A new year for Hearthstone always brings with it exciting new changes. In the past, these updates have radically changed the meta, allowing for brand-new gameplay styles and deck feasibility. As it enters the Year of the Dragon, Hearthstone is once again ready to usher in tons of new content, expansions, features, and quality of life improvements that keep the ever-evolving card game fresh and new each year.
Some of the biggest changes this year are the set rotations, removing old sets from the Standard Format to completely overhaul the meta. Decks that include cards belonging to this set will still be playable in the game’s Wild format. With this year’s Hall of Fame picks, players are scrambling to create all-new strategies and decks to conquer the new, uncharted meta.
Hearthstone developers also shed some light on this year’s upcoming expansions. Set to be released in four month intervals over the course of the year, the three expansion sets for 2019 are going to be individual parts of a grand trilogy. While Hearthstone has always been methodical when it comes to its expansion release schedule, the Year of the Dragon offers a new and exciting twist. The three expansion sets for 2019 will be part of an overarching theme and storyline, giving the game more depth and world-building that is characteristic of a Blizzard production.
The Year of the Dragon also ushers in tons of new gameplay upgrades and quality of life improvements. One of the features that players are most excited about is the implementation of the card back randomizer. Card backs are a purely cosmetic feature that makes a player’s card look different when face-down. Prior to the card back randomizer, players could only equip one of the dozens of unique themed card backs they can unlock and acquire. With the randomizer in tow, veteran players will be able to flaunt their card back collections with a random card back equipped each game. The Arena game mode also receives some great upgrades, including more frequent seasons and Arena wins counting towards the elusive golden hero portrait rewards for achieving 500 wins.
