Blizzard has introduced a lot of new Hearthstone cards. Among them is even the first weapon for all classes and even more annoying powers for Demon Hunters.
Currently, the Reveal Season is taking place around Hearthstone again. Here, the 135 new cards from Scholomance Academy are being revealed piece by piece. Some of them we have already introduced in the past, but now there are again some new highlights – including a way to sort the entire deck.
The Keeper of Knowledge Polkelt is quite an interesting legendary card. For 4 mana, it has stats of 4/5, but the exciting part is the Battlecry. Once played, the player’s deck is sorted according to the mana costs of the cards. Cards with the highest costs come first, and it descends from there. Especially in the late game, this should be interesting to reliably play strong, costly cards. But the combo potential is also great – after all, a sorted deck can lead to a lot of nonsense.
Ras Frostwhisper is a new Legendary for Mages and Shamans. The 5 mana minion has stats of 3/6 and a nice effect that can deal significant damage. At the end of its turn, it deals 1 damage to all enemies – increased by spell damage. This makes Ras a cool AoE option that might even make spell damage useful again in decks.
For Warlocks, demons are back in focus, along with the legendary minion High Witch Walpurga. For 9 mana, it has only 7/7 stats, but brings a lot to the board. Because with its Battlecry, it summons two additional demons – one from your hand and another from the deck. Depending on the remaining cards, this can be quite overwhelming for the opponent.
Rogues and Warriors are pleased with the legendary minion Doctor Krastinov. For 5 mana, it has only 4/4 stats, but has Rush. At the same time, each attack from Krastinov ensures that the currently equipped weapon gets +1/+1 and thus becomes stronger. If Krastinov is not defeated quickly, the Rogue or Warrior can quickly end the match in their favor.
Rarely, but no less annoying, is another minion of the Demon Hunter. The Magic Hunter for 3 mana has only 2/3 stats, but has Rush and the dark property that targets of its attack are silenced – and that already before the attack is executed. Strengthened minions are thus quickly reduced to manageable sizes.
Druids and Shamans get a new minion for 5 mana, the School Guardian. It has only 4/5 stats, but also Taunt and an interesting Battlecry: Restores 5 health if you have a spell in your hand that costs at least 5 mana.
The neutral legendary minion Vectus puts the Deathrattle mechanic back in focus and ensures that such cards will likely be more prevalent again. For 5 mana, Vectus has stats of 4/4, but also summons 2 whelps with 1/1. Each of the whelps copies a Deathrattle effect of a minion of the player that has already died in this match.
Model Student Stelina will probably be another card that will make players curse Demon Hunters. For 4 mana, this legendary card has stats of 4/3 and a nasty Outcast effect: Look at 3 of your opponent’s hand cards. Choose one and shuffle it back into your opponent’s deck. Together with the nasty card Gliding, this is likely to ramp up the frustration of opponents to a maximum.
Lastly, there’s even a brand new card type – the Sphere of Insight. This is the first neutral weapon in Hearthstone that can be included in the deck by all character classes. The sphere itself costs 1 mana and has stats of 0/4, meaning it cannot be used for attack by default. Instead, at the start of each turn, you may look at the top card of your deck and decide whether to keep it there or send it all the way to the bottom. However, if you do so, the weapon loses 1 durability.
It looks like Hearthstone with Scholomance Academy is going to shake up the game quite a bit again. Whether the cards will ultimately succeed remains to be seen – but the new cards definitely have potential.
Are you already excited about the new cards? Or can you not relate to them?
