Hello everyone and welcome to Touchstone #91, our roundup of everything that happened in the world of Hearthstone (Free) this past week. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that last week was pretty much all about Journey to Un’Goro, the upcoming expansion, and the Year of the Mammoth. We finally know the official release day for the expansion, and it’s very, very soon. We also got to see all the expansion cards, with some of them making more of an impression than others. We also got to hear Blizzard’s plans for improving Fireside Gatherings, which are definitely exciting. And we now know all the members of the Global Games’ teams. Step right up, then, and let’s get started.
Journey to Un’Goro Expansion Releases April 6th
It’s official, everyone. Journey to Un’Goro releases April 6th. As we wrote about last Friday, Ben Brode revealed the release date on the Un’Goro card tease stream, and even though we were pretty confident that the 6th was the release date, we now know for sure. Keep in mind that some regions might get the expansion the day after, as is always the case with such releases. And remember that the pre-order offer, which gives you 50 packs and a card pack for $49.99, is almost over, so if you’re planning on getting that, you only have a couple of days to do so.
Warrior and Druid Legendaries Revealed
The reveals went from a steady drip to an absolute downpour this week, and this story focuses on the new Warrior and Druid Legendaries. The Warrior Legendary is King Mosh, a 9-mana 9/7 Beast that destroys all damaged Minions once it hits the board. The writer doesn’t think the card is that powerful, especially because of its high cost that makes it hard to combo. It does have potential, though, but it needs more cards to help it out.
The druid Legendary Tyrantus, a 10-mana 12/12 Beast that can’t be targeted by spells or Hero Powers, is a huge one. If this was a legendary of any other class, it would be too slow, but Ramp Druid can quickly hit ten mana and drop it early, which will make it very hard to counter. However, the writer feels that the meta would have to slow down a lot for Tyrantus to be playable. And there are the Jade Golems as well, which are a better Druid deck than a Tyrantus one. What do you think? Do you want to see Tyrantus rule the board?
3 New Quests that Will Break the Game
The new Quests will definitely be pretty powerful, but this writer believes that the Hunter, Rogue, and Warrior Quests will pretty much break the game. The Hunter Quest is pretty easy to complete, the Rogue Quest is also easier than people think because of new cards that can copy minions, and the Warrior Quest will give you a Hero Power that’s the equivalent of an unkillable Ragnaros. He worries because he sees the basic mechanic as broken and believes players will end up finding ways to cheat the system and come up with combos the developers didn’t anticipate, which will lead to the Quests pretty much breaking the game.
All the Journey to Un’Goro Cards
If you want to check out all the cards coming in the next expansion, hop over to Hearthstone‘s Facebook page and check them out. You can finally see all the Quests, all the rewards, all the Legendaries, and all the crazy cards coming to the game on April 6th. Check them all out here.
Interview With Dean Ayala
This interview with Dean Ayala, Hearthstone game designer, has a ton of information on Un’Goro but also on Arena. The interview goes into Quest design and how the developers want them to push players to create new decks. It also talks about the high number of new mechanics in Un’Goro, whether Un’Goro truly is more expensive than previous expansions, the reaction to the recent Arena changes, as well as discussion about specific cards such as Renounce Darkness. A long but interesting interview that you should definitely read.
Looking Back at the Year of the Kraken
With the first actual Standard rotation almost upon us, this story looks at the Year of the Kraken in one convenient infographic. This pretty fun infographic represents the best—or most influential—cards of each expansion and adventure while also having a lot of fun. It also gives you a quick way to see which adventures and expansions will be leaving the game, which ones staying, and which ones added, so check it out.
Top 4 Cards Leaving Standard Pros Will Miss the Most
The Year of the Kraken is almost done, and according to this story, these 4 cards leaving Standard will be missed the most by the pros. The first is, of course, Reno Jackson, the card that became the basis for so many decks. The next is Emperor Thaurissan, because of the combo decks it enabled. The third is Anyfin Can Happen because, as Kripp has pointed out, it’s a card that creates a deck type all by itself. And the last one is Flamewaker, the card that gave Mage decks a very powerful turn 3 play. Which cards will you miss?
The Future of Fireside Gatherings
In a video last night, Pat Nagle, game designer, talked about the future of Fireside Gatherings in the Year of the Mammoth. The new features are meant to make Fireside Gatherings even easier to organize. The first is adding to the client the ability to know whether you’re at a Fireside Gathering through GPS. The next will be Fireside Brawls, which will be in addition to Tavern Brawls. You’ll be able to choose whether to do a normal Brawl or a Fireside Brawl. Another feature is the ability to create your own Tavern Sign to make each Fireside Gathering feel unique. Expect these features to roll out gradually in beta version.
Will we see Hearthstone on Switch?
In an interesting interview, Mike Donais, senior game designer, said that while he hasn’t talked to the team about it, bringing Hearthstone to Switch is a discussion worth having since the game is already available on iPads and iPhones. The game would fit the platform well, but it would definitely take plenty of resources to port the game over. As the story points out, such a move will also depend on how popular Nintendo’s new platform becomes. Time will tell.
Blizzard Announces Global Games Team Rosters
The voting has concluded, and we now know the members of the 48 teams that will fight it out during the Hearthstone Global Games tournament. The top-ranked player from each country was automatically in the country’s team, but the other three were voted by players. The tournament starts on April 10th, so not too many days left until you can see whether your team can make it or not. Go here to see the players of all 48 teams.
Blizzard Bans Controversial Streamer from Global Games
We had quite a bit of drama this week as Blizzard stepped in and banned Mats “P4wnyhof" Kathage from the Global Games, even though he was voted to be part of the German team. P4wnyhof has had a controversial history in the game, including being accused of unfairly aiding his team in a tournament he organized and using viewbots to boost his popularity. Pro players SuperJJ and Forsen threatened to drop out of the competition if P4wnyhof ended up as part the team. Well, P4wnyhof, as well as Sintolol, won’t be taking part in the Global Games after all. As the article points out, the disqualification might end up helping the German team because some very strong players didn’t get voted to participate, so now they might end up playing in the Global Games after all.
Kibler Reviews Un’Goro Part 3
Kripp’s Un’Goro Review Part 3
Kripp’s Un’Goro Review Part 4
Eloise Un’Goro Card Review
Tempo Storm’s Year of the Mammoth Preview
Top 5 Fun Un’Goro Cards
Worst RNG Moments #1
Kripp on Standard Cards He’ll Miss the Least
Disguised Toast’s 6 Awesome Un’Goro Combos
Trolden’s Funny and Lucky Moments #234
Best Ties and Draws
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
