by hsdecktech - 5 years ago     show comments

This morning, Hearthstone has announced the next expansion in the Year of the Dragon: Saviors of Uldum!

The set features the return of the (full) League of Explorers coming in to save Dalaran from the League of E.V.I.L. The set announcement post reminds us that Uldum is an Ancient Egypt themed area, with “hidden treasures, plagues, mummies, and MAYHEM.” And one of the best announcement videos we’ve ever gotten.

Saviors of Uldum will include 135 new cards, “added game features” (oooh!) and new mechanics! Such as the new keyword, Reborn. Reborn works like a more narrow version of Deathrattle, where the first time a minion with Reborn is destroyed, that minion is returned to the field with 1 Health remaining. Check out this example card that was spoiled with the announcement today:

There is also a new cycle of powerful spells, “Plagues,” that the 5 League of E.V.I.L. classes will use. These are big spells that hit all minions on the board. Here’s the new Priest board wipe, for example:

The return of Quests! Hearthstone is taking another stab at Quests, the popular (but in some cases, problematic) Un’Goro mechanic, but with a twist! This time, the quest rewards are all new hero powers, which automatically go into effect. As with last time, I expect some of the quests will be very powerful, and some not so much. It is unclear at this point if each class gets one quest like before, but the two revealed options are from both the good-guy side and the League of E.V.I.L. side, so it seems likely that will be the case. As was the case last time, you get a free one just for logging in after the set launches.

It seems like this is designed to make Plot Twist playable. We’ll have to see if that can ever work in a world where Bomb Warrior is strong.

They also spoiled a few more cards for us, most of which seem incredibly powerful:

I don’t think Puzzle Box likely sees competitive play, but there are a lot of cards left to reveal so if we get a new Spiteful Summoner, then it might make the cut. Questing Explorer obviously depends on if any of the quests are good, but it does have immediate and obvious synergy with the Warlock one. Jar Dealer is great with Magic Carpet and EVIL Totem is just great on its own.

As is the new normal, there will be two pre-order bundle options, one for 50 packs and one for 80. The 80-pack preorder also includes a gorgeous new Druid hero portrait, featuring Elise Starseeker,  so odds are pretty decent that her card in the set will be in Druid.

The set is launching August 6, 2019, so if you haven’t started saving up Gold yet, now’s the time! Pre-order is already live if you want to throw some cash down as well.