Balance Changes and Wild Events coming to Hearthstone with Upcoming Update

<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;hearthstone-whispers-of-the-old-gods-details-released&sol;"><em>Hearthstone<&sol;em><&sol;a> fans will be happy to hear that the first update of 2018 is here&excl; This new update is packed full of events&comma; card changes&comma; and more&period; You can check out the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;playhearthstone&period;com&sol;en-gb&sol;blog&sol;21492187&sol;wildfest-is-coming&quest;dm&lowbar;i&equals;XF5&comma;5FZHY&comma;6W0EWT&comma;L34O5&comma;1" rel&equals;"noopener">full update notes<&sol;a> on the official <em>Hearthstone<&sol;em> site&comma; or check out the summary below for more information&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Blizzard’s PR release breaks down a summary of the updates&comma; here is an overview –<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Introducing Wildfest<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To celebrate all things <em>Hearthstone<&sol;em> in the Year of the Mammoth&comma; we will be holding several Wild events from February 19 to March 11&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Wild Arena<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Starting on February 19 and lasting through March 11&comma; the Arena draft will offer cards that are exclusive to Wild&comma; instead of only Standard cards&period; If you have an existing arena run&comma; we recommend finishing it up before Wildfest begins&comma; as those Arena runs will be retired automatically on February 19&period; The first arena run for this event is free&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Venture Into the Wild<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is a pre-constructed Wild Tavern Brawl&semi; just pick a class&comma; and we’ll give you a pre-made Wild deck&period; This is a great way to experience the fun of Wild&comma; even if you don’t own a full Wild collection&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>The Wild Brawliseum<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is aimed at competitive <em>Hearthstone <&sol;em>players who want to put their skills and collection to the test&period; The Wild Brawliseum uses player-built decks that are locked in for the duration of the run and has an entry fee that uses Gold or real money&period; Players battle each other until they hit 12 wins or 3 losses&comma; just like in the Arena&period; The rewards offered are also the same as what is offered in the Arena&comma; so get in there and give The Wild Brawliseum a try – the first run is free&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;134545" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-134545" style&equals;"width&colon; 600px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-134545" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;02&sol;07234336&sol;1ARYCI77REEY1517424567315&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"325" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-134545" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Hearthstone&comma; Blizzard Entertainment<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><strong>Card Changes<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We announced last week there would be card balance changes coming to <em>Hearthstone<&sol;em>&comma; and with this update&comma; they are going into effect&period; You can check out more information on each of these changes on our blog&comma; but here’s the summary of changes&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Corridor Creeper – Now has 2 attack&comma; down from 5&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Patches the Pirate – No longer has Charge&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Raza the Chained – Now reduces your Hero Power cost to 1 instead of 0&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Bonemare – Now costs 8 mana&comma; up from 7&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p><strong>Ranked Play Update<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We also announced there would be an <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;news&period;blizzard&period;com&sol;en-us&sol;hearthstone&sol;21469305&sol;upcoming-ranked-play-update&quest;dm&lowbar;i&equals;XF5&comma;5FZHY&comma;6W0EWT&comma;L2YTI&comma;1" rel&equals;"noopener">update coming to ranked play<&sol;a>&comma; starting March 1st&period; For details&comma; read the Ranked Play Updates blog for details&period; While this hasn’t gone into effect yet&comma; how you play this month will impact your rankings for the March season&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The summary of the changes are&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Your reset will not be based on the stars you earned over the season&period; Instead&comma; you’ll reset to four ranks lower than your highest rank that season&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Players at Legend reset to rank 4&comma; 0 stars&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>All ranks will have 5 stars&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>Starting in March&comma; you will no longer earn the monthly card back by reaching Rank 20&period; Instead&comma; you can earn each season’s card back by winning 5 games in Ranked Standard or Wild at any rank&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There’s a lot coming to <em>Hearthstone<&sol;em> fans&comma; and in pure Blizzard fashion&comma; I’m sure the changes and updates are just beginning for 2018&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;