Hearthstone, Blizzard's free-to-play collectible card game, continues to be robustly supported with content and updates. The latest example is the newly announced expansion for Hearthstone, United in Stormwind. United in Stormwind was revealed with one of Blizzard's ever-impressive cinematic trailers, promising to once again revitalize Hearthstone with a wave of new cards and new ways to play. United in Stormwind is set to launch across all of Hearthstone's supported platforms on August 3.
The most important aspect of a new Hearthstone expansion is, of course, the new cards that will be added. Blizzard has confirmed that United in Stormwind will feature a healthy 135 new cards for players to earn and play with. Already, 16 of these cards have been revealed, with many more to be revealed between now and August 3. Expect to see them shared through social media and through the typical influencer and content creator partnerships.
United in Stormwind will also, like each of Hearthstone's expansions prior, introduce a new mechanic to the card game. This new mechanic is named Tradeable, tying into Stormwind's market themes. Tradeable allows the player to swap a card in their hand with the keyword with another random card in their deck. As such, they can either be items valuable early game that can be traded late game, or more situational mid-to-late game items that can be traded away if they aren't currently helpful.
Also introduced in United in Stormwind are Questline cards. These cards act as Legendary spells, but grant challenges to the player. Each time the player completes one of the challenges, they earn a reward. For example, cast a Fire spell and as a reward draw a spell. Each Questline has three tiers of progression, with the final reward being a Legendary minion. Each of Hearthstone's 10 classes will have its own Questline card.
United in Stormwind also marks the beginning of Hearthstone's Phase 2 of the Year of the Gryphon. That means that broader changes will be coming to Hearthstone in addition to the new expansion. A focus for Phase 2 will be major Battlegrounds changes, the launch of Mercenaries, and updates to Duels, Tavern Brawls, and Hearthstone's solo experiences.
Hearthstone players will be able to start playing United in Stormwind starting on August 3. As is now traditional, players can pre-purchase the upcoming expansion starting now. The Standard bundle includes 60 Packs for $49.99, with a bonus of two random Legendaries and a Lady Katrana Prestor Card Back. The $79.99 Mega Bungle includes 80 packs, two random Golden Legendaries, the Lady Katrana Prestor Card Back, a Lady Katrana Prestor Alternate Hero, 5 Golden Packs, Battlegrounds perks, and an Alternate Bartender Ve'nari for Battlegrounds. Of course, Hearthstone players can wait