Hearthstone's upcoming game mode, Classic, will feature all the cards that were originally included in the Classic and Basic set. What's interesting is that Classic won't feature any of the balance changes pushed since the release of the game. Since we're talking about a game that is 7 years old, a lot of cards were changed along the way - some were slightly tweaked and still see some play today (Leeroy Jenkins, Hex), some were brutally butchered (Warsong Commander, Arcane Golem) and others were even buffed (remember last year's Priest overhaul?).
Given that we're talking about a lot of cards, we rounded them together in the same place, so that you'll be able to take a look at what will await in the future (or in the past!).
You can find further details on the new mode and today's announcement here.
Reverted Card Nerfs
Since 2014, all these cards were nerfed because of their raw power level or because of their interaction with other existing cards.
- Execute - cost will be decreased from 2 to 1 mana.
- Fiery War Axe - cost will be decreased from 3 to 2 mana.
- Flametongue Totem - cost will be decreased from 3 to 2 mana.
- Hex - cost will be decreased from 4 to 3 mana.
- Holy Smite - damage dealt will be decreased from 3 to 2, will target heroes again.
- Hunter's Mark - cost will be decreased from 2 to 0 (technically, from 2 to 1 and then from 1 to 0, since it got two nerfs in the last seven years).
- Innervate - will grant 2 Mana Crystals again (instead of just 1).
- Power Word: Shield - cost will be increased from 0 to 1 mana, but it will draw a card.
- Rockbiter Weapon - cost will be decreased from 2 to 1 mana.
- Soulfire - cost will be decreased from 1 to 0 mana.
- Starving Buzzard - cost will be decreased from 5 to 2 mana and stats will be decreased from 3/2 to 2/1.
- Warsong Commander - will read "Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less Attack, give it Charge."
- Wild Growth - cost will be decreased from 3 to 2 mana.
- Abusive Sergeant - Attack increased from 1 to 2.
- Cold Blood - cost will be decreased from 2 to 1 mana.
- Ironbeak Owl - cost will be decreased from 3 to 2 mana.
- Leper Gnome - Attack will be increased from 1 to 2.
- Mana Wyrm - cost will be decreased from 2 to 1 mana.
- Arcane Golem - Health will be decreased from 4 to 2 and will gain Charge.
- Blade Flurry - cost will be decreased from 4 to 2 mana and will read "Destroy your weapon and deal its damage to all enemies."
- Eaglehorn Bow - will gain durability whenever any Secret is triggered.
- Equality - cost will be decreased from 4 to 2 mana.
- Flare - cost will be decreased from 2 to 1 mana.
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer - cost will be decreased from 6 to 5 mana.
- Keeper of the Grove - Health will be increased from 2 to 4.
- Knife Juggler - Attack will be increased from 2 to 3.
- Master of Disguise - the Stealth effect won't last for just one turn.
- Nourish - cost will be decreased from 6 to 5 mana.
- Ancient of Lore - will draw 2 cards instead of just 1.
- Bestial Wrath - will target any Beasts and not just friendly ones.
- Big Game Hunter - cost will be decreased from 5 to 3 mana.
- Force of Nature - cost will be increased from 5 to 6 mana and will read "Summon three 2/2 Treants with Charge that die at the end of the turn."
- Murloc Warleader - will also grant +1 Health on top of the Attack buff.
- Preparation - now reduces cost by (3), up from (2).
- Edwin VanCleef - cost will be decreased from 4 to 3 mana.
- Leeroy Jenkins - the cost will be decreased from 5 to 4 mana.
It should be noted that the following Murloc cards will be made global in scope and no longer only working on friendly Murlocs.
Reverted Card Buffs
Since 2014, all these cards received some upgrades, which will disappear in the Classic format.
- Charge - cost will be increased from 1 to 3 mana, will grant +2 Attack and the targeted minion will be able to attack heroes that turn.
- Holy Nova - cost will be increased from 4 to 5 mana and damages to the opponent hero as well.
- Temple Enforcer - cost will be increased from 5 to 6 mana and Attack will be increased from 5 to 6.
- Thoughtsteal - cost will be increased from 2 to 3 mana.
- Shadow Madness - cost will be increased from 3 to 4 mana.
- Bane of Doom - will summon only Blood Imp, Dread Infernal, Felguard, Felstalker, Flame Imp and Voidwalker.
Hall of Fame Goes Bye
Since the creation of the Standard and Wild formats, during each rotation some cards from the Classic or Basic set were rotated to Hearthstone's eternal format because they were deemed too oppressive or potentially dangerous for the game's future plans.
