UPDATE 11-5-2014: New Innkeeper’s Journal featuring Goblins!
The rumblings of the next expansion of Hearthstone have been felt, and we have some solid information on it, and some speculative information.
Keep in mind that Curse of Naxxramas is considered an “Adventure” while they’ve referred to this next release as an “Expansion.”
Confirmed Information
Over 100 Cards and Different from Curse of Naxxramas
I mean, it’s going to be over 100 cards and it’s certainly going to be very different from Naxxramas, which was designed to put a smaller number of cards into play, because we don’t want to create this large number of cards, not overwhelm players, but at the same time, with this new expansion, we want to provide a large number of cards with additional options for the hardcore.
Not Adventure Mode, Will Be Booster Pack Format
Mike Donais, Senior Game Designer of Hearthstone, confirmed that this is a separate type of expansion and will not be an Adventure Mode and it will be in a Booster Pack format. – Source
Totally New Booster Packs
The Booster Packs will be separated into Original Hearthstone Card Packs and First Expansion Card Packs. – Source
There Will Be a Central Theme
Pretty obvious, but interesting nonetheless.
We are going to have a central theme for how that will all fit together.
Engineer Promotional Cards
BlizzCon is coming and what better place would there be to release some juicy expansion information. Blizzard recently sent out Blueprints of current cards that have a Mechanical theme, such as: Harvest Golem, Demolisher, Poultryizer, Alarm-o-Bot, and Repair Bot. These blueprints were accompanied with a card that reads: Making plans for BlizzCon – I hope you like my invention!
“I hope you like my invention!” is Novice Engineer’s summon emote.
Goblin Card Back
Along with a seemingly Mechanical/Goblin theme we get the Lobbin’ Goblins Card Back this season. Naxxramas was accompanied by a matching card back.
Innkeeper’s Journal
Another clue along the lines of a Goblin focused expansion is a recent Innkeeper’s Journal featuring a story about Goblins playing Hearthstone and featuring the image below. There’s also reference to a speedier version of the game, this could potentially be a Blitz mode or something similar.
Speculation
None of this is confirmed, take it with a grain of salt.
The Terms Overwatch and Eye of Azshara Have Been Trademarked
Blizzard trademarked the terms “Overwatch” and “Eye of Azshara” which both potentially line up with a Goblin/Mechanical type theme. – Source
Eye of Azshara is a reference to a land (and lore character) in World of Warcraft that has strong Goblin ties. Overwatch is an obscure reference to Mechanical NPCs that appear in World of Warcraft.
Four New Cards Leaked?
Four cards were leaked from a Chinese website, this video goes into detail about them.
- Priest Card: Vol’jin – Legendary – 5 Cost, 6 Attack, 2 Health Minion: Swap Health with another minion.
- Rogue Card: Trade Prince Gallywix – Legendary – 6 Cost, 5 Attack, 8 Health: Whenever your opponent casts a spell, gain a copy of it and give them a Coin.
- Warrior Card: Iron Juggernaut – Legendary – 6 Cost, 6 Attack, 6 Health – Mech: Battlecry: Shuffle a Mine into your opponent’s deck. When draw, it explodes for 10 damage.
- Mage Card: Flame Leviathan – Legendary – 7 Cost, 7 Attack, 7 Health – Mech: When you draw this, deal 2 damage to all characters.
I would really be surprised if these were real, but they seem to be relatively on theme and one of them appears as a craftable card. This also would answer the question of if we’ll be able to craft the expansion cards.
