With the Hearthstone championship underway, Blizzard is giving us a sneak preview of the 120+ card expansion with the unveiling with the first 33 cards. These new cards will appear in a new booster pack separate from the regular expert pack. Blizzard has confirmed that the new pack will have the same cost as the regular pack.

The expansion has been confirmed by Blizzard to come out this December.

New Cards released after Blizzcon

New class, new class, new class! We want a new class! New! Class!

As someone who thinks the biggest issue with Hearthstone is it's extremely tiny pool of cards, YES!

They really love Mad Bomber it seems. That Voltron card... what?

Too much randomness in the game already. My reaction to the addition of even more:

Here are a couple more cards that I missed before. The image had a couple cards we already seen above so blocked out the ones that we already had seen. The Ogre Warmaul is a warrior card by the way. That's not a good thing since the warrior has the Fiery War Axe (3/2) which can hit your target at 2 mana 100% of the time.

Ben Brodes also confirms that Arena won't be handing out the regular packs once the expansion hits.

I like the robot aesthetic better than the bugs and spider one. I still need to get through that first expansion however.

Ah yes, "random" as a theme in a CCG expansion. Nope, that definitely doesn't frustrate high level players.

Seriously though, "add a random minion to your hand". I already feel like I'm playing Webspinner for the lulz since there are so many bad 1-mana Beasts that I wouldn't really want to draw. So Unstable Portal's situation that is literally any minion in the game just sounds frustrating. At least Recombobulator's "transform a friendly minion into a random minion with the same cost" is exploitable on high cost minions to basically heal them for a bunch of HP and probably get a minion that is just as good (though sucks to be you if it had a Battlecry).

First impression: the Mech synergies seem fun (I always liked Elf decks in MtG), but I'm not as excited about the RNGesus cards.

@hansolol: RNGstone saw your randomness and raised you... EVEN MORE RANDOMNESS! Bahahahaha...

@bisonhero: Well I think randomness is their way to negate netdecking if I had to guess, dunno how that will work out.

Spider Tank gives no fucks about card text.

The mech cards sound pretty cool. And while I have no experience with Warcraft outside of Hearthstone, I generally like Gnomes in fantasy settings, so I'm cool with the silly theme of this expansion. Although I really just want a new class. More cards is good though. Getting tired of seeing the same cards already and Nax has only been fully out for a few months.

Also, those priest cards, wow. Priest has been one of my favorite classes even back when they sucked, so bring on the crazy good new priest cards! Here's to hoping the druid gets some similarly cool new cards. Wasn't too impressed with Druid's Nax additions.

Bring on the RNG, I love it. I laughed when I saw Madder Bomber, so dumb.

Also, will this be the expansion that gives any meaning at all to cards with the subtype "Dragon"? It seems like a bizarre amount of forward thinking that all of the legendary dragons (and randomly Faerie Dragon) are "dragons", despite that having zero gameplay implication so far. I'm honestly surprised they haven't made a Black Knight/Big Game Hunter sort of card where the Battlecry is just "destroy a Dragon".

@bisonhero: They should make a card that has the text "Destroy Azure Drake, draw a card."

Is it just robots/gnomes/goblins? Cause I don't care much about those parts of Warcraft. More cards are welcome though.

Pretty much the theme of the expansion.

Needs more motorcycles.

Cards! So many cards! I'm perfectly happy to stay ranked in the teens, so I think I can have some fun with all the randomness.

That's it, I've got to make a gimmicky ass Mech deck now so that I may summon VOLTRON

Overall excited at some fo the possibiliities presented by these cards. Hopefully the RNG factor will force players to instead of complain about RNG, actually fight to control the board that the odds are in their favor (and pray to RNGesus of course).

Are those 1 mana nuetral "spell" looking cards the Spare Parts card I've seen referenced? or are those legit neutral spells

Hearing that they're all that will be rewarded from Arena bums me out a bit considering I only have about half of the regular cards at the moment and Arena is basically where I'm getting them all from.

