Updates to Hearthstone’s Core Set to arrive with Year of the Hydra

Players learned the name of Hearthstone’s new in-game year today: the Year of the Hydra.

Alongside the Voyage to the Sunken City expansion, the Year of the Hydra will also introduce major updates to the Standard Core Set.

The Core Set in Hearthstone is a series of cards that are usable in Standard but aren’t part of the current expansion rotation. When Voyage to the Sunken City goes live on April 12, the expansion rotation for Standard will lose Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy, and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire.

🐍 Enter the Year of the Hydra 🐍

✨ https://t.co/5oqEKdB348 pic.twitter.com/fE2wPrbjRT

— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) April 5, 2022

In addition to the introduction of 135 new cards via Voyage to the Sunken City, Standard will also receive an updated Core Set that removes 57 cards and adds 72, bringing the Core Set to a grand total of 250 cards. In addition to the Core Set and Voyage to the Sunken City, players will still be able to use cards in Standard from Forged in the Barrens, United in Stormwind, and Fractured in Alterac Valley.

Cards revealed to join the Core Set include fan favorites from Hearthstone’s past. If you have missed the League of Explorers, you’ll be pleased to learn Reno, Elise, Brann, and Finely are all back in their original, Neutral Card forms. Additionally, class favorites like Kalecgos, Houndmaster Shaw, and Lyra the Sunshard make their return to Mage, Hunter, and Priest, respectively.

Below you’ll find all of the noteworthy cards revealed for the Core Set update. You’ll be able to head into Hearthstone and use these cards in Standard when the Core Set update goes live alongside Voyage to the Sunken City on April 12.