With 5 new spiders and a fresh Druid spell, Hearthstone players have a lot to contend with when they venture into game modes with constructed decks.

Right now, there is a lot of discussion about how the metagame in Hearthstone will change next week or the week after, or what it might look like when Naxx is fully introduced. But all of this is just speculation. Currently, there are 6 new cards in Hearthstone that already play a significant role in constructed decks, and you will surely encounter them in your gameplay, as it only takes 30 minutes to obtain the cards. What do they look like, what can they do, and how do you counter them?

The six new Hearthstone cards, fresh from the Arachnid Quarter

Haunted Crawmer (1/2 for 2 mana, summons two 1/1 spiders upon death and counts as a beast, available as a reward for defeating Anub’Rekhan) – Alone, it’s nothing special, but it benefits mainly from synergy effects with the gravekeeper, beast buffs in Hunter decks, or combinations with other minions like the “Carrion Hawk.” Provides relatively good value for 2 mana but is particularly vulnerable to AoE damage.

Nerub’ar Weblord (1/4 for 2 mana, increases the cost of Battlecry minions by 2 mana, available after defeating Lady Feralina) – A defensive card that can slow down the opponent’s tempo, especially against well-formed decks relying heavily on Battlecry minions (and there are quite a few). It could prove to be much stronger than it looks at first glance, especially as Deathrattle minions are newly entering the Hearthstone metagame.

Nerubian Egg (0/2 for 2 mana, summons a 4/4 minion upon deathrattle, obtainable by defeating Maexxna) – This is an inexpensive trick card that usually requires another card from the remaining deck to become active. It’s often not about breaking the egg itself, but rather letting the opponent do the work. Therefore, you need to give the egg taunt or find a way to assign an attack point to it so you can break the egg on a Kamikaze attack against an opponent’s minion (exactly – a Nerubian omelette à la Hearthstone). A 4/4 minion for 2 mana offers really good value.

Maexxna (2/8 for 6 mana, beast, kills minions it damages, available for completing the Arachnid Quarter, thus also for defeating Maexxna) – the first legendary card and sure to be the most played legendary in beginner decks in Hearthstone soon. Quite slow tempo, situationally usable, and will probably need extensive protection from overzealous attention from the opponent. With buff spells and a taunt, Maexxna can play an unpleasant role, but no frequently played deck has really been waiting for her. Would have been significantly more attractive at 5 mana.

Poison Seeds (Druid class card, 4 mana, transforms all minions on the field into 2/2 Treants, available for the class challenge to take down Faerlina with a pre-made deck). A very situational card around which one would probably need to build a deck. It has quite good synergy effects with Swipe and could ruin the opponent’s day with certain board combinations (basically a kind of mass-sheep). But it could also become one of those cards that sit in hand for the whole game and are never seen again after three matches. Some clever Druid player is surely working on the hammer deck idea for the Poison Seeds. Definitely a card to keep in mind when facing Druids from now on.

Anub’ar Ambusher (Rogue class card, 5/5 for 4 mana, deathrattle returns a randomly chosen friendly minion from the battlefield to hand, available as a reward for defeating Maexxna with a rogue pre-made) – 5/5 for 4 mana is quite a lot of value and a solid chunk in the mid-game. The deathrattle effect is positively received for Miracle Rogue decks that rely on Battlecry and combos. However, it can also be used against the Rogue by the opponent. It’s probably the card among those presented here that is most likely to land on a Top 5 Hearthstone Plays of the Week list. However, it may also appear as the card that ruins the Rogue’s game. However, because it is quite difficult to remove, it should see plenty of play.

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Finally, after what feels like an eternity, a fresh wind is blowing through the card landscape of the Free-2-Play card game “HearthStone”, as the development team has kept its promise and released the expansion in July – at least the first part. But does Blizzard sacrifice the August season with this?

