Hearthpwn

Q&A About The Newest Expansion From Hearthstone Developers

Today we've prepared a summary of answers from Team 5 surrounding the upcoming Fractured in Alterac Valley expansion.

Be aware that some questions and answers were adjusted for a better understanding or better reading experience and they might slightly vary from the original text.

We'll start with something easy to understand...

Honorable Kill

Q: Can the "Honorable Kill" keyword trigger multiple times if conditions are met?
A: Over and over!

Q: Does "Honorable Kill" work on friendly characters as well?
A: Yes.

Transfer Student

Q: What ability will Transfer Student get on the new Alterac Valley board?
A: Transfer Student is also eager to participate in the fight for Alterac Valley! Its effect this expansion is
“Battlecry: Deal 1 damage. Honorable Kill: Gain +1/+1.”

Now, the more complicated part...

Korrak the Bloodrager

Q: If Counterfeit Blade copies Korrak the Bloodrager's Deathrattle it won't trigger when swung with 1 durability as technically the weapon's durability drops to 0 and triggers Honorable Kill. What happens?
A: Weapons aren't things that can be honorably killed. Counterfeit Blade will resummon Korrak the Bloodrager after you swing with the last charge of it.

Q: How does Korrak the Bloodrager work with cards like Xyrella, the Devout?
A: As long as Korrak the Bloodrager isn't at exactly 0 Health (when he gets killed), he will resummon. This does apply to triggering Deathrattles.

Q: Can I do some shady stuff with Mok'Nathal Lion and Korrak the Bloodrager?
A: Mok'Nathal Lion copying Korrak the Bloodrager's Deathrattle would mean that if the Mok'Nathal Lion 's Deathrattle goes off and the Mok'Nathal Lion isn't at 0 health, it would summon Korrak the Bloodrager.

Q: Can "Destroy" effects kill Korrak the Bloodrager?
A: No, destroy effects like Twisting Nether, Deadly Shot, or Assassinate would NOT count as Honorably Killing Korrak the Bloodrager.

Q: What happens if I play Sketchy Information and draw Korrak the Bloodrager?
A: You'll summon him.

Xyrella, the Devout

Q: Does Xyrella, the Devout trigger generated Deathrattle effects like for example Elekk Mount, or is it only Deathrattle minions with a natural Deathrattle?
A: It only triggers Deathrattles from minions that naturally have Deathrattles.

Q: Are the Deathrattles cast randomly (by Xyrella, the Devout) or in the original order in which they triggered?
A: They are done in random order!

Q: If Undying Disciple has died Xyrella, the Devout's Battlecry deals 3 damage to all enemy minions? I would guess it looks at the base copy of minion in graveyard and sees the 3?
A: It would trigger the Deathrattle of a base copy of that minion, correct!

Q: How does Xyrella, the Devout's Battlecry work with cards like Baron Rivendare?
A: They should trigger twice, just like how something like Play Dead would trigger twice.

Magister Dawngrasp

Q: What does the "Honorable Kill" from Magister Dawngrasp's hero power Arcane Burst increase? "Spell Damage, Hero Attack or Hero Power Damage"?
A: Hero power goes up in damage.

Q: What happens after I play the Reckless Apprentice as a Magister Dawngrasp?
A: "Honorable Kill" will be checked per target. (So yes, you can dream of running into a 1/1 3/3 5/5 7/7, etc enemy board.)

Q: Can Magister Dawngrasp's Battlecry cast random spells from each spell school (meaning also from other classes)?
A: "Recast" So it will pick a random Arcane spell you cast this game, a random Fire, a random Frost, a random Shadow, etc. 

Ivus, the Forest Lord

Q: Am I correct in assuming that we can't roll the keywords multiple times on Ivus, the Forest Lord?
A: Yes.

Q: What does Ivus, the Forest Lord do after he rolls all the keywords?
A: It just gains stats.

Q: How many times can Ivus, the Forest Lord roll the +2/+2 stats?
A: It can roll +2/+2 an unlimited amount of times! (If you have the mana for it, of course).

