The Year of the Mammoth is coming to an end and with it comes the Year of the Raven! We’re getting new additions to the Hall of Fame, Tournament Mode, and a New Druid Hero Skin!
- Three New Expansions Scheduled with hints below in the YotR graphic!
- Cards that are entering the Hall of Fame are: Ice Block, Coldlight Oracle, and Molten Giant!
- You
DO NOTDO (this was incorrect, Ben Brode responded and said that full dust will be given) get full dust from the Hall of Fame this year. You can then disenchant them for more dust. - They are going to revert the nerf to Molten Giant!
- “The requirements for almost every quest will be reduced to make them faster to complete, and all 40 gold quests will now award 50 gold instead. Quests that awarded more than 50 gold will still have the same rewards, but with reduced requirements.”
- New Druid Hero: Lunara
- Tournament Mode incoming with a beta starting at the middle of the year!
If you’re confused about how the Standard rotation works, check out this post: Hearthstone Standard Rotation Schedule & Guide! If you want to know how to maximize your dust with the cards going to the Hall of Fame, check this guide out: Hall of Fame Dust Rotation Guide.
More information on Tournament Mode from a PC Gamer interview with Ben Brode:
This summer will see in-game tournaments launch in beta, enabling players to create their own ‘Swiss’ competitions using either the Conquest or Last Hero Standing formats.
“It can support a significant number of players, but it won’t have things like bans at launch,” said Brode, adding that competitive tournaments require a greater level of fine control than the initial version will offer. “We expect the feature will grow and evolve over time.”
The way it actually works is that the tournament organizer creates the event, then shares it as a code (presumably much as we do with decklists now) to potential participants. Verifying you’re using the correct decks will be handled on the client-side, and the organizer can set a time limit for each round. If everyone gets done early, you all click ready and move on with the next one.
Year of the Raven Expansion Teaser
In the Year of the Mammoth they displayed a graphic that teased each expansion. Now for Raven we have a similar graphic, what expansions do you think are on the horizon?!
New Druid Hero Lunara Art
“Lunara is the eldest daughter of the demi-god Cenarius. While her sisters, the dryads, embody peace and the serene beauty of nature, Lunara’s apple didn’t fall far from her father’s tree—she’s a relentless defender of the wilderness and immortal proof that nature is red in claw and thorn.”
Hearthside Chat with Ben Brode: Year of the Raven
Official Information Post
Each Hearthstone Year is symbolized by one of the zodiac constellations twinkling in Azeroth’s night sky. The moment when a new constellation comes into alignment heralds the start of the year and a time of jubilation and raucous revelry wherever Hearthstone is played!
This year, we wave farewell to the Year of the Mammoth, and prepare to greet the Year of the Raven!
Set Rotation is Coming
Two years ago, we introduced a New Way to Play, which brought the Standard and Wild game formats to Hearthstone.
In order to keep Hearthstone exciting and accessible as more cards are added, Standard allows players to use the most recently released cards, as well as a core of Basic and Classic cards. Our intention with Standard is to keep the game feeling fresh for all of our players, and to allow newer players to jump into Hearthstone quickly, without the need to collect lots of cards to build a competitive deck. Standard also gives our developers more freedom when designing new cards for the future.
When we release the first new expansion each year, every set that wasn’t released in the same year or the year prior will cycle out and no longer be part of the Standard format.
If you want cards for Wild play or just to fill out your collection, you’ll be able to craft them using Arcane Dust—even cards from Adventures (like One Night in Karazhan) that were previously un-craftable.
While no longer be available for purchase in-game, you can also purchase content that is exclusive to Wild from the online shop.
On Raven’s Wings
Hearthstone’s astrological clock is tick-tocking toward the new Hearthstone Year, and when the next expansion arrives, you’ll also be greeted with an Standard format!
You’ll be able to build Standard decks using the following sets:
- Basic
- Classic
- Journey to Un’Goro
- Knights of the Frozen Throne
- Kobolds & Catacombs
- The first 2018 expansion
Meanwhile, the following sets become exclusive to Wild, along with all previous sets:
- Whispers of the Old Gods
- One Night in Karazhan
- Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
A new Hearthstone Year also means three new expansions! Can you guess what the future holds in store?
