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Statistics for card packs are a means of observing the rarity drop rates for cards from card packs, determining the opportunity cost of whether a player should continue to buy or not buy packs.

NB: For inclusion into this article, studies recording the rarity drops of card packs should have a reasonably large sample size and should have a citable reference from a reputable source.

Notes[]

  • All card packs guarantee a card of Rare or better rarity, among the 5 cards opened.[1] This means every card pack will guarantee having at least one card of Rare/Epic/Legendary rarity, or in other words, all 5 cards will never be all of Common rarity.[2]
  • All types of card pack have the same chances at rarities and golden/signature cards.[3][4][5][6]
  • 100 packs from an expansion set is roughly equivalent to 40% of the total dust value of the expansion.[7]
  • According to the meta-study data in this article from 2015, the average number of packs to open before receiving another Legendary card is 18.
  • Cards are decided during the opening of packs, not during the moment of purchase.[8]
    • A case has been made for "predetermined rarities" when opening packs "again".[9] This probably means that Hearthstone uses some method of seeding that allows it to determine the rarities of a player's future cards well in advance, and snapshots of the seeding progress are cached periodically server-side as a back-up mechanism in case of a system or database failure, as is what happened in China.
  • A true Hearthstone pack opening simulator cannot be created unless the source code is revealed. (See Discussion)
    • However, using the data showing the probability percentages of opening cards belonging to each rarity type, a user-generated "pack opening" simulator can be created. Employing Monte Carlo repeated simulation of such pack openings can yield information as to the average number of "missing" and "extra" cards a player may receive from opening n packs. Information as to the amount of dust obtained from disenchanting all "extra" cards obtained from such packs can also be obtained.
    • Other simulators may base their simulation on guesses as to how individual cards are selected to be opened from the card pool. The raw data obtained from this article can be used to either debunk or verify such hypothetical user-generated pack opening simulators.
  • As seen with the Tri-class card opening bug on December 1, 2016, in which Tri-class cards had a higher than normal chance of appearing in packs, there appears to be a card-opening variable based on "Classes".
  • China is, by law, requiring games which feature random drops purchasable by money to publicly release the drop rates/statistics for those random drops, effective May 1, 2017. This includes Hearthstone.[10]
Blizzard complied with this law on April 2, 2017, by making a post to their Chinese forums.[11][12] The officially announced drop rates are:
  • RARE - At least 1 rare or better in each pack.
  • EPIC - Average of 1 every 5 packs (specifically 21.0% chance[6]).
  • LEGENDARY - Average of 1 every 20 packs (specifically 5.0% chance[6]).
Changes to pack opening logic, starting with Knights of the Frozen Throne (2017-06-22).
  • On June 22nd, 2017, Blizzard announced in a blog post several changes in pack openings that would take effect when the next expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne, released on August 10th, 2017. The changes were described to affect packs of all future expansions:
    • When opening a new Legendary, it will always be a Legendary you do not own yet, unless you already own all Legendaries from that set. This mechanism does not distinguish between normal, golden, and signature cards.
Example: You own a golden LegacyYsera. You will not find any Ysera (golden or non-golden) in any future Classic pack, until you own at least one copy of all Legendaries from the Legacy set. After that, you may find another Ysera, which may or may not be golden.
  • A card pack will never include more copies of a single card than what may be used in a deck. In other words, there will never be three or more copies of a single Common, Rare, or Epic card, though you might still find two copies of a card that you already own one or more copies of. Once you have all Legendaries from a set, this same guarantee should also ensure that you do not get more than one copy of the same Legendary in a single pack.
  • When opening packs from a new set, at least one Legendary is now guaranteed within the first 10 packs. This might be achieved by setting the Pity Timer to 10 for the first 10 packs opened in that set.
The first two changes should not include the overall distribution of cards in packs; the last change will result in a small increase of the number of Legendaries. The relative increase will be higher for players opening few packs, and lower as a player opens more packs from the same set.[13]
Duplicate protection now extends across all rarities, before Ashes of Outland (2020-03-17).
  • On March 17th 2020, Blizzard announced in a blog post that on March 26th 2020, they were going to extend duplicate protection across all rarities, not just for legendaries, when opening card packs. Furthermore, if a player has yet to acquire all copies of cards from a particular rarity and disenchants some cards, the cards that were disenchanted will no longer show up in card packs until all other copies of cards from that rarity are acquired.[14] Tracking for such disenchanted cards began when the patch went live on March 26.[15] Duplicate protection was implemented for within each rarity.[16]
A few years back, we made changes to how opening card packs works to ensure that every time you got a Legendary card, it would be one that you didn’t already have. Starting March 26, we’re extending this to cards of all rarities!
Once this change goes live, you will no longer receive more than two copies of any Common, Rare, or Epic until you have owned two copies of all cards of that rarity in a set. Crafting a card counts towards acquiring it, and any cards you acquire and later disenchant (whether golden or non-golden) count as well. This means that if you get a card that you don't want, you can disenchant it and you will not receive it again until you have all cards of that rarity from that set. This change does not affect the overall distribution of rarities in card packs.
Starting today, your card packs are going to be full of the good stuff—new cards! You’ll no longer receive more than two copies of any Common, Rare, or Epic card until you have owned two copies of all cards of that rarity in a set. Crafting a card counts towards acquiring it, and any cards you acquire and later disenchant (whether golden or non-golden) count as well. This means that if you get a card that you don’t want, you can disenchant it and you will not receive it again until you have all cards of that rarity from that set. This improvement even affects card packs you already own, but it won’t affect the overall distribution of rarities in card packs.
  • Additionally, not stated in the above two official blog posts, Chadd Nervig confirmed on Twitter that when a player has obtained for example 2 of all Commons, future Commons will be random but non-goldens will be ones which the player hasn't gotten non-golden of, and goldens will be ones the player hasn't gotten golden of.[17]
"Generally, we don't particularly want players to disenchant their cards. That's a bit of a new mentality for us, especially when you think about things like achievements in the future, and game modes potentially linking to older parts of your collection. If you're destroying your cards, you're kind of harming yourself [in relation to] future things that we're planning. So, we want people to open their cards, feel good about them, and keep them."
  • On March 14, 2023, Blizzard published exact percentage chances of obtaining every rarity and quality from normal and golden packs.[6] The data for that can be seen below.

