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Hearthstone Weekly Recap: Curse of Naxxramas, TeSPA Finals, Play on iPad and More!

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Icy Veins' Weekly Recap spotlights the latest Hearthstone news!

While it has been a fairly slow week of Hearthstone news, Blizzard is certainly having a bit of fun this weekend at the PAX East convention. So far, they've announced a new single-player game mode for Hearthstone, Curse of Naxxramas, and we'll have the TeSPA Collegiate Open Hearthstone Finals coming up on Saturday, which should be exciting! What else does Blizzard have in store to satiate our Hearthstone hunger?


This week in Hearthstone news...



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Blizzard Announces Hearthstone Single-Player Adventure Mode


Blizzard has revealed an all new gamemode for Hearthstone today at this year's PAX East convention. Hearthstone will soon offer a single-player Adventure Mode, and the first adventure will be Curse of Naxxramas. Players can battle through five unique wings of Blizzard's beloved necropolis, gaining new cards by defeating challenging bosses. The first wing, The Arachnid Quarter, will be made automatically available at launch at no cost. The next four wings will see weekly releases and can be unlocked with in-game gold or real money. There will be 30 new cards, an awesome new themed game board and the wing bosses will feature unique and challenging new abilities! Blizzard has not yet set a release date or pricing point for this content.

Check out Blizzard's Curse of Naxxramas announcement on the official Hearthstone blog.



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Hearthstone Collegiate Open Finals at PAX East


Back in March, TeSPA organized the Collegiate Hearthstone Open, in which 512 college students competed for the title of champion and a scholarship prize. Players who have made it to the final four will compete this weekend at PAX East for the winning title! In anticipation of the big event, Blizzard has interviewed the four semifinalists on their Hearthstone blog. You can read these brief player introductions on Blizzard's Hearthstone blog. Also, be sure to check out the finals this Saturday (4/12) on the official Twitch PAX Stream!



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Hearthstone iPad App Store Region Bypass How-To


Can't wait to play Hearthstone on iPad, but don't live in one of the current testing regions in which it is available? Hearthstone has been released only to a limited testing market including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. However, tutorials have been popping up all over the place written by savvy users who have figured out how to download Hearthstone to their out-of-region iPad. A few simple changes to your iTunes and App Store settings and you too can be on your way to experiencing Hearthstone on a tablet, which is the best. Here's what you need to do:
  • Open the "Settings" app and click on "iTunes & App Store" from the side menu
  • On this screeen, click on your Apple ID ([email protected])
  • From the pop-up menu, click "View Apple ID"
  • In the Account pop-up, select "Country/Region"
  • Select "Change Country or Region," select Canada from the Store dropdown and click "Next"
  • Agree with the iTunes Terms & Conditions and you will be taken to the Account Billing Information screen
  • Select "None" as the payment option (you can add one again later, or use App Store cards for funding
  • Change your billing address to feature a Canadian city, province and postal code. You can google any Canadian address for this information (I chose Toronto, Ontario and M1S 7UB).
  • Click "Next" and you will receive an email confirming the change. You can now download Hearthstone from the App Store


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Analysts Anticipate Big Earnings For Hearthstone


A recent analysis of Activision Blizzard's earnings has resulted in more than one analyst projecting very high earnings for the company due to the release of Hearthstone. You may remember last week that we mentioned a piece in which it was reported that analysts expect Activision Blizzard's free-to-play earnings to reach $100 million. Apparently, it's anticipated that at least $30 million of this will come from Hearthstone alone! With the upcoming expansion content, and the inevitable worldwide launch on the App Store, I'm sure we'll definitely see significant earnings from the sale of card packs, even entries, Adventure mode and other content packs. Maybe in the future we can also expect to see cosmetic upgrades for sale? So far, there are only alternate portraits and card backs which can be earned in the ranked play system (which we went over in this article). In addition, there is quite a lot of speculation of future content Blizzard could bring to the game (even some players who anticipate Diablo and Starcraft universe expansions) so we'll certainly have to wait and see!

