Blizzard has posted all the new and returning core set cards on the official site and now we have them too!
- You can see all the new cards below.
- Cards that have been buffed or changed have been covered in this article.
- If you want to see all the cards in one place, you can visit our Core 2021 Expansion Guide.
- You can build decks with the new cards by visiting our deckbuilder, choosing your class, and selecting the format "Year of the Gryphon".
New Core Set Cards
Here are all the new cards in the core set. These cards have never appeared in Hearthstone prior.
Demon Hunter
Druid
Hunter
Mage
Paladin
Priest
Rogue
Shaman
Warlock
Warrior
Neutral
Comments
Fogsail Freebooter will be most impactful one in my opinion.
Is that the new Nozdormu? Really? What?! Why?! Why they treat Nozdormu like this? That card is horrendous! It does literally nothing! And when it does something, it just makes things worse for both players! It simply doesn't matter that he got a 2 mana cost decrease while keeping the 8/8 stats. It's just stats. High cost cards need to do something to be playable. He is just a slightly better War Golem. And that is pretty pathetic especially for a character who is supposed to be one of the dragon aspects. I thought that actually meant something in terms of importance but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Meanwhile, Alex became better than she already is. Malygos can easily find a niche for himself because card draw is always important. Ysera will do fine in slow value decks. Deathwing doesn't discard your entire hand anymore. And even Onyxia became better! Onyxia! She is now a better Shu'ma with a higher cost! Nozdormu was the only one who became worse than he already is! I'm completely astonished! I can't even say anything about the other changes because this is sticking out too hard for me. People might not consider it a big deal but after so many years of his original card only causing problems i thought it was about time that he got a card that actually made him relevant in the game. Nozdormu the Timeless barely saw play. He only became meta now at the very end with an extremely unhealthy deck that caused another card to get nerfed.
I wasn't hoping for anything highly competitive, meta breaking or anything of the sort. I just wanted to see a card that actually would be worth considering when building a deck. Some people might take this one in consideration for their own meme decks but i like when the cards i play do something interesting. This card does absolutely nothing. It's just a pile of stats that costs almost your whole turn to play and that the other player can easily ignore/remove. It's a complete joke. That's the whole point, i suppose. It's just one big joke to maintain Nozdormu's status as the game's biggest (not playable) meme. Good for those that got a laugh out of it. But i don't find it funny in the slightest. Whatever. What's done is done and can't be reverted.
Yeah, I have to agree with you. But it's not all that bad...at least if they make rules for tournaments to have to include Noz in their decks it'll be interesting to watch?
Then everyone will spam aggro even more than before. Watching aggro decks gameplay isn't interesting at all
I can't wait to see two people in Arena pick Nozdormu cuz of his stats for cost, only for their game to be SUPER SHORT mwahahaa
I'd like to see a Nozdormu tournament.
Illidari Inquisitor seems like a better version of King Krush.
I cannot for the life of me understand why team5 had to print this card with rush when it practically can already attack the same turn its played. At least we know for sure this is one card that will never survive its first turn without your opponent conceding.
Of all the new cards, outside of the dragons, its clear that paladin and hunter are getting some push. Dire Frenzy back in standard and Selective Breeder to draw those cards is support enough for beast hunter, just one other draw option will seal the deal.
Dude paladin getting some major buffs, and that new secret Reckoning is so good in so many ways, especially given that its just 1 mana and in many cases practically impossible to avoid having a prime target drop dead after attacking.
Priest cards, well, are underwhelming. No more Shadow Madness, no more Thoughtsteal, two of the better priest cards. No more mass dispel either, which may or may not be a good thing. Shadow form now being 2 mana means its a viable option though, and perhaps good enough for tempo priest to make an entry into the upper meta.
Jaraxxus being a hero card is ironically removing that one setup he has with Demonic Studies and renders him completely unable to hp on the same turn without coin. Can't even cheat him out with stuff like Deck of Chaos anymore. But the fact that he now gains you a net of 5 health may make up for it, but I can't help feeling that he'll almost never see play unless team5 creates some form of a setup for him.
Edit: Just realised that mage got screwed. No more Frostbolt, Frost Nova, and Pyroblast. So its tempo or bust now. Those expansions got plenty of work to do since mage is utterly useless now without hefty support.
Also no blizzard for mage, and no arcane missles(for new legendary)
Yeah, its mind boggling why they give mage a legendary like that and then proceed to remove all viable options to make use of that spell damage.
Shooting Star (Better Arcane Explosion)
Fireball (Better Pyroblast)
Cone of Cold (Better Frost Nova)
Flamestrike
All viable.
With the exception of Fireball, none of those core spells have or will see inclusion into the current iteration of burn mage. And since I rate Imprisoned Phoenix higher than Aegwynn, that should more or less settle this debate.
Imagine you triggered Aegwynn, the Guardian onto Imprisoned Phoenix, Your Fireballs are now Pyroblasts.
I'm actually saying that, Why not both ?
Cone of Cold is BY NO MEANS a better nova. 3 minions is alot less then 7 to freeze
@Fluxflashor - You are a legend. Thanks for getting this out so quickly! Looking forward to this new expansion.
So Eviscerate, Savage Roar, Sap, Southsea Deckhand and Sorcerer's Apprentice are leaving. Maybe I'll give Standard another chance
Alexstrasza the Life-Binder. Neutral Pyroblast on a stick, eh? Riiiiiiight. This will totally no get abused. At all.
Its not pyro, its King Krush.
And much like king krush, she's only ever going to see play if you can cheat mana. That's not to say shes bad. I still think Ysera is a better card in nearly any circumstances except when your opponent has only 8 health.