Pity Timer[]

"Pity Timers" exist,[18][6] which define the maximum number of packs that a player opens before guaranteeing the next Rare/Epic/Legendary card.[19][20] Pity Timer counters are tracked individually for each store-bought expansion set, including the Classic set. Previously, it was stated that golden packs did not have pity timers,[21][18] but the official 2023 stats indicate that golden packs also have pity timers.[6]

Newest statement[]

The official exact pity timers were published by Blizzard on March 14, 2023.[6] The rarity/quality is listed first, then the amount of packs needed to be opened before you are guaranteed to get another one of the exact same rarity and quality.

Normal packs
  • Signature legendary: 361 packs
  • Golden legendary: 361 packs
  • Golden epic: 142 packs
  • Golden rare: 29 packs
  • Golden common: 25 packs
  • Normal legendary: 40 packs
  • Normal epic: 10 packs
  • Normal common, rare, or higher: Guaranteed
Golden packs
  • Signature legendary: 40 packs
  • Golden legendary: 40 packs
  • Golden epic: 10 packs
  • Golden common, rare, or higher: Guaranteed
Signature golden packs
  • Signature legendary: 14 packs
  • Otherwise, rules will follow golden packs

Previous statements[]

A translation of the announcement Blizzard made in complying with China's "disclose odds" law stated:

"In adherence to new laws, Hearthstone is hereby declaring the probabilities of getting specific card rarities from packs, with details as below.

Note: Each Hearthstone pack contains cards of 4 different rarities.

  • RARE - At least 1 rare or better in each pack
  • EPIC - Average of 1 every 5 packs
  • LEGENDARY - Average of 1 every 20 packs

In addition, please note that as players open more packs, the actual probability of opening cards of a higher quality increases in tandem."

The statement that the probability increases as more packs are opened may be a reference to the (otherwise-unannounced) pity timer.

In addition, Blizzard announced that beginning with Knights of the Frozen Throne, players are guaranteed at least one legendary card in their first 10 packs from any given expansion.[22] This, however, does not apply to Golden Classic packs.[21][18] Combined with the usual 40-pack pity timer, this implies that if a player buys a 50-pack bundle (of packs of a never-before-opened type), they're guaranteed at least 2 legendaries, and can reasonably expect 3 or more.

Official data[]

The following is taken from this blog post on Blizzard's support site on March 14, 2023:

Rarity and Quality of Cards and Card Drop Rates[]

Cards found in packs can be of four different rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, or Legendary.

Cards found in packs also have different cosmetic qualities. Common, Rare, and Epic rarity cards can be of two different qualities: Normal or Golden. Legendary rarity cards can be of three different qualities: Normal, Golden, or Signature.

Note: Diamond quality cards cannot be found in card packs; signature quality cards can only be obtained from expansion set card packs from the March of the Lich King expansion onward.

