You're Invited to the Hearthstone Inn-vitational
Blizzard has announced details on the Blizzard Hearthstone Tournament, the Hearthstone Inn-vitational. See the 12 players, how it's going to work, and more below.
Did Blizzard Just Give us Clues for the Next Expansion?
Alright, hear us out for a second. We've got some really interesting stuff going on in this post.
Let's start off with the banner from the post. We've very clearly got a treasure map, an unknown landform that may or may not be present on Azeroth (we've checked!), and some cool skull in the water. All typical pirate stuff. This can only mean one thing. Sailing the seas! This turns out to actually be the art for Map to the Golden Monkey.
Things get more interesting though if you look closely at the four team names.
- Grimestreet Grifters - Refers to Gadgetzan Expansion
- Jungle Giants - Refers to Un'Goro Expansion
- Chillblade Crusaders - Refers to Frozen Throne Expansion
- Big-Time Buccaneers - ????
Yarr. Harr. Thar be Patches in thy future. Continuing onward, the post highlights lots of treasure which could mean we're going to get card reveals throughout the tournament, something that would truly test the deck-building skills of the players present, another mention.
If we go further back though to the recent patch which hit the servers, we did see a nice Pirate ship and some other pirate characters coming to us in the form of card avatars. It certainly wouldn't be the first time Blizzard has added in clues during a patch to hint toward the next expansion.
Keep in mind, this is all speculation but we don't think we're too crazy. It's also been rumored the next WoW expansion is going to be present in the South Seas, which would make for a very interesting cross between Hearthstone and WoW. We'll find out at BlizzCon on November 3rd for sure though, so stay tuned!
Announcement
Quote from BlizzardPull up a chair by the hearth, because you’re about to witness quite the event: Welcome to the Hearthstone Inn-vitational!
The Hearthstone Inn-vitational at BlizzCon 2017 will see 12 of the most intrepid adventurers set forth in search of treasures untold. The journey will be arduous, and they’ll need your fullest (moral) support.
Party Up!
Here are the brave souls who will compete in the Inn-vitational!
Jungle Giants Big-Time Buccaneers Grimestreet Grifters Chillblade Crusaders Kripparian Disguised Toast Reynad Dog Firebat Ant Thijs RDU J4CKIECHAN Alliestrasza Pathra NaviOOT
The Inn-vitational Adventure
You don’t go to the tavern to sit by yourself, do you? In true Hearthstone spirit, each team’s players will gather around the hearth (or the desk, in this case!) and make decisions together while they play. The Inn-vitational’s matches will be played in round robin format, with three games per match. Each player on a team will play one game per match.
Challenge #1 - Wild
Our adventurers take on the challenge of the Wild! Teams will square off with preconstructed decks built exclusively for the Wild format. Will they fall prey to the likes of Reno Jackson and Azure Drake?
- Jungle Giants vs. Big-Time Buccaneers
- Grimestreet Grifters vs. Chillblade Crusaders
Challenge #2 - Standard
Ah, the tried-and-tested Standard competition. Don’t let this quintessential challenge catch you off-guard, though. There’s a lot to be feared out there in those dark dungeons.
- Jungle Giants vs. Grimestreet Grifters
- Big-Time Buccaneers vs. Chillblade Crusaders
Challenge #3 - Excavated Treasures
Our adventurers have stumbled across something shiny in the darkness—a stash of valuable cards! A tinny, hissing voice in the darkness warns that they shouldn’t take the precious cards, but what good adventurer leaves treasure behind? For this challenge, the intrepid explorers will be doing battle with the cards they’ve just found. Watch some of the best deck-builders in Hearthstone try to outwit each other!
- Jungle Giants vs. Chillblade Crusaders
- Big-Time Buccaneers vs. Grimestreet Grifters
Whenever a team wins one of these challenges, they’ll be awarded a mysterious treasure. What type of treasure, you ask? We won’t spoil the surprise, but rest assured they’ll need them for the hazards lurking in the dark. The most valiant party of the Inn-vitational will also earn an extra treasure.
No one ever finishes a daring adventure in just a day, so if you want to find out what happens to our intrepid heroes, remember to catch their exploits at BlizzCon 2017 at the Hearthstone Inn-vitational!
The Inn-vitational starts at 1pm PDT on Friday, Nov. 3, and 9.30am PDT on Saturday, Nov. 4.
P.S. If the adventuring life is not one you can stomach, you might be more interested in a Tavern vs. Tavern showdown.
Maybe they will finally release the Pirates vs Ninjas expansion (for those who remember).
okay first thought when rading the main post.. was literally "ohh gawd not the pirates, i wish not having wished for sueful pirates before gadgetzan" but then i read your post and well, if thye ever decide to put ninjas in the game i'm willing to put up with the price of having to deal with more pirates.
Exploring the South Seas would be great, even more so because it is largely inexplored in wow as well.
Also that Inn logo is really cool.
Please don't be pirates, please don't be pirates, please don't be pirates, please don't be pirates, please don't be pirates, please don't be pirates
there will be pirates
Ben Brode laughing in distance, growing louder and louder until your ears bleed.
This is so much worse than original Patches ! It would be unplayable .
Calling it, there will be a minion that is mimicking a chest.
No more pirates plz blizz :(
I always feel bad for whatever team gets Kripp. He's gonna tank their morale so hard.
The Treasure of Stranglethorn.
Do people really think if the expansion is really based around the sea and treasure-like adventures it's only gonna be pirate centered? Are you really so close minded? Your hate for pirate packages and patches has blinded you, don't you see all the posibilities? Huge monsters, some murlocs, terrible under water creatures, some fishes, bigger things like whales l, maybe some rusty old mechs and yes ofc some pirates, maybe even a pirate for each class that represents the class identity but damn stop crying about pirates, now days there will always be salty/ unhappy people, no matter what the next expansion is, there is always gonna be that group of salty kids that hate and will hate everyhing available.
Yes sadly some people are very close minded...
I'm pretty sure they know how to handle pirates now, especially after Mean Streets, I would be shocked if not!
I could see them going away from this "Pirates only care for your weapon" theme and change it to something else for this expansions new pirates.
A treasure hunt themed expansion sounds really cool in my opinion and it would open almost endless opportunities like Treasure Map - Cards, cursed treasures with an undead pirate king guarding it, giant monsters,.....
Not to mention the singleplayer which could be similar to League of Exlores, and be about finding a certain treasure which would be really cool as well!
One card and one class? Seems like a narrow view of what an expansion focused on pirates would bring...
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Pirate warrior got you down? No problem! Just try pirate priest, swashbuckler shaman, or pillager paladin!
Power Word: Yarrrr!
Welcome to the Grand Tournament, champion
anything else but pirates with south seas related is fine with me, though
how about sea creatures? couple murlocs is fine, but you know. sharks, krakens, whales etc
or some more quest cards with treasure based stuff in some way
New quests would be amazing! I love the quest mechanic and hope it continues. It would he interesting to see non-legendary quests that have easier requirements and toned down quest rewards that weren't game defining.