Hearthstone Game Designer, Celestalon, created a Twitter thread to answer people's questions about the new Core Set that will come with the next rotation.
We deeply appreciate both Celestalon and Iksar's communication: you guys are doing a great job, keep it up! Here's a quick recap of the most interesting answers we've got so far:
- Classic Format is not the new game mode from Phase 3 of Year of the Phoenix. More upcoming content yay!
- Classic has its own ranked ladder and the same end-of-month rewards.
- Naxxramas and other sets may come in the future - players' feedback is appreciated!
- Core cards will be more consistently impactful and relevant to the upcoming metas.
- Core cards that didn't come from Wild might go to Legacy after they rotate, but nothing is set in stone yet.
- The 29 new cards follow a general Warcraft fantasy. Goliath, work is coming for you!
- The Core version of already existing cards is free, temporary, and non-disenchantable.
- Wins in Classic count towards the 1000 wins hero portraits.
- There will be some Classic-specific achievements that are only completable in Classic.
- Old Murk-Eye and Captain's Parrot will be once again given out to the players once they'll get all the Classic Murlocs/Pirates - we'll have specific achievements for that.
Here are all the relevant tweets if you want to take a look at them.
Quote From Celestalon Is Classic Format the New Game Mode from Phase 3 of Year of the Phoenix?
No. Classic Format is not the new game mode.
Quote From Celestalon Is there a ladder for Classic Format similar to Standard and Wild? Same end of month rewards as well? Thank you and hyped!
Yes, Classic has its own ranked ladder like Wild/Standard, and same end-of-month rewards.
Quote From Celestalon Is the "Enrage" keyword coming back in the Classic format?
Cards in Classic will function (and have cardtext) as they did in 2014. So, yes, Enrage will be back.
Quote From Celestalon Are there plans to add to the Classic game mode other cards that underwent balance changes and the sets that accompanied them?
We're focused on getting Classic format out for now, focused on the pre-Naxx state of the game. We look forward to player feedback after that!
Quote From Celestalon The current Evergreen Set has 383 cards, but the new Core set has just 235. Will 148 cards less mean more expansion cards developed? Or will we just be getting "more impactful on average" Core cards?
Since Core is refreshed each year, we can make Core cards more consistently impactful and relevant to the current meta.
Quote From Celestalon When core sets refresh/swap out after rotation (so next year), will cards that go away be available in wild (if they didn’t originate from there)? Or are those cards removed from the game?
It's too early to tell for sure what the future holds for over a year from now, but the current idea is that any Core-exclusive cards that rotate after this year would move to Legacy. We'll evaluate that for sure when we get to that point; that's over a year away.
Quote From Celestalon If we have extra Classic packs right now because we have the whole Classic set, but let’s say I don’t have Leeroy Jenkins anymore, shouldn’t I hold my packs so I have a chance to open Leeroy once the rework is done?
True, you could save Classic Packs to open after rotation so that they could include Hall of Fame'd cards like Leeroy. Or you could open them now so that they can include recently-added Classic cards like Natalie Seline.
Quote From Celestalon Any details about the art/lore fantasy of the Core set? Leaning towards general Warcraft fantasy, or maybe even establishing/evolving existing Hearthstone lore?
It's a bit of a mixture, since it pulls from some Wild sets. But the 29 new cards follow a general Warcraft fantasy.
Quote From Celestalon If let's say I have a Wild card (for example: The Lich King) and you add it to the core set of this year, do I now own 2 copies of him and can disenchant the copy I had while keeping the free version? (Like in the Doom in Tomb event when Wild cards were added to Standard)
Yes, you could disenchant the Wild version of a card, and still use the Core version of that card in Standard (or Wild). The Core version is free, temporary, and non-disenchantable.
Quote From Celestalon Will the "Sorry!" emote be back in Classic? Are all hero portraits allowed, or just the classic ones for authenticity?
Emotes will not be changed in Classic format, and any hero portrait will be usable in Classic format.
Quote From Celestalon Will wins in classic mode count towards golden/1000 win heroes?