Normal Packs[]

When opening packs of cards, you will get a:

  • On average, 0.6% chance to get a Signature Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 361 packs from the previous Signature Legendary card drop
    • Note: Signature quality cards can only be obtained from expansion set card packs from the March of the Lich King expansion and onward.
    • Note: Once you have received  all Signature Legendary cards in a card expansion set, you will start receiving Golden Legendary cards in place of Signature Legendary cards.
  • On average, 0.6% chance to get a Golden Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 361 packs from the previous Golden Legendary card drop
  • On average, 1.4% chance to get a Golden Epic card and guaranteed to get one within 142 packs from the previous Golden Epic card drop
  • On average, 7.1% chance to get a Golden Rare card and guaranteed to get one within 29 packs from the previous Golden Rare card drop
  • On average, 8.1% chance to get a Golden Common card and guaranteed to get one within 25 packs from the previous Golden Common card drop
  • On average, 5.0% chance to get a Normal Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 40 packs from the previous Normal Legendary card drop
    • Note: One Legendary card is guaranteed within the first 10 packs of a new card expansion, then subsequent Legendary card drops will follow the above rule.
  • On average, 21.0% chance to get a Normal Epic card and guaranteed to get one within 10 packs from the previous Normal Epic card drop
  • Each card pack is guaranteed to contain at least one Normal Rare card or better
  • Remaining cards will be Normal Common cards on average of 3.5 cards per pack

Golden Packs and Signature Golden Packs[]

Cards found in Golden packs and/or Signature Golden packs will always be Golden or Signature quality. When opening Golden or Signature Golden packs of cards, you will get a:

  • [Signature Golden Packs Only] On average, 15.1% chance to get a Signature Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 14 packs from the previous Signature Legendary card drop
  • On average, 5.0% chance to get a Signature Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 40 packs from the previous Signature Legendary card drop
    • Note: Signature quality cards can only be obtained from golden expansion set card packs from the Festival of Legends expansion and onward
  • On average, 5.0% chance to get a Golden Legendary card and guaranteed to get one within 40 packs from the previous Golden Legendary card drop
    • Note: One Golden Legendary card is guaranteed within the first 10 packs of a new card expansion, then subsequent Golden Legendary card drops will follow the above rule
  • On average, 21.0% chance to get a Golden Epic card and guaranteed to get one within 10 packs from the previous Golden Epic card drop
  • Each Golden card pack is guaranteed to contain at least one Golden Rare card or better per pack
  • Remaining cards will be Golden Common cards on average of 3.7 cards per pack

User data[]

All data below is recorded by users, may be outdated, and is not recommended to be taken at face value compared to official Blizzard data. It is only kept here for historical purposes.

Pity timers using user data[]

Actually statistical studies have shown the following:

  • An Epic card will be opened within 10 packs of the last opened Epic, for that set.[19]
  • A Legendary card will be opened within 40 packs of the last opened Legendary, for that set.

Pitytracker.com has also compiled their own card pack opening statistics for each expansion: pitytracker.com/insights.

Expected dust value[]

According to the below meta-study's data tabulated under the "Golden cards" section, the average card pack has a disenchanting value of 102.71 Arcane Dust.[23] Each card has an average disenchanting value of 20.54 Arcane Dust.

Meta-study[]

The following numbers combine data from several other studies on this page. Since it has at times been suggested that the distribution of cards has changed over time or is different for different expansions, the numbers are shown per expansion. Note that all data collection has been done for each expansion when it was the most recent expansion, so there is for example no data available for card distribution in Classic packs that were opened after the release of Goblins vs Gnomes.

Currently included studies:

  • June 5, 2014: Steve Marinconz (1,000 Classic Packs)
  • August 2014: E. R. Kjellgren (11,359 Classic Packs)
  • February 12, 2015: Amaz (400 GvG Packs)
  • August 29, 2015: HearthSim (15,109 TGT Packs)
  • April 28, 2016: Kripparian (713 Old Gods Packs)
  • April 28, 2016: Amaz (413 Old Gods Packs)
  • December 1, 2016: Kripparian (896 Gadgetzan Packs, Before Tri-Class Bug Hotfix)
  • December 1-2, 2016: Kripparian (450 Gadgetzan Packs, After Tri-Class Bug Hotfix)
  • April 6, 2017: Kripparian (1,101 Journey to Un'Goro Packs)
  • April 8, 2017: N. Millar (1,256 Journey to Un'Goro Packs)

This produces a total sample size of 32,697 card packs, describing 163,485 cards in total.

  • September 13, 2017: Joe Tweak (380 Knights of the Frozen Throne Packs)

Rarity distribution[]

This table shows the likelihood of any single card being of a given rarity. The differences in the percentages appear to be all within the boundaries of statistical variance. This suggests that, at least up to and including the Un'Goro expansion, there have been no changes in the distribution of cards per rarity.

