- This page is about the classic Hearthstone era. For cards from the Classic card set, see Classic or Classic card list.
Classic Hearthstone, also known as vanilla Hearthstone, is the original full release version of Hearthstone, made available March 2014. Classic Hearthstone ended with the release of the game's first content addition, Curse of Naxxramas, in July 2014.
Classic[]
The terms "classic" and "vanilla" exist to differentiate between the different versions of a game that are experienced as a result of the release of expansions. As each expansion adds new cards, as well as new systems, features and perhaps even classes, the game experience offered by each version may differ substantially. Players often use the expansion of a game to specify to the era to which they are referring. For example, "Vanilla WoW" is often used to refer to World of Warcraft prior to the Burning Crusade expansion, and players discussing playing "during" Wrath of the Lich King are referring to the state of the game that existed following the release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, but prior to the release of the next expansion, Cataclysm.
Traditionally, the "vanilla" version of a game is measured by the introduction of the game's first expansion. By this logic, the end of classic Hearthstone would be considered to have taken place with the release of Goblins vs Gnomes in December 2014. However, while not officially termed expansions, Hearthstone adventures represent additions to the game of a directly comparable kind, adding new cards and substantially and irreversibly altering the balance of the game. As such, the introduction of the game's first adventure in July 2014 clearly denotes the end of the classic era.