Due to the recent lawsuit filed by the state of California against Activision Blizzard, Hearthstone developers released its 21.0 patch without any fanfare or celebration. Normally when a big patch is released before a new set drops, there is a livestream, exhibition matches, and appearances from popular streamers in the Hearthstone community. It is completely understandable why the team wouldn’t want to do something like this right now, as it would certainly be in poor taste. Along with the patch, the entire card list for the new set, United in Stormwind, was also released.
You can check out the full patch notes, as well as the full card list on the official Hearthstone website. The set introduces a new Hero, Galewing, as well as some significant changes to Duels. Rankings in Duels are now reset, and the 15 card start deck has been updated with new cards as well. There are also new passive treasures. In addition, the following cards have been banned from Duels and will now be undiscoverable. Those cards are Final Showdown, Lost in the Park, Defend the Dwarven District, Sorcerer’s Gambit, Rise to the Occasion, Seek Guidance, Find the Imposter, Command the Elements, The Demon Seed, and Raid the Docks.
Banning 10 cards from Duels is going to drastically change the meta, and with a new set releasing, the entire format is up in the air. Also, Unstable Evolution is banned from card buckets, but will still be discoverable in Duels. Maestra of the Masquerade is also banned from deckbuilding, card buckets, and will not be discoverable. United in Stormwind cards will also be available in card buckets when the set releases.
Not the time to celebrate
Arena will also be rotating and feature cards from the Core set and from Rastakhan’s Rumble up to United in Stormwind. Illidan also has a Book of Heroes questline. Defeat all eight bosses in this questline to get a Demon Hunter pack, containing only Demon Hunter cards from standard format. Reward tracks will also be refreshed. Any unclaimed rewards on both the free track and the Tavern Pass track, provided you bought it of course, will be provided to all players. Then, a completely new rewards track of unlockable loot will take its place.
Lastly, two new cosmetic coins are available. Obtain the Stormwind coin by finishing the first 90 levels of the rewards track with the Tavern Pass. You can get the Lordaeron coin by collecting all of the 135 new cards in the United in Stormwind set. There are also various visual and audio bugs that have been addressed. The Hearthstone patch 21.0 is live now, and United in Stormwind will release next week on August 3.