Expansion Cards Card count Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary Common Rare Epic Legendary
Classic 61,795 44,146 14,083 2,823 743 71.44% 22.79% 4.57% 1.20%
Goblins vs Gnomes* 2,000 1,419 462 97 22 70.95% 23.10% 4.85% 1.10%
The Grand Tournament 75,545 54,271 17,276 3,232 766 71.84% 22.87% 4.28% 1.01%
Whispers of the Old Gods 5,630 4,030 1,284 256 60 71.58% 22.81% 4.55% 1.07%
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan 6,730 4,805 1,556 299 70 71.40% 23.12% 4.44% 1.04%
Journey to Un'Goro 11,785 8,419 2,694 538 134 71.44% 22.86% 4.57% 1.14%
Knights of the Frozen Throne* 1,900 1,361 441 80 18 71.63% 23.21% 4.21% 0.95%
Total for all expansions 163,485 117,090 37,355 7,245 1,795 71.62% 22.85% 4.43% 1.10%

* Note that the sample size for Goblins vs Gnomes & Knights of the Frozen Throne are probably too small to be statistically relevant.

Due to how cards are generated (with the guarantee of at least one Rare or better in any pack, plus the existence of a "Pity timer" for Epic and Legendary cards), the chance of finding at least one card of any given rarity cannot be simply mathematically computed from the numbers above. However, for all pack openings since the TGT expansion the card rarities in any individual pack have been recorded. With these data, it is possible to determine the chances for these events:

Expansion Packs Packs with at least one Probability of at least one
Common Rare Epic Legendary Common Rare Epic Legendary
The Grand Tournament 15,109 15,106 14,480 3,073 760 99.98% 95.84% 20.34% 5.03%
Whispers of the Old Gods 1,126 1,126 1,067 241 60 100.00% 94.76% 21.40% 5.33%
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan 1,346 1,346 1,284 286 70 100.00% 95.39% 21.25% 5.20%
Journey to Un'Goro 2,357 2,355 2,241 500 132 99.92% 95.08% 21.21% 5.60%
Knights of the Frozen Throne No data available yet
Total for all expansions 19,938 19,933 19,072 4,100 1,022 99.97% 95.66% 20.56% 5.13%

Golden cards[]

The data from Marinconz does not include details of regular vs. golden opened in the packs. However, all other studies did include this data. After excluding the 5,000 cards from Marinconz' study, this results in the following probabilities of finding regular or golden cards of any rarity when opening packs. (For readability, the totals and the percentages are split over two separate tables):

Expansion Cards Number of regular Number of golden
Total Common Rare Epic Legendary Total Common Rare Epic Legendary
Classic 56,795 54,942 39,746 12,148 2,433 615 1,853 835 780 175 63
Goblins vs Gnomes 2,000 1,934 1,390 432 92 20 66 29 30 5 2
The Grand Tournament 75,545 73,266 53,151 16,319 3,086 710 2,279 1,120 957 146 56
Whispers of the Old Gods 5,630 5,443 3,939 1,209 241 54 187 91 75 15 6
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan 6,730 6,502 4,694 1,464 282 62 228 111 92 17 8
Journey to Un'Goro 11,785 11,380 8,236 2,516 506 122 405 183 178 32 12
Knights of the Frozen Throne 1,900 1,837 1,333 413 75 16 63 28 28 5 2
Total for all expansions 158,485 153,467 111,156 34,088 6,640 1,583 5,018 2,369 2,112 390 147
Expansion Cards Percentage of regular Percentage of golden
Total Common Rare Epic Legendary Total Common Rare Epic Legendary
Classic 56,795 96.74% 69.98% 21.39% 4.28% 1.08% 3.26% 1.47% 1.37% 0.31% 0.11%
Goblins vs Gnomes 2,000 96.70% 69.50% 21.60% 4.60% 1.00% 3.30% 1.45% 1.50% 0.25% 0.10%
The Grand Tournament 75,545 96.98% 70.36% 21.60% 4.08% 0.94% 3.02% 1.48% 1.27% 0.19% 0.07%
Whispers of the Old Gods 5,630 96.68% 69.96% 21.47% 4.28% 0.96% 3.32% 1.62% 1.33% 0.27% 0.11%
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan 6,730 96.61% 69.75% 21.75% 4.19% 0.92% 3.39% 1.65% 1.37% 0.25% 0.12%
Journey to Un'Goro 11,785 96.56% 69.89% 21.35% 4.29% 1.04% 3.44% 1.55% 1.51% 0.27% 0.10%
Knights of the Frozen Throne 1,900 96.69% 70.16% 21.74% 3.95% 0.84% 3.31% 1.47% 1.47% 0.26% 0.11%
Total for all expansions 158,485 96.83% 70.14% 21.51% 4.19% 1.00% 3.17% 1.49% 1.33% 0.25% 0.09%

Disregarding the data from GvG (which is statistically irrelevant because of the small sample size), it appears that the chance of receiving a golden common card has been slightly increased as of the Old Gods expansion, while simultaneously lowering the chance of a regular common card. In other words, the chance of a common is unchanged, but any common card generated has an increased chance to be golden.


