We're getting a new round of Classic cards and with that a couple of cards are also being sent to the Hall of Fame and being replaced.
If you want to learn more about class identity and why Blizzard decided to move Vanish and Mind Blast to the Hall of Fame, check out this post from them.
- All the cards have dedicated discussion threads - find links to them below!
- If you want to build new theorycraft decks with the new cards, they're all in our deckbuilder.
Hall of Fame
Two [Hearthstone Card (Basic) Not Found] cards are being sent to the Hall of Fame.
- Vanish is being moved to the Hall of Fame. It is being replaced by a new minion named Plaguebringer.
- Mind Blast is being moved to the Hall of Fame. It is being replaced by a new spell named Radiance.
New Classic Cards
Eight new cards are being added to the Classic set. They will be available for crafting and through card packs.
Comments
I'm glad blizzard has been adding more and more updates between expansions, seems they are on a great path! There is nothing better for the game than devs Finally listening to the player base and adding extra things for us to try in a slow period.
The problem I have with the Mind Blast rotation is that it has often been an implied part of class identity as part of the Shadow Priest identity. From artwork to damage, it's Shadow Priest, though it may not fit the "reverse healing as damage" technical wording of some of the other cards. Looking at it from a lore and identity standpoint though, it's a skill directly from the Shadow Priest specialization in World of Warcraft. It IS Priest. There may be other reasons to rotate it out, but saying it's not part of class identity is a little frustrating, especially when there are several other cards constantly rotating in and out (and classic/basic) that support the Shadow Priest class identity. Maybe reword it or introduce a proper Shadow card to better represent the specialization, but tossing it out and claiming class identity is a tough sell. That being said, I'm still excited for the other changes and additions.
I really like Whitemane and the Siegebreaker, and I will tolerate Brightwing because it's a Dragon; I still have PTSD from Heroes of the Storm.
As a player who is playing now wild more than standard (playing since Karazhan, purchased older adventures and also wild bundles), I don't care that much, but i guess that missing Vanish and Mind Blast (i blame Archmage Vargoth for this one) will hurt.
Regarding replacements:
Plaguebearer - seems playable
Siegebreaker - seems worth the mana cost and can work as finisher in some zoo demon deck or ress demon deck
SI:7 Infiltrator - nice body with nice battle cry, this is very good imho
High Inquisitor Whitemane - someone will find some f*cked up way to cheese this in wild very soon i guess:)
rest of cards - underwhelming
Whitemane seems to have some potential in arena, since you can use it regain the board used for trading, and maybe she can fit even in meta decks (in an Aggro or Midrange deck in the future.), Some of the other cards are acceptable(Brightwing, SI:7 infiltrator), But what really surprised me is the fact that two basic cards are rotating. I've never thought they would do that, but lets hope its for the best.
I'm kinda shocked at vanish being rotated, rn that pretty much leaves fan of knives as their only aoe (unless I'm forgetting something), which feels pretty bad
Plaguebringer on Wild Pyromancer and a spell is a full board clear. Control Rogues pog
Whitemane is gonna be awesome.
I think radiance for priest won’t see much play. There’s too many heal cards alread
I enjoy the updates and changes added to the game. I will use the Brightwing just to get my random on at turn 3 and the SI Infiltrator will help get rid of those pesky Ice Blocks I need for victories! I have been enjoying the PoGo rogue and it might be hard to utilize after the vanish is gone.
Getting rid of Vanish is pretty surprising. Unless there's something gamebreaking with it in the next expansion, it seems like it kind of came out of nowhere.
Maybe it's from Pogo Rogue? It lets you pop them back into your hand while clearing the opponent's board
I don't understand the timing unless there is some powerful cards coming for Rogue and Priest in the next expansion that would make Mind Blast and Vanish OP. Mind Blast was OP last expansion, not now. Vanish is seeing play in Pogo Rogue but that's not exactly a prolific deck. There must be something coming.
