Six Classic set cards, including Ragnaros and Sylvanas, will no longer be in Standard format.

With the release of the first expansion of 2017, 'the Year of the Mammoth' will succeed 'the Year of the Kraken' for Hearthstone's Standard format.

Just as there were plenty of tentacles in the Year of the Kraken, the Year of the Mammoth seems to be related to the leaked expansion set, "Lost Secrets of Un’Goro".

Related article : Information leaked regarding new Hearthstone update called Lost Secrets of Un’Goro

Together with the name of the new year, a mammoth-sized change was announced for Standard format. Despite how cards from the 'Classic' Set were originally announced to be exempted from rotation, six cards from the set will no longer be in Standard format.

Dubbed as 'Hall of Fame', this special 'set' will feature cards from the Classic set that are deemed to be too powerful, yet stale for Standard format.

In the Year of the Mammoth, six cards will be inducted into the Hall of Fame: Ragnaros the Firelord, Sylvanas Windrunner, Azure Drake, Ice Lance, Conceal and Power Overwhelming.

These six cards can no longer be put in Standard decks, but players will be compensated with Arcane Dust even without disenchanting the cards. However, the compensation will be limited to a dust value equal to the maximum number of cards that can be put in a deck - so a player with several Golden Ragnaros will only receive 3200 Dust.

Along with these changes, Blizzard also announced their plans for Hearthstone in 2017.

Unlike the release method in the Year of the Kraken, which alternated between adventures and expansions, the Year of the Mammoth will have 3 expansions, each featuring about 130 cards, but no adventures.

This might sound surprising, considering how well-received the adventures were. However, Blizzard assured us that the expansions will also feature solo adventures at no additional costs. This new storytelling method will be in place starting from the second expansion of 2017.

Also, after the release of the first expansion pack in 2017, cards from 'Blackrock Mountain', 'League of Explorers' and 'Grand Tournament' will rotate out of Standard. As these sets include several powerful cards such as Emperor Thaurissan and Reno Jackson, a huge change in the metagame is expected.

Changes are also coming to the Wild format. After the release of the newest expansion, there will be a week where the Tavern Brawl will feature Heroic Tavern Brawl played in Wild format, and the said format will also be used as an official format for sanctioned tournaments along with Standard.

Finally, there will be new features implemented in the client to help organize Fireside Gatherings.

To commemorate the Year of the Mammoth, Blizzard has prepared several events to up the hype.

Before the next Expansion is released, there will be a timed event where players can receive Arcane Dust, Gold, and new card packs just by logging in to the game. More details will be released later.

Also, Rogue players can rejoice, as they will finally receive an alternate hero - Maiev Shadowsong. A quintessential figure of the Illidan saga, her determination to hunt down Illidan Stormrage began in Warcraft III and is still going strong in the newest expansion of World of Warcraft: Legion.

Players will be able to obtain Maiev Shadowsong by winning ten games of Casual or Ranked after the beginning of the Year of the Mammoth.