Frozen Throne Reveals, Frost Lich Jaina, Arthas Skin, and More ‘Hearthstone’ Weekly News in ‘Touchstone’ #107

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Welcome to another Touchstone Tavern, our weekly Hearthstone (Free) roundup of the best stories and videos. As expected, last week was all about the upcoming expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne, especially because the community has been trying to keep track with and evaluate all the revealed cards. Most in the community seem to be happy with the cards we’ve seen so far, and I hope that optimism continues even after the expansion arrives. It does look like Blizzard is starting to figure out the kind of content the community enjoys, so hopefully we’ll get the best expansion to date. There’s a few weeks to go until that, though, so for now enjoy our weekly roundup.

Stream Reveals Frost Lich Jaina and More

Last week we got to see another one of the Death Knight Heroes, specifically Frost Lich Jaina. The Mage Death Knight costs 9 mana and has 5 armor, and will be all about Elemental decks, since it summons elementals and also gives Elementals in your deck Lifesteal. The stream also revealed many other cards, so it’s definitely a good watch. Read our whole story here and watch the stream below.

Analyzing Frost Lich Jaina

This writer takes an early swing at analyzing Frost Lich Jaina. He sees it as Mage’s answer to Lord Jaraxxus on the Warlock side. She should work well with Elemental Mage and has plenty of synergies with all kinds of other minions. Secret Mage can also find this card useful because it can use secrets to stick around until Turn 9. The writer believes that the best way to go about defeating Frost Lich Jaina is Freeze Mage or Quest Mage, if the card draws work in your favor. And, of course, you could also go aggressive and try to win before Turn 9.

Card Reveals Will Always Make Players Mad

After days of anticipation, we finally got to see a new card (emphasis on the singular), and even though the reason was some (unannounced at the time) technical issues, players got mad at getting to see only one card after all that anticipation. As the story points out, the question is why all this anger.

He goes into explaining how losing in a game you’ve put money into results in pent-up anger that, at some point, leads to an explosion of discontent. He also goes into Lifecoach’s departure from the game and the fear that his would be the first of many big-name departures from the game. It’s an interesting article that examines in depth what most of us feel at one time or another (and, to be fair, not just with Hearthstone). Read it all here.

Hearthstone‘s Frozen Throne Compared to WoW Lore

If you’re into lore, you should read this article because it looks at how the WoW Frozen Throne content has been translated for Hearthstone. There are details about all kinds of characters, and it’s definitely a fun read that will get you more into the spirit of the upcoming expansion.

Arthas Is Coming

As lead mission designer Dave Kosak announced in a recent stream, Arthas Menethil is coming to the game, given you can defeat the Lich King with all 9 classes. This Paladin skin won’t be for the weak, but it’s a fun challenge to have. Kosak also gave us more info on the missions part of the upcoming expansion, including a video of the Lich King showing off his ability to bend the rules. Read the whole story here.

Dreadsteed Gets Nerfed

As this story points out, Dreadsteed is about to get nerfed once Frozen Throne releases, so get ready to get some dust back. The nerf will make the card return to the board at the end of the turn rather than the moment it’s killed. The reason for the nerf is that the new Defile card would cause an infinite loop with the old Dreadsteed, and we couldn’t have those kinds of shenanigans. And since the card will be nerfed, we will be getting full dust like in other similar situations.

It’s a Good Thing Cards Are Getting Complicated

After suffering through what has been called “curvestone," players are about to get their hands on more complicated cards this time around, and this writer believes that’s for the best. Cards like Fatespinner, Defile, and Corpsetaker will offer more strategic depth and make matches more unpredictable. Therefore, matches should be more fun. Read the whole story here.

Rogue Gets Weapons Augmentation

A common player complaint is that Rogue just doesn’t have enough cool weapons, but the upcoming Vampiric Poison spell could make those players a bit happier. The 2-mana card revealed recently gives Lifesteal to your weapon, which might be an interesting boost. Maybe the card will see play if it synergizes well with other upcoming cards, although that remains to be seen.

Frozen Throne Card Review Part 1

As is always the case, the moment we start getting new expansion cards, we get plenty of reviews. This story reviews a ton of new cards, going in-depth on whether they will work or not, what their potential is, and much more. Even if you don’t care about card reviews—especially since not all the cards are out yet—articles like this one can teach you how to evaluate cards, a skill that’s very useful when trying to build new decks and aren’t that much into deckbuilding.

Library of the Revealed Frozen Throne Cards

If you want to keep track of all the Frozen Throne cards as they get revealed, head over to HearthHead’s library. It’s updated constantly and will help you keep on top of the deluge of reveals. We’ve had a ton of cards revealed in the last few days, so it’s definitely hard to keep track of them all, especially since the reveals are coming from all kinds of sources. Check out the card library here.