A different way to look at the data is to compute, for any given rarity, the ratio of regular versus golden cards. This is shown in the next table:

Expansion Cards Percentage golden Probability golden
Common Rare Epic Legendary Common Rare Epic Legendary
Classic 56,795 2.06% 6.03% 6.71% 9.29% 1 in 48.6 1 in 16.6 1 in 14.9 1 in 10.8
Goblins vs Gnomes 2,000 2.04% 6.49% 5.15% 9.09% 1 in 48.9 1 in 15.4 1 in 19.4 1 in 11.0
The Grand Tournament 75,545 2.06% 5.54% 4.52% 7.31% 1 in 48.5 1 in 18.1 1 in 22.1 1 in 13.7
Whispers of the Old Gods 5,630 2.26% 5.84% 5.86% 10.00% 1 in 44.3 1 in 17.1 1 in 17.1 1 in 10.0
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan 6,730 2.31% 5.91% 5.69% 11.43% 1 in 43.3 1 in 16.9 1 in 17.6 1 in 8.8
Journey to Un'Goro 11,785 2.17% 6.61% 5.95% 8.96% 1 in 46.0 1 in 15.1 1 in 16.8 1 in 11.2
Knights of the Frozen Throne 1,900 2.10% 6.78% 6.67% 12.50% 1 in 47.6 1 in 14.7 1 in 15.0 1 in 8
Total for all expansions 158,485 2.09% 5.83% 5.55% 8.50% 1 in 47.9 1 in 17.1 1 in 18.0 1 in 11.8

This data again shows the increased chance of a Common card being golden since the Old Gods expansion. The seemingly erratic changes in the chance of a Legendary card being golden are probably a result of the relatively low amount of legendaries in the data, making the data statistically less trustworthy. However, it cannot be ruled out that the rules for generating a Legendary as golden or regular have been changed by Blizzard.

Class distribution[]

Only a single data set (the HearthSim data) tracked the class of the cards opened in addition to their rarity. Fortunately, this data set by itself is large enough for statistical relevant. However, this obviously means that there is no way to verify whether there have been changes in distribution across the classes over time, and whether the same pattern applies for expansions other than TGT.

The table below shows, per rarity and by class, the average number of times each card was opened. (Example: A total of 3,227 Common Mage cards were opened; since the TGT expansion includes 3 Common Mage cards the average number per card is 1,075.67).

Class Common Rare Epic Legendary
Druid 1,106.00 486.33 123.50 28.00
Hunter 1,092.67 498.00 118.00 38.00
Mage 1,075.67 493.00 127.50 32.00
Paladin 1,082.67 486.67 113.50 51.00
Priest 1,118.33 475.67 117.50 28.00
Rogue 1,116.33 491.33 126.00 28.00
Shaman 1,134.00 469.00 125.50 30.00
Warlock 1,098.67 482.33 122.00 47.00
Warrior 1,114.67 472.33 116.50 34.00
Neutral 1,111.55 468.00 116.89 41.20

The variations in the numbers are all within the boundaries of expected statistical variance. This suggests that the pack opening algorithm does not favor any specific class, nor neutral cards over class-speecific cards. However, that does not mean that there is an equal chance of finding any class or neutral; it means that any card of a given rarity is equally likely to be found. Since TGT (like all other expansions) has more neutral cards than it has class-specific cards, the chance of getting a neutral card is still higher.

User pack openings[]

June 5, 2014: Steve Marinconz[]

On June 5th 2014 Steve Marinconz published the following results in an article on Kotaku.com.[24] The data was collected by aggregating the results of numerous card pack opening videos found online, with a total of 1,000 packs. The study used only videos filmed in the last two months.

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Count per 1,000 packs 3,565 1,155 215 65
Percentage of total 71.30% 23.10% 4.30% 1.30%
Probability of at least 1 per pack * 99.81% * 73.11% * 19.73% * 6.33% *

* NOTE: The data in this row is as published in the article, but appears to be incorrect. According to these numbers, the chance of finding at least one Rare or better card in a pack is (73.11 + 19.73 + 6.33) = 99.17%, which is inconsistent with the guarantee of at least one Rare or better card. Apparently Marinconz computed these figures from the "Percentage of total" chances, based on the assumption of a flat distribution; however the "at least 1 Rare or better" guarantee invalidates this assumption and hence these numbers.