I'm hoping once we see the full 120 the random effects aren't as prevalent as they seem at the moment. Be interesting to see how this messes with everything, I just want to see Voltron plays constantly.

More cards - yes please.

Even more rng - sigh...

It seems like they basically just only showed the RNG cards and that many of the cards won't have RNG.

@mrmazz The spare parts cards come from deathrattles/battlecries.

Yup. They're the spare parts.

I was excited until I read this on the Hearthstone website.

Stirring up trouble this December for Windows®, Mac®, and iPad®, Goblins vs Gnomes cards will be available by purchasing Goblins vs Gnomes-specific card packs in the in-game shop with either gold or real money, whichever you prefer (same pricing as expert card packs).

I was hoping for another single player expansion like Naxxramas.

People are acting like a game where by and large the winner is determined by who has the best legendaries (which you get in card packs, which you can buy, essentially making people who pay more likely to win) is being sullied by this "random" element. This isn't a skill-based game, no game can be considered such if by random chance someone receives a card with a disproportionate advantage over someone who doesn't have it (Leroy Jenkins, etc.). You weren't more "skilled" for using Leroy Jenkins where your opponent never received the card, you were just lucky to get it in a pack or you sunk more money in. If you're interested in a skill based league, I would suggest asking Blizzard to make a mode where only vanilla decks can be played or something, and even then the classes aren't even. This is a casual game, if you're concerned about a card's effect on the "balance" for your monthly ranking, man, you're on the wrong page with what this game actually is.

Its a money pit. Fun for a while, but like all freemium money pits you eventually come to the revelation that the person who randomly gets the newest balance-breaking card is going to win the match.

And don't give me that "its not that way higher in the ranks noob" cus it is. Its basically all legendaries up there, you can be the perfect player with the vanilla deck but because this game isnt really balanced at all that doesn't mean much against an okay player who threw 50 dollars at the game and got a few lucky grabs.

@bargainben: I have almost the entire set and haven't spent a dime.

I was initially disappointed with the RNG stuff, but the more I think about it the more I like it. I'm not a particularly high level player (generally get stuck around rank 11), so if the randomness is a way to negate netdecking I'm all for it. I'm sick and tired of heading into a game and facing the same collection of 6 or 7 different decks, so much so that it's nearly enough for me to stop playing. If a huge bunch of weird cards means that people start experimenting more, I can see Hearthstone being a lot more fun.

I can see why this expansion would piss high level players off though.

Build a deck with your favorite Legendaries and I'll build a deck without Legendaries and I bet I'll give as good as I get.

Also your entire premise is flawed. Some people, like you, are unable to deal with the first "C" in CCG, and that's fine. But those people are never able to get over what they perceive as a big money-wall blocking them from fair play. If you're seeing past the RNG of card acquisition and the RNG of a topdeck playstyle to the point where the only RNG that bothers you is the coinflip nature of the cards being released, you're versed enough with CCGs to understand that any meaningful discussion about balance begins with the assumption that all decks have access to all cards.

Am I missing something or is the Voltron card op as hell? Same mana cost as Al'akir but it's 4/8 with 4 attack windfury instead of 3/5 with regular windfury and since it has charge it can attack 4 times in a turn it is played like Al'akir can. So that is 16 damage to face if the opponent doesn't have a taunt. And if you play as Shaman and give it two rockbiter weapons for total of 10 mana cost then that card can do 40 dmg to face. And blizzard previously nerfed card combos that could burst the enemy down quick and now they introduce this amped up Al'akir...

@icemo: Voltron has to be summoned with Mimiron's head. It seems really easy to counter, despite how OP Voltron himself is.

@shortbreadtom: Ohh, that makes sense. So you have to get pretty lucky to be able to play that card. Like as a freeze mage against opponent with no card removal in hand.

Oh great, adding even more RNG to the game. I had those concerns when they revealed the name. Haven't played the game in a long time and this is not making me come back to it.

@icemo: Exactly. He seems like an even more situational Feugen and Stallag. Like Thaddius, Voltron seems incredibly powerful and a no-brainer to include, but in practice it happens so rarely that no one runs it.