Q: Can the +2/+2 on Ivus, the Forest Lord be repeated before the other keywords are applied??
A: Yes it can. After a certain point, you're almost guaranteed to get all of the keywords, but there is a chance you just gain stats.

Beaststalker Tavish

Q: Do wild secrets also have an improved version? (Talking about Beaststalker Tavish).
A: No, just Standard Secrets.

Q: Will you update Beaststalker Tavish's Secret pool in the future with the release of new Secrets?
A: While it’s in Standards, yes. (That’s been our pretty consistent practice for this sort of thing.)

Q: Hypothetically, when the core set rotates, and the core set secrets get replaced with new ones, will those be improved as well? For example, if Explosive Trap was removed and replaced with Wandering Monster, would Beaststalker Tavish get an improved Wandering Monster?
A: Hard to know for sure until/if that happens, but hypothetically, that's a reasonable guess.

Q: Does Beaststalker Tavish's hero power (Summon Pet) work with the Hunter Quest (Take the High Ground) the same way as Raza the Chained + Shadowreaper Anduin did? (If you complete the quest before you play the Beaststalker Tavish)
A: Raza the Chained says "this game" and Hunter Quest (Take the High Ground) says "set to 0" so no based on the wording. (This answer is from Regis Killbin, but confirmed by Celestalon)

Q: Can you have the improved (Beaststalker Tavish) and normal version of the secret in play at the same time?
A: Yes.

Q: If I'll have an Explosive Trap in play, will the Improved Explosive Trap show up in Beaststalker Tavish's Discover pool?
A: Yes.

Q: Does Beaststalker Tavish's hero power (Summon Pet) summon a random Animal Companion?
A: Yeah it's random.

Kurtrus, Demon-Render

Q: What part of the minions that get summoned by Kurtrus, Demon-Render will improve? The number of demons, stats, other?
A: Attack on the demons.

Q: The attack from the Kurtrus, Demon-Render's hero power Ashfallen's Fury is this turn only, right?
A: Yes, the wording in the reveal video is a little bit outdated and on release will be slightly different — “+2 Attack this turn.”

Q: Does the Kurtrus, Demon-Render's condition count the number of times you've attacked or the cumulative attack value?
A: Individual attacks made with your hero.

Bearon Gla'shear

Q: Do the elementals that get summoned by the Bearon Gla'shear "Freeze" a target as a Battlecry or do they have the "Freeze" ability if they deal damage?
A: It works just like Water Elemental or the Ice Shard they Freeze when they deal damage. (Sidenote: Also means if they get attacked.)

Rokara, the Valorous

Q: Does the minion still get smashed into the face if it dies by The Unstoppable Force? (Main card: Rokara, the Valorous)
A: Yes!

Lightforged Cariel

Q: Can the The Immovable Object (Main card: Lightforged Cariel) be destroyed by weapon removal effects? Can it be destroyed by equipping another weapon?
A: Yes for both. It's a weapon and is susceptible to traditional weapon rules, it just can't lose durability specifically. It can be destroyed or overridden.

Cera'thine Fleetrunner

Q: Would it be possible to change Cera'thine Fleetrunner's text to somehow exclude changing Tess Greymane into a random minion from other classes?
A: In terms of a design change to allow Cera and Tess to combo together, the best I can think of is to add some filter to Cera'thine Fleetrunner that excludes Tess Greymane (like costs < X or non-legendary), but there’s no room on the card text/complexity for that.
A: It’s a fun idea, but just doesn’t seem worth the sacrifice, which is often the problem with cool design ideas. :/

Rune of the Archmage

Q: Can the Rune of the Archmage cast 0-mana spells as well?
A: It can pick 0-mana spells, but stops when it hits 20 mana.

Q: Can Rune of the Archmage cast non-targetable spells like Cram Session as well?
A: Yes.