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    • By Staff
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      (Source)
      Hearthstone: Heroes of StarCraft – The Great Dark Beyond Mini-Set  
      Early next year, Hearthstone is going beyond Warcraft and into... Heroes of StarCraft! This special Mini-Set will have a whopping 49 new cards across three themed factions, which show what the StarCraft universe would look like in the Hearthstone Tavern. Each faction is made up of cards that can be used across multiple classes, including an iconic Hero card. 
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      The Mini-Set will feature a slew of StarCraft units which are sure to invoke nostalgia, as well as the Terran-armored Murloc, Grunty, and new, thematic music. You can chart a course for the Heroes of StarCraft Mini-Set, launching in January 2025! More announcements, details, and card reveals are coming closer to launch. 
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      This major Arena revamp is coming in the first half of next year. Look out for more details about this update closer to when it goes live. 
      A Preview of the Year Ahead: The Year of the Raptor!
      On top of those updates, Hearthstone has an exciting year of expansions ahead, with much-requested themes, locations, and familiar faces across Azeroth. 
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    • By HSEnthusiast
      Today, we're recapping the four Shaman cards revealed by Gamespot. We also have some dev clarifications on how they work.
      If you missed our previous Warrior recap, you will find it here.

       
      What a way to kick things off; this card looks insane! The dream is that Drakuru takes out two of your opponent’s minions, resurrects them on your side, and survives combat somehow. You’re looking at a 5-for-1 exchange on board.
      In the more likely scenario that it doesn’t survive, that’s still a complete flip of the board state. Even if it’s trading into a single big minion on the opponent’s side, that’s still a 2-for-1, with that 1 on your side being a big tough-to-kill minion. The only worry is that there will sometimes be late-game scenarios where the 6/8 stat line won’t be enough to get you any resurrections, but I’m hopeful those are few and far between.
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      Once again, another big expensive card and a solid showy effect to go along with it. Obvious deathrattle/reborn synergy, as well as good with big minions in general. At 10 cost, it will take up your entire mana pool for the turn, though there are things you can do to play around that as a shaman.
      We’ve gotten some clarification from the devs on the mechanics of this one:
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      There’s obvious synergy with the other big cards revealed here, with Prescience loading up your hand with some beefy bois, getting get off reborn, lifesteal and deathrattle value, summon a minion from Overlord Drakuru.

      That’s a lot of keywords for a single card, but they work together to become the stuff of nightmares for any board-based aggro deck. Taunt and lifesteal make this a nightmare to trade into, and even with enough removal to clear the main body and the reborn one, the deathrattle effect still will hit for 3 twice and heal you for 6. So while the 3 attack won’t be anything to write home about, plopping this down will buy you a good deal of time. There’s also the possibility to make use of the leftover reborn 3/1 body to evolve into a 9 or 10 drop.