Nerf priest, a class that didn't have anyone playing it at a massive tournament, and not hunter or conjurer's calling? Makes sense, guys. (Hearthstone Mathematics just released a video where the stats are getting out of hand for hunter; 1 out of 4 opponents is a hunter, and that's the kind of attention that could start the nerf aim.).
Seems a lot of the new stuff is aimed at buffing (or in Whitemane's case, rezzing) aggro garbage, which we DO NOT need. I have fun playing control against control warrior and other slower decks. Smorc, aggro and stacking mech paladin, not so much, and I find that boring as hell. Whitemane gives you the ability to suicide a board into big minions or taunts or refund your deathrattles. Just getting one suicidal venomous minion back with Whitemane's big body might be worth the drop as well. I'll give it that Whitemane could see play on both aggro and control decks.
The only bright spot is most of these are high mana cost, which may keep all but Whitemane and Siegebreaker in demon decks from seeing play.
Do like SI:7 just for giving a permanent anti-secret tech (if we ever need or can run it again; when you have too many aggro decks in the meta or player base, tech tools such as this and OTK disruptions fall in favor of multiple mass removals, which makes the game repetitive and boring to me). I can see conjurer's mages experimenting with the Barrens Stablehand. Brightwing is a fun low-cost dragon, but RNG isn't playing well at the moment (how many Madam Lazuls or mech pinatas get play?). You could argue Brightwing dilutes the dragon pool, especially if you end up with worse junk like Duskfallen Avianna or Milhouse as your battlecry reward.
Speaking as a long-time priest player, I prefer Mind Blast as a finisher than Inner Fire, btw. IF is the inverse of Bloodlust and Savage Roar; instead of waiting for a packed minion board, you just need one high health minion for an OTK. It's for decks that have nothing and it's a lazy mechanic. Mind Blast takes a set-up to kill, not to mention some earlier pressure (you're not likely to kill a 30-health opponent or anyone stacking armor).
/make Shadowform useful, please
Yeah, i was wondering why you would see Hunter and Conjurer's call an issue but not Warrior that can pretty much play removal on curve nowadays removing a lot of skill from playing Control Warrior. But you already gave your answer!
I actually play Big and Control Shaman in the current meta; the games vs. control warriors are entertaining compared to murlocs and trees being vomited turn after turn. And I even play Conjurer's Mage (Kibler's big spell version from early in the meta rather than freeze version, to counter all the druid and murlocs). It is BS to start up a mountain giant factory that so few can deal with.
Warrior is good but has its limitations on tricks to make the game more interesting. I miss Control Warlock (occasionally play a variation in wild) and NON INNER FIRE Priest decks in standard. Inner Fire reminds me of the bad old days of me being a returning player with only Naxx cards and priest hella sucking in Karazhan era. Inner Fire on some high health mook is all you got.
Conjurer's nerf I'd pitch: Discounted cards get discounted minions in value (your 4-mana mountain giant brings back a pair of 4s). Have it work for Shaman as well with the discounts screwing up Big Bad Voodoo or even as an offensive way against Big Priest in wild cheating out bigs, using conjurer's calling on the 6-mana spell (if you're willing to gamble on 6-mana minions) or Barnes' accompanying 1-1 (which also features a 1-mana cost), all while screwing up the Priest's rez pool. I'm willing to take that gut punch for fairness.
these cards look awesome!
my favorite card is Brightwing adorable little neutral legendary. the only thing is that the art looks more like a murloc than a dragon if you don't look to closely.
Why are these all classic? Weren't most of the HoF cards from Witchwood?
These are from longer period of time. E.g. Rag and Sylvanas never got their replacements, now Brightwing and Whitemane will fix that.
[Hearthstone Card (SI-7 Infiltrator) Not Found] is going to end secrets, just like Kezan Mystic used to.
Really excited about the two new legendaries, and definitely crafting two gold SI:7 Infiltrators! I know it's kind of boring, but it also has high stats for what it does, and is at a good mana point. It's playable in most decks.