A CCG — digital or not — can only go on and release new sets for so long before the amount of cards at play become unmanageable. The traditional fix is to create new formats and ban cards or sets from being playable within those formats. This way, both game designers and players don’t have to deal with game balance becoming untenable; plus, creating new cards and sets grows more difficult the more they have to interact with previously existing cards and sets. We all wondered what Blizzard would do when Hearthstone finally reached the point of having tons of cards, and the answer is what just about every popular CCG ends up doing: the traditional fix.
Today, Blizzard announced that the future of Hearthstone would consist of formats, starting with Standard and Wild. Standard format allows the use, Basic, Classic, and cards released within the current or previous (calendar) year, while Wild will be true to its moniker and every card will be allowed. Of course, Standard and Wild decks will only face off against their own format, so there won’t be any balance issues there (aside from the usual ones, right?). Standard will only be available for Ranked, Casual, and friendly play — so no Arena, Solo, or Adventures.
Standard format will drop this spring (dubbed Year of the Kraken) and will include Basic, Classic, Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, The League of Explorers, and a currently unnamed spring 2016 expansion. It will not include either the Curse of Naxxramas or Goblins vs Gnomes. Blizzard has also announced that expansions and adventures not viable for Standard format will be removed from the shop, and will only be attainable through crafting. Intentionally hampering your own revenue stream seems like a weird decision for a company to make, however, hey, that’ll at least help players feel less anxious about catching ’em all. It’s also a pretty good preventative measure to ensure players don’t buy cards from the “wrong” set and create some bad PR.
If you’re not thrilled with the separation of cards, the formats do offer a cool (and time-consuming) bonus: you can rank up in both Standard and Wild formats, working your way toward Legendary rank in each. You’ll only receive one season-end reward, though, based on the format in which you achieved the higher rank.
Finally, Blizzard will be fulfilling one of the biggest changes Hearthstone players have been asking for since the closed beta: more deck slots. If you’ve unlocked all nine classes, you’ll get nine new deck slots, doubling the current number to 18 total.
In theory, all CCGs need to cycle out cards before the games become a mess, even when they’re presented in a tidy digital format. What do you think about the move to ban sets? Sound off below.