. Ice Lance was also a very high burst damage card, sometimes being a key component of 30 damage combos.

Conceal
Stealth is a very powerful mechanic, and can also be very frustrating to play against-more for some classes than others. Hearthstone should ultimately be a game of plays and counter plays, and Conceal makes it increasingly more difficult for other classes to interact with Rogue minions as time goes on. We considered promoting Gadgetzan Auctioneer to Wild instead, but in the end we decided to move Conceal because Auctioneer has proven to be one of the most skill testing cards in the game. We think the power level of Auctioneer decreases with this change, and games where Auctioneer is played will be a bit more interactive.

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This time around, instead of being able to disenchant these cards for full dust value, Blizzard is instead just going to give out free dust for every card being added to the "Hall of Fame" that you have in your collection (up to the maximum allowed in a deck).

The second big change that the Year of The Mammoth brings is the removal of the smaller "Adventure" expansions, such as One Night in Karazhan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/one%20night%20in%20karazhan?os=one+night+in+karazhan]. Instead, all three expansions released in 2017 will be fully-fledged 130-card expansions. If you're bummed about missing out on the cool singleplayer content that Adventure expansions bring, Blizzard has stated that each one of the new expansions will feature some sort of singleplayer story.

You can read more about the changes on Blizzard's official blog [http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20475356/a-year-of-mammoth-proportions-2-16-2017].



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[09philj]

I would have been fine with Adventures staying if they'd slashed the prices. 700 gold per wing just wasn't good enough value. At least now getting cards will be easier.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

Wow the dust refund Is extremely generous, I have to give major props to blizzard for that one.

I'm going to miss the adventures. I hope what they replace it with will be just as entertaining.

 

[Erttheking]

Well that's gonna fuck with quite a few decks. Although it will be nice to not be iced to death by mages as much. So question, the cards that came with expansions, how are people going to get those when the adventures are gone? Will they be slipped into a pack somewhere or will crafting be the only way, like what they did with the Goblins and Gnomes cards?

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

Well that's gonna fuck with quite a few decks. Although it will be nice to not be iced to death by mages as much. So question, the cards that came with expansions, how are people going to get those when the adventures are gone? Will they be slipped into a pack somewhere or will crafting be the only way, like what they did with the Goblins and Gnomes cards?

The only way to get them is by crafting them, I wish they just gave them out for free because it truly sucks people won't be able to play these adventures.

 

[Erttheking]

Well that's gonna fuck with quite a few decks. Although it will be nice to not be iced to death by mages as much. So question, the cards that came with expansions, how are people going to get those when the adventures are gone? Will they be slipped into a pack somewhere or will crafting be the only way, like what they did with the Goblins and Gnomes cards?

The only way to get them is by crafting them, I wish they just gave them out for free because it truly sucks people won't be able to play these adventures.

Yeah. I'm just gonna miss them because they were pretty fun, particularly ones like the final battle on Blacktop Mountain, or the chess battle. I mean pretty much everyone who wanted to get them probably has them by now, and all of those cards are probably going to be cycled out of standard mode real soon (which probably means my dragon decks will need major restructuring) but it still sucks as some people would probably want to screw around with them in Wild.

 

[Comic Sans]

I'm quite glad the Adventures are being removed. I was always irked by their addition. I used to enjoy casually playing Hearthstone, and the Adventures threw a wrench in any attempt to build a competitive deck without throwing an extortion amount of money or grinding for ages not opening any card packs. The adventures were sometimes interesting but the cost for them was way too high, both money and gold. But without some of the cards they had, you were gimped in deck strength. Trying to imagine making a deck in the Naxramus era without Sludge Belcher or Loetheb sends shivers down my spine, as some easy examples. It might have been acceptable if you could pay less for just the cards, or get the cards with Dust, but as it stood the system was an annoying ripoff that essentially put a mandatory paywall in for casual players.

