The next Hearthstone expansion, The Witchwood, has already been the center of hype since its announcement. In the latest update from the people over at Hearthstone, the Lead Initial Card Designer, Peter Whalen, went in depth about the latest card mechanic, echo. He also revealed two new cards that utilize this mechanic and the general theory and usage that echo will have in the future.
The video first talks about how a card set begins to come to life. Originally, The Witchwood was planned to be Murder on the Gilnean Express. From that set, ghostly, now known as echo, was born. From that, the idea of being able to play multiples of the same card stuck with the developers because of its strong ability in both the early game and late game. In addition, ghostly was the perfect fit for the haunted woods theme of The Witchwood.
Whalen discusses an already revealed card, Phantom Militia, and how players might want to spend their entire turn just casting that particular card. However, the first new card to be revealed was designed around the idea of having cards that are both versatile and can scale as the game goes on.
Warpath, the new Warrior card, is especially good at dealing with a board full of small minions or triggering friendly minions that activate upon receiving damage. While good for clearing out aggro decks or murlock decks early to late game, it can also be used to help with extra draws from Acolyte of Pain or to beef of up a Frothing Berserker as need be.
The next card designed to not always take up a turn with echo is the new Assassin card, Face Collector.
Although Face Collector can potentially fill a player’s hand with three amazing new legendary minions late game, it can also give a player the answer they need or a particularly awesome card within its fist use.
You can continue to keep up with the currently revealed cards from The Witchwood over on the expansion’s official Hearthstone page. The Witchwood is available for pre-purchase with few bonuses added in, and the set will be available for opening on or before April 30.