The point of RNGs is you get stung by one and want one of your own in your own deck. They don't really have a place in a game serious about measuring skill, which you still seem to think this game is trying to be. Once you acknowledge what the game actually is trying to be, these additions won't really be frustrating you anymore. And for all your talk, you're not taking the vanilla deck into ranked. Nobody is. So great, you hypothetically could give me a run for my money, but you're still throwing Ragnaros in your deck so its a moot point. You're still playing the real game, which is either grind for bundles or pay for bundles, just like Blizzard wants. Which is fine in the right mindset. But if you're playing as if this is going to get its own league one day, that's kind of on you. Its still a pay to win game, end of the day. Until they add a mode where bundles dont matter either because everyone has access to every card, or everyone has access only to specific balanced decks, you're in here complaining about RNGs for a casual game. j/s

I'd say if you really wanna challenge yourself see how far the vanilla deck will get you in ranked. If you're any good, you can probably get through the mid-late teens, where unskilled players just throw legendaries out without rhyme or reason, then through the people copying the latest fad technique without building in contingencies if it fails. But as soon as you get to where people know what they're doing in the top 10, and they have the better cards, you won't be progressing any further.

Building a deck without Legendaries and using the precon decks are in no way comparable so I'm not sure your point is there. And why would I throw Rag in a deck without Legendaries? Also the notion that this game is pay-to-win is a fallacy. Pay-to-be-competitive-sooner would be a more accurate statement. Because once you have the cards you need, whether you bought a bunch of packs or grinded for months to earn them, everyone is on a level playing-field. That's when concerns of RNG-mechanics in the actual cards because relevant.

Every card game I've ever played has rare cards that are coveted for their power. Are you suggesting that a game like Magic, with a massive, unified tournament scene that spans the globe, is not about measuring skill? Also not sure what you're on about with this game and leagues, there are multiple HS leagues around the world.

Anyways, you seem to contradict yourself by saying the game isn't about skill then saying that I can beat unskilled players even if they "payed-to-win" so... what was your point again?

Apparently, Ben Brode wanted to show how weird and crazy Hearthstone by putting in a ton of random effect cards into the Blizzcon demo and preview. So this may explain why there are so many RNG cards. Though it seems that it may be a poor decision on their part to do this if it does not represent the final product.

@bargainben: Btw, here are the top 2 decks in the game right now. One of them has a legendary in it and it's from the most recent adventure mode so you get it when you complete that. It's not a random pack draw. Link1Link2

Hearthstone is about like 60% skill or thereabouts, which as video games go isn't too bad; however if you're A: Netdecking and B: played enough of the game to know what to do then the game more or less plays itself with very little interaction; especially in aggro metas. That's why a bot can be as good as 95% of players out there and can beat 100%. If you're not netdecking then the game is much more interesting.

No real reason too make a thread for these but here are a pair of Hearthstone Panels from the Con

Ben Brode does a nice job talking about the use of RNG in the game of Hearthstone. Personally I like some of these RNG cards since it'll force players to strive for board control where the RNG is in their favor (most likely). Also there's a nice text recap of it here.

Trump and Hafu do a couple of mock Arena drafts and disscuss their reasoning behind the card picks. It's similar to Trumps iDraft series

Gameplay Video

Hope you guys like gameplay videos because here is a video with the new cards in action.

I love it! ...but it needs more Murlocs.

Some of those cards look delightfully insane and random. But knowing my luck I will never get any of the awesome legendary and epic cards. Start hording your coins people!

Update -11/11/2014

Blizzard revealed another card. Looks like they will be revealing cards every other day until we reach December hits

OK it's been a good couple of days so there've been even more cards released, I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple

Gallery

Gallery

Gallery

Okie Dokie, I think Fell Cannon is my favorite class specific card with whirling zap o matic a close second. Trollg is at least a novel card, if not immediatly viable. CogHammer is interesting but having weapons isn't where the Paladin is weak.

