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Year of the Kraken is the Standard format year from April 26, 2016 to April 6, 2017.[1] The Kraken was chosen because it was deemed an otherwordly, yet recognisable motif; the team didn't want to choose an animal that might feel like it was from an annual zodiac calendar that already exists on Earth. In addition, the Kraken, with its tentacles, was seen as a perfect fit for Hearthstone's first expansion of 2016, Whispers of the Old Gods, which welcomed both the new year and an ancient darkness into the Tavern.[2]
Card sets[]
These card sets are released as a part of Year of the Kraken.
Patches[]
These patches were released during Year of the Kraken.
| Version | Build | Release date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1.1 | 17994 | 2017-03-09 | |
| 7.1.0 | 17720 | 2017-02-28 | Journey to Un'Goro pre-order, Card changes |
| 7.0.0 | 15590 | 2016-11-29 | Mean Streets of Gadgetzan release |
| 6.2.0 | 15300 | 2016-11-08 | |
| 6.2.0 | 15181 | 2016-10-20 | Card changes |
| 6.1.3 | 14830 | 2016-10-03 | Card changes |
| 6.1.1 | 14366 | 2016-09-15 | Arena updates, Welcome Bundle introduction |
| 6.1.1 | 14406 | 2016-09-15 | |
| 6.0.0 | 13921 | 2016-08-09 | One Night in Karazhan release |
| 5.2.2 | 13807 | 2016-07-26 | |
| 5.2.0 | 13740 | 2016-07-15 | |
| 5.2.0 | 13714 | 2016-07-14 | |
| 5.2.0 | 13619 | 2016-07-12 | Recruit A Friend introduction, Game mode ID system |
| 5.0.0 | 13030 | 2016-06-01 | |
| 5.0.0 | 12574 | 2016-04-24 | Standard format introduction, Year of the Kraken rotation, Whispers of the Old Gods release, Card changes, UI changes |
Notable announcements[]
Please add any available information to this section.
The first Standard year, this year saw the removal of cards from the Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes sets, and began with the introduction of Whispers of the Old Gods. The Promo and Reward sets were also removed from Standard, although the removal of the latter set was quickly reverted and granted an extension until May 4, in order to give players more time to complete the related quests.[3][4]
Heralding the introduction of game formats, the Year of the Kraken began immediately following a flurry of card changes designed to establish a fresher and more diverse meta, specifically Standard format. For a list of the changes, see Card changes.
The simultaneous arrival of Whispers of the Old Gods, removal of Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes, and changes to many key cards resulted in a number of new decks rising to dominance, most notably including cards from the new expansion: C'Thun decks, N'Zoth Deathrattle decks, Evolve Shaman, and various decks featuring Yogg-Saron. Many previously popular decks like Secret Paladin became far less common.
The second set of the year came in August with One Night in Karazhan, which among other things saw the first truly competitive iteration of Discardlock, as well as improvements to Tempo Mage, Midrange Hunter and Shaman decks.
The final set of the year arrived in December with Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, introducing the game's first tri-class cards, as well as decks matching each of the expansion's three crime families: Grimy Goons with their hand-buffing decks, the Kabal with their no duplicate cards decks, and the Jade Lotus with their late game-dominating Jade Golem decks. Patches the Pirate was exceptionally popular, fuelling a strong surge in Pirate Warrior, but also being included in many other decks as a "free" card.
- Commentary
- Hearthpwn.com - Important Cards Being Removed (2016-02-02)
- Online survey for player reactions to the card changes
References[]
- ↑ A New Way to Play. (2016-02-02). Retrieved on 2022-04-09.
- ↑ Art of Hearthstone Vol 2, pg. 16
- ↑ Old Murk-Eye and Captain's Parrot. (2016-04-25).
- ↑ Yong Woo on Twitter. (2016-04-27).