New Hearthstone Expansion Announced, Journey To Un'Goro

Blizzard has announced the latest expansion pack for Hearthstone, Journey to Un’Goro, which launches in "early April" and begins the Year of the Mammoth.

As revealed in the video below, the expansion brings the usual assortment of news cards--135 in all. A small handful of these have been revealed, including the five-mana Shaman card Volcano, which randomly deals 15 damage split between all minions. There's also the Mage's Pyros, which starts out as a two-mana card that returns to your deck on death and repeatedly gets stronger (and more costly). Additional cards will be revealed beginning on March 17.

Blizzard noted that some "familiar faces" will be added to the Elemental type, while a new Adapt keyword is being introduced. This "allows a minion to become infused with elemental power, granting it new properties." When playing an Adapt card, you can choose from three different buffs for the minion, with 10 total buffs in all. These include:

• Deathrattle: Summon two 1/1 Plants
• +3 Attack
• Can't be targeted by spells or Hero powers
• Divine Shield
• Windfury
• Taunt

Another new type of card is the Quest type. These are one-mana Legendary cards that will always show up in your opening hand (provided there is one in your deck). Some type of quest will be listed, and by completing it, you'll receive "incredible rewards." One example is Awaken the Makers; this tasks you with summoning seven Deathrattle cards. Once you do so, you'll obtain Amara, Warden of Hope, a five-mana, 8/8 card with Taunt that has a Battlecry that sets you hero's health to 40.

Gallery

"Ready to join Elise Starseeker and her junior explorers on an expedition into the uncharted territory of Un'Goro crater?" reads a description on Hearthstone's blog. "Your descent into these wild lands will be a thrilling adventure--you'll make wondrous discoveries as you become one of the first to unearth mysteries long forgotten under the thick jungle mists. Un'Goro's prehistoric inhabitants may not take kindly to your curiosity, but you never know who might appear to offer assistance in your time of need."

Ahead of a release in April, preorders for Un'Goro open tomorrow, allowing you to purchase 50 card packs from it for $50. Doing so also nets you the Fossil card pack, pictured above.

Today's news comes after a series of announcements regarding upcoming changes to Hearthstone. These include moving certain Classic cards to the Wild format, an adjustment to the schedule for when new content is released, and shifting Arena to the Standard format.