The first Hearthstone update of 2018 is here, and is packed with events, card changes, and more. You can read the full update notes here and check out the summary below.
Introducing Wildfest
To celebrate all things Hearthstone in the Year of the Mammoth, Blizzard will be holding several Wild events from 20 February to 12 March AEDT/NZDT.
Wild Arena
Starting on 20 February, and running to until 12 March, the Arena draft will offer cards that are exclusive to Wild, instead of only the Standard set. If you have an existing Arena run, we recommend finishing it up before Wildfest begins, as those Arena runs will be retired automatically on 20 February.
The first arena run for this event is FREE!
Venture Into the Wild
This is a pre-constructed Wild Tavern Brawl; just pick a class, and we’ll give you a pre-made Wild deck. This is a great way to experience the fun of Wild, even if you don’t own a full Wild collection.
The Wild Brawliseum
This is aimed at competitive Hearthstone players who want to put their skills and collection to the test. The Wild Brawliseum uses player-built decks that are locked in for the duration of the run, and has an entry fee that uses Gold or real money. Players battle each other until they hit 12 wins or 3 losses, just like in the Arena. The rewards offered are also the same as those offered in the Arena, so get in there and give The Wild Brawliseum a try.
Card Changes
Blizzy announced last week there would be card balance changes coming to Hearthstone, and with this update they are going into effect. Here’s a quick summary of changes:
- Corridor Creeper – Now has 2 attack, down from 5.
- Patches the Pirate – No longer has Charge.
- Raza the Chained – Now reduces your Hero Power cost to 1 instead of 0.
- Bonemare – Now costs 8 mana, up from 7.
For additional information, check out the balance changes in 10.2 blog post.
Ranked Play Update
The Hearthstone team also announced there would be an update coming to Ranked Play, starting 2 March. For details, take a look at the Ranked Play Updates blog. While this hasn’t gone into effect yet, how you play this month will impact your rankings for the March season.
The summary of the changes are:
- Your reset will not be based on the stars you earned over the season. Instead, you’ll reset to four ranks lower than your highest rank that season.
- Players at Legend reset to rank 4, 0 stars.
- All ranks will have 5 stars.
- Starting in March, you will no longer earn the monthly card back by reaching Rank 20. Instead, you can earn each season’s card back by winning 5 games in Ranked Standard or Wild at any rank.
Although he has been gaming since the Sega Mega Drive launched in 1990, he still sucks at most games. When not being trash he watches French horror films, drinks herbal tea and secretly loves the music of Taylor Swift.
