In an unexpected blog post, Blizzard has just announced a new Hearthstone game mode – Twist. Players have been asking for something like that for ages – a rotating format was on the top of many people’s wish lists.
Here’s what we know about the format so far:
- Twist replaces the Classic format (which might technically be back as a Twist season later down the road, but it will no longer be available on demand).
- It will offer a new set of expansions, possibly some extra deck building rules etc.
- Twist will work just like any other Constructed format (Standard, Wild) – with monthly seasons, the same seasonal rewards, Bronze through Legend ladder etc.
- Twist formats are planned to change regularly, but not necessarily every season (month).
- Twist launches in Beta with Patch 26.6 (probably next Tuesday, June 27). Its first, short season will run until July 1, and then we’ll have one full season throughout July. After that, it will be deactivated for a short time to prepare for a full launch “soon”.
- The first format is known as “New Age” (without Neutrals). It will contain all of the expansions since Ashes of Outland (April 2020) plus Core Set, but with only class cards available. New Age format might be brought back in the future from time to time (with new expansions added, but it will always start at Ashes).
- Theorycrafting preview event launches on June 22 (Thursday) – multiple content creators were invited to test the format out. Twitch drops will be active for the whole Hearthstone category – you can earn up to 9 packs for watching (1 hour per 3 packs)!
Personally, I’m very excited about it. I wished for a rotating format for a long time. There are points at which the game gets quite stale, so it will be amazing to be able to jump into a format with a constantly developing, fresh meta. Assuming Twist formats will be meaningfully different (and it wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t), each month should feel completely different. Pairing up different expansions that were never in Standard together (but without the massive increase of power level of Wild coming from all the other cards) should be very fun to experiment with.
I also wanted to share a website update regarding the new format – we have decided to not support a Twist deck builder. I’m not thrilled about this decision, but with the format rotating very often (even monthly) and without any clue how crazy Blizzard might go with the rules, it would just be too much work to constantly update it (which is not easy), fix any bugs that will inevitably pop out etc. Dev time is shared between this website and a few others and sometimes they have other high priority projects to tackle, so we would often end up with deck builder update in the middle of the month or even no update at all. I will, of course, post new Twist decks (Classic decks category will be replaced with Twist). But if you want to create a Twist deck yourself using our website, I’m afraid that you will have to use the Wild deck builder and just apply the restrictions yourself. I’m sorry about that.
Read more on the official blog post below:
Starting in Patch 26.6, coming later this month, Hearthstone will be replacing the Classic Mode with a new Mode called Twist!
Classic Hearthstone, With a Twist
Twist is a Hearthstone ladder Mode with regularly rotating seasons, each with a twist on the rules! Twist formats can include curated card pools and special rulesets. These formats are sure to bring back some of your favorites, but in a new setting with a new meta to crack!
We already have some fun and nostalgic Twist formats planned for the rest of the year, but we also want to hear from you about Twist formats you’d like to see, or if you end up loving one so much you want to see us bring it back. Twist formats are planned to change regularly, but not necessarily with every season. Twist also might be deactivated from time to time we prepare for the next upcoming season. You can find Twist in the Hearthstone menu, where Classic used to be, and you always check the current Twist season’s rules and eligible card pools from the deck selection screen.
Twist Timing
With Patch 26.6, Twist will be launching in its Beta. You’ll start your Twist climb from the beginning, at Bronze 10, and that first season will be a short season, lasting until July 1. You’ll also be able to earn ranked rewards from the Twist ladder, like Standard or Wild. June’s ranked rewards will be based on your highest ladder rank across Standard, Wild, Classic, or Twist. Once the Twist Beta kicks off, the official Leaderboards will switch from Classic to Twist.
The Twist Beta is planned for June and July. After the Beta, Twist will be temporarily deactivated for a short time while we prepare for the official Twist launch, coming soon!