 

[Mahorfeus]

On one hand, I'm a little upset that Classic is getting touched. I spent money on it specifically because the set's cards would never rotate out; now I won't be able to use my Ragnaros or Azure Drakes outside of Wild. But the full dust refund is very, very generous.

I think the reasons behind these cards' removal is pretty solid though. Especially for Conceal - staring down a stealthed 16/16 Edwin Vancleef/Questing Adventurer does not exactly make for a fun time.

That said, with all the dust, I guess I can finally put together a deck that is actually decent. I already have Patches, should I just join the Dark Side?

 

[Tiamattt]

I'm quite glad the Adventures are being removed. I was always irked by their addition. I used to enjoy casually playing Hearthstone, and the Adventures threw a wrench in any attempt to build a competitive deck without throwing an extortion amount of money or grinding for ages not opening any card packs. The adventures were sometimes interesting but the cost for them was way too high, both money and gold. But without some of the cards they had, you were gimped in deck strength. Trying to imagine making a deck in the Naxramus era without Sludge Belcher or Loetheb sends shivers down my spine, as some easy examples. It might have been acceptable if you could pay less for just the cards, or get the cards with Dust, but as it stood the system was an annoying ripoff that essentially put a mandatory paywall in for casual players.

I actually thought they were great for casual players. Yes the gold cost was high but for the amount you pay for a full adventure you'd average only 1 random legendary that you may or not want from packs along with random epics/rares/commons of variable quality, compared to adventures where you'd know exactly what you were getting and in higher quantities. Like the last adventure gave us 5 legendaries and some pretty great rares/commons, one so good that it's getting nerfed soon. Money wise it's also a better bargain since $20(the price of the last adventure) would only get you 15 packs and it's very possible you wouldn't even get one legendary from it. For the most part I think casual players were better off trying to get adventures for consistent good cards over playing the pack slot machine where they could very well get nothing but dust, and as a now mostly casual player I'm sad to see them go since they would most likely be replaced with another set where it's much, much harder for casual players to get what they want compared to a adventure.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

*reads Hearthstone news*

"Sweet! They're destroying Small-Time Buccaneer and Spirit Claws! I might start seeing some more variety on the ladder!"

*reads more Hearthstone news*

"Well...shit."

I'm not sure Blizzard understands that having such powerful cards in Classic is a good thing. I can understand the removal of Conceal, after all; staring certain death in the face without any way to deal with it is much more demoralizing than just getting blown up straight from your hand. Sylvanas is also way too powerful for a 6 drop; I don't think she should be removed, but making her more expensive might have done the trick.

But then, Blizzard's irrational hatred for combo decks is showing through once again. Losing Power Overwhelming is a devastating blow to Warlock; without it, they lose a lot of burst damage potential that a lot of their decks relied upon. Losing Ice Lance means that Freeze Mage is finally dead. And getting rid of many of the cards that I crafted simply because I knew they would always be there is...well, fucking frustrating. No Rags, no Azure Drakes, no Sylvanas.

This wasn't even a particularly elegant solution to these problems. The only reason cards like Azure Drake and Ragnaros were so dominant at their mana cost was because Blizzard never gave them any decent competition. It's the same problem they had with Dr. Boom, and their solution is the same: relegate them to Wild instead of designing new cards that could compete with them.

 

[ecoho]

so I just keep playing wild then right? good to know

 

[RedDeadFred]

I like that they're doing more cards with expansions now.

Doubt I'll come back to the game unless there's a major shift in Blizzard's design philosophy (removing combos and stupidly powerful 1-drops). I left shortly after Old Gods and it seems to have only gotten worse.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Well I hope whatever "single-player content" they replace Adventures with is as good. I loved the adventures.

 

[shrekfan246]

Boy, I'm super glad I just crafted Sylvanas a month or two ago, and that Rag was the next card I was working toward.

And Power Overwhelming? Really?