The first expansion “Curse of Naxxramas” will be unlocked in succession with its five wings, one section per week, with the first being free if you log into the game during the release period. Wings 2-5 can then be purchased for 700 gold coins each, or for 18 euros in a complete package. One may say what they want about the price, I consider it reasonable, especially since the expansion has been known for a long time and every player has been able to accumulate gold for a long time. And even if not: 700 gold is exactly what one can earn in a week without quests.

The new cards

Even though not all cards are available yet, the general theme revolves around “Deathrattle”, meaning effects that trigger when a card is destroyed. The developers have managed to create a good mix of “positive” and “negative” effects – as some cards shift the tide of battle in my favor upon their death, while others trigger a negative effect, which is why they should be protected at all costs. Truly outstanding synergies can probably only be created when all cards are available, but already one or another new card has found its way into my decks, especially I do not want to miss “Nerubian Egg” anymore.

A questionable design idea

On the one hand, I can completely understand that one wants to release content over several weeks and wants to slowly acclimate players to the new cards. On the other hand, it is absolutely unclear to me how one could either overlook what impact this has on the metagame or simply accept it. Rogues and Druids have already been able to look forward to new, class-specific cards this week, while all others will first have to look on and make do with the few neutral cards. And this will be the case every week until the expansion is fully accessible, meaning: The entire August season will continuously disadvantage some classes until all cards are released. Unfortunately, the necessity eludes me and gives the entire expansion – at least at the beginning – a rather bland aftertaste.

Difficulty level – None

Honestly: The difficulty level of the first three challenges was a bad joke; even with entirely new accounts that only have the basic cards, the bosses posed no problem. Even the two class challenges for Rogue and Druid, where you are given pre-made decks, require little understanding of the game to tackle, or to quote a good friend: “It’s almost more exhausting to lose these games than to win them.” Only the heroic mode was challenging, as there you actually had to adjust some of the tried and true decks to avoid the nasty hero powers. The whole spectacle of the first quarter was over in just under 90 minutes and, unfortunately, leaves one not very satisfied.

But I also do not want to rush to judgment and condemn the entire expansion – I just hope that the first wing was made a bit easier to engage newcomers and perhaps attract new customers to the game. Because despite everything, the fights are really fun, the comments from the bosses are amusing, and their hero powers are interesting – unfortunately, though, not very challenging. So it is still a bit too early for an overall assessment of the expansion, but I am currently skeptical. Very skeptical. It remains to be hoped that the first wing is just a kind of tutorial – next week we will know more. For the August season, things look grim due to the staggered accessibility of the cards.

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Three new card backs have been announced for Blizzard’s free online card game Hearthstone. In addition to the heroic reward for Naxxramas, there is also the new “Icecrown” back for successfully completing the August season, and another, yet mysterious card back.

Last night, the Naxxramas patch was deployed to the US servers (don’t worry, it’s not active yet.) And as is typical for a Blizzard product, the colleagues from hearthpwn immediately started data mining it like crazy – after all, hearthpwn is a sister site of mmo-champion, and they have been doing this successfully with every World of Warcraft patch for years.

The data mining not only confirmed our “Are these the abilities of the Naxx” bosses article, but also revealed three new card backs.

• This will be awarded for successfully completing all 15 bosses in Naxxramas on heroic mode. So it will be quite challenging.
• This is the reward for successfully participating in the August season, the fifth one. You need to reach rank 20.
• The last card back is still somewhat mysterious.

Hearthpwn assumes that it is tied to TeSPA, an eSports organization at US colleges. TeSPA aims to establish as many branches as possible in universities and rewards the so-called “Chapters” depending on the number of members with various gifts. Chapters with 80 members receive a “Hearthstone in-game reward” that will be revealed in Fall 2014. Therefore, Hearthpwn believes that this card back is linked to membership in a suitably large TeSPA chapter, which will be unattainable for most of us.

The Naxxramas patch brings a flood of information after the data mining. While fans have eagerly pounced on every crumb of info about Naxxramas in the last month, Blizzard is now pouring out the bounty.

