Next Hearthstone Expansion Revealed As Whispers of the Old Gods

[John Keefer]

Next Hearthstone Expansion Revealed As Whispers of the Old Gods


Blizzard reveals the deep dark secrets of the next Hearthstone expansion called Whispers of the Old Gods.

Blizzard's crazy fun Hearthstone continues to expand, this time with the upcoming Whispers of the Old Gods, which will begin pre-sales on Monday, March 14.

The set will have 134 new cards, focused on C'Thun and his allies. Among some of the new cards are the legendary C'Thun itself, a Beckoner of Evil, and the Twilight Elder. N'Zoth, Yogg-Saron, and Y'Shaarj are also expected to make appearances.

The pre-purchase allows players to grab one 50-pack bundle per account - for either PC, iOS or Android - for $49.99, with the pre-sale lasting until the expansion is officially released some time in late April or early May. As a pre-purchase bonus, you get a special card back that looks like an eye of C'Thun giving you the once over (see the gallery below for the animated Gif).

Once the x-pack is officially released, players can grab more pack from the Blizzard store for real money or gold. The cards will be available in the Arena, even if you don't yet have them in your personal collection.

Blizzard will be revealing more on the expansion on the official site [http://www.oldgods.com] on March 21.

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Source: Battle.net [http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20058061/heed-the-whispers-of-the-old-gods-3-11-2016]

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[rcs619]

So far so good, Blizzard.

The whole gimmick behind C'thun is actually really interesting. Seems like it would lend itself to a slower, control-type deck, which is my preferred kind of deck. Control the board, draw lots of cards, buff of C'thun then laser the other guy to death I can already see how C'thunlock could very well be a thing.

Hopefully with 134 cards, the other three Old Gods will also have their own unique worshipers and gimmicks as well. If C'thun is control, maybe another one is aggro. Or spells. Or whatever. There's a lot of cool ways they can go with it. Not to mention the new class cards and the non-Old God related neutrals.

I really hope this expansion is good though. With Standard coming in and the cardpool shrinking, it needs to be good. They can't have another dud like TGT.

Can't wait to get some info on the nerfs/changes to Core/Classic cards as well.

 

[Hawki]

No pirates riding parrots. But not bad Blizz, not bad.

 

[Weaver]

"Them kids love that Lovecraft now-a-days, let's put that in our game"

 

[09philj]

The revealed cards aren't exactly inspiring, but there might be good stuff we've not seen. Goblins Vs Gnomes is still my favourite set.

 

[zidine100]

edit: never mind, The expansion looks pretty cool thought

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Yeah, I see the first week being hell with people making decks in a way to slow the game almost to a standstill in order to play the buffed 30/30 notCthulhu. Even if the card is bad, everyone having it means a shitload of people will try to make it work in every way possible.

So, mage with a shitload of magic face freeze burning to get that shit done until the meta stabilizes.

 

[rcs619]

Yeah, I see the first week being hell with people making decks in a way to slow the game almost to a standstill in order to play the buffed 30/30 notCthulhu. Even if the card is bad, everyone having it means a shitload of people will try to make it work in every way possible.

So, mage with a shitload of magic face freeze burning to get that shit done until the meta stabilizes.

I hope the whole meta slows down, to be honest. It's been ages since we've had a control-focused meta in Hearthstone. Aggro and Midrange has had their time in the sun. Let's give control players some love

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Yeah, I see the first week being hell with people making decks in a way to slow the game almost to a standstill in order to play the buffed 30/30 notCthulhu. Even if the card is bad, everyone having it means a shitload of people will try to make it work in every way possible.

So, mage with a shitload of magic face freeze burning to get that shit done until the meta stabilizes.

I hope the whole meta slows down, to be honest. It's been ages since we've had a control-focused meta in Hearthstone. Aggro and Midrange has had their time in the sun. Let's give control players some love

I'm a new Hearhtstone player, started like a month and a half ago, maybe 2, so I can't say much about that. Since I've started playing, the game has been fast. I don't like what my friend who played the game since the closed beta described to me. Nor I really want games to last much longer.

Seeing how most people take the whole minute and a half for literally every turn from 1 to the end, I don't want games that last half an hour. 10 slow turns from one player and that's already 15 minutes. So if I take just 30 seconds per turn, that's and additional 5 minute.

 

[Eric the Orange]

T"hem kids love that Lovecraft now-a-days, let's put that in our game"

Well it's not that new a development. This stuff was in WC3.

 

[Totenkreuz]

I really enjoy those trailers. The singing is always spot on and I would really like to see a whole expansion have some sort of concert theme where every card you played had the character singing a part of a grand tune.

Cheers.

 

[RedDeadFred]

So far so good, Blizzard.

The whole gimmick behind C'thun is actually really interesting. Seems like it would lend itself to a slower, control-type deck, which is my preferred kind of deck. Control the board, draw lots of cards, buff of C'thun then laser the other guy to death I can already see how C'thunlock could very well be a thing.

Hopefully with 134 cards, the other three Old Gods will also have their own unique worshipers and gimmicks as well. If C'thun is control, maybe another one is aggro. Or spells. Or whatever. There's a lot of cool ways they can go with it. Not to mention the new class cards and the non-Old God related neutrals.

I really hope this expansion is good though. With Standard coming in and the cardpool shrinking, it needs to be good. They can't have another dud like TGT.

