Hello everyone and welcome to another Touchstone Tavern, the 87th edition of our weekly roundup of all things Hearthstone (Free). It’s been a week since Journey to Un’Goro was announced, and players are already trying to guess the expansion’s effect on the meta and what the new cards and keywords will bring to the game. We’ve also seen the first Un’Goro spoiled accidentally, and it makes me want to play Murlocs again. We also had the Arena and Standard changes as well as the two expected nerfs. These stories and more – along with fun videos – await below, so let us begin.
First Un’Goro Card Spoiled
Although we aren’t supposed to get any card spoilers until March 17th, we got an early one accidentally. The new card is Gentle Megasaur, a 4-mana 5/4 Neutral Beast with a battlecry Adapt your Murlocs. The translation might be off, so keep that in mind, but if it’s true, I’m getting my Murlocs back out. What do you think of Gentle Megasaur? Are you excited about the new Adapt possibilities?
Volcano Is More Powerful Than You Think
Volcano was one of the first Un’Goro cards we got to see, and this writer believes that it’s actually more powerful than we initially thought. The 5-mana Shaman spell deals 15 damage randomly split among all minions. He initially thought that this card could easily wipe out your own minions and barely touch your opponent’s, since it’s all about RNG. However, looking at it as a single target removal changes the way we value it. Shaman doesn’t have the kind of removal that can take care of a Ysera or a Malygos, but now Volcano can take care of those without needing a Hex. It can also take care of minions with Divine Shield and even clear the board of N’Zoth resurrections. I can see his point, and it’s good to have heavy-duty removal in your deck.
Heroic Tavern Brawl Returns Next Week
We knew that Heroic Tavern Brawl, the high-stakes high-rewards constructed Brawl, was going to return to the game, and now we know that it’s coming this week. The developers have announced that instead of a regular Tavern Brawl this week, we’ll be getting the Heroic version. It looks like everything is going to be the same as the first Heroic Tavern Brawl; the only change will be earning Gadgetzan instead of Whispers packs. In case you don’t remember the details, Heroic Tavern Brawl lets you play with a constructed deck, costs 1000 Gold or $9.99 to join, and it’s for the really good player among us. Which means I’ll be watching rather than playing.
How Will Un’Goro Affect the Meta?
Even though we haven’t yet seen all the cards of the upcoming expansion, this writer tries to guess how Un’Goro will affect the meta. He thinks that Adapt will offer more counterplay options, which will help players build strong counter decks and, in turn, create a healthier meta. Quest cards might contribute in slowing down the metagame a bit by becoming a go-to move for the first turn instead of going with a cheap minion. What do you think? Any early guesses on how Un’Goro will affect the meta?
Mike Donais Talks More About Un’Goro
In a recent interview, Mike Donais gave us more details on the upcoming expansion. He said that we’re getting at least another card that works with Deathrattle minions, Adapt won’t be just a Battlecry (think Discover), and Elementals are actually the focus of the set, although the devs aren’t ready to talk about interactions just yet. Quests are late-game cards, so the devs don’t feel the need to slow them down. Also, they take up a Secret slot, which means you can only have 4 secrets if you have a live Quest. As you probably guessed, Quests were the most challenging part of the new set. There are more interesting tidbits, so check it out here.
Ben Brode Raps Un’Goro
When Ben Brode saw a reddit petition asking him to sing a song about the new expansion and saw it had 5 thousand upvotes, he decided to oblige. So, what we got was Ben Brode rapping about Journey to Un’Goro. Seriously, is there anything this man can’t do?
Insights on New Arena, Bugs, Quests, and More
This story covers various insights from the developers and offers interesting info. It talks about changes in card texts after patch 7.1, although Druid of the Claw hasn’t seen the expected changes. Dean Ayala talked about how there seems to be less 1-2 drops in the Arena currently and that they are fine with more Legendaries appearing, at least so far. You shouldn’t be getting 3 of them, though. Also, you won’t be seeing more weapons than before – unlike with spells – although I’ve been seeing more weapons personally. There’s information about bug issues, Adapt, and more, so check it out.
More on Patch 7.1 Including Login Rewards
The patch last week finally nerfed Small-Time Buccaneer and Spirit Claws, although players still see too many pirates and Shaman played at the moment. A new keyword, Poisonous, has been added to effects like that of Emperor Cobra, the March ranked reward is the Year of the Kraken, Ranked now has floors, and Arena has been updated to Standard only. What’s more, we got to see what the login rewards will be. There will be seven days of rewards ranging from 50 gold to 100 dust to 1 pack. Check the details here.
Kripp’s First Standard Arena
Most Popular Decks
Yogg’s Best Moments
WTF Moments #76
Trump’s Game of Highs and Lows
Top 5 Lucky Moments of the Week
Trump’s Goons and Murlocs
New Un’Goro Cards 1st Look
Trump Talks Un’Goro
Noxious on Un’Goro
Hidden Buffs and Nerfs of Patch 7.1
As always, we have some good resources on the site for you in case you are new to the game or simply want to sharpen up your game. There’s never such a thing as too much help in Hearthstone, so check out our guides.
Hearthstone Deck-building Guide
