It's that time of the year again. A new expansion is coming!

What's New

• 135 new cards are being added to the game.
• Dungeon Runs being added. They are a new single player content being added to Hearthstone.
• Recruit is a new keyword added to the game which summons minions from your deck and puts them into play.
• Every class is getting a Legendary Weapon in the new set, with every player getting one for free.
• Marin the Fox (new card) is being given out to all players for free starting on Monday.
• There will be a patch next week enabling pre-orders in-client.
• Card reveals start up again starting November 20th.
• The expansion releases December 2017.

Dungeon Run Demo by Disguised Toast

• Dungeon Runs are basically gauntlets where you have to pilot a deck through 8 bosses
• Lose a game and you will have to start ove
• they are 48 different bosses and unique cards just for this mode
• This feature is free and will have rewards

New Cards!

Rin is sooo bad but it’s going to be the first legendary I craft. Honestly Warlock is the most unique and fun class in HS. I wish Blizz could make all the other classes just a bit more oddball like the Warlock.

I have a feeling that the Warlock weapon will have a Emp. Thurrisan effect to reduce cards in your deck by 1, otherwise getting Rin to Work will be way to difficult.

@zombie2011: Yeah, Rin doesn't look great. I'm also a huge Warlock fan but I dunno that it's up my alley even with that in mind. I won't disenchant it if I get it, I guess!

I'm actually pretty excited about this expansion though, that single player thing looks neat and I think this year's expansions have been pretty good, especially since I really didn't like the last two of last year

That being said, they opened with a few kinda boring cards I think. Dragon Soul looks neat, can probably fit into the same kinds of decks that Lyra does, and despite how bad Crushing Walls probably is I'm all for more Hunter removal for my N'Zoth Hunter that somehow gets worse every expansion :L

Honestly All I want outta this is a reason to play HS single player that I currently get from Eternal.

The fact that its not gonna cost me anything, is gonna give me prizes if I win (though I assume it'll be capped per day) is welcome, welcome news.

As it is I've already spent way too much money on this game, being able to get something I've wanted from HS since its creation, for free, is a pretty big "OH hey, I have a reason to play every day" Which...is likely to get me to spend even more money on it. So, smart of them there.

I've been kinda down on Hearthstone this year. I thought League of Explorers was one of the best sets of cards they've ever made, it rotated out of Standard earlier in the year, and I haven't really enjoyed the Un'Goro or Knights of the Frozen Throne metas that we've had since.

At first glance, zero attack weapons is a really inelegant way to introduce MtG enchantment-style effects, but I guess they've done it before with Sword of Justice and Medivh's Atiesh. Still, feels like a really awkward implementation when they should've just made a new type of card/object like the portal you get for completing the Warlock quest, or the dead form of Sherazin. Also just feels weird that if any of the zero attack weapons turn out to be really good, everybody is going to be running Oozes left and right, which is overly harsh on the classes that naturally rely on weapons.

@bisonhero: Yeah, the existence of the Oozes really hampers the potential coolness of these weapons. I wouldn't be too surprised to see an Ooze nerf, maybe all changed to "remove 1 durability" instead of destroying them outright. But maybe then, weapons are too powerful? Hey, I'm no game designer.

@spunkyhepanda: Yeah, I'd rather it be an entirely different card type (Aura, Enchantment, any number of magical bullshit words), so that a deck can choose to tech in anti-weapon cards like Ooze, or anti-enchantment cards like whatever-the-fuck-new-card-that-specifically-destroys-enchantments, but not both all in one card. It's dumb that Oozes just become that much better because they jerryrigged a way to make weapons into a stand-in for non-minion ongoing effects.

@bisonhero: I would disagree with that. Without going into my rant about the game.

The game has no side-boards, no best of 3, and etc. Making me dilute my deck even more seems bad.

Really, they would have been smart to have not called them weapons from the start (call them relics, artifacts, Treasures, pick a evocative label) so they could expand into this design space without the "Wait..that's a weapon? I thought only X Y and Z classes got weapons..etc.

The idea of adding even more types of cards you need a specific counter-card to deal with is a terrible idea IMO, at least for the kind of game HS is trying to be. Heck, even MtG (the granddaddy of card games so a decent thing to compare others too) has a general 'catch all answer" for multi types of permanents.

