Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Hearthstone, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone: Year of the Raven, HRL, world of warcraft, wow

Blizzard Announces Hearthstone's First Year of the Raven Expansion: The Witchwood

The next expansion for Blizzard's Warcraft trading card game, Hearthstone, will include the haunted boughs of The Witchwood, which will bring 135 new cards, complete with some spooky new game mechanics. And yes, there will be a witch or two for you to burn in that massive card drop.

If you need some background on the titular forest itself, well, the wood gets its name from the corruption dark magic has wrought on the land and creatures that dwell within. The creatures have been set loose upon the Gilnean capital in Azeroth, but were thrown out of the kingdom by King Genn Greymane and his worgen (think Warcraft style werewolf) compatriots. Hearthstone players will join up with Greymane's pack and help them throw back the twisted creatures of the Witchwood.

To assist in their fight against the dark arts, players can now utilize the new echo keyword, which allows cards with echo to be played over and over again. So you can keep calling on a minion or cast a spell multiple times in one turn as long as you have the mana. And there are even some cards coming that require players to use only odd or even cost cards in order to gain an advantage or three.

Once the expansion goes live, players will have two weeks to familiarize themselves with the new cards and mechanics before taking on Monster Hunts. Monster Hunts are exactly what they sound like — you hunt for specific monstrous targets hiding deep within the Witchwood — and will provide a new single-player experience for Hearthstone players.

Coming in April to Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, The Witchwood card packs will be winnable in Hearthstone's Arena mode, and players can purchase them with in-game gold or real money at the same prices as Hearthstone's other card packs. Starting today and up until the expansion is released, allies of Gilneas can pre-purchase The Witchwood card packs in a special 50-pack bundle that also includes 20 bonus packs, as well as the "In a Dark Wood" card back for free. This one-time-only bundle is available on any platform for $49.99 USD.

You can watch The Witchwood's announcement trailer below.

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