A couple weeks ago, Year of the Raven was announced for Hearthstone, and to kick off the next rotation of cards into standard, three new, unnamed sets were announced. Earlier today, it was revealed that the first set in Year of the Raven will be The Witchwood. With the annoucement, an exciting array of cards, keywords, adventures, and more were also revealed.
For The Witchwood, two new keywords will be prominent on cards. Echo is an ability that, when played, will put a temporary copy of that card back into a player’s hand. Until the end of the turn, as long as a player has the mana, that player may cast that card from their hand as many times as they want with all effects.
The next ability, Rush, is similar to the already existent charge. Instead of being able to attack any character on the board once played, they can only attack other minions, and not players. They are free to attack heroes one turn after they are summoned.
The general theme of The Witchwood expansion seems to have a focus on Worgens and the areas surrounding Gilneas. This setting is explored deeper in the new and free adventure, Monster Hunt. Similar to Kobolds & Catacombs’ Dungeon Run, players will embark on a journey to fight through various enemies, and at the end of the adventure, a showdown with a final boss will transpire.
The catch this time around, however, are the four new, Monster Hunt-exclusive heroes that players can choose from during the adventure. These four heroes consist of Tracker the Assassin, Cannoneer the Warrior, Houndmaster the Hunter, and Time-Tinker the Mage. Also like Dungeon Run, after each encounter, players choose from themed cards based on their hero to beef up a deck to improve the chances of surviving the next fight. These even include special cards that will improve hero powers or synergize with a hero in a powerful way.
A few cards from the set have already been revealed, and as of now, they consist of five neutral cards and one Warrior card. More card reveals will be coming in the future, so keep an eye out for the next card unveiling. Pre-purchase of The Witchwood expansion is currently going for $49.99, which will net players 50 card packs plus an extra 20 to boot. The pre-purchase will also give access to the exclusive “In A Dark Wood” card back. The Witchwood set will be available sometime in mid April, and packs will be openable before April 30th.