Based upon this data, Marinconz provided some interesting 'fun facts'. While these are based on the results of this single, relatively small study, the closeness of the study's results to those of other and larger studies suggests that the below information should still be relatively accurate, at least for the lower rarities.

  • The chances of getting a pack with any 5 legendary cards is one in a million
  • The chances of getting a pack with any 5 golden legendary cards is 1 in 3.2 billion
  • There's a 0.04% (that is, 1 in 2,500) probability of getting 2 legendaries in a single pack
  • The probability of getting a pack with only one common card is about ~0.80%
  • There's a 16.26% (slightly less than 1 in 6) probability of getting a pack with any golden card
  • Only 2.19% of common cards were golden, while 7.69% of legendaries were
  • The average $50 purchase of 40 packs will be worth about 3,600 Arcane Dust
  • The most common distribution was a '4100' - 4 commons and 1 rare - accounting for 61% of packs opened
  • The second most common distribution was a '3200' - 3 commons and 2 rares - accounting for 12.2% of packs opened

Unfortunately, Marinconz only posted aggregated data. Without data about individual packs, it is not possible to use this data for the "Probability of at least 1 per pack" table in the Meta-study. Also, since Steve didn't publish the exact number of golden cards, this study has also been excluded from any of the tables representing the chance of golden cards.

August 2014: E. R. Kjellgren[]

In August 2014 E. R. Kjellgren published an investigation into the rarities of cards found in card packs.[25] This was achieved by collecting user data from forums regarding the contents of 11,359 different card packs. The author notes that the investigation suffered from two main problems: the information collected was anonymous and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed; and the sample size, while adequate for the lower rarities, is still smaller than might be desired for the higher rarities. Kjellgren also divided rarities into golden and regular versions.

Based on the data below, the average card's dust value is 21.51 dust. The average pack's dust value is 107.54.

Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.45% 22.76% 4.59% 1.19%
Regular 96.74% 69.98% 21.39% 4.28% 1.08%
Golden 3.26% 1.47% 1.37% 0.31% 0.11%
Count per 11,359 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 40,581 12,928 2,608 678
Regular 54,942 39,746 12,148 2,433 615
Golden 1,853 835 780 175 63

The data showed golden cards to be on average around 30 times less common than regular cards. However, the proportion of golden and regular versions varied substantially by rarity. The author also notes that the sample sizes for the higher golden rarities are too small to be considered conclusive.

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.06% 6.03% 6.71% 9.29%
Rough probability 1 in 48.6 1 in 16.6 1 in 14.9 1 in 10.8

Unfortunately, Kjellgren only posted aggregated data. Without data about individual packs, it is not possible to use this data for the "Probability of at least 1 per pack" table in the Meta-study.

February 12, 2015: Amaz opens 400 GVG Packs[]

Sources: YouTube - Reddit

  • The average card's dust value is 21.22 dust. The average pack's dust value is 106.10.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 70.95% 23.10% 4.85% 1.10%
Regular 96.70% 69.50% 21.60% 4.60% 1.00%
Golden 3.30% 1.45% 1.50% 0.25% 0.10%
Count per 400 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 1,419 462 97 22
Regular 1,934 1,390 432 92 20
Golden 66 29 30 5 2

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.04% 6.49% 5.15% 9.09%
Rough probability 1 in 48.9 1 in 15.4 1 in 19.4 1 in 11.0

Unfortunately, the sources for this pack opening only include aggregated data. Without data about individual packs, it is not possible to use this data for the "Probability of at least 1 per pack" table in the Meta-study.

August 29, 2015: HearthSim compiles 15,109 TGT Packs[]

Sources: Reddit (initial post) - Reddit (update) - HearthSim - Raw CSV data

  • The average card's dust value is 19.65 dust. The average pack's dust value is 98.25.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.84% 22.87% 4.28% 1.01%
Regular 96.98% 70.36% 21.60% 4.08% 0.94%
Golden 3.02% 1.48% 1.27% 0.19% 0.07%
Count per 15,109 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 54,271 17,276 3,232 766
Regular 73,266 53,151 16,319 3,086 710
Golden 2,279 1,120 957 146 56

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.06% 5.54% 4.52% 7.31%
Rough probability 1 in 48.5 1 in 18.1 1 in 22.1 1 in 13.7

April 28, 2016: Kripparian opens 713 Old Gods Packs[]

