Hearthpwn

Update 7:30 PM EST: Added video and summary of Ben Brode talking about basic card power creep.
Update 6:00 PM EST: Added video of Winter Veil gameboards.
Update 4:37 PM EST: Added animated card backs!
Update 3:52 PM EST: Added some board assets for winter themed gameboards. Also looks like we'll be seeing Santa Parachutes on Piloted Shredder spawns!
Update 3:44 PM EST: Added new tavern brawl chalkboards.
Update 3:30 PM EST: Added exported card images for the new Fate Cards for the Deal Your Fate Tavern Brawl & cards for Bling Brawl.
Update 1:23 PM EST: Added images of the new card backs. We'll get animated previews up soon.
Update 1:19 PM EST: Added official patch notes.

Hearthstone Patch 10956

A new Hearthstone patch has shown up on Blizzard's CDN and is available for download via the Battle.net Client.

Winter Veil Event!

We're getting a special Winter Veil themed Tavern Brawl which will reward you with a card back! According to the official patch notes, the festivities begin on December 9th!

• Gift Exchange - Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own!
• GIFTSPAWNED - If your side has no crate, then one's delivered.
• GIFTSTOLEN - You got a gift! What could it be...
• START - Happy Winter's Veil! Grab those gifts!

Winterveil Gameboard

The Winter Veil Tavern Brawl will also feature a special gameboard! It looks like minions with Parachutes will also have their own special "Santa" parachute.

Winterveil Greeting Emotes

Heroes will have new emotes inside of the special event Tavern Brawl it looks like.

• All Heroes - Happy Feast of Winterveil!
• Jaraxxus - I WILL FEAST ON YOUR SOUL, THIS WINTERVEIL!
• Ragnaros - WINTER SHOULD BE WARMER!
• Medivh - Happy feasting, challenger.

New Card Backs - Now Animated!

Three new card backs have been added to the game, in addition to the previously announced December Cardback. It also looks like we'll be able to earn some cardbacks via Tavern Brawls. You can also find them sorted in our cardback gallery. 

Feast of Winter Veil
Winter Veil Brawl
Shaman Thrall
Season 21 (Dec 2015)

Love is in the Air
Season 22 (Jan 2016)
Tauren
Season 23 (Feb 2016)

• Shaman Thrall - December 2015 Ranked Reward
  • The World Shaman is probably THE best known celebrity in Azeroth. It's a mystery that his signature necklace never caught on as a fashion trend. 
• Love is in the Air - January 2016 Ranked Reward
  • Many believe goblins made up this holiday to sell candy. It's not true! They also sell flowers and perfume!
• Winterveil - Tavern Brawl Reward
  • A beautiful Winter Veil wreath around a snow globe full of THE FROSTY DESTRUCTION OF YOUR OPPONENTS! I mean, good cheer.
• Tauren Thunderbluff - February 2016 Ranked Reward
  • Unofficial slogan: "Great warriors come from happy Tauren tribes. Happy Tauren come from Thunder Bluff!"

Strings

• GLUE_TAVERN_BRAWL_REWARD_DESC_CARDBACK Win this card back for your first victory this week!
• GLUE_TAVERN_BRAWL_REWARD_DESC_FINISH_CARDBACK Win this card back for completing your first Brawl this week!

New Brawls

Five new brawls have been datamined, alongside eight new brawl chalkboard images. Two of the chalkboards are defaults, both with and without the side borders.

It's also worth mentioning four of were added to Scenarios.xml which is a new way of doing things. This file mainly contains data for adventures and tutorials in addition to some dev tests. We don't know if this means they'll be accessible at a later date through some kind of Adventures menu, but it is odd!

• TB_CoOp_Mechazod_V2
• Gift Exchange - Great Father is dropping crates on the battlefield! Get a gift each time you smash your opponent's crate... or your own!
• Battle of the Builds - What's better? Battlecry, Deathrattle, Spells, or Murlocs? Make a deck, pick a side, and let's find out!
• Deal Your Fate - The Tavern Keeper foretells a fateful brawl! You and your opponent discover random fates that affect you both!
• Blingtron's Beauteous Brawl - Blingtron is ready to rumble! He changes your hero power to "Get a random weapon." AND he gives you random weapons!

