It’s good to be bad in Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Rise of Shadows

For a little while now, Blizzards been teasing some impending news about Hearthstone, the company’s popular trading card game. That news is now out of the bag, and it’s a dastardly, brand new expansion. It’s called Rise of Shadows, and it’s a new expansion kicking off from April 9 that’ll have you being the bad guy in a year-long storyline. Rise of Shadows will introduce 135 new cards, along with some fresh mechanics.

I’ll be honest, I don’t understand any of this so it’s a little tricky to parse. Instead I’m going to paste the new mechanics here because I feel I’m I’m being heckin’ bamboozled.

MALEVOLENT MECHANICS

EVERY HENCHMAN NEEDS A LACKEY – The League of E.V.I.L. needs all the help they can get! Lackeys provide the muscle to get things done for the League of E.V.I.L.’s members. Heistbaron Togwaggle’s henchman is the Rogue minion EVIL Miscreant, which adds two random Lackeys to the player’s hand when Comboed.

There are five Lackeys in Rise of Shadows, 1/1 minions with helpful Battlecries.

• For example, Kobold Lackey’s Battlecry deals 2 damage to a target.
• PLAN FOR SUCCESS – Schemes are Spells that grow in power each turn they’re held in hand.
• Hagatha’s Scheme deals 1 damage to all minions to start, but gains damage every turn it’s held in hand. Wait until just the right moment to spring the trap!
• CALLBACK CARDS – Our villains have been around for a long time, so some of their cards may feel a bit . . . familiar. The Priest Spell Forbidden Words, which spends all the player’s mana to destroy a minion with that much attack or less, is a callback to Forbidden Shaping from Whispers of the Old Gods.
• TWICE THE TRICKERY – Cause double trouble for your opponent by using Spells with the new Twinspell keyword! When cast, Spells with Twinspell add a copy of themselves to the caster’s hand.
• The Forest’s Aid is a Druid Twinspell that summons five 2/2 Treants and adds a copy of the spell to the player’s hand, ready to summon a new army of Treants to defend the magical city.

On top of the new cards and mechanics, there’s a single-player adventure waiting for fervent card-slingers. It’s coming in May, with the first chapter of the adventure being doled out for free. As in the past, further chapters will cost €19.99, or 700 gold. Players who log in from April 5 get a free Rise of Shadows Legendary card that can be used in pre-release events or Play Mode. There’ll be a quest chain at launch that hand out multiple card packs for both the Rise of Shadows and Year of the Raven expansions.

Those of you who prefer spending money on Hearthstone over grinding for stuff can grab two Rise of Shadows card pack bundles. There’s “a 50-pack Rise of Shadows bundle that includes the Jewel of Lazul card back and a Legendary card; and the 80-card pack Mega Bundle, which includes the Madame Lazul Priest Hero, the Jewel of Lazul card back, and a Golden Legendary card.” They’ll cost €49.99 and €79.99, respectively.

Rise of Shadows launches on April 9, while pre-release events kick off on April 5.

Last Updated: March 14, 2019