Once a Hearthstone card’s two-year time is up in Standard, it rotates out of the format, making it only available in the evergreen Wild format. However, there are many exceptions to this rule now, since the Classic set has been replaced with a rotating Core set, where the designers regularly add in and take out cards from Hearthstone’s past to play a part in its present.
What is Hearthstone’s Core set and when does it get changed?
Introduced in February 2021, the Core Set was first made available in the game on March 30, 2021, alongside the launch of the Forged in the Barrens set that marked the beginning of the Year of the Hydra. It marked a significant change in Team 5’s stance on Hearthstone’s evergreen cards, moving from an ever-present Basic and Classic set to a system akin to what players from Magic: the Gathering have long been familiar with.
The Core set is the new foundation of Hearthstone’s Standard mode, offering a curated set of cards from each Standard year, made available for all players for free as long as the cards in question remain in the Core set. This allows the developers to significantly spice up the state of the classes with each new year and to adjust or remove any potentially problematic cards quickly.
Currently, this is the main way certain Wild cards return to Standard. In the 2022 Core Set, for example, the original League of Explorers cards (Sir Finley Mrrrglton, Brann Bronzebeard, Elise Starseeker, and Reno Jackson) have all been brought back, while cards like Brightwing, King Mukla and Baron Rivendare were rotated out.
The 2022 Core Set contains 250 cards (80 neutrals and 170 class cards). The new Core Set will likely be revealed in February 2023.
Another way for Wild cards to return: Arena, Duels, and special events
For fans of old(er) Hearthstone cards, Arena mode and Duels with its rotating formats can also offer an opportunity to revisit old friends. Sometimes, special events like the Doom in the Tomb can also see old stalwarts return to Standard, even though we haven’t seen one of those in a long while.
As a reminder, the Doom in the Tomb event brought back a 23-strong selection of some of the all-time strongest cards to Standard, wreaking havoc on the metagame. The curated Core set offers a much more balanced method for Team 5 to give old friends another chance to shine.
