Earlier this month, Blizzard Entertainment went out of its way to bring us new additions and alterations to their free online card game: Hearthstone.

This is supposed to be the biggest update made to the game since its initial release.

Standard mode VS Wild mode

We will be seeing two main new methods players will be permitted to play. Starting with Standard mode: players will only be able to build and utilize decks with cards released during the previous calendar year. This means players will only be allotted to battle players whose decks are also stacked with the most recent cards. According to the team at Blizzard, this should help ensure that Hearthstone games are “a more dynamic and balanced metagame.”

Meanwhile, Wild mode will serve as the game format where “anything can happen” and will include all cards, old and new. The developers are hoping to make this format more like a free for all, “Of course, as more and more cards are added over time, the wilder and more unpredictable Wild will be!” Many long time players are hopeful that these changes will help make the game “less predictable.”

Lead Designer, Ben Brode, decided to take it into his own hands to attempt to explain the changes–bless his heart.

Blizzard is also paving the way for it’s newest event in spring: Year of the Kraken.

Each new Hearthstone year is symbolized by one of the zodiac constellations twinkling in Azeroth’s night sky. The moment when a new constellation comes into alignment heralds the start of the year and a time of jubilation and raucous revelry wherever Hearthstone is played!

Under the starry skies of the Kraken, players will see a depart from Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes cards, as well as the ability to build decks from the following formats: Basic, Classic, Blackrock Mountain, Grand Tournament, League of Explorers, Spring 2016 Expansion.

Be on the look out for all those new cards in spring!

Happy year of the Kraken!