Yes. Classic format counts for most achievements, just like Wild does. Additionally, there are some Classic-specific achievements that are only completable in Classic.
Quote From Celestalon Will classic format have the old ladder system? Feels like it would make a lot of sense
No, Classic format will use the modern Ranked system.
Quote From Celestalon Can I somehow get cards like o[Hearthstone Card (ld murk-eye) Not Found]? Or can they only be crafted for dust?
We're also adding achievements to give you Captain's Parrot and Old Murk-Eye once you collect the other Classic Pirates/Murlocs. :D
Quote From Celestalon Do you need the legacy set to play classic or can you use some of the cards from the core set that remained unchanged?
You'll need Classic card to play Classic format (but previous-Basic cards are all given automatically for free).
Comments
will Demon Hunter basic cards rotate as well? if so, does that mean players have only time until the new expansion to reach level 60 as DH to obtain golden cards (without crafting them)?
I find the idea of the Core set to be interesting. I hope that after the details are unveiled about what the specific cards are that it still seems to be an interesting idea.
Thanks for the warning Avilon, lol. Looks like I have a major project ahead of me when they come out. I'm really happy to see them moving in this direction.
Legacy? Classic? Two types of the same card (nerfed/unnerfed)? Maybe I'm too old, but all this seems too complicated for me.
People were hopelessly confused about how the Galakronds would work, but everyone understood them just fine as soon as they were able to test them out. Given there seems to be much less (Edit to actually finish the sentence:) confusion here overall, I'm sure it'll be easy enough to follow once we see it all in the collection manager.
What if you disenchant the parrots and Murk-Eye now. Will you be able to get them again through the achievement?
I imagine that if you got them initially through the achievement then you won't be able to get them again. But if you got them through crafting then you will be able to get them again through the achievement.
"The Core version is free, temporary, and non-disenchantable."
I've heard some streamers talking that Blizzard will be giving core set cards for free to everyone so you can disenchant cards you already own, because you'll get them for free anyway. This here shows what I suspected that case will be - yes core cards will be free, but only for as long as they are part of the core set. Once they go back to Wild, you won't have them anymore. Only cards that you opened in packs or crafted will be yours forever.
So don't disenchant anything!
To me, streamers are for learning how to play a deck, or general entertainment. I wouldn’t rely on them for guidelines related to upcoming changes. Stick to OOC for that stuff 😉
I think Blizzard have been quite clear about it. If you have the core card (as Classic, or whatever) then your collection will end up with *both*. The temporary, rotating one will not be disenchant-able. When it rotates out, you'll be left with your original one.
So you might have 2 Rockbiter Weapons - one that costs 2 and one that costs 1. Because the core set will contain the updated version, and classic the original.
I think the heart of @LilianVoss' comment is that Blizz has been clear on this, but streamers/youtubers have been too hasty in discussing it before they have taken in all the details themselves. This has apparently led to some of them spreading a bit of misinformation about whether it is a good idea to disenchant original versions of cards that will in the Core set.
Silly streamers!
;p
Note that "can" is not the same as "will." Mark my words: You're still going to need just as many expansion cards per deck as you do now, and expansion Legendaries are still going to dominate.
Wait, I didn't realize that the Core is rotating!
Well, this is definitely intriguing for Wild now.
Rotating Core could bring more toxic cards, but if they design it cleverly they could also include smart cards to impact any given Wild meta in a beneficial way against a given mechanic.
Basically an additional chance to have Wild balance itself out.
why oh why did I craft the parrot thinking he won't be obtainable ever again..
I didn’t craft the parrot, but I crafted Murk Eye. My question reading this was “If I disenchant Murk Eye right now, when the achievement is added will I get him back since I have all the murlocs needed?” Wish someone would have asked him that honestly
Whoopsie-doodle!
I wonder if they bring back the achievements for all the golden murlocs/pirates awarding golden Murk-Eye/parrots. I know my Classic collection is a whole lot shinier than I had pieced together before they disappeared...
Why did you craft him unless you needed him? :)
I just crafted all the hall of fame cards. I have more dust than I need anyway
I believe the same as I "Collector's Temptation"