The Witchwood - Hearthstone's Eighth Expansion
Hearthstone's Eighth Expansion is The Witchwood! It launched on April 12th 2018.
Expansion Information
- 135 new cards were added to the game.
- A new Shaman Hero Card, "Hagatha", is seen briefly at the end of the reveal video. Ben Brode confirmed this is the only Hero Card in the expansion. (Source)
- Every class will be getting 2 Legendary cards this expansion. (Source)
- A new mechanic called Echo is being added to the game.
- A new mechanic called Rush is being added to the game. It's like Charge but less OP.
- The pre-order comes with 70 packs instead of the usual 50. You also get a card back. You can pre-order here or in-game.
Freebies
- A card back for completing Monster Hunt.
- A legendary class card for logging in on release.
- Three card packs for logging in on release.
- Up to four card packs for completing daily quests in the lead-up to the expansion. (Source)
Monster Hunt
- Works like Dungeon Run in that you play a hero against bosses and build a deck as you progress.
- Does not use normal Hearthstone heroes, this has four unique characters.
- The final boss at the end of Monster Hunt is different for each of the four classes.
Below are pictures of the Cannoneer, Houndmaster, Time Tinkerer, and Tracker heroes from Monster Hunt.
New Keyword: Echo
Echo cards can be played multiple times on the turn you play them. Each time, it’ll add a ghostly copy of the card back to your hand that disappears at the end of your turn.
New Keyword: Rush
Minions with the Rush keyword can attack other minions immediately after they hit the board, either by being played or summoned. They cannot attack heroes until the turn after they enter play, however.
Hagatha the Witch
The only new playable hero card being added to the game, Hagatha has unique emotes and a special passive Hero Power.
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- Greetings: "Welcome to my domain."
- Well Played: "Well played."
- Thanks: "Thank you."
- Wow: "By the night!"
- Oops: "Unwise."
- Threaten: "The curse take you!"
New Cards
So far, 135 cards have been revealed out of 135.
Druid
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Hunter
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Mage
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Paladin
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Priest
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Rogue
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Shaman
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Warlock
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Warrior
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Neutral
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Card Backs
There are two new card backs. The first is available with the expansion pre-order and the second is a reward from Monster Hunt.
New Gameboard
As always, Hearthstone is getting a new game board with the expansion.
My hopes for Shaman in this coming expansion:
1.) A single target damage spell with Echo, but it can only hit minions (might be too good if it could go face). Either that, or some type of cheap AOE similar to Maelstrom Portal.
2.) A spell/minion/effect that heals your hero for the number of Overload crystals you've accumulated (possibly even from overloaded crystal on deck for next turn). For example, a 0 cost spell that restores +2 health to your Hero for every crystal currently Overloaded.
3.) A "Mass Hex" spell/battlecry effect to better compete with Priest's and Warlock's late game.
4.) A minion similar to Mage's Ghastly Conjurer that gave you a copy of Basic Shaman cards not often seen in constructed. For example, a 5 mana 4/6 minion with Battlecry: Add an 'Ancestral Healing' spell to your hand. You could either used the Ancestral Healing on a damaged minion already on board you traded with, or if you are in a bind, you can give that 4/6 minion Taunt.
5.) Strong Overload minions that focus on defense. Drakkari Defender was very close, but it needed to have that 3 attack in order to make efficient trades, possibly something like a 3/6 instead of a 2/8. Or better yet, give it the "Tar Creeper" effect so that it isn't inherently aggressive, like Totem Golem was. In short, give Shaman some minions that are actually worth a damn!
1) that would be nice, blizz obviously wants to make control shaman happen, and if they want that then they will need some decent board clears.
2) fwi, when a card refers to the amount of overload crystals you have then it will count overload that will happen next turn, and i think this kind of spell would be cool, i would like some cards that would give overload shaman some more support, right now all we got is spellstone, and giant. but i think for 0 mana might be OP maybe for 2/3 mana?
3) a mass hex would be nuts, insanely strong, heking one minion is
3 mana4 mana (rip hex) so hexing 2 minions would be68 mana. i thhink a boardclear would be nice but the problem with hexing them all is that it means they will not die, so deathrattles wont trigger, nether will any ressurects. so maybe if it worked like poison seeds, and destroyed them and replaced them with frogs than it would be ok.4) i guess this would be fun, i dont really see why we would need it with hagatha, and her pet frog. but it would be fun.
5) yes. i would love some defensive overload minions, i really like the idea of overload control but all the cards like that have overload 3+ (earth elemental, and drakkari defend) so i think defensive overload would be fun, but it could not be a overstated minion with taunt overload X because that would be unplayed (like earth elemental, and drakkari enchanter) or to uninteractive or brocken
overall those are some good ideas.
