"2018 is kicking off with a bang! With the removal of Iron and Lead Loadout Cards, Merc and Weapon Balance pass, brand new DLC, changes to View Kick and much, much more! It’s time to get into the details of our next update, launching next week.
REMOVAL OF IRON AND LEAD CARDS AND ASSOCIATED CHANGES
We detailed the removal of Iron and Lead Loadout Cards in a news post last year. Well, we’re happy to announce that those changes are happening in this update! The first part of the process is stemming the flow; ensuring that Iron and Lead Loadout Cards no longer drop in-game.
This means that Equipment Cases will no longer exist. In their place are two new types of case: Loadout Cases and Fragment Cases. Loadout Cases contain Bronze, Silver or Gold Loadout Cards and Fragment Cases drop Fragments in various numbers (20, 50 and 165)."
Looks like they're also trying to streamline card collection and crafting by getting rid of the shit-tier cards.