14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Blizzard has already revealed that the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion for Hearthstone will be launched on April 26, adding 134 cards that gamers will be able to use to boost their decks. It seems, however, that the company is planning even more changes before the Year of the Kraken debuts on the same date.
The patch 5.0 for the card game is designed to introduce a number of changes to already-existing content, with the studio explaining on the official site that the plan is to nerf several cards associated with the Druid to offer a better overall balance.
There are also modifications made to Silence- and Removal-associated cards, which tweak abilities and powers, with the official site explaining the way they are supposed to work starting next week.
According to Blizzard, the concept that is driving all the tweaks is that "New card releases should have an impact on Standard and enrich Wild to make sure that Hearthstone is always as dynamic, fresh, and fun as it can be."
The idea is to make sure that older cards for Hearthstone are not too powerful when compared to those introduced on April 26 via Whispers of the Old Gods, especially given the way the new coming game modes will work.
It's unclear whether Year of the Kraken will last for 12 months or less.
Standard is the new competitive side of the card game
Hearthstone has been growing since it was first introduced in 2014, and Blizzard has been quick to add more cards and heroes via its expansions, which has created a game that offers quite a bit of variety but lacks some structure.
This is why the studio is adding two separate game modes when the Year of the Kraken debuts, designed to appeal to very different audiences.
Standard is the new competitive experience for Hearthstone, designed to only use cards associated with Whispers of the Old Gods, the core game and Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and The League of Explorers.
Blizzard will probably continue to introduce nerfs and tweaks for the cards that they deliver to make sure that the competitive side of the game is as balanced as possible.
Hearthstone is also offering a Wild Play experience, which gives players the freedom to use content from any of the released expansions and to showcase their most exotic combinations of powers and attacks.