2017 marks the end of the Year of the Kraken for Hearthstone, and the beginning of a new Hearthstone Year: The Year of the Mammoth. Once the Year of the Mammoth officially begins with the first expansion of 2017, Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and League of Explorers cards will become exclusive to Wild.
Certain cards from the Classic set will also become exclusive to the Wild format. These cards will be added to the new Hall of Fame set, which will also include cards that are currently in the Reward set.
Cards moving to the Hall of Fame set include:
Neutral Cards
Azure Drake
Sylvanas Windrunner
Ragnaros the Firelord
Class Cards
Power Overwhelming
Ice Lance
Conceal
Adventuring in Expansions
For the Year of the Mammoth, the release cycle will include a ~130 card expansion at the start of the year, a ~130 card expansion in the middle of the year, and another ~130 card expansion at the end of the year.
In the Year of the Mammoth, cards will be acquired via packs—just like other expansions in the past. Additionally, each release will include optional single-player missions that will help develop the expansions’ thematic narratives and offer fun challenges.
The second expansion of 2017 will be the first step in this new design direction, and Blizzard plan on building on this concept over time. Additional details about the new release model will come later.
Supporting Wild in 2017
Some time after the release of the next expansion, Blizzard plan to run a Heroic Tavern Brawl using the Wild format. They will also be collaborating with third-party tournament organizers to promote additional Hearthstone tournaments using the Wild format.
Celebrate the Year of the Mammoth
Before the release of the next expansion there will be daily login rewards available for a limited time, offering dust, gold, and expansion packs, along with a few other surprises. Login rewards aren’t the only things being offered, though; the new Rogue Hero, Maiev Shadowsong, will also become available with the Year of the Mammoth. Once the next expansion launches, you just need to win 10 games of Hearthstone in Standard Ranked or Casual mode to acquire her.