In November, Blizzard kicked off Showdown in the Badlands, the latest expansion for Hearthstone, the publisher’s digital card game. 145 new cards were added to the game, bringing with them many new ways to play.
After Hearthstone: Titans gave players a much-requested expansion featuring iconic characters and locations from World of Warcraft, Showdown in the Badlands is time for a less serious note and a story that is separate from the wider Warcraft universe. The expansion follows the Bloodrock Mining Company, an operation led by Sheriff Barrelbrim, a greedy character who disappears anyone who stands between him and potential treasure into one of the many cells that dot the Badlands.
Fortunately, there are some outlaws who stand up to this greed and we see that in legendary cards for Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest and Shaman.
New keywords
A new keyword that we see appearing with this extension is Quickdraw. Cards with Quickdraw gain a bonus effect that can only be activated the turn the card appears in your hand. So being fast is the message. As far as we are concerned, the keyword is a good addition, because it succeeds in making you think differently about your turns. For example, you may have already planned your next turn, but you have to last minute Still considering whether it would be better to play the Quickdraw card.
The second new keyword is Excavate and is by far the nicest keyword we saw appear recently. Excavate cards provide you with a Treasure when you play them. The first treasure you dig up will cost 1 mana, the next will cost 2 mana, and the third will cost 3 mana. Death Knight, Mage, Rogue, Warlock and Warrior can also get their hands on a 4 mana Legendary and these proved to be very impactful.
Popular decks
One of the decks we most enjoyed playing was Highlander Hunter, a deck that uses only one copy of each card to take advantage of the effects of cards like the new Reno, Lone Ranger, and Theldurin the Lost. Unfortunately, the deck does not make much use of new mechanics such as Quickdraw or Excavate, a trend that we also find in many other popular decks. However, we are huge fans of Excavate Rogue, because the many treasures and extra options fit perfectly within the class. The treasures at Mage also appealed to us and we are happy to see them in Secret Mage.
However, games will not always last long enough to make full use of the treasures and that is mainly due to the presence of aggro decks, such as Aggro Paladin and Treant Druid. These decks want to win quickly and are very – perhaps a little too – good at it.
In any case, a large number of classes are playable and you can easily find a deck that provides a lot of fun. Only Priest, Warlock and Demon Hunter are still lagging behind. However, Blizzard regularly makes changes to certain cards and soon we can expect a new mini set, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the decks and classes played.
Battlegrounds season 6
Battlegrounds season 6 also started this week and a lot promises to change in the tavern. Spells have been added and you can now also buy them instead of minions. Spells have a gold cost, but also a variable cost to use them. This concerns a total of 42 new cards, spread across all Tiers. Blizzard also added several new minions and no less than 3 new Heroes: Snake Eyes, Tae’thelan Bloodwatcher and Doctor Holli’dae. With the new season, a new season pass is also available, which can be purchased in-game and provides you with two extra Hero’s at the start of each game and a lot of cosmetic extras.
2023-12-11 17:00:00
#Hearthstone #Showdown #Badlands #review #TechPulse