(Edit) I will say I would be totally fine with the value of "Destory an Opponents weapon" being judged to have a higher mana, or for the mechanic to be changed. Change a 2 cost ooze to a 4 (or whatever number seems best) or perhaps re-arrange the oozes that exist too reduce durability based on card-cost. Mind you, I don't think Blizzard has a good enough design team for such things to even have crossed their minds but yah. I'm not against making it harder to kill weapons.

For what its worth, I think the same thing about cards which enable one turn kills/combo in general. The game already has a number of Questions my opponent can pose me that I as the opponent don't have an answer too (Re: I can't counter spells I choose too or target discard or etc). The idea of adding an entire new card-type with their own set of counter cards..ick.

(Edit) I will say I would be totally fine with the value of "Destory an Opponents weapon" being judged to have a higher mana, or for the mechanic to be changed. Change a 2 cost ooze to a 4 (or whatever number seems best) or perhaps re-arrange the oozes that exist too reduce durability based on card-cost. Mind you, I don't think Blizzard has a good enough design team for such things to even have crossed their minds but yah. I'm not against making it so players don't get punished for using weapons. I'd just go about it differently.

To clarify on the rewards section of the Dungeon Runs, you get a cardback for winning the dungeon runs with each of the 9 classes.

You can see the card back in this link

Harrison Jones meta incoming? Eh well, I can dream. Probably still too slow.

I honestly don't see oozes being that much of a problem for the Legendary weapons. I mean, slower Mage/Priest decks have already ran Medivh for a while now and it's not like oozes make Medivh unplayable

even if you only get one or two uses off Dragon Soul (which is entirely possible the turn you play it) it's fine. Besides, nobody's going to want to run multiple weapon removal cards even if Legendary weapons are good, so you could run Dragon Soul and Medivh in the same deck and use one to bait out removal before you play the other

Plus, having a counter to one good card in your deck isn't that big a deal, it's not like you're building your deck around these cards specifically. If they included weapon removal, maybe they have a harder time dealing with your other 29 cards

You play marin the fox -> Opponent plays bonemare. That's one scary mimic! That loot better be damn good.

@noobsmog: The loot looks pretty damn good. One of them is a golden monkey which replaces your hand with legendary minions.

http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/206126-new-legendary-card-reveal-marin-the-fox

Well color my hope and enthusiasm for this expansion well and truly shot through. Like I am still gonna spend some time playing through those dungeon runs, absolutely..but not for the prizes.

Would it have really killed them to give players a permanent 30-100 gold reward for winning your first full dungeon run each day? That would give this game a dedicated single-player grinding alternative to PvP, which is by far HS's weakest component (which is saying a lot I realize). Not even asking for a full 100 gold (though i'd take it) give us 50, give us 30. Give us SOMETHING.

Card backs are fine...but I have one I like, I'm not gonna find one that fits me better..and I never bloody see the things anyway except when I am opening packs of cards (a process that really needs a 'open all' button). -sigh-.

Just when I was ready to be wrong and pleasently suprised at Blizzard knowing wtf they are doing when it comes to HearthStone, I am soundly reminded their dev team are all..bad.

@acura_max: Hmmm ok that actually looks pretty solid. You could make up the tempo real fast with the treasure you get. I could see that being used in maybe handlock or mage, something with good board clears.

@noobsmog: I can assure you, Marin is bad. Firstly, it's a low impact 8 mana card, which is bad. Secondly, you don't know what it'll do, which is bad. And thirdly, you might think "but they're all good options", but they're not. The "draw 3" treasure will in most cases be somewhat useful, but Elise Starseeker was a card that was only run in a small assortment of decks because it sorta fit those decks and allowed you to win certain match-up, the Legend discover treasure is a total crap-shoot and the "fill your hand" treasure is only useful in very specific situations (which usually involves decks that would never run a low impact 8).

But it's always gonna come back to the second point. It's an 8 mana card that you have no idea if it will be useful for you or not.

Imagine paying 8 mana on Turn 8 for Marin. Then hopefully you have a way to kill off the treasure chest on 9. Then you hope you get something good out of it, which you probably won't. All this time your opponent is just killing you.

