The most significant inclusion in the new year is the return of WOTLK Classic Gold the League of Explorers, the fan-favorite breakout characters who were also introduced in an adventure of the same name. Those cards had huge effects that will return for this year's: Brann's battlecry-doubling effect, Sir Finley's hero power switching, Elise's card-generating, and of course, Reno's full heal. Other notable returns include Wild Pyromancer and Acolyte of Pain for a powerful card draw combo, and the Druid legendary Fandral Staghelm.

Blizzard also promised that as part of this new year of content, it will be focused on "sustainability and optimization." That means quality-of-life improvements like better client stability and in-game reporting, as well as just nice-to-have features like the ability to equip a random hero skin. With hero skins getting more and more expansive you may want to mix it up.

The Core Set started last year as a way to invite new players into WOTLK Classic, as well as better manage balance for the year of content. Rather than a single standard pool of cards that remain in circulation forever, Blizzard begins every new year of content by picking cards from all previous WOTLK Classic expansions to be included in this year's Core Set. That set is available for free to all players whether the cards are part of your permanent collection or not, as it's meant to be the foundation for this year's new expansions.

This morning we hit the show floor and met up with Blizzard producer WOTLK Classic, who showed us the current build of WOTLK Classic. According to WOTLK Classic, the game is only about 30% complete; much of the game's magic spell system hasn't yet been implemented, and two of the game's five playable sides, the Burning Legion and the fifth, as-yet-unannounced faction, are still in buy WOW WOTLK Classic Gold production and weren't ready to view. Despite the game's relatively unfinished state, and the fact that WOTLK Classic will in fact be Blizzard's very first fully-3D game, it already looks excellent.