Fate Cards

These cards are tied to the Deal Your Fate Brawl.

Bling Brawl Cards

Brawl Strings

• TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_GIFTSPAWNED If your side has no crate, then one's delivered.
• TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_GIFTSTOLEN You got a gift! What could it be...
• TB_GIFTEXCHANGE_START Happy Winter's Veil! Grab those gifts!
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_NEWFATE You need a new fate!
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_OPPONENTFATE Your opponent needs a new fate!
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_RANDOM_FIRSTFATE Chosen fates affect both players!
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_NEWFATE Remember, this bonus is only for you.
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_OPPONENTFATE Remember, this bonus is only for your opponent.
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_FIRSTFATE Chosen fates affect both players!
• TB_PICKYOURFATE_BUILDAROUND_OPPONENT_FIRSTFATE Your opponent's fate affects you as well!

Strings

• GLOBAL_TAVERN_BRAWL_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVE Sorry. This Tavern Brawl is not currently active. Please wait a few minutes and try again.
• GLOBAL_ERROR_FIND_GAME_SCENARIO_NOT_MULTIPLAYER There was an error starting your game. The scenario is not multiplayer.
• GLOBAL_ERROR_FIND_GAME_SCENARIO_NO_DECK_SPECIFIED There was an error starting your game. No deck specified by player(s).

Official Patch Notes

Quote from Battle.net Launcher

Prepare for some holly jolly Hearthstone! In this patch we’re adding League of Explorers game boards to all modes, introducing several new card backs, and fixing a few bugs.

Read on for details!

General

• Special Winter Veil effects have been added to celebrate the holidays starting December 9^th!
• Savage Roar is now much less savage to the ears.
• League of Explorers game boards have been added to the rotation in Arena and Play modes.
• The following card backs have been added:
  • Winter Veil Wreath – Acquired by celebrating Winter Veil in Hearthstone.
  • Shaman Thrall – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of December 2015.
  • Love is in the Air – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of January 2016.
  • Tauren Thunderbluff – Acquired by reaching Rank 20 or higher in Ranked Play mode during the month of February 2016.
• Resolved an issue where playing Unearthed Raptor caused the client to freeze.
• Resolved various issues with AI behavior and gameplay.
• Various audio, graphical, and UI issues have been resolved.

Winter Unveiling - Win a 3D Printed Custom Card

Just when you thought the Card Design Competition was on hiatus until next year, we popped back in with a special surprise to celebrate the upcoming holidays - Hearthstone style!

We're running a special card design competition over the next 10 days titled The Winter Unveiling and we've partnered up with MyMiniFactory.com to bring some super epic loot to the table.

The grand champion of this special competition will receive a 3D Printed custom Hearthstone card of their entry into the competition.

  
Check out some examples of 3D Printed Hearthstone Cards!

So, interested in entering? It's quite simple to win as long as you read the rules!

• Head on over to the Winter Unveiling card submission thread.
• Read all the rules. If you break one, you're disqualified. Feel free to ask for clarification in the discussion thread.
• Go over to Hearthcards.net to create your custom card. Make sure to choose the special "Winter Veil" set icon!
• Submit your card as a reply to the submission thread. You can only enter once.
• Toss a vote to any other cards out there that you like!

Best of luck to everyone who enters, we're looking forward to seeing some great cards!

Ben Brode on Basic Cards Power Creep

Update 8:30 PM EST: The video is now private.

Via /u/WorldAtWarFix on reddit
An unlisted video on the HearthstoneRU YouTube channel is making the rounds on the interwebs this evening where he discusses power creep on basic cards. You can find a recap of the video below, or watch the video here.

Quote from Ben Brode

• Power creep over basic cards isn't a big deal. They want basic cards to be bad, upgrading your free cards makes you feel good.
• New players don't just lose games because they're using basic cards which are worse then the better versions of them - they're new players.
• Ice Rager isn't played in the meta, and therefore has no effect on the power level of the game so it's not really power creep.
• Dr. Boom is better than War Golem and is an example of power creep. War Golem was never played though due to it being bad.