It's terrible. It's hard to imagine a situation in which you could safely play a 6/6 on Turn 8 that does nothing and expect to win the game unless you were already so far ahead that it doesn't matter anyway.

@bladededge: They explained that they didn't want to pressure people to play Dungeon Runs. But at the same time, it does seem counter-intuitive to make 48 bosses and not encourage people to play it in a big way.

I'm mostly glad that this didn't turn out to be a pirate themed expansion like many thought/feared. Patches didn't need to be even more in charge of Standard.

I primarily play warlock, so seeing Rin already kills a chunk of my excitement for the set. The light D&D theme and the possibility of Recruit being busted kill the rest. I'll likely be employed again by the time this comes out; good or bad the set probably won't matter to me much by then.

@acura_max: That is..a PR answer. They don't want to pressure people into playing their new single player content? Really? Why then are they fine pressuring me into spending $$$ on cards? Or grinding through PvP, or paying to play Arena..or..

-sigh-. I am sure my purely negative view of the development team colors my opinion greatly. But man. This is so close! Its so close to being a sustainable, and easily updateable/expandable single-player alternative to the PvP side of things.

Which I get a lot of people would go "wait, if your not a fan of the PvP in HS why do you even play?" To which my first response is "i don't, much" my second is "I do everything else they let me, and get enjoyment out of it". The unique Adventures that, say, fill your hand with random cards I enjoy going back too. Any that are just challenging but not gimmicky enough to let me say, play Renounce Warlock and just restart until I can play it on 2 (or 1 with the coin), that kinda thing. And, of course, there is Tavern Brawl, which is often terrible but when they get it right, they absolutely hit it out of the park. (Love me some chicken fights).

To me, it feels like a slap in the face to single-player focused people. Not to jump on the "Single player is dead!" pan-wagon, nothing like that. But for something that is suppose to be endlessly repeatable and unique every time you go in. Its got the deck building of Arena, a very big selection of random AI, and neat single-player only features...

..And they want you to play it one time with each class to get a card back (a thing I would dust every last one I have if I could minus the one I use) and nothing else? Not even a 'once a week you get a pack of cards' ala Tavern Brawl. Not even a "pay 50 gold to maybe get 100 if you complete the run" mostly gold-sink but maybe winnable content. Nothing that lets players grind gold in a way that doesn't require I play in an almost immediately stale meta with but a handful of decks.

Heck, its not like I am even a F2P complaining about having to spend money. I've dropped hundreds of dollars on this game. I'm sitting on empty atm only because I went and turned my 12k dust into the top-tier deck right now in standard. (Can't beat Priest, be Priest). But what I want from HS is something I can pick up and play at my leisure, without feeling preasured. Something I can take my time with, walk away from and come back too, etc, with plenty and plenty of re playability mixed with rewards for correct choices.

Which is what Dungeon Run's look like they are exactly! Except for the 'we give you something for it." Like I said..I'm still gonna get use out of the feature. Thank god it doesn't look like they are gonna only let you run it 1 time per class or something equally stupid. I just wish I didn't feel like what could have been a great new Single Player alternative to the HS grind got nixed cause "lol play other people you social outcast' and "psh screw free players".

@bladededge: Have they actually said there are no other rewards than the card back? All I've heard them say is that there is a card back you get for completing it once per class, no actual deconfirmation of other rewards

@cesakich: They did confirm it in a live Q&A with Ben Brode, Mike Donais, Peter Whalen ,and Yong Woo.

Here is Q&A recap from Hearthpwn:

• They don't want to force people to play Dungeon Runs so there aren't any rewards.

• The only reward for Dungeon Runs is the card back for defeating the run with all 9 classes.

Ah, that does suck

I don't get it though, Arena has rewards but I never feel forced to play it either?

Either way, this is still a pretty exciting expansion for me so far but they seem committed to making Dungeon Run a "you'll play it for a week and then never play it again" mode if that's the case

Card backs, too, are the worst reward in this game. I barely notice them when I'm playing, they could have at least threw in a hero

If you guys log into your hearthstone accounts, you will be able to get Marin the Fox for free. And you will be able to play him in decks. That being said, he can't be disenchanted yet. This is probably the only time that Marin the Fox will shine, so might as well take advantage of it.

Is there any reason to think Marin will ever be dustable or craftable?

