Three Hearthstone expansions coming this year along with some big changes
The first Hearthstone expansion for 2017 is on the horizon, and there will be three total released this year.
According to Blizzard, with the Year of the Mammoth, the developer will no longer alternate Hearthstone card packs, opting instead to release three expansions with 130 cards at a time.
Once the Year of the Mammoth kicks off, Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and League of Explorers cards will also become exclusive to Wild. Also, certain cards from the Classic set will also become exclusive to the Wild format.
These cards will be added to the new Hall of Fame set, which will also include cards currently in the Reward set.
Cards moving to the Hall of Fame set include Neutral cards Azure Drake, Sylvanas Windrunner and Ragnaros the Firelord. Class cards moving to the Hall of Fame include Power Overwhelming, Ice Lance and Conceal.
The release cycle for cards, as mentioned above, will start with 130 when the Year of the Mammoth kicks off. Another 130 card expansion will release during the middle of 2017, and another 130 card expansion at the end of the year. Additional details about the new release model will come later.
Cards will be acquired via packs and each release will include optional single-player missions.
Sometime after the release of Hearthstone's next expansion, Blizzard plans to run a Heroic Tavern Brawl using the Wild format. The studio will also partner with "third-party tournament organizers" to promote additional Hearthstone tournaments using the format.
There's more to the Year of the Mammoth than what's here in this post, so if you're a player, you'll want to read more than just the condensed version. So, be sure to head over to the Hearthstone website on Battle.net for the full rundown.
Between now and the next expansion's release, daily login rewards will be made available for a limited time. These rewards will offer dust, gold, expansion packs, and other goodies.
The new Rogue Hero, Maiev Shadowsong, will also become available with the Year of the Mammoth. Once the next expansion launches, players will need to win 10 games of Hearthstone in Standard Ranked or Casual mode to acquire her.
Again, hit up the Hearthstone page for more information.