      This card will get you 2 Mana 2/3 Ghostly Apparitions with the Undead minion type, which can matter for cards like Unliving Champion, or Invincible, for instance. Suppose you trigger the secondary ability here both times. In that case, that’s a pretty sweet deal right there, advancing a Big Shaman win con in 2 ways: The taunt on the Ghostly Apparitions advances your gameplan of stalling the game out until you can stabilize on board enough to play the 5+ Mana minions you’ve tutored out of the deck.
      We’ve theory crafted 3 potential builds that can use this package of Shaman cards.
      First, consider diving head first into the Big Shaman theme, bringing in Vanndar Stormpike and forgoing all other sub-5 cost minions to get max value out of Prescience and From De Other Side. We’re also going to run with the evolve subtheme to take advantage of any leftover bodies that we might get from Stoneborn General, Overlord Drakuru, or Blighblood Berserkers. The departure of the Knights of the Frozen Throne set will make evolving 10 drops better again now that there are no more Snowfury Giants in the Evolve pool, and we get to re-roll for the generally better bodies from the 10 costs. We’re adding in some early-game removal to compensate for the lack of early drops so we can better survive the early game.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoICunQBMORBKeNBK/ZBNnsA/rsA4qSBfuRBYfUBKrZBArG+QOs7QS12QTgtQS22QTblATGzgTj9gOGoQX4oAUA
      Next, let’s try to use the standard Renathal Control Shaman archetype that’s doing rather well in the meta as a starting point. One safe idea is to look at slotting Overlord Drakuru and potentially Brightblood Berskerker and From De Other Side into this standard XL Renathal Control Shaman as ways of fighting back on board while getting your infuse cards stacked up.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoIFKjuA6bvA4b6A6SBBMORBMeyBOm2BOnQBJjUBLjZBJfvBKTvBNWyBODtBIqSBdWyBPuRBfSgBbzwBODtBArG+QPTgASVkgTblATgtQSWtwSywQTFzgS12QS22QQA
      We could instead also try and drop all the duplicates from the list and convert it into a Reno deck, as the deck was already playing a lot of one-offs. That gives us just enough room for one of each of these bad boys, which together with Reno will up the turnaround potential of the deck at the cost of a little bit of consistency. Doing so we can end up with this list:
      Deck code / link: 
      AECAaoICunQBMORBKeNBK/ZBNnsA/rsA4qSBfuRBYfUBKrZBArG+QOs7QS12QTgtQS22QTblATGzgTj9gOGoQX4oAUA
      Why not use both and make it a Reno-thal deck? Prescience and Windchill will try to compensate for the loss of card draw from droping one copy of Gorloc Ravager and Famished fool. We are adding in Convincing Disguise to have still enough evolve effects around. The idea of including Bracing Cold and Far Sight is to hopefully discount From De Other Side or the evolve cards so we make use of any leftover bodies in the same turn. Ozumat’s in here not just to get us up to 40 cards, but because it’s a near guaranteed board clear combo with From De Other side, if you manage your hand and board space just right, that leaves you with all its appendages afterward.
      Deck code / link: 
      AAECAaoIKKjuA6bvA6SBBMORBMeyBOm2BOnQBJjUBLjZBJfvBKTvBMb5A9OABJWSBNuUBNWyBOC1BJa3BLLBBMXOBMbOBLXZBLbZBODtBLzwBIb6A6/ZBPrsA/SgBcSsBNnsA4fUBIXUBLGwBJrUBLzOBIahBfigBYqSBfuRBQAA
       
    • By HSEnthusiast
      March of the Lich King, set to release on December 6th, is Hearthstone's third expansion in the Year of the Hydra. Blizzard gave us an early sneak peek at some of the Warrior cards revealed today that we discuss in our latest post.
      Today, we'd like to dive into the Warrior cards revealed by Inven Global.

      Pretty straightforward card. The effect gives us much more value the larger the minion is. It gets really scary with the potential follow-up with Bulk Up giving you this massively overstated minion in hand twice. Or If you can get this on Mor’shan Elite, that’s another nice double dip of value.

      Honestly, this feels like it was tailor-made to be the ideal target of Last Stand, as your opponent can’t easily get rid of it with cheap removal. It lets you use your stats immediately by letting you trade in and stabilize with a big taunt. It might not be too shabby on its own, as the 3 effects make it an annoying wall most opponents will be forced to trade into.

      Wow, they’re really not holding back with hand disruption this set. One (nearly) guaranteed discard is pretty impactful and becomes a must-remove card in any control matchup. This card will absolutely crush the hearts of some Big Spell Mages in the coming months, that’s for sure.
      It should be noted that this discard, the devs have confirmed to us that it will trigger your opponent’s “Whenever you discard a card” effects. So try and clear a Discard Warlock's Tiny Knight of Evil and perhaps try to play around having Suffocating Shadows or Soul Barrage trigger in that matchup. 

      To round off the control toolbox from this expansion, we’ve got a pretty unique effect here. Hopefully, this doesn’t end up being too easy to play around for savvy opponents. You could pre-empt this by running out a Blademaster Okani first and baiting out your opponent into playing a small spell first. But still, while the effect will only be as game-changing as your opponent’s last spell, getting any meaningful spell off seems pretty nice.
      Putting it all together, we have put together an interesting Taunt Control Warrior decklist to try out:  AAECAQcMmu0D784EvIoE2fkDqIoEiN8E784E0qwEmu0DlJUEzJIFiKAECcWSBZTtA47tA5+fBImgBIagBJDUBMSSBcuSBQA= . Slotting in Varian seems like a natural addition to any deck with Silverfury Stalwart and Tealan hops along to be the one divine shield minion you might want to have in your control deck. Rokara and Remornia are just good cards and they’ll go a long way to having your Mor’shan Elite’s active. The rest of the deck is the classic Control Warrior shell that will hopefully give you the armor and removal needed to live long enough to throw down your double-stated taunted win conditions.
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    • By Staff
      Murder at Castle Nathria is Hearthstone's latest expansion. It adds a new Infuse keyword that absorbs anima from your friendly minions, a new card type named Locations, and more.  
      (Source)
      .blog-detail .gallery figure { width: 100%; max-width: calc((100% / 3) - 6px); } @media screen and (max-width: 600px){ .blog-detail .gallery { justify-content: center; } .blog-detail .gallery figure { width: 100%; max-width: 250px; } .blog-detail h4 { text-align: center; } } Announcing
      Murder at Castle Nathria
      Hearthstone’s Newest Expansion