- Acolyte of Pain
- Conceal
- Divine Spirit
- Ice Lance
- Mind Blast
- Naturalize
- Northshire Cleric
- Power Overwhelming
- Spellbreaker
- Vanish
- Auchenai Soulpriest
- Azure Drake
- Coldlight Oracle
- Divine Favor
- Doomguard
- Holy Fire
- Mind Control Tech
- Ice Block
- Molten Giant (which was also buffed along the way)
- Mountain Giant
- Shadowform
- Prophet Velen
- Ragnaros the Firelord
- Sylvanas Windrunner
Minion Tribe Changes for the Classic Hearthstone Mode
In 2014, some minions did not have the tribe tag they have now.
- Al'Akir the Windlord, Baron Geddon, Ragnaros the Firelord, Earth Elemental, Dust Devil, Flame of Azzinoth, Frost Elemental, Lightspawn and Unbound Elemental will lose the Elemental tag, which was added in early 2017 with the Journey to Un'Goro release.
- Demolisher, Harvest Golem, Damaged Golem and Mechanical Dragonling will lose the Mech tribe.
Demons? Elementals!
Back in March 2020, Classic's Illidan Stormrage (the minion, not the hero), got replaced with Xavius - since the official announcement states that art and flavor changes will remain the same, what will happen with this one? You may think it's trivial, but it has some minor implications: in fact, Xavius summons Satyrs, which are demons, but Illidan used to summon Flames of Azzinoth, which are elementals.
Quote From Blizzard Will cards in the Classic format be the exact same as they were in 2014?All balance changes for these cards over the years will be reverted, but cosmetic changes will remain. For example: Felstalker will be Felstalker and will not revert to Succubus.
UPDATE - Celestalon confirmed that Illidan Stormrage will come back in Classic.
Quote From Celestalon Xavius will appear as Illidan in Classic.
Which cards are you the most excited about to see in their former glory? Let us know in the comments!
![All The Great Dark Beyond Card Reveals for October 12 - Day 2 [Finished]](dark-beyond-reveals-day-2-thumb.webp)
Comments
Sorry.
Thanks for the write-up.
Won't Murloc Warleader buff ALL murlocs on the board (yours and the enemies) like it use to? Also does Secret Keeper currently buff on anyone playing a secret and if so, will that come back too?
Murloc Warleader buffs all murlocs, yes.
Secretkeeper never changed in that regard. She still gets buffed everytime a secret is played, doesn't matter if it's you or your opponent. So she won't change.
Will secrets be able to trigger on your own turn? Or was this change made before release during beta?
During beta, so no.
Wasn't Unleash the Hounds 2 mana at one point? Or was that in the beta?
4 to 2 in beta.
2 to 3 in initial release.
It's the first nerf that won't be reverted since they're using June 2014 patch for the format.
Did I read that correctly. They're reverting all their nerfs?
For this specific format, these cards will return to their original forms. In wild they will remain the same as they currently are. So for example, in the Classic format, Execute will be 1 mana, but in Wild it will stay at 2 mana.
It'll be even more interesting if they wouldn't stop on vanilla Classic and add each and every Year of X to that format.
I'd much more like to relive my favoritest of all time Naxx deathrattle Warlock deck than any of the vanilla. Honestly, that meta was kinda boring.
Can't wait to play classic Handlock again! My fav deck! Also, Control Warrior.
I wonder if there will be any twitch tournaments for this mode.
Hot damn, this is a good write up. I better understand this new, classic game mode a lot better. Thanks!
So, classic is gonna be the same deck over and over again like the game was back then? or how can they adjust it?
You are correct. The Classic meta was very much solved within a couple of months. It's going to be a lot of the same over and over again, only without the "figuring out" period you would normally see at launch.
Reading this list is enough to give me nightmares, but to each their own, I suppose.
Classic will be played for a week or two, then it will flop harder than duels did.
Since classic rotating out, it is now safe to open all the classic packs you hoarded until now. I hope to get a few missing legendaries from my 12 packs. LOL
So what does it mean that "Hall of fame goes bye" ? Are the card brought back into standard, or are they gone for both standard and wild?
Basic, Classic, and the Hall of Fame are all gone, and are all going to Wild under a new set called Legacy. The cards are still playable but the labels are different. In Standard, we're getting a 235 Core set of free cards which changes every year, made of various cards from previous expansions as well a handful of originals.
The only Hall of Fame card they're adding to this year's Core set is Shadowform, but they could add more later.
As for this article, it's referring to the new Classic format, which is a mode where you'll be able to play Hearthstone as it was when it first launched. So, no card nerfs or Hall of Fame rotations.