After several years of bidding, Blizzard Entertainment finally decided to adopt a Core group Inside Hearthstone. This change greatly upsets the status quo and bodes well for 2021. This announcement, along with the popular Darkmoon Faire miniature set, Hearthstone is stacking up the right changes.
Cover image credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Say goodbye to classic and basic cards, welcome to the basic set
For those seasoned in the card game world, the core-group principle is not new. In fact, Hearthstone does not hide the origin of this idea. In fact, Magic: The Gathering has been using the Core Set for years. But what exactly is the primary group?
For Hearthstone this means cards like Fireball, Chillwind Yeti, Polymorph, etc. It will not display automatically in the standard format. This makes it possible to solve several problems simultaneously. First, every year there will be a new base set of 235 cards. This should guarantee a major revolution.
Also read: Magic: Legends, RPG with an arcade flavor
Plus, it also allows you to say goodbye to problematic cards without necessarily making them less powerful. For example, Blizzard must have touched Innervate, because this card was often a problem, and it was present in the standard format through and through. Now, although changes are possible, it will be easier to manage interactions between new additions and old cards.
Finally, it allows returning cards from old expansions to the standard format. In fact, in the next base set, 55 of the 235 cards will come from the Wild format. Therefore, it will be possible to see iconic cards like Dr. Boom or Sludge Belcher revert to the standard version again. Then it will be 29 brand new cards. This can allow you to simultaneously add cards that don’t necessarily fit the specific expansion topic.
Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment
So where do our base maps go?
The new collection will be called the Legacy Set. The classic and base cards will be found on the latter. Most of the cards drawn from the Hall of Fame will also be found in this deck. Obviously, it will be possible to play these cards in Wild format.
Moreover, a new format will be introduced at the same time: the classic format. The latter includes only 240 prime cards from the Heartstone story. So it will be possible to play as in the beginning. This also means that all cards that have undergone changes over the years will be reverted to their original state.
Thanks to the fact that Hearthstone is a digital card game, players will thus have access to two copies of the same card. For example, players will have 4 mana Leroy Jenkins that can be played in the classic format and 5 mana that can be played elsewhere.
Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Good direction for Hearthstone
It’s hard to say whether games like Magic: Arena and Legends of Runeterra set Blizzard Entertainment on fire or if it was just a long and late wake-up call, but in the end, Hearthstone unleashed positive widespread changes to the game.
First, there were the more frequent card balance changes. Most recently, there was a small Darkmoon Faire collection that was fully available for 2,000 gold, the first in Heartstone’s history. After that, the basic set was announced to disturb the standard format.
These changes should make the game more fun to play in the long run, and the direction Blizzard is taking is refreshing. The basic set will be free, because it is unlocked in the same way as the classic set. Don’t forget that Blizzconline will take place from February 19 to February 20.
