April is upon us and that means Hearthstone's latest expansion, The Witchwood, is about to go live. 135 new cards will hit the Standard rotation while the following sets will rotate out: Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Karazhan, and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.
The latest expansion from Hearthstone offers two new keywords: Echo and Rush. Cards with Echo can be played multiple times in the same turn, as long as you have enough Mana to keep doing so. Rush works like Charge in that minions can attack on the same turn they're played. However, they can only attack other minions as opposed to smacking your opponent in the face.
Hearthstone streamer and YouTube personality Octavian "Kripparrian" Morosan spoke to Gamers Decide and singled out his favorite new type of card to hit Hearthstone. "I like the deck defining odd and even Legendaries," he said. "Even though their power-level seems low, the concept is exciting to try out."
As with every expansion, Hearthstone provides streamers with individual and exclusive cards to reveal leading up to the release date. Just this week, Kripp took to YouTube to unveil Holy Water, a 5 mana Priest spell which deals 4 damage to a minion. If that minion dies as a result, players can add a copy of that card to their hand. Priest players can take advantage of a powerful battlecry or effect that their opponent controls and quick turn the tables in a match.
The Witchwood will certainly bring changes to the current meta but not ever top tier deck will rotate out. As Kripp told Gamers Decide, "The one deck that is not rotating and is somewhat concerning is Control/Cubelock. Some counters to this deck will deliver a completely new meta, so let's hope it happens!"
A popular addition to Hearthstone was the Dungeon Run, first released during Kobolds and Catacombs, where players had to defeat 8 bosses who became increasingly more challenging as the matches went on. The Witchwood introduces a new version of this concept and are calling it Monster Hunt. Players can only choose between four heroes to tackle new bosses and unlock cards and combat boosts. The heroes will be Houndmaster (Hunter), Time-Tinker (Mage), Tracker (Rogue), and Cannoneer (Warrior).
Hearthstone is currently offering a Witchwood pre-order where players can receive 50 card packs plus 20 bonus packs for $49.99. The pre-order also includes the "In A Dark Wood" card back. Blizzard has said that the new expansion will go live mid-month. Since they're known for doing their releases on Thursdays, The Witchood release date looks to be set for either April 12th or April 19th.