@mike: So far, all the cards can be disenchanted with the exception of basic cards. I would not be surprised if they allowed Marin to disenchanted. Though that could be as soon as the expansion hits or years from now.

@acura_max: C'Thun and Gelbin Mekkatorque can't be dusted though.

@mike: Yeah, but Marin is more akin to when Un'Goro gave everybody a freebie golden Volcanosaur to get a taste of the expansion, in the sense that if a player 6 months from now misses the launch event, they could potentially open Volcanosaur or Marin from buying packs.

@bisonhero: Do we know Marin will be openable from packs? It could very well be a C'Thun situation

Golden Volcanosaur was immediately dustable upon receipt. Marin isn't.

New cards! New cards! New cards!!

@acura_max: Rogue secrets? Rogue secrets!? Rogue secrets!!!

I dig it. Duskbreaker also looks goooooood. I love dragons.

Hah, Runespear. More like Memespear. Poor Shaman.

Wow the druid card is interesting. It does not say gain an empty mana crystal so it most likely works like nourish where you get to use the mana crystals as soon as you get them. Kind of makes you wonder what cards would work with it. The first thought was thought was that this card could be used for ramp but it would probably be used for something more gross. For example, you can probably pull of some disgusting 20 mana OTK combo (malygos rises!) or something equally disgusting like medivh, kun the forgotten king into ultimate infestation (an unlikely combo though).

@acura_max: If every class gets a legendary weapon this expansion and many of them are good though, weapon destruction tech cards will be incredibly common, and that card would really suck if destroyed on the enemy's turn during late game.

I see arcane giant combos!

Duskbreaker is such an insane anti-aggro card, holy shit. Hope they bring more good dragons.

Zola the Gorgon is hilarious, the extra golden value. I'll craft it.

HMMMM, if that twig just gives you 10 mana, you can equip that, into medivh and then ultimate infestion.

@acura_max: Zola is an interesting Shadowcaster alternative, valuing minions that you want a normal copy of in your hand instead of a cheap copy that's only good for the Battlecry or Deathrattle.

Definite Arcane Giant potential, but Zola is cheap enough (unlike Shadowcaster) that it probably has multiple uses. Honestly, combos with Kazakus kinda well, though Young Brewmaster is a similar enough effect that is much less Dust.

Will this be the next mistcaller or mysterious challenger? Or will it be the next faceless summoner?

Bonus Effects

So jousting is sorta back? I miss King's Elekk into Yogg-Saron and Lock n' Load. What a terrible, fun deck that was.

Silver Vanguard is sloooooow, but there are a lot of good 8 drops without battlecries. Tirion, Rag Lightlord, reg Rag in wild, Lich King, so if it goes off it's actually pretty good

I struggle to see the use of that Hunter deathrattle guy, are there really any battlecries you desperately want to double up on, on a guy with those stats and cost? I guess it's for the "few beasts" hunter they keep trying to push with Abominable Bowman, Kathrena, and whatnot. Speaking of which, Kathrena looks really good. I've seen people say you wouldn't run her in normal Midrange Hunter cause you don't want to pull an Alleycat or whatever, but I honestly think she's fine as top end in that deck. You mulligan for 1- and 2- drops anyways, making the odds of getting them lower, and you have two chances between the battlecry and the deathrattle. Obviously she's better with only big beasts, but I think she can work in midrange.

Lone Champion just looks kind of straight up good, I'm not crazy right? I know 3 is kind of the magic number for attack values but I feel like there's a lot of decks it'd be the only minion on your side of the field in, so it's a 3 mana 2/4 Taunt/Divine Shield almost every time

@cesakich: Yeah, Lone Champion seems very good in any deck that isn't absolutely flooding the board with minions on turn 1 and 2.

Shaman just got a legendary. It looks like a legendary destined for rogue, but ultimately had to be changed because vilespine slayer exists.

Priest legendary: activate the mage secret for them and (most likely lose the entire game there)

Only thing I can see Temporus being useful in is fatigue, make them take two turns and take two hits

And I dunno, Shamans have Spirit Echoes too, and that card saw play in Elemental decks. That card just seems okay for getting some extra value out of your battlecry Elementals. Well, maybe not okay but I at least see what they were going for