We've got an interesting addition to Hearthstone in its 20.4 patch - a Wild card pack!
We can't confirm the exact contents of the card packs quite yet, but what we do know is that they will also be a part of a special bundle that can vary in size down the road - more on that in a moment. Here is what a Wild card pack looks like:
New Bundles
Nine new card pack bundles have been datamined and they all use the same "custom" logic that some past promotions have used. This means these bundles are going to be tailored to each player, with Blizzard providing you with an opportunity to buy a bundle they think you are most likely to buy. Here are all the bundles that should be arriving:
- Bob's Bargain - Year of the Phoenix Bundle (10, 20, & 30 Phoenix packs)
- Bob's Bargain - Wild Bundle (10, 20, & 30 Wild packs)
- Tavern Special - Forged in the Barrens Bundle (10, 20, & 30 Barrens packs)
Unfortunately, we're unable to determine if any of these bundles are going to have any additional components, such as a legendary card, we only know the number of packs from datamining. Keep in mind though, datamined content is always our best interpretation of the client and is subject to changing.
Another New Pack
Although this one isn't available in the traditional sense since it doesn't have a booster definition in the client, art was added for template "Year of the <x>" packs which could indicate we could see previous Hearthstone years get dedicated card packs in the future. If not past, future for sure!
This pack is very close to the Year of the Phoenix one, its just missing the icon which can be added on top of the pack quite easily and the colors are slightly different.
Comments
For the Wild and Standard packs, I haven't seen anything about if they have a guaranteed legendary in the first 10 packs. So I did some science (kind of)!
On my main account, I just wanted to buy some Wild packs so I bought 10 straight away for the 1000 gold. 7th pack I opened Sindragosa, which I know isn't really that good in today's Wild meta, but I've always wanted her so that was nice!
On my alt account I bought some of each, one at a time, up to 10 packs to see what would happen. Standard pack #1 had a golden Instructor Fireheart. Wild pack #5 had a Mal'Ganis.
So the result was that either I am extremely lucky today and should keep opening packs, or these new Standard and Wild packs likely have the "first ten" guarantee which increased my odds to have such amazing luck opening those.
I didn't test the Standard packs on my main account because frankly, I have them all. With as much time as I play, a pre-order and hoarded gold have been enough for me to do so ever since duplicate protection went into place. (I also DE any unneeded golden copies, so my dust reserves are usually enough to fill in any gaps). So I am saving that pack type for the next expansion to sneak in a second "first ten" legendary unpacking. Unless the legendaries all suck, they I will wait for the expansion after that!
Has anyone had a different experience where you opened your first ten of these new pack types and didn't get a legendary? I know the "Year of" packs don't seem to have that guarantee, but seems to me the Standard and Wild packs follow the usual rules.
Also, I love that they added a Wild card pack as well as potentially adding "Year of" packs for each Hearthstone year, and maybe one for the first two years. I have some gaps in my Wild collection, especially in the really early years. As in GvG and TGT! Yes, TGT sucks but that doesn't mean I don't need them in my collection so I can satisfy my crippling addiction to this children's card game! Ha ha ha... seriously, I think I have an issue!
I hope we find out what this "custom" logic entails. Maybe someone ask Dean in the Q&As (Twitter doesn't exist for me😜)
I'd imagine for these scenarios, the ideal way to determine which bundle to show would ofc use a person's order history along with missing cards in a player's collection? Maybe even go further and use player game history to determine if they play standard or wild more. Blizzard would definitely have these stats.
Interesting stuff. Im not sure I like these kind of algorithm-derived pack sale bundles, because a person's purchasing decision is certainly not always going to be the same thing the next time. You may be a tiny fish in the sea that usually goes for 10 packs, but maybe you'd prefer 30 now. Or you'd want a wild bundle instead. Its not always going to be the same.
The two bundles: YotPhoenix and Barrens packs. How the hell does this work? The algorithm just decides that since you're playing so many phoenix cards in the past 2 months so you MUST* want a YotP pack instead of one from the current expansion, you know, the most relevant one by a mile.
I believe they go by the amount of money you've been spending on Hearthstone. A sibling of mine who is F2P has only gotten the bottom-tier bundles so far and myself, a definite whale, has gotten every bundle that is max priced. I have another few cases that are similar, but by no means is this exhaustive reasoning behind how they calculate who gets what.
I wish they'd just let everyone pick what bundle they wanted. I understand that has a negative in that people that would be offered 20 packs would probably buy the 20 packs but if they were offered the choice between 10,20, and 30 its possible they've be very happy with just the 10 so that could be a potential loss, but I think its a worthy option regardless. Exact line of thinking with your comment about a tiny fish wanting a huge meal, its sorta shitty they wouldn't be offered that choice.
These bundles are probably all in their own groups, so it'll be the wild one going live and then at another point Year of the Phoenix.
For record's sake, it does look like you can buy these packs normally. Very cool way to deal with filling in spots in wild collections if that's true - we'll need to wait and see!
only if miss many things from alot/all sets, else its better to buy packs for the set youre misisng for, and espcially for legendaries as are aot of horrible legendaries in the past that cant even be used to meme with at all