Hearthstoneis preparing to start the Year of the Wolf, the Standard year for 2023. When the Festival of Legends expansion arrives in April, the Year of the Hydra’s Core set will rotate out in exchange for an all new selection of cards. Like previous Core sets, these cards will be available to all players for free for the next year. The Year of the Wolf also heralds the retirement of the Year of the Gryphon expansions, making any cards not taken into the new Core set available only in the WildHearthstoneformat.
Game Rant spoke withHearthstonesenior game designers Cora Georgiou and Aleco Pors about the Year of the Wolf Core set. Moving forward,Hearthstone’sdesign team is trying to be more dynamic and adaptable than ever before. The developers shared a few ways they are focusing on flexibility during the Year of the Wolf.
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A More Flexible Hearthstone For the Year of the Wolf
SinceHearthstoneadded the Core set, it has been used as a powerful and fun collection all players have access to. The Core set allowsHearthstoneto reinforce class identities while adding synergetic tools to use as a foundation for its expansions. “[Core sets cards are] excellent signposts for what we want the classes to be doing,” Pors said, “and are pieces that are very easy for us to build future sets for the next year around.”
However, one of the big differences withHearthstone’sapproach to Core this year is its emphasis on being flexible and adaptable.Georgiou used the Murder at Castle Nathriaset as an example. The Rogue class in Murder at Castle Nathria was focused on Secrets - something they had not planned on when developing the Core set. “We really would have loved it if we had some Secrets in the Rogue Core set,” she explained, “so we didn’t have to make three new Secrets that felt similar to old Secrets just because they were the only ones in Standard at the time.” This year,Hearthstone’ssolution to that situation might have been different.
“Maybe if we were going to do that this year, we would just put a couple of Rogue Secrets into Core in the middle of the year. Maybe that’s something that will just make the game experience better for our players, so I think we should be open to it.”
TheTradeable keyword from United in Stormwindbecoming evergreen is another example of howHearthstoneis trying to become more flexible in the future. Tradeable was popular among developers and players alike because it allows specific tech cards to fit more easily in any deck. “Making [any keyword] evergreen is a big decision to make,” Georgiou explained. “We don’t want to commit to doing something forever unless we’re really sure. But we were pretty sure about this one.”
Hearthstoneis also adapting the Priest class to a new era as well. TheFestival of Legends expansion inHearthstoneis introducing the Overheal keyword as an evergreen mechanic for Priests. To facilitate this, the Year of the Wolf Core set is reworking several old cards that interacted with healing to use this new keyword. Likewise, Archbishop Benedictus is staying in Standard by being added to the Core set, allowingHearthstoneto continue building out the Shadow archetype for Priests.
Of course,Hearthstoneis still watching some power cards it is keeping in Core. “Shadowstep would be a leading candidate among these cards being discussed,” Pors admitted. “But when we think about what it means to be a Rogue… we view [Shadowstep] as a reallystrong part of the Rogue’s core identity.” Some of these controversial cards are staying in Standard for now - but Pors reminded players that withHearthstone’semphasis on flexibility, it isn’t afraid to nerf or remove them in the future.
Taking these risks is part of what keepsHearthstonefresh. “We want to take risks with the Core set, which is obviously something we want to do, right?” Pors said. “You have to take risks to create a really fun game.” However, this new philosophy of embracing change and adapting means these risks can be mitigated by making bold decisions in the future.
“We’re excited to use the Core set… as a balance lever more than we have in the past. We are a little more open to the idea of potentially bringing in new things, and even in extreme cases moving something out or making numbers adjustments to things in the Core set in order to enable us to take more of those risks.”
It seemsHearthstoneis kicking off the Year of the Wolfwith some major changes to its design philosophy. While this may be understandably frightening to some players, Georgiou, Pors, and the rest of theHearthstoneteam seem dedicated to bringing the game to greater heights. Georgiou put it best when she echoed the words of Zilliax - an iconic Legendary minion who made the cut for the Year of the Wolf: “I think this Core set is unity, precision, perfection.”
Hearthstoneis available now for Mobile and PC.
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