Hearthstone’s upcoming expansion, The Witchwood, is set to arrive next week, introducing several new mechanics to Blizzard’s card game. In an interview with PCGamesN, Hearthstone game designer Stephen Chang said that one of those could return in future expansions.
Here are all the Hearthstone The Witchwood cards that have been revealed so far.
One of the three new mechanics being introduced with The Witchwood is ‘Start of Game’. Currently, it affects two legendary cards – Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane – and grants players a boon at the start of the game if they fulfill certain deckbuilding requirements. When we asked whether the mechanic would return in upcoming Year of the Raven expansions, Chang told us “we’ll have to wait and see.”
“It’s definitely a space that can be very jarring for players, so it’s something we want to be ultra-careful of,” in order to avoid overwhelming players at the beginning of a match. Chang says that the mechanic remained in place on these two cards because Blizzard are keen to see how players respond to the challenge of more restrictive deck-building.
If you want to know more about Hearthstone’s Witchwood expansion, you can read the full interview here, covering the reasoning behind Start of Game’s development, the impact of the new Rush and Echo mechanics, and the transforming Worgen cards. You can also check out our three exclusive Hearthstone The Witchwood card reveals – we’ve got Mossy Horror, Splitting Festeroot, and Festeroot Hulk to show you.