Hearthstone Retiring Two Older Cards, Introducing 10 More

Blizzard has announced some big changes slated for the next major Hearthstone update. The collectible card game will add two more cards to the Hall of Fame, which makes them ineligible for Standard mode play, and at the same time it will introduce a whopping 10 new cards.

In an update on the Hearthstone Blog, the team explained how it tries to define class identity, and outlined what it sees as the core strengths and weaknesses of each class. The studio has concluded that two Basic cards don't fit the theme of their classes' identities, and so they'll be retired into the Hall of Fame: the Rogue card Vanish and the Priest card Mind Blast. Both will still be playable in Wild mode.

Vanish is a spell that returns all minions to their owners' hands, but Blizzard feels the efficient board clear is counter to one of its intended weaknesses. Mind Blast allows Priests to do a lot of damage to their opponent in a pinch, especially with spell damage boosts, while Blizzard intends the class to be limited in its direct damage. Those two will be replaced by two new cards, Plaguebringer and Radiance.

In addition, Blizzard is introducing ten new cards to the Classic set, which will be obtainable through Classic packs or crafting. It says it wants to steadily introduce new Classic cards to maintain a "healthy amount of easily-obtainable cards" through Standard games, as it rotates some out into the Hall of Fame. The studio said these cards will be coming in the next major update, but didn't announce a date.

Gallery

Hearthstone has traditionally introduced a handful of new expansions per year with only minor balance changes in-between. This season the game has been noticeably more active in filling the months between major expansions with other in-game events and changes. After the latest expansion launched in April, its single-player component began rolling out in May, and in June the game issued its first-ever batch of card buffs alongside a brand-new card. You can still claim that card for free by logging in by July 1.