Whew, it's been a wild week. Blizzard truly didn't lie when they said they'll share more than ever before. It's more than easy to miss something in such an information flood so let's take a moment to recap everything that has happened and will happen in the near future.

Demon Hunters

  • You may have noticed that we're getting a new class! The technology is there!
    • Who are these Demon Hunters that call themselves Illidari? Read their origin story here.
  • Illidan Stormrage will be their first hero.
  • Demon Hunters have a class-specific keyword: Outcast.
    • Gain a bonus when a card is played as left- or right-most card in your hand.
  • Demon Hunters will get a 10-card Basic set and a 20-card Initiate set to catch up with the others.
    • The Initiate set will be part of the Year of the Dragon for rotational purposes.
  • They will eventually receive a Classic set too, partially comprising of cards from other sets.
  • They'll also get 15 cards per expansion this year, compared to 10 for all other classes.
  • The Basic and Initiate sets will be unlocked through a Prologue mission starting on April 2nd.
    • This mission will be FREE for all.
  • The class will officially unlock with Ashes of Outland launch on April 7th.

 

In-game Happenings

  • Six cards were unnerfed with the pre-order patch, mostly Wild cards.
    • You may have encountered Razakus Priest and Yogg more often lately. Yeah that's why.
  • A lot of Battlegrounds changes went live.
    • Heroes in, heroes out, hero changes, minion changes...
  • Everybody got Kael'thas Sunstrider as a freebie.
    • We spotlighted some decks to try out earlier this week.

March 26th Changes

  • Rarity protection! No more duplicates from any rarity until you own every card of that rarity!
    • Don't you open those packs yet!
  • Hall of Fame will get some new denizens. Edwin dodged that fate like a boss.
    • We recently wrote a guide on how to handle things dust-wise.
  • Priest Class gets an overhaul for Basic and Classic sets. Six cards will move to Hall of Fame - don't forget to craft those as well!
    • We discussed the changes in detail here.
  • Illidan arrives to Battlegrounds.
    • Don't you hate when you opponent goes first and snipes the minion you didn't want them to? Illidan is having none of that!
  • More card unnerfs! Can a 7-Mana Dr. Boom, Mad Genius challenge the mighty Galakrond?
    • Hol' up Blizz! Didn't Giggling Inventor originally cost 5? And you're leaving her at 6? That's not an unnerf, that's a buff.
  • New and returning players will be given a competitive deck for a class of their choice.

Other Upcoming Stuff

  • Ranked Play gets an overhaul. This comes with a seasonal reward update as well!
    • This happens when the new season starts on April 1st.
  • Tavern Pass, which unlocks some Battlegrounds bonuses, will become available.
    • I'm still not entirely sure what Blizz is trying to say in their blog, but it might mean that those with no pass will lose some perks we have now.
  • A three-day legendary questline rewarding packs will start with the launch of the expansion.
    • 6 packs will be available: 3 Ashes of Outland and 1 for each other Year of the Dragon expansion.
  • A free solo adventure will await us some time early-year of the Phoenix.
    • The story will concentrate on the battle against the Rusted Legion led by Mecha-Jaraxxus.
  • We'll get a new game mode that uses our collections and is "similar in scope and scale to Arena" some time mid-Year of the Phoenix.
  • We'll also (finally) get an in-game achievement system alongside progression system rework some time late-Year of the Phoenix.