Sources: Youtube - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 21.11 dust. The average pack's dust value is 105.54.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.16% 23.06% 4.71% 1.07%
Regular 96.69% 69.57% 21.74% 4.43% 0.95%
Golden 3.31% 1.60% 1.32% 0.28% 0.11%
Count per 713 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 2,537 822 168 38
Regular 3,447 2,480 775 158 34
Golden 118 57 47 10 4

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.25% 5.72% 5.95% 10.53%
Rough probability 1 in 44.5 1 in 17.5 1 in 16.8 1 in 9.5

April 28, 2016: Amaz opens 413 Old Gods Packs[]

Sources: Youtube - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 20.33 dust. The average pack's dust value is 101.63.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 72.30% 22.37% 4.26% 1.07%
Regular 96.66% 70.65% 21.02% 4.02% 0.97%
Golden 3.34% 1.65% 1.36% 0.24% 0.10%
Count per 413 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 1,493 462 88 22
Regular 1,996 1,459 434 83 20
Golden 69 34 28 5 2

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.28% 6.06% 5.68% 9.09%
Rough probability 1 in 43.9 1 in 16.5 1 in 17.6 1 in 11.0

December 1, 2016: Kripparian opens 896 Gadgetzan Packs (Before Tri-Class Bug Hotfix)[]

Sources: YouTube - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 20.73 dust. The average pack's dust value is 103.63.
  • The "tri-class bug" was a time when, during the opening day for Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, tri-class cards had a higher chance of being opened from packs than other cards.[26]
  • The raw data here was collected from the original Twitch VOD, not the YouTube video referenced above. It is unknown whether the YouTube video catches all of the pack openings, since there were a lot of segues in-between pack openings, so the creator of the YouTube video might not have caught them all.
  • Of the 896 packs, 6 were from the 3 promo quests.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.63% 23.06% 4.31% 1.00%
Regular 96.63% 69.98% 21.74% 4.04% 0.87%
Golden 3.37% 1.65% 1.32% 0.27% 0.13%
Count per 896 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 3,209 1,033 193 45
Regular 4,329 3,135 974 181 39
Golden 151 74 59 12 6

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.31% 5.71% 6.22% 13.33%
Rough probability 1 in 43.4 1 in 17.5 1 in 16.1 1 in 7.5

December 1-2, 2016: Kripparian opens 450 Gadgetzan Packs (After Tri-Class Bug Hotfix)[]

Sources: YouTube (end of video, first 300 packs) - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 21.00 dust. The average pack's dust value is 104.99.
  • YouTube video should include the first 300 of the pack openings. The last 150 pack openings were opened the day after the YouTube video was created.
  • Data was recorded by watching the original two Twitch VODs, not the YouTube video.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 70.93% 23.24% 4.71% 1.11%
Regular 96.58% 69.29% 21.78% 4.49% 1.02%
Golden 3.42% 1.64% 1.47% 0.22% 0.09%
Count per 450 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 1,596 523 106 25
Regular 2,173 1,559 490 101 23
Golden 77 37 33 5 2

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.32% 6.31% 4.72% 8.00%
Rough probability 1 in 43.1 1 in 15.8 1 in 21.2 1 in 12.5

April 6, 2017: Kripparian opens 1101 Journey to Un'Goro Packs[]

Sources: Twitch VOD (will eventually be deleted) - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 21.57 dust. The average pack's dust value is 107.86.
  • The data shows that golden Rares, all Epics, and all Legendary cards appear more frequently in Journey to Un'Goro when compared to the data in HearthSim's August 2015 study for The Grand Tournament.
  • The data shown here is somewhat similar to the data gathered during Whispers of the Old Gods, with the exception of golden Rares appearing more in Journey to Un'Goro than in Whispers of the Old Gods.
  • Data was recorded by watching the original Twitch VOD.
  • Refer to Kripp's YouTube channel for video footage of the card pack openings when the Twitch video eventually gets deleted.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.61% 22.52% 4.63% 1.24%
Regular 96.64% 70.14% 20.98% 4.40% 1.13%
Golden 3.36% 1.47% 1.54% 0.24% 0.11%
Count per 1101 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 3,942 1240 255 68
Regular 5,320 3,861 1155 242 62
Golden 185 81 85 13 6

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.05% 6.85% 5.10% 8.82%
Rough probability 1 in 48.7 1 in 14.6 1 in 19.6 1 in 11.3

April 8, 2017: N. Millar opens 1256 Journey to Un'Goro Packs[]

Sources: YouTube - Raw data

  • The average card's dust value is 20.88 dust. The average pack's dust value is 104.38.
  • Data was recorded by watching the YouTube video.
Percentage of total
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 71.29% 23.15% 4.51% 1.05%
Regular 96.50% 69.67% 21.67% 4.20% 0.96%
Golden 3.50% 1.62% 1.48% 0.30% 0.10%
Count per 1256 packs
Common Rare Epic Legendary
All 4,477 1,454 283 66
Regular 6,060 4,375 1,361 264 60
Golden 220 102 93 19 6

