Blizzard just revealed the next Hearthstone Standard Year. 2026 will officially be called “Year of the Scarab”. In the reveal post, Blizzard shares details about the upcoming Core Set rotation. We created a separate post that details all of the cards that rotate in and out of the Core Set in 2026. Check it out here.
In terms of size, the rotation is pretty normal, with 70 cards leaving and 70 cards taking their place. However, what stands out is that we’re losing some of the key cards that are class staples. Most notably, Shadowstep is leaving Core, which means that it’s the first time ever this card won’t be available in Standard. Other staples leaving in 2026 include Druid’s Swipe, Warrior’s Brawl or Death Knight’s Corpse Explosion. It’s certainly a bold move, but it might pay off if the design team provides classes with fresh options this year.
Core Set 2026 also includes six brand new cards, four of which are Legendaries. And a couple of them look really powerful. And as usual, some older cards rotating into Core got small buffs given that the overall power level has significantly increased since their original release (however, I have to say that I expected more changes).
Sadly, Core Set rotation is all we know for now. All of the further updates will be shared during the Hearthstone Spotlight livestream on February 9 at 9:30 AM PT (18:30 CET).
Read the full blog post below:
The moment is almost here to gaze up at the great Hearthstone clock in the sky and count down the days until a new year of Hearthstone begins, as we welcome the Year of the Scarab!
Tune in: Hearthstone Spotlight Livestream
Tune in to the Hearthstone Spotlight livestream on February 9 at 9:30 a.m. PST for your first look at exciting updates coming in 2026. The team will be revealing a variety of free rewards and surprises. Don’t miss it!
The Core Set is the free card pool that forms the foundation for each Hearthstone year, so rotation is our opportunity to reshape that framework for the year ahead. That includes deciding which cards stay, leave, or join Core, as well as making adjustments to some of those cards. These changes to the Core Set will take effect with the launch of our next expansion.
You can find all the upcoming changes linked below.
Keep reading for a summary of our latest Core Set changes.
Staples Step Aside
We are removing a variety of high‑impact cards to open up new design space and give classes the chance to explore fresh strategies without being tied to older, dominant effects. Swipe, Brawl, and Corpse Explosion are just a few examples. One of the biggest changes is the removal of Shadowstep, a card that has shaped Rogue since the very beginning of Hearthstone, and we are excited to see how the class grows once this iconic staple disappears into the shadows.
Core Set Comebacks
Several returning favorites are coming back, including Call of the Wild, Shadow of Demise, and Runed Orb, and a few others are returning with light buffs.
New Class Tools
We’re introducing a few new cards that help reinforce the general direction of their classes and related archetypes.
A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.
what the hell?!
completely out of nowhere, wtffff ?