      The Shadowlands is normally where souls go after they die, so when someone dies in the Shadowlands, that’s a special kind of mystery. Sire Denathrius invited 10 of his counterparts and enemies to Castle Nathria for a dinner party so that he could address the malicious rumors that he is hoarding anima, the life-energy that is drained from tortured souls and used to power the Shadowlands. But just after the festivities started, Sire Denathrius was found dead! It seems a gaggle of enemies does not a good dinner party make. Now the illustrious Murloc Holmes, and his trusty sidekick Watfin, have been called to solve the case. Scour new Location cards, follow the trail of Infused minions, question the 10 Legendary suspects, and help determine who committed Murder at Castle Nathria!   

      Murder at Castle Nathria will launch worldwide on August 2 with 135 new collectible cards! You can find the full Murder at Castle Nathria reveal schedule, and all cards that have already been revealed, by visiting the card library here. Check back frequently—the list will be updated with new cards as they’re revealed!
      Ten Suspicious Suspects
      Sire Denathrius had a lot of enemies. And it just so happens that 10 of them were under his roof at the time of his demise! Each class will have a Legendary minion that is a prime suspect in Sire Denathrius’s murder. They all have the means and the motive, but it is up to you and Murloc Holmes to determine who is guilty.



      New Keyword: Infuse
      Anima, drawn from wayward souls, powers all the Shadowlands—and those who consume it! Cards with the Infuse keyword sit in your hand and absorb anima from your friendly minions as they die. After the specified number of friendly minions die while the Infuse card is in your hand, the Infuse card transforms into a more powerful version. Infuse your cards to unlock their full power!

      New Card Type: Locations
      Castle Nathria is like no place Hearthstone has ever been before. Explore the castle grounds through the all-new Location card type! Locations are played onto the battlefield for an initial cost, and then have an ability that can be activated for free on your turns, each time for a powerful effect. Each activation costs 1 Durability and has a 1-turn Cooldown. Every class gets their own Location card in Castle Nathria which represents where they claim their suspect was at the time of the murder, and synergizes with the themes of the class.

       
      Locations Gameplay Preview with Brian Kibler and Designer Leo Robles Gonzalez
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      Prince Renathal Login Reward Available Now!
      Log in to Hearthstone to get your first hint at what Castle Nathria holds with the complimentary Prince Renathal Legendary minion!* Grow more powerful as you draw more souls to your cause with 40 life and a 40-card starting deck! Add him to your collection and see what you can do when you have more space to work with.

      * Limited one per account. After Patch 24.6, Prince Renathal will be granted upon opening your first Murder at Castle Nathria card pack instead of upon logging in.
      Pre-Purchase Murder at Castle Nathria
      The Murder at Castle Nathria Mega Bundle includes 80 Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, 5 Golden Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, two random Murder at Castle Nathria Legendary cards, the Sire Denathrius Warrior hero skin, the Denathrius card back, the Sandy Shores Battlegrounds Board, and 10 Mercenaries Packs!*

      The Murder at Castle Nathria Bundle includes 60 Murder at Castle Nathria card packs, 2 random Murder at Castle Nathria Legendary cards, and the Denathrius card back!

      Pre-purchase
      * Battleground Perks are not included in the Mega Bundle pre-purchase this time. We’re reworking how Battlegrounds Perks and rewards work for next Battlegrounds season. Until then, some of the current Perks are being extended. Check out the Patch Notes and stay tuned for more details.

    • By Damien
      This thread is for comments about our Handbuff Paladin Deck.
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