Hearthstone's next expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne, is going to introduce 135 new cards to the game's ever-rotating set, and at least one of those cards is going to be a new Legendary dragon.
Given that the expansion is set in the Icecrown Citadel, the heart of the Lich King's fortress, you could probably have guessed that the Lich King's loyal servant Sindragosa would be a part of the experience in some way. And it turns out that she's a Legendary Mage card. An 8/8 that costs eight mana, Sindragosa's text includes "Battlecry: Summon two 0/1 Frozen Champions."
Those Frozen Champions are one mana 0/1 cards with a potentially powerful Deathrattle effect: "Add a random Legendary minion to your hand." You can see what the cards look like close-up in the images below.
While the true power (and value) of the card will only really be revealed when we know the full set of Frozen Throne cards, we got to ask Hearthstone senior desinger Matt Place a few questions to help set up the card:
GameSpot: For Hearthstone fans who might not be as up on their Warcraft lore, what's Sindragosa's story in a nutshell?
Matt Place: For those who haven't seen World of Warcraft's "Wrath of the Lich King" cinematic trailer, you should drop everything and check it out right now! It's absolutely amazing.
The Lich King himself calls the mighty fallen blue dragon, Sindragosa, back from the dead in Icecrown. Experiencing her full Skeletal Frost Wyrm glory is literally breathtaking.
As a servant of the Lich King, why is her ability a Battlecry instead of Deathrattle?
Like many of the servants to the Lich King, Sindragosa's power is heavily tied to Deathrattle. Instead of just one Deathrattle effect, she comes with two! Her Battlecry summons a pair of Frozen Champions, that each give you a random Legendary minion when slain. Luckily they are 0/1, so you can pick them off with your hero power to quickly cash in.
I think Dragons tend to be more associated with Priest/Paladin decks. How do you think this will play into the Mage meta?
Many of Hearthstone's higher cost dragons have seen a good amount of top-level play, both as part of a dragon-themed deck and as late-game finishers. At eight cost for an 8/8, that comes with two more Legendary minions, I expect Sindragosa to be very appealing for Mage decks looking for a solid late-game finisher.
I'm sure Sindragosa will match well with other cards in the upcoming deck, but what synergies do you see players taking advantage of with the current card selection?
Played by herself, Sindragosa provides a lot of power. But combining her with cards like N'Zoth to get back her Fallen Champions, or The Curator to help insure you have her on turn eight, can be quite strong...and super fun!
For the Frozen Champions, there tends to be debate in the community about "good" vs "bad" RNG. Do you think that, since these cards summon a Legendary, that helps mitigate some of the pushback against this type of randomness?
I believe random is at its best when it is creating new scenarios and game states for the players. Not only does this lead to fun, it is also skill-testing. If you get a random card you don't normally play with, or in this case, a random Legendary that Mage may not normally have access to, it can be a fun challenge to figure out how make best use of it.
And I like cards like Sindragosa and her Frozen Champions that help create these new scenarios while also giving you a solid base line. Even if one of the Legendary cards isn't useful, you still have a giant 8/8 dragon and your other Legendary minion to work with.
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Knights of the Frozen Throne doesn't have a specific release date outside of "August," but discounted pre-orders for the set are available now and include a unique card back. In addition to new cards, the expansion will also include the new-to-Hearthstone Lifesteal keyword as well as a set of Legendary Hero cards that will replace both your portrait and Hero Power when used. The expansion also includes access to single-player missions, which will award you one of those new random Legendary Hero cards.
In case you missed it, Hearthstone had a big presence at San Diego Comic-Con last week, with cosplayer Jessica Nigri taking on the roll of the dragon Sindragosa, and the Lich King showing up for photo ops at the "Ice Cream" Citadel. You can check out a preview of that gallery in the photos above.