Hey thanks for the feedback^^. I certainly hope Hagatha the Witch is a sign that they do want to give Shaman late game value, but Shaman is gonna need at least one more high value card printed in order to keep up with Mage, Warlock and Priest. But to reply to your points:
1.) Shaman does have some solid midrange board clears with Lightning Storm and Volcano, but right now they are lacking early ways to contest the board (and late game removal, but I'll come back to that). I'm really excited to try a Baku the Mooneater Odds Shaman to consistently get +1 spellpower, so I'm hoping they print a cheap echo damaging spell that can benefit from spellpower to remove the opponent's board.
2.) Well considering cards like Lava Shock and Eternal Sentinel interact with Overload crystals from your current and previous turn, I think a spell like this could read your total number of overload crystals. And despite how powerfull the healing effect could be, I don't think it would be overpowered at zero mana because it can only heal your face, and it has a "combo" requirement in order to work. If you use all your overload cards before you draw this one, then the card is useless. Besides, I kinda like the idea of being able to do something productive when you've completely overloaded your mana crystals, hence why the card costs zero.
3.) Agreed, Mass Hex would be quite powerful, but it's an effect that Shaman desperately needs right now in order to be relevant in the game. Devolve was already a card that had a somewhat similar effect and it was an incredible removal tool that both gave Shaman presence and even fit the class thematically. A "Mass Hex" effect would help to fill the void left in Shaman's repertoire while also having different drawbacks/interactions than Devolve. For example, "Mass Hex" targets the whole board and would hit your own minions as well. Again, this spell is meant to compete with Warlock's Twisting Nether and Priest's Psychic Scream as a late game "clear all" removal that all good control decks need. Heck, Mage, Warlock, and Priest themselves had access to a very similar effect with the 10 mana Kazakus Potions, and those could have double effects! I just propose Shaman gets only the "polymorph" part (aka half a Kazakus spell) for the same/equivalent mana cost. Right now, the closest shaman has to a large board clear is Volcano, and that's just not enough when the game goes past turn 10.
4.) Glad you like the card idea^^. The goal is to let some cards that don't normally see play have a chance to shine. Plus, I posted this before the reveals started :P.
5.) Earth Elemental does see some amounts of play for being a really beefy 5 mana play, but isn't currently favored because it doesn't fit into the token archetype. They do need to be careful when printing high stats on overload minions, but with Tunnel Trogg gone it might not be as bad. Like, if Totem Golem existed in the current meta, I think it's power level would be kept in check by the crazy shit other decks are doing right now. But honestly, I think strong overload minions should get powerful battlecries rather than raw stats. Look at Jinyu Waterspeaker, this card had reasonable stats for its cost but was given overload because of the strong battlecry bundled with that good statline. I think this is a good direction for Blizzard to take overload minions.
new keywords but not new abilities. we already had these in charged devilsaur and unstable mutation.
The new ability is the Worgen one, where each turn the card turns into something different.
I hope Hagatha will disable Overload for the Rest of the game.
Could be a bit broken if played on curve in a Control match, but the legendary Tunnel Trogg and those aggro decks wouldn't benefit that much from this effect and Lesser Sapphire Spellstone Combo Decks (if there were any) couldn't use her either.
Or Blizzards tries to push Freeze Shaman even more, with Moorabi synergies like:
Battlecry: Freeze ALL friendly Characters
Hero Power: Summon a Water Elemental for your opponent
I could see that deck work
Dude. Just don't.
King Togwaggle and Azalina Soulthief synergy anyone?
Ah yes, a classic 15-mana combo
Twig of the World Tree says otherwise
Ah yes, Twig of the World Tree. That great legendary weapon everybody plays.
new adventure please..
nathed
I might be a shaman main this year, the hero card looks cool and murkspark is amazing..
Pity Shaman is losing nearly it's entire class identity with this rotation, hopefully the new cards will stop it from being trash tier.
The biggest problem with Shaman, as others have noticed, is that their Basic Cards are quite underpowered compared to most other Classes, especially after all the nerfs they keeps getting. Hnonestly I think some of the more useless cards like Totemic Might and Ancestral Healing should receive a buff of some sort to give their base set more viable options. For example, what if Ancestral Healing was increased to 1 mana and also cycled itself by drawing a card? It would be comparable to Preists Power Word: Shield but still unique enough (Shaman has somewhat of a theme of having alternate takes on cards from other classes, so why not).
May I get some free thumbs up?
Nope.