Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Blizzard’s Team 5 has set its eyes on the shining jewel of Tanaris that is Gadgetzan. In their latest Hearthstone expansion, dubbed Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, we get a look at the ever-expanding and fast-paced town goblin trading town. More specifically, the seedy underworld that is home to the roughest and toughest criminal organizations from all over Azeroth.
In this expansion, the 9 classes of Hearthstone have parted ways and joined up with three different crime families. Each organization looking to get their grimy hands on as much of Gadgetzan as they possibly can.
Grimy Goons — this unlikely alliance of Hunters, Paladins, and Warriors use brute force and intimidation to smuggle weapons and enforce the rules on their turf.
Jade Lotus — Druids, Rogues and Shamans have combined their mastery of secrecy and the mystic arts to form an alliance of assassins, complete with their own secret army of Jade Golems.
The Kabal — mana-addicted Mages, Priests and Warlocks have joined forces to form this group of outcast magic users to gain control of the bootleg potion and illicit mana trade.
The new expansion also introduces one of the most interesting mechanics to ever hit the boards of our taverns, Tri-class cards. These are neutral cards that can be used by three classes in each specific family. Now, I’m just happy that the classes have finally learned to share but this does offer up a whole new way of playing. With a total of 9 tri-class cards expected to launch with this expansion, we could see some interesting combinations of weird class-specific natures coming our way.
Take for example one of my favorite cards that was announced at Blizzcon, Kazakus. Kazakus is available for use in Mage, Priest and Warlock decks, symbolizing their love for the arcane magicks. Using a mechanic similar to Discovering cards, you get to choose the manacost of the spell you’re creating and then give it two powerful effects based on that cost. Just to give you a taste of how crazy these spells can get, you can create a spell that will summon an 8/8 demon for you as well as resurrect 3 minions that have already been destroyed on your side of the board. Now that’s a comeback mechanic right there.
Now if you’re wondering how you can get your hands on these lovelies, the card packs will be available in the Hearthstone store in December. Furthermore, all Arena reward packs will be changed to Gadgetzan ones and you’ll be able to draft all these cards in your Arena decks.
For those of you who want to strike a deal with the gangsters for an extra leg-up, you can pre-purchase a Mean Streets of Gadgetzan bundle of 50 card packs for a special one-time price of 44.99€, available online only here. We were hoping for a stellar new cardback too, but we can’t stay disappointed for too long. New cards are being revealed every other day and you can view all those cards on the official Hearthstone Facebook page. Once all the cards are out, we’ll be sure to post a full review of the expansion!