Gah'zrilla looks hella fun if you are able to activate it just once (I assume it goes 6-12-24-48) but you need it to live a tunr or two and that is a card with a target on its back.

Druid gets a 2M 2/3 or 3/2 killer bear I think that alone means its a must play for all decks. FEAR THE BEAR.

@mrmazz: We are are certainly seeing some nice two drop cards like Snowchugger. I had heard that Blizzard were trying to find a way to nerf Undertaker without changing his effect and this looks like how they going to do it.

Also of note is that Dunemaul Shaman and Orgre Ninja can bypass stealth and taunts if its ability activates (50% chance of hitting the wrong target.)To me this signals the possibility of the meta becoming even more aggressive if that is possible.

@acura_max: o yea this is expansion is really flattening everything in terms of choice 1,2, and 5 range drops it's great.

Has Blizzard announced the pricing structure for this expansion? I liked how they allowed you to use the in-game gold to buy the quarters for the first dlc.

@thestandardtoaster: I believe what they've said is that the new packs will replace the old packs in the arena, and you'll be able to buy them from the store just like normal packs.

Another three cards were released today. And they look to be real game changers. I hope you guys like hunters because they are getting a big boost with this pretty cheap card. Feign Dead is for certain a very powerful card. For 2 man you can trigger all of your death rattle abilities. For comparison, the Shaman's reincarnate card only lets you trigger one deathrattle for two mana. Though to be fair, the card might remove the deathrattles of your minions to balance it out. However, at this moment, the card looks a bit overpowered.

Lil' Exorcist (sounds like a rap name) gives us another weapon against the undertaker combo that has been going around. Finally, Palandin gets a pretty nice 3 drop which presents a great deal of possibilities for combos. Other than wiping out small deathrattle minions like webspinner, this card could help summon nerubians. So, if your opponent has a board of deathrattle creatures, this will be like a 4 mana consecretion where you get a 4/3 minion on the board afterward. This is a pretty big deal.

Edit: Yes. Minions affected by Feign Death do get to keep their deathrattle status. So that means that if you use Feign Death on Savannah Highmane, the Highmane will still summon two 2/2 minions on death.

Hunters just keep getting the good stuff (not that I mind as 90% of players being a hunter is a lot more fun than 90% being a warlock or a rogue or a mage back in the day); pretty bizarre.

Gahz'rilla maybe exceeds even the magnificent Kel'Thuzad as the number one arena legendary.

Lil exorcist should be a 3/2 or a 3/3.

@mrmazz: There's plenty of druid decks that don't even run 2 drops. That shaman card is virtually essential though, even as a 1 of.

The good stuff keeps coming towards the hunters.

The first card is Crackle. It's a Shaman card with the ability to do 3-6 damage for two mana and 1 overload. The card is basically an amped lightning bolt. It looks to be a fine addition to the Shaman collection because it can take down a yeti for 2 mana. Thats pretty good considering it takes two frostbolts to do the same thing. Though I would imagine people would be adding more spellpower to ensure the high damage. Spell power Shaman could be a thing.

Next up is the Steamweedle Sniper. This hunter card will let you use your hero power to strike minions for two damage. It looks like Blizzard is trying to create a control hunter type deck with the new expansion. And this new card looks like it will be used to control minions on the board. It's certainly more versatile than the priest's Shadowform card. Not only does it have the hero power, but you also have the 2/3 body for good trades. And it looks like you can use this to buff Gaz'rilla or activate deathrattles. That said, once that minion dies, you lose the ability to hit minions.

As for Druid of the Claw, I'm not sure if it will be playable. Right now, I can't think of many beasts the druid can play and the ones that it can play probably aren't worth it. We'll have to see if GvG adds more beast synergy to the druid class.

Crackle is nuts, makes Lava Burst look like a complete joke by comparison; also it's a white compared to a rare. Sniper is really excellent though mainly for control hunter which hasn't been around for a while. Druid of the Fang is crap at 5 mana, would be interesting at 4.