Q: Can Rune of the Archmage target my minions if my opponent doesn't have any?
A: Yes, any spell cast will still search for legal targets. If you’re the only one with a minion and rune casts brain freeze, it’ll hit your minion.

Snowball Fight!

Q: Can you choose the target after every iteration of the Snowball Fight! card's effect? (Side note: You can choose the first target, of course.)
A: No you can't, the only card that works that way is Goliath, Sneed's Masterpiece.

Q: Can Snowball Fight! hit your side as well?
A: Yes. Early in development, it *always* alternated sides. We found that a little too limiting, and opened it up to repeatedly hitting the same side.

Frostsaber Matriarch

Q: Do Satisfied Squirrels that get summoned from an Acorn (Main card: Vibrant Squirrel) also count towards the Frostsaber Matriarch's condition?
A: Well they are Beasts, and you did summon them. So, yes!

Q: Do "Druid of the..." (Druid of the Reef for example) cards that transform into beasts also count towards the Frostsaber Matriarch's condition?
A: Yes.

Snowed In

Q: Can the Snowed In be played even without a damaged target to destroy?
A: No.

Brasswing

Q: Does Brasswing's Honorable Kill also work if I attack and meet the condition?
A: Yes.

Mass Polymorph

Q: Does the Sheep from the Mass Polymorph count as another type of Sheep for the resurrect pool? (Different than the normal Polymorph Sheep)
A: It should be the same token as the Polymorph Sheep.

Revive Pet

Q: Does Revive Pet also add a copy of the Discovered minion to our hand?
A: No, that would be written as "Summon a copy of it."

Irondeep Trogg

Q: If I cast a spell that kills Irondeep Trogg in one hit, will he summon a copy of himself or not?
A: No, he won't summon a copy. If you hit this with a 2 damage spell, it's dead, the "After" never triggers.

Full-Blown Evil

Q: If Full-Blown Evil gets discounted, will the generated copy also keep the discount?
A: It should follow the same rules as Witch's Brew.

Desecrated Graveyard

Q: Desecrated Graveyard has to destroy a minion in order to summon the 4/4 Desecrated Shade, right?
A: Yes, "to" means the condition HAS to be met for the outcome to happen (if there is no minion to destroy, no 4/4 Desecrated Shade is summoned).

Contraband Stash

Q: Can Contraband Stash replay the same 5 cards if only 1 card from another class has been played before casting this?
A: If only 1 card from another class has been played, it will only replay that card 1 time

Glaciate

Q: For how long does Glaciate keep the minion frozen? It probably can't attack the next turn but the turn after, right?
A: It's a normal freeze that works like all other freezes.

To the Front!

Q: After To the Front! has been played, can minions like Tent Trasher, Bloodboil Brute, or Frostwolf Warmaster cost 0 mana or not?
A: Yes, those cards can all be reduced to 0!

Gankster

Q: When Gankster has Immune from Ramming Mount, will it also be Immune when it attacks a minion played by the opponent?
A: Yes, it would be. A nice synergy that you spotted!

Q: If Gankster attacks a minion played by the opponent, does it lose stealth?
A: It would lose stealth.

"Lasts 3 turns" Cards

Q: Does the turn when the "lasts 3 turns" spell was played also count?
A: Yes, the turn you play it is turn 1.

Click on the "A" letter if you want to see the source

 Some other cool things...

Scrapsmith's Art

Quote from Leo Robles

Regarding Scrapsmith's "alternate" art: The orc art is correct, the Dwarf art is not. The dwarf art was an accidental mismatch that made its way onto the site - this should get fixed after the holiday break!

Last World Champion Glory!

Quote from Gallon

Glory Chaser - The new card commemorating our last World Champion @glory__HS! Not only that, he's qualified twice in a row and will be competing in this year's upcoming Championship -- we wish you the best of luck!

Is in this post something interesting you didn't know before? Tell us in the comment section.

Fractured in Alterac Valley Card List & Expansion Guide

Learn more and see all the cards in our dedicated Card List.