Like, I get wanting to cripple the stupid Leeroy burst since they've been trying to kill that for every class since Day 1 basically, but you already are shitting all over Warlocks every expansion with how garbage their cards and synergy is. Does anybody play anything except Zoolock, Handlock, or Renolock (except people who sacrifice the efficiency of a deck for a gimmick, like me)? And Renolock is going to be dead as soon as League of Explorers is phased out (which will also kill the already-sporadic use of Krul the Unshackled, hilarious as he is).

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

You know what card they SHOULD have relegated to Wild?

Gadgetzan Auctioneer.

 

[MortalKomic]

Boy, I'm super glad I just crafted Sylvanas a month or two ago, and that Rag was the next card I was working toward.

And Power Overwhelming? Really?

Like, I get wanting to cripple the stupid Leeroy burst since they've been trying to kill that for every class since Day 1 basically, but you already are shitting all over Warlocks every expansion with how garbage their cards and synergy is. Does anybody play anything except Zoolock, Handlock, or Renolock (except people who sacrifice the efficiency of a deck for a gimmick, like me)? And Renolock is going to be dead as soon as League of Explorers is phased out (which will also kill the already-sporadic use of Krul the Unshackled, hilarious as he is).

Funnily enough Zoo is completely outclassed by pirate and midrange decks while Handlock has mostly been dead since Molten nerf. After rotation Warlock will be left with... Renouncelock? lmao

 

[Ritchian]

Whelp, there goes the first legendary I ever got out of a pack (Ragnaros) and the only legendary I ever specifically crafted (Sylvanas.)

Shame they are going to stop adventure modes for the year. I quite enjoyed them, most of the time.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

On one hand, I'm a little upset that Classic is getting touched. I spent money on it specifically because the set's cards would never rotate out; now I won't be able to use my Ragnaros or Azure Drakes outside of Wild. But the full dust refund is very, very generous.

I think the reasons behind these cards' removal is pretty solid though. Especially for Conceal - staring down a stealthed 16/16 Edwin Vancleef/Questing Adventurer does not exactly make for a fun time.

That said, with all the dust, I guess I can finally put together a deck that is actually decent. I already have Patches, should I just join the Dark Side?

Small-Time Buccaneer Is being turned into a 1/1 drop so I would hold off on that.

 

[Eric the Orange]

But then, Blizzard's irrational hatred for combo decks is showing through once again.

I don't think it's so much combos as it is one turn kills.

It makes sense to me because unlike in a game like Magic the gathering Hearthstone doesn't let you perform any actions on your opponents turns. No doubt to keep the game running smoothly in an online environment. This is why Blizzard is always fighting against one turn kill combos because it's no fun losing without even being given a chance to react. You should always have at least some chance to respond.

Which is fine in magic because you can counter spell or instant that can interrupt your opponents combo. theirs interesting play their. But having no ability to respond or react isn't.

 

[shrekfan246]

Boy, I'm super glad I just crafted Sylvanas a month or two ago, and that Rag was the next card I was working toward.

And Power Overwhelming? Really?

Like, I get wanting to cripple the stupid Leeroy burst since they've been trying to kill that for every class since Day 1 basically, but you already are shitting all over Warlocks every expansion with how garbage their cards and synergy is. Does anybody play anything except Zoolock, Handlock, or Renolock (except people who sacrifice the efficiency of a deck for a gimmick, like me)? And Renolock is going to be dead as soon as League of Explorers is phased out (which will also kill the already-sporadic use of Krul the Unshackled, hilarious as he is).

Funnily enough Zoo is completely outclassed by pirate and midrange decks while Handlock has mostly been dead since Molten nerf. After rotation Warlock will be left with... Renouncelock? lmao

It really makes me sad because Warlock is my favorite class to play as. Like, I get that their hero power is absurdly strong, but does that really mean that everything else about them needs to be the literal worst in the entire game?

I was already figuring that I'd be playing Wild far more frequently once the next rotation comes through since everything I like to play will be impossible to play, but since Warlock is going to need some pretty nice boosts in the next expac to have anything worth playing at all, I'm feeling that my Warlock decks are going to become Wild-exclusive for a while.