Showdown in the Badlands Guide – New Hearthstone Expansion – Card Reveals, Release Date, New Mechanics, and More!

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The Bloodrock Mining Company found powerful Azerite in the Badlands. They’re digging deep and bleeding the land dry, disrupting the Badlands and awakening slumbering elementals! Now mysterious outlaws are riding into town to set things right. Tumbleweeds roll by and high noon looms. Grab your horse and your hat, it’s nearly time for a Showdown in the Badlands!

General Information

• Release Date – November 14, 2023
• 145 New Cards (Card Reveal Schedule)
• New Keyword/Mechanic – Quickdraw
• New Keyword/Mechanic – Excavate
• Free Neutral Legendary Card – Thunderbringer

Announcement Video

Showdown in the Badlands Key Art

New Keyword/Mechanic – Quickdraw

Let’s start with the easier one. The first new mechanic is called “Quickdraw” and it activates an extra effect the turn the card is added to your hand. After the initial turn, the bonus effect is gone – of course, the card will still have a “base” effect, but it’s going to be much weaker.

Note that I said “added to your hand”, not “drawn”. It means that Quickdraw is also active for cards that you generate. It will definitely impact some Discover decisions.

 

Dehydrate is an example of a Quickdraw card. It’s a 3 mana Shaman spell that deals 4 damage to a minion with Lifesteal. At its core, it works exactly the same as a pre-buff Tidal Surge. However, it also has a “Quickdraw: Costs (1)” effect – it means that the turn you draw or generate it, you can play it at a 2 mana discount.

Some Quickdraw cards, such as Sunspot Dragon, come with a Tradeable keyword. This can be very helpful – if you draw them too early, you can just push them back into your deck and hopefully activate the Quickdraw at a better time later.

New Keyword/Mechanic – Excavate

The second mechanic, Excavate, is much more complicated, but I hope that I will be able to explain it quite clearly. The simplest card using this mechanic is Kobold Miner. It reads “Battlecry: Excavate a treasure.”. Let’s start with what happens in every class whenever you Excavate a treasure.

• The first time you Excavate in a given match, you get a random 1 mana treasure (Common). There are 5 options in total.
• The second time you Excavate, you get a random 2 mana treasure (Rare). There are 5 options.
• The third time you Excavate, you get a random 3 mana treasure (Epic). There are 5 options.

You can find a full list of Treasures below, but for now, all you need to know is that they have a high power level for their mana cost (e.g. a 1 mana spell that adds 2 Coins to your hand, or a 3 mana spell dealing 3 damage to all enemies).

 

What happens next depends on your class. In 6 out of 11 classes (in lore those are “Outlaw” classes, but let’s call them non-excavate classes), you simply repeat the cycle. Fourth excavate gives you a 1 mana treasure, fifth a 2 mana treasure, and so on (1-2-3, 1-2-3). Non-excavate classes are Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, and Shaman. Those can still take advantage of Excavate cards e.g. when randomly generated, but they probably shouldn’t focus on this mechanic.

As you’ve probably guessed, the other 5 classes (in lore they are “Miner” classes) specialize in Excavate and get an extra, fourth step. Excavate classes are Death Knight, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior. Instead of repeating the cycle after the third treasure, they get a special, powerful 4 mana Legendary treasure. This one isn’t random – every class has a unique Treasure only they can get. Then, after the fourth excavation, the cycle starts over just like with non-excavate classes. So your fifth will give you a 1 mana treasure, sixth a 2 mana treasure, and so on (1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4). The Legendary treasures are much more powerful and have potentially game-winning effects. They’re the reason why you might consider building your entire deck around Excavate synergies.

Below, you can find a full list of Excavate Treasures.

1 Mana Tresures (Common)

    

2 Mana Treasures (Rare)

    

3 Mana Treasures (Epic)

    

4 Mana Treasures (Legendary)

All of the Legendary Excavate treasures have been revealed. Here’s how they look:

   

New Game Board

Pre-Purchase Info

Once again, we’ll have two different pre-order bundles. You can get the bundles here. Here’s what they include and how much they cost:

Showdown in the Badlands Pre-Purchase Bundle ($49.99)

• 60 Showdown in the Badlands Card Packs
• Two Random Legendary cards from Showdown in the Badlands expansion
• Ulfar Card Back

Showdown in the Badlands Mega Pre-Purchase Bundle ($79.99)

• 80 Showdown in the Badlands Card Packs
• 10 Golden Showdown in the Badlands Card Packs
• 1 Random Golden Legendary from the expansion
• 1 Random Signature Legendary from the expansion
• Ulfar Druid Cosmetic Hero
• Ulfar Card Back

Pre-purchase will be available until the Showdown in the Badlands launch, so be sure to get it at least a day before the expansion goes live just to be sure.

Most Recently Revealed Cards from Showdown in the Badlands

Showdown in the Badlands Revealed Card List

If you’re looking for cards from a specific class, click on it below:

Death Knight – Demon Hunter – Druid – Hunter – Mage – Paladin – Priest – Rogue – Shaman – Warlock – Warrior – Neutral

Legendary Excavate Treasure (Not A Collectible Card!)

Legendary Excavate Treasure (Not A Collectible Card!)

Legendary Excavate Treasure (Not A Collectible Card!)

Legendary Excavate Treasure (Not A Collectible Card!)

Legendary Excavate Treasure (Not A Collectible Card!)

Legendaries

Epics

Rares

Commons