Can't wait to get some info on the nerfs/changes to Core/Classic cards as well.

Despite TGT being a dud in the current meta, I could see it making a big come back since a lot of the power creep is being eliminated along with some long time broken combos/cards being reworked and/or nerfed. Don't be surprised if we finally get some inspire decks.

Yeah, I see the first week being hell with people making decks in a way to slow the game almost to a standstill in order to play the buffed 30/30 notCthulhu. Even if the card is bad, everyone having it means a shitload of people will try to make it work in every way possible.

So, mage with a shitload of magic face freeze burning to get that shit done until the meta stabilizes.

I hope the whole meta slows down, to be honest. It's been ages since we've had a control-focused meta in Hearthstone. Aggro and Midrange has had their time in the sun. Let's give control players some love

Eh, it's really not that bad of a meta IMO. Sure the top decks are all midrange, but Control Warrior, Control Priest, Murloc Paladin, Freeze Mage, and Renolock are all still viable. I'd say we have the most varied meta ever (and I've played since beta). The reign of Druid and Secret Paladin is nothing compared to the post Nax meta of Underkeeper Hunter.

However, even if you want a slower, control oriented meta, I can almost guarantee that'll never happen. Blizzard wants you to be able to play a quick game on the go from your phone, not have half the games be grueling half hour affairs (though, those are the most satisfying games IMO). Aggro and midrange are always going to be strong for that reason.

 

[rcs619]

Despite TGT being a dud in the current meta, I could see it making a big come back since a lot of the power creep is being eliminated along with some long time broken combos/cards being reworked and/or nerfed. Don't be surprised if we finally get some inspire decks.

That's fair. With the cardpool shrinking, new cards coming in and old cards getting nerfed, it's hard to tell exactly how everything will work out.

Eh, it's really not that bad of a meta IMO. Sure the top decks are all midrange, but Control Warrior, Control Priest, Murloc Paladin, Freeze Mage, and Renolock are all still viable. I'd say we have the most varied meta ever (and I've played since beta). The reign of Druid and Secret Paladin is nothing compared to the post Nax meta of Underkeeper Hunter.

However, even if you want a slower, control oriented meta, I can almost guarantee that'll never happen. Blizzard wants you to be able to play a quick game on the go from your phone, not have half the games be grueling half hour affairs (though, those are the most satisfying games IMO). Aggro and midrange are always going to be strong for that reason.

Oh it's definitely better than it has been. It's a lot better than it was under the old patron or undertaker days, but it has stagnated a good bit lately. Midrange Druid and Secret Paladin have really carved out their spot as the most consistent decks on the ladder, everything else has kind of fallen in line. It's not a bad meta, but I'm ready for a shakeup.

I've quite enjoyed Anyfinadin, Renolock and Control priest. I miss being able to run a proper handlock though. Handlock only really works in a slower meta. Aggro and high-tempo decks just roll it over. Mildly disappointed that Anyfinadin won't be viable in standard, but here's hoping paladin gets some new toys to play with. Secret paladin (and midrange) is going to take a big hit losing minibot, coghammer, muster for battle and avenge, and anyfinadin won't be viable when they remove Old Murk-Eye. So we'll need a new paladin archetype.

I imagine druid is going to be in a similar boat if they hit it with the kind of nerf-bat I'm thinking they are.

 

[laggyteabag]

C'Thun seems like a really fun card, but I can definitely see 2x Big Game Hunter being run in most decks as a result of this card; at least, should it gain popularity.

 

[rcs619]

C'Thun seems like a really fun card, but I can definitely see 2x Big Game Hunter being run in most decks as a result of this card; at least, should it gain popularity.

I wouldn't put too much stock in that. According to Blizzard, BGH is one of the top cards on their list to nerf because they feel it pushes the game in an undesirable direction and limits design space.

To be fair, it kind of does. Unless your big minion does something right when it's put down, or has a useful deathrattle, BGH is more than likely going to roll in and insta-kill it.

I think Alextraza may be getting the nerf-bat too. Apparently that's one of the cards a bunch of pro-players brought up to Blizzard when they were asked for suggestions.

 

[fluxy100]

I'm always pumped for old god stuff, but I'm worried that this means we won't get any adventures based off of the Ahn'Qiraj or Ulduar.I REALLY wanted an adventure in Ulduar.

 

[EyeReaper]

Good thing I've been saving up my dust. I'm gonna Love Crafting these new cards.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Good thing I've been saving up my dust. I'm gonna Love Crafting these new cards.

It's posts like these that make me almost wish we had up-vote buttons.

 

[elvor0]

"Them kids love that Lovecraft now-a-days, let's put that in our game"

14 years the old gods have been in Warcraft. Homage aside, they're an integral part of the Warcraft Lore and have been for quite some time.

 

[Hawki]

"Them kids love that Lovecraft now-a-days, let's put that in our game"

14 years the old gods have been in Warcraft. Homage aside, they're an integral part of the Warcraft Lore and have been for quite some time.

Eh, get used to it. There was the whole misconception that the pandaren were taken from Kung Fu Panda back in the day after all. On the 'net, I've seen a few claiming that the idea is being taken from Bloodborne (because, y'know, it's not as if both settings could take inspiration from the 'Cthulu Mythos).