Hearthstone's next expansion has just been announced and it's - GASP - Showdown in the Badlands. And it features a cowboy theme. Who could've seen this coming? The expansion also comes with two new keywords, a splitting of the classes into two groups, and the return of a fan favourite highlanding explorer (not him). Let's get into it!
Setting and Characters
The main story of the expansion focuses on The Bloodrock Mining Company and their leader, Sheriff Barrelbrim, who are mining the Badlands for riches. 5 classes are part of the company, focusing on the Excavate keyword: Death Knight, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior. More about Excavate in the next section.
Opposing him is a band of outlaws led by a returning Elise Starseeker, who is in charge of the other 6 classes: Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, and Shaman. The blog post mentions that the events of the expansion take place before those of League of Explorer, so none of the other members are present here.
Highlander cards make a return this expansion. Each of the classes under Elise will get a highlander card, with Priest getting Elise Herself.
New Mechanics and New Cards
As mentioned, there are two new keywords this expansion, and one of them is Excavate. When you play a card with Excavate, you get one of 5 Treasures of a certain rarity and add it to your hand. The next time you excavate, the rarity and cost both go up. Once you achieve maximum rarity, it starts over. The 5 Bloodrock classes will be able to Excavate up to Legendary, while everyone else will have to make do with Commons, Rares, and Epics.
All the non-Legendary treasures can be seen in the table below (Note: None of the treasures are collectible, the rarity gems just tell you how deep you Excavated):
Bonus! Legendary Treasure from the expansion trailer reveal!
The other keyword is Quickdraw. This one is pretty simple: Get a bonus effect if they're played the turn they enter your hand.
We also have a few cards that are not part of any of the above categories:
Lastly, there's is Thunderbringer, which is the free Legendary for the expansion and is available now.
What do you think of this expansion? Are you excited to get your boots dirty in the Outlands? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Mining, Kobolds... I will wait patiently for Togwaggle's shiny return.
Isn't it Reno on key art? He can also be seen facing Elise on the thumbnail of the cinematic at the end of the video, so my guess is he will be part of the Bloodrock Company (well, of course he will, he's a Mage minion after all). It's interesting to see Elise and Reno on the opposite sides for a change. But does it mean we will get a Reno minion without signature highlander effect?
Also for those who didin't watch the announcement video: Cinematic will debut on Blizzcon.
I based my "The other explorers aren't present here" off the blog post while not really paying attention the the promotional art. Though, like Zelgadis mentioned, he could be an enemy, so he's not "joining" her. I'm guessing he'll be a Rogue card this time around, curious if he'll also be highlander.
Elise switched class from Druid to Priest this expansion, so there is no guarantee that Reno will be a Mage card again. But I do expect Reno to take the side of the miners: "We're gonna be rich!"
They state that the other Explorers won't be joining Elise, but if Reno is on the opposite side, he wouldn't be joining her.
Elise is a "Priest-Druid", and Reno is a "Rogue-Mage" (Tombs of Terror). He could be a rogue legendary this time...
I must say, I was not expecting this announcement today. Really cool theme though and I dig the new keywords.
Hehehe, that Quickdraw keyword looks pretty familiar.
My time has come!
Damn, almost same name too.