Yesterday, Blizzard announced the first details of the upcoming expansion and showed us a handful of cards.
After the early leak out of China, Blizzard has finally officially announced the next Hearthstone expansion. Knights of the Frozen Throne will be released in August. Blizzard showed us a few cards, as you can see below, but full previews will begin July 24. 135 brand new cards will be added to the existing pool, including a never before seen card type which allows you to shuffle Hero cards into your deck. A player’s hero power will change whenever they play one of these hero cards, which are only available to Deathknights.
Yes, Deathknights are coming. Each of the original classes will have a Deathknight version of itself available. How these work exactly remains to be seen, but Blizzard previewed Deathstalker Rexxar during the steam. Check him out below. He comes with a mysterious new hero power named "Build-a-beast", which reads "Create a custom Zombeast."
A new keyword is being added to the game too. Sort of. The Lifesteal ability has existed on a few cards for quite some time now, on the likes of Wickerflame Burbristle and Mistress of Pain. But in Knights of the Frozen Throne, it finally gets a keyword and it is being added to spells as well as minions. A new Priest card, Spirit Lash, showed us what this will look like on a spell.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a preview event without a new legendary. Prince Keleseth, from the Utgarde Keep instance in World of Warcraft, fits the bill. A 2/2 for two mana, he gives every minion in your deck +1/+1 if you have no other two-drops in it. It’s good to see some more low-cost legendary minions being added to the game but for most decks, skipping two-drops altogether is a hefty drawback. The ability is certainly powerful, though it wasn’t enough for The Mistcaller to see any real play during The Grand Tournament.
Finally, Blizzard announced details of the adventure portion of the expansion, which takes place in Icecrown Citadel:
- There are three wings followed by the final fight, The Lich King!
- You will earn 1 card pack for completing each wing.
- Completing the prologue of the expansion's adventure content rewards you with a Legendary Hero Card.
Check out the cinematic and the full announcement video below. Full details, direct from Blizzard, can be found on the Battlenet forum.
KotFT Cinematic
KotFT Announcement
