Last week was a big one for Hearthstone: new year, new expansions, new classes (for the first time ever!). ), and, in even finer detail, the expansion of anti-replication features on cards of all rarities. Today, the Ashes of Outland patch was released, implementing updates to the duplicate protection feature and other changes, including updates to the Hall of Fame rotation and Priest class.

The Duplicate Prevention feature ensures that players who open a pack of Hearthstone cards will not receive duplicates of cards they already own, unless they have two or more cards of the same rarity. Previously limited to legendary cards, the extended duplicate protection for commons, rares, and epics is actually quite significant: not only does it reduce frustrating moments, but it also saves a few bucks.

The patch also brings five neutrals and six priests into the Hall of Fame and significantly reworked the priest class discussed here. Today is also the day that new players, or players returning to the fray after at least four months of blanks, can claim a free deck of their favorite class, consisting of cards from the Year of the Dragon. Each deck can be viewed here. [On April 2, players can log in and complete the Demon Hunter Prologue to receive 10 Demon Hunter Basic Cards, a 20-card Demon Hunter Introductory Set, and a pre-built Demon Hunter Deck List.

More details on the changes in the "Ashes of Outlands" update can be found at playhearthstone.com.