By the time it was official Blizzard was releasing a new Hearthstone expansion I was excited as I thought the game was getting a bit stale. When Blizzard first talked about standard mode, I was interested and liked the constant rotation of cards entering and leaving the game. I was heartened when they said everyone was getting a free C’thun, some support minions and a few free packs. Like many I also had reservations as they were removing the Naxxramas expansion and Goblins VS Gnomes and placing them in Wild. As a huge Naxxramas fan this was painful but after finally playing Standard mode and the new Whispers of the Old Gods expansion I can firmly say this is the best and most fun Hearthstone to date.

An Ever Changing Meta

One huge change in standard mode, according to Blizzard is the release of new cards in the form of 2 expansions and one adventure per year. This means that we will get a bunch of new cards to play with that should keep the game fresh and not feel too stale.

My first fear with the new Standard rotation was that free to play players would be in a hard spot due to so many new cards. But after doing a bit of math if we keep completing our dailies we should have enough gold to unlock the adventure tiers and buy plenty of packs.

One other part of Standard that makes it great is that older adventures and expansions rotate out to wild. This is nice as it allows the ability for Blizzard to experiment more with card design and also rotates out cards that you don’t like playing against. Hated Dr Boom? Well I did and now I don’t have to play against him in Standard. If you want to play with your old cards you can do so in Wild, but Standard offers a mode that significantly changes with each new year.

The Old Gods Mechanics Are Wicked Fun

Blizzard had it’s “Oprah Moment” when it gave everyone a free C’Thun (“You get a C’Thun, you get a C’Thun, everyone get’s a C’Thun!”) and I think that was one of the best parts about the latest expansion. Giving everyone a great legendary is a solid choice because on day one of the expansion you can play with one of the coolest Old Gods. It also encourages players to open packs and try to find the numerous C’Thun cards that increase his attack and play well with his mechanics. N’Zoth is another amazing Old God that brings back all deathrattle minions you previously lost in the game making for some crazy game reversals when you play him. All the Old Gods cost 10 to play so the game could be over before that or be the game winning play depending on how things go.

Hearthstone’s Future Looks Bright

A popular thought before launch was this expansion would slow the game down from it’s quick pace. Whereas the majority of decks I played at launch featured C’Thun and by nature most of them are slower, lots of aggro decks have come to attention that have proven that in some cases, the pace isn’t slowing.

Whispers of the Old Gods and the new game modes lay the road for a long and full life and that alone is the main part of this expansion. With all the dust I collected disenchanting the nerfed cards and dust from dupes I had enough to craft a very respectable set of cards I love playing with. Chief among the latest crafts are Sylvanas Windrunner, N’Zoth, Twin Emperor and a ton of classic cards to round out my collection. After finally opening another 20 packs of classic cards I am now saving gold for the upcoming adventure. I am not sure when the next adventure will launch but i’ll have enough gold to buy it when it does.

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Oh and I also hit ranked 11 today which is a fun first. Also, make sure to check back as I plan on doing some Hearthstone Dailies for Ghosts where I review some of my favorite cards and decks from the latest expansion.