Percentage of cards of each rarity that are golden:

Common Rare Epic Legendary
Percentage golden 2.28% 6.40% 6.71% 9.09%
Rough probability 1 in 43.9 1 in 15.6 1 in 14.9 1 in 11.0

Analysis from past data[]

Prior to Patch 17.0.0.44222 (2020-03-26)[]

Prior to Patch 17.0.0.44222 implemented on March 26th 2020, the duplicate protection rule only applied to legendaries when opening card packs. The following are some statistics from that period:

Pack opening
  • Opening 100 packs from an expansion set was roughly equivalent to obtaining 75% of the cards in that set.[27]
Expected leftover dust for a set
  • The expected leftover dust from buying a specific number of packs for a set will be defined here as the amount of dust a player receives when he/she has opened "n" packs for a set, and has disenchanted all extra copies.
    • The amount of expected leftover dust a player receives from opening 70 packs is about 1600 dust, or about 23 leftover dust per pack.[29]
    • The amount of expected leftover dust a player receives from opening 100 packs is about 3000 dust, or about 30 leftover dust per pack.[29]
  • Moreover, if the player decides to disenchant more cards (cards which are not extras) which the player presumes to have no use for, then he/she will be expected to obtain more dust than the values calculated above.
  • A player can approximately calculate their leftover dust for a set by doing the math themselves, given the number of packs they purchased and given the amount of dust before and after the purchase. Include the disenchantment of extra golden cards before observing the dust difference on the "Mass Disenchant" button.

References[]

 
  1. Hearthstone Products - Card Packs - Battle.net. Retrieved on 2017-03-27.
  2. Sample pack opening images: 1 Legendary, 4 Commons, 2 Legendary, 2 Epic, 1 Common.
  3. Hearthstone Fireside Chat Goblins vs Gnomes. (2014-11-07). 
  4. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-12-04). 
  5. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2017-02-03). 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Blizzard Entertainment (2023-03-14). Hearthstone Shop
  7. Hearthstone Mathematics (July 31, 2018). 20 FACTS about Hearthstone PACKS! The Boomsday Project: How many packs should you buy?. Retrieved on 2018-08-06.
  8. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2015-12-21). 
  9. Hearthstone Packs Hypothesis for "Predetermined Rarity" - Reddit. (2017-01-19). Retrieved on 2017-01-19.
  10. China will force games with loot boxes to publicly expose their drop rates and probabilities - Reddit. (2016-12-08). Retrieved on 2017-01-19.
  11. 关于《炉石传说》卡牌包抽取概率公告. (2017-04-02). 
  12. Official Card Rarity Drop Probabilities from Packs. (2017-05-05). 
  13. Hearthstone Update: Upcoming Card Pack Changes. (2017-06-22). 
  14. Chadd Nervig on Twitter. (2020-03-17). 
  15. Chadd Nervig on Twitter. (2020-03-26). 
  16. Chadd Nervig on Twitter. (2020-03-17). 
  17. Chadd Nervig on Twitter. (2020-03-26). 
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Chadd Nervig on Twitter. (2020-05-21). 
  19. 19.0 19.1 Pity Timer on Packs Opening analysis (Kinda proofed) - Reddit. (2016-01-03). 
  20. Continuing Info on Pity Timer - Reddit. (2016-01-06). 
  21. 21.0 21.1 "These packs use the new pack opening rules regarding duplication protection, but will otherwise have an independent chance of containing Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary cards unrelated to any special rules (such as a guaranteed Legendary within 10 packs) nor other Hearthstone Sets, including Classic." —Blizzard Entertainment (October 6, 2017). Get a Golden Classic Card Pack with Twitch Prime. Retrieved on 2020-05-21.
  22. Hearthstone Update: Upcoming Card Pack Changes. (2017-06-22). 
  23. Calculated from this article's table by User:BigHugger.
  24. http://kotaku.com/here-are-the-actual-hearthstone-legendary-card-drop-rat-1586156518
  25. Kjellgren data. (2016-08). 
  26. Kripp checks tri-class card amount. (2016-12-01). 
  27. Pity Tracker Guide. (2015-12-01). 
  28. Simulation run by User:Aegonostic, using the meta-study data that existed in this article in early 2017. The duplicate protection rule for legendaries was taken into account.
  29. 29.0 29.1 Simulation run by User:Aegonostic (2018-10-12). Golden cards and the new legendary-opening rule are factored in.
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