By now, all 31 cards that will be in Naxxramas are known. Worldwide, players will probably be able to get their first taste of the Hearthstone expansion on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday (our time). Between 1:00 and 8:00 AM, the Arachnid wing should open. The other 4 wings will then open at intervals of one week.

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Finally, all 31 Hearthstone cards for tomorrow’s expansion have been revealed. There are 31 because the two minions Feugen and Stalagg summon the 31st card, Thaddius. And that is – like in World of Warcraft – quite a monster.

Blizzard unveiled the last 10 cards last night. Now all 31 cards for the expansion are known. While information was sparse in the months before, they are now releasing it like candy during a Rosenmontag parade.

Among the highlights of the last cards is certainly Thaddius, an 11/11 monster that appears when the two 5-mana creatures Feugen and Stalagg have croaked. Overall, Naxxramas, as announced, is themed around death rattles. Here, Blizzard is showing creativity. There are cards with positive and negative effects upon dying. The new card Zombie-Chow has great stats for a 1-mana creature (2/3), but heals the opposing hero for 5 health points with its death rattle.

The Unstable Ghoul, on the other hand (1/3 with Taunt for 2 mana), is a ticking time bomb and deals 1 damage to all minions when it dies.

Kel’Thuzad’s card is now known as well. This legendary minion will likely be a reward for completing the Frostwyrm Lair. For 8 mana, you bring a 6/8 minion onto the board who summons every friendly minion that died this turn.

If you are now impatient for Naxxramas (or were already before reading this article), rest assured: You won’t have to wait much longer. Already on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the gates of the first wing of Naxxramas should open for German players.

Sometime between 01:00 and 08:00 in the morning, it should be ready, as Blizzard wants everyone worldwide to indulge in playing Hearthstone at the same time.

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Before the release of “Curse of Naxxramas”, the first expansion for Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone, 5 more cards have been revealed, including the anticipated reward for completing the Arachnid Quarter, Maexxna.

The 5 cards that Blizzard has now published on Facebook are:

• 

  Maexxna, a legendary beast creature, with 2/8 for 6 mana cost, that destroys any minion it damages. Some refer to it as a 2/8 king cobra, and it is likely that Maexxna will be a reward for successfully completing the Arachnid Quarter. By the way, the card matches the leak from a few weeks ago, which suggests that the other cards will also be correct. Unlike the leaked card, the “live” Maexxna, however, costs one mana crystal more.
• Stalagg, a 7/4 minion for 5 mana cost, that summons Thaddius with its deathrattle if Feugen’s deathrattle has also been triggered. This legendary card also matches the leak. It will likely be available along with Feugen as a reward for successfully completing the Construct Quarter. If Feugen and Stalagg are so strong, one can be curious about what Thaddius can do.
• Stoneskin Gargoyle, a 1/4 minion for 3 mana cost, that completely heals itself at the start of the player’s turn. Blizzard has already confirmed that this card will kill itself if the Auchenai Soulpriest is active, which converts every healing spell into damage.
• Mad Scientist, a 2/2 minion for 2 mana cost, that plays a secret from the player’s deck as a deathrattle.
• Sludge Belcher, a 3/5 minion for 5 mana cost, with taunt. Upon deathrattle, it leaves behind a slime buddy with 1/2 that can also taunt.

Mein MMO says: Just before the release of Naxxramas, Blizzard is revealing some cards for Hearthstone that will shake up the meta game alongside the other 25 cards. Right now, everyone is talking about the synergy effects of the Undertaker, which gets stronger by 1/1 for each summoned minion that has a deathrattle. Here, with the low-cost Mad Scientist and the double tank, there are already some candidates. Stalagg and Feugen could further strengthen the Undertaker.

Surprisingly, so far (almost) all data from the “leak” have matched, so it might be that Blizzard will not surprise the players this time.

Only Maexxna is one mana point more expensive in the official version than in the leaked version. We have already summarized the data that were in the “leak” here: What can the bosses in Naxx do.

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