Hall of Fame Inductees
To help meet the goal of keeping Hearthstone fresh, certain cards from the Classic set will become exclusive to the Wild format. These cards will be added to the Hall of Fame set. This year, the following cards will be promoted to the Hall of Fame:
Ice Block – This Mage secret is a powerful card, and has been the centerpiece of Standard decks for years. It’s time to make more room for new Mage decks in Standard.
Coldlight Oracle – Coldlight Oracle is becoming exclusive to Wild for several reasons. It offers unusually strong neutral card draw which can be detrimental to class identity. Its “downside” can destroy opponent’s cards and prevent opponents from playing the deck they built—which in turn limits some designs related to Battlecry and effects that return a minion to hand.
Taken individually, any one of these reasons might have been enough to prompt a promotion to the Hall of Fame, but when viewed as a whole, we feel that it’s time for Coldlight Oracle to leave Standard play.
Molten Giant – Moving Molten Giant to the Hall of Fame allows us to revert it to its original mana cost, giving players a chance to experiment with decks featuring Molten Giants in the Wild format.
Just like last year, you can keep your copies of these card once they move to the Hall of Fame, and you’ll also be granted the full Arcane Dust value for each card (up to the maximum number that can be used in a deck).
The dust will be automatically awarded once you log-in after the Year of the Raven begins.
Quicker Quests
With the arrival of Hearthstone’s next expansion, quests are about to get better! The requirements for almost every quest will be reduced to make them faster to complete, and all 40 gold quests will now award 50 gold instead. Quests that awarded more than 50 gold will still have the same rewards, but with reduced requirements. Quests that only required a single game to be played, such as Play a Friend, will remain the same.
Here are some examples:
Only the Mighty
OLD: Play 20 minions that cost 5 or more. Reward 40 gold
NEW: Play 12 minions that cost 5 or more. Reward: 50 goldClass Victory
OLD: Win 2 games with one of two Classes. Reward: 40 gold.
NEW: Win 1 game with one of two Classes. Reward: 50 goldClass Mastery
OLD: Play 50 Class cards. Reward: 60 gold
NEW: Play 30 Class cards. Reward: 60 goldWe’re not stopping here—we’ve got our eye on more quests improvements for the future!
In-game Tournaments
We’re working on a feature that will help you run a Hearthstone tournament from your own home or Fireside Gathering! You’ll be able to create a custom tournament and invite your friends–all from within the Hearthstone game client. To start, the feature will include matchmaking and checking decks, but we’ll continue to add new features and functionality over time.
We’re planning to launch in-game tournaments as a beta around the middle of this year, but that’s just the beginning. There’s a lot of potential to explore as we expand on this very early version of in-game tournaments, and your feedback will help us shape them over the course of the coming year and beyond.
New Druid Hero: Lunara
Lunara is the eldest daughter of the demi-god Cenarius. While her sisters, the dryads, embody peace and the serene beauty of nature, Lunara’s apple didn’t fall far from her father’s tree—she’s a relentless defender of the wilderness and immortal proof that nature is red in claw and thorn.
When your dad is a demi-god, and your grandparents are the goddess of the Moon and a god of the Wild, you’ve got a reputation to uphold. Lunara is more than up to the task.
Win 10 games of Hearthstone in Standard Ranked or Casual mode after the next expansion officially launches to add this ferocious champion of the wild to your Collection.
Last chance for Maiev! With the launch of the first new expansion of 2018, you will no longer be able to acquire the quest to obtain Maiev Shadowsong. If you’ve been away, be sure to obtain Maiev before the next expansion arrives so you don’t miss your chance!
Fireside Gathering Fun
If you’re not familiar with Fireside Gatherings, they’re a great way to get out and meet people just as passionate about Hearthstone as you are! Fireside Gatherings mean a lot to us, and we’re working on even more features to support them during the Year of the Raven!
Raven’s Watch
Want to know more about the Year of the Raven? Ask your questions in the comments, then tune into the official Hearthstone Twitch.tv stream on March 2 at 11:00 am PST to join Game Director Ben Brode and Lead Producer Yong Woo for a Q&A session about the new Hearthstone Year!
Thanks for joining us! We’re excited to share a new Hearthstone year with you, and we’ll see you in the Tavern!
no adventure, fuking greedy Blizzard.
Little late to the party? There wasn’t an adventure in Year of the Mammoth either technically… the Dungeon Run was just part of the K&C expansion.
When first reading the first line about lowering the requirements to complete quests, I thought they meant the actual quest cards from Un’Goro … 😉
No speculations about new year expansions? 🙂
If i have to guess based on graphic hints, i would say Mount Hyjal and the World Tree with all the wild gods (that would also be in line with Lunara). Then i would say Dalaran and the Violet Hold and for the last spot i have some troll tribes vibes. In general i would really like these themes.
I’d like to know what are others hopes and ideas 🙂
I’ve posted some of the speculations I’ve found online, and readers posted theirs in the comments in my quick analysis article: http://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/year-of-the-raven-impact-changes-hall-of-fame-rotation/
The first one has probably something to do with Terokkar Forest. Because of the color theme and also the fact they call it Raven.
Rip Exodia mage and mill Rogue: you will be missed :'(
Depends, I won’t miss either of those two decks. For me, they were some of the most annoying lists to play against.
And you will still be able to enjoy them in the Wild. HoF rotation doesn’t mean that the card gets removed from the game completely 🙂
Totally agreed. Two most annoying decks to play against.
I just have one thing to say. MAKE WARRIORS GREAT AGAIN.
well said
I have to golden molten gigants, so I get auto 3,2K and 3,2K more if I dust them?
Crafting Golden Epic costs 1,600 Dust, but dusting it gives only +400.
So yes, you get 3.2k dust from the Hall of Fame rotation, but only 800 more if you want to disenchant them.
Mage and Rogue both hit again with the Wild nerf hammer also knows a Hall of Fame. Rogue indirectly of course, but Oracle was a Rogue card pretty much to begin with. Can’t complain about it, and we’ll have to wait and see what the next expansions bring of course but I can already see another year where Leeroy Jenkins can smash our faces in with the newest aggro decks or where sick card draw can be abused with the Auctioneer. Assumptions, I know, I know. That said, I’m already hyped for the new expansion.
How many decks have you actually seen Auctioneer in recently? Strider Miracle Rogue (which isn’t great) and occasionally in Jade Druid (which leaves Standard with the rotation anyway)…
Auctioneer is nowhere near as big a problem as Coldlight Oracle – or even Divine Favour, Call to Arms, Nourish or Ultimate Infestation… but at least those are all class-specific.
Okay, so I currently don’t have any Molten Giants. So I would be best to craft 2xGolden for 3200 dust. I’ll then get my 3200 back and be able to disenchant them for 400 each, so I’ll be 800 up, correct?
That’s right!
How does the dust count work if you have 2 ice blocks and a golden ice block (3 total)
You would get the dust for your golden ice block and one normal ice block. The refund works only for your two highest value copies.
You’ll get 2000 dust (1x Golden, 1x Normal)
such an ugly druid hero lol, ill stick with Malfurion.
As it turns out, they just corrected the announcement to say that it is like last year, and you will get full crafting value. So does this mean it makes sense to craft 2 of each regular and golden to maximize the dust ROI?
You only get dust for your highest value cards, so in this case it would be two golden copies of each cards.
Yep, this is correct.
What if i have golden and normal copies do i get dust from golden ones too?
When you disenchant it, you receive full dust value ?
you’ll get the full dust value without disenchanting them and then you can do it for their regular dust value. (based on last rotation)
EDIT AGAIN: So it appears Ben Brode has said you WILL get a full dust refund, this was pretty confusing but at least we have confirmation. Source
So it makes sense to craft the cards golden? I still don’t understand
It only makes sense to craft golden if you don’t have the cards. You will get the full dust back, and then you can disenchant them for more dust.
Because Giant is being changed, do we get full dust refund also?? So you could craft 2 x Golden Molten, get 3200 back and keep the cards and then disenchant for 3200 also??
I don’t think you’ll get a full dust refund for the disenchant since it’s a buff and not a nerf.
I believe it will be like last year with the hof cards, you get the dust cost for crafting the card, but you still get to keep the card. Disenchating awards only the normal amount of dust.