Beta Format: New Age
Due to the short June season, there will be one format for both the June and July Beta seasons of Twist. That format is called “New Age,” a new evergreen format that includes the Core Set, plus all sets from Ashes of Outland forward. That means, during this Beta period, it will consist of:
- Core
- Ashes of Outland
- Scholomance Academy
- Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
- Forged in the Barrens
- United in Stormwind
- Fractured in Alterac Valley
- Voyage to the Sunken City
- Murder at Castle Nathria
- March of the Lich King
- Path of Arthas
- Festival of Legends
As new sets are added to the game, they will be added to the New Age pool, which might be brought back from time to time. For these Beta seasons, there will also be a special rules variant to the New Age format: no neutrals allowed. That will let you re-experience the New Age, but through new eyes! When we bring New Age back in the future, it might come back with the same rules variant, a different one, or no rules variant at all.
Twist Preview Event with Twitch Drops!
Join your favorite content creators on June 22 and June 23 for a special preview of the Twist Beta! Competitors from around the world will be playing on a private version of the upcoming Twist ladder to test out some decks and see how far they can climb.
NA, LATAM, and EMEA participants will be playing throughout June 22, at various times from 9:00 a.m. PST – 9:00 p.m. PST. APAC players will be playing June 23, from 2:00 a.m. PST – 8:00 a.m. PST. Participating players will be streaming from their own channels, so make sure you follow your favorites to see when they go live!
NA Group
- Kibler
- Regis
- Alliestrasza
- TrumpSC
- Ike
- Zeddy
- WowHobbs
- GetMeowth
- MarkMckz
- Roffle
- Rarran
- Dreads
- Luna
- NoHandsGamer
- Redbeard
- Corbett
EMEA Group
- Danehearth
- Bunnyhoppor
- Feelink
- Solary
- Meati
- Hibadino
- Feno
- BabyBear
- Jambre
- Josemi
- Fishou
- DroodThund3r
- TheoHS
- TheHousewife
- EnDjinn
- Zetalot
- OldGuardian
- Berono91
- MrYagut
- Thanh
- Pocket_Train
LATAM Group
- Nayara Sylvestre
- KingVenom
- CerealForMe
- Digohs_
- Casanova
- Tesdey
- Rane
- rami94hs
- iCheky
- Zéltica (TCK)
- Jason Gamer HS
- AnotherAudio
- ZoomHS
- RusinhoHs
- Swagnaros_HS
APAC Group
- DawN
- DDaHyoNi
- Flurry
- Ghost
- Jinbae
- Kimukihun
- Kranich
- RenieHouR
- RoofTopCAT
- Ryvius
- Sooni
- Surrender
- Younjoy
- Zochi
- Jucon
- HearthFun
Category-wide Twitch drops will be enabled for this event! From June 22, 9:00 a.m. (PST) to June 23, 9:00 a.m. (PST), you can earn up to nine free packs for watching Hearthstone!
- Watch for one hour to earn 1 Ashes of Outland pack, 1 Scholomance Academy pack, and 1 Darkmoon Faire pack.
- Watch for another hour to earn 1 Forged in the Barrens pack, 1 United in Stormwind pack, and 1 Fractured in Alterac Valley pack.
- Watch for a third hour to earn 1 Voyage to the Sunken City pack, 1 Murder at Castle Nathria pack, and 1 March of the Lich King pack.
Each of the pack groups corresponds to one of the last few Years of Hearthstone, so you’ll be able to use the cards you open when you jump into Twist’s Beta and try out the New Age format! We hope to see you there.
Make sure you link your Twitch and Battle.net accounts so that your viewing time counts towards drops.
I am VERY, TRULY DISAPPOINTED about this. Oh, not because of the new mode itself, but the replacement of Classic. This was the only ladder format where you could have any hope as a F2P user to eventually collect the cards for a competitive deck and reach legend without actually spending real money – and they took it away. And for completely no reason: why couldn’t they just put in the new format and leave Classic as it was? How would this be any worse?…
Well, I am totally angry. Tank you very much, dear Activision.
A) I love new alternative game modes. Tavern brawls during the first 2 days are my fave. I loved the first weeks of duels.
I do hope they’ll rotate fast enough.
A game as big as ours has a really short time in which a meta gets solved. Tavern brawls get dull fast once you face the same deck over and over.
So I hope the seasons don’t stay the same for too long.
B) YEY FOR BABYBEAR THEORYCRAFTING STREAM! All come and watch that one!
I am also excited! I’ve only been playing Duels and Battlegrounds since I’ve found traditional Hearthstone to be a bit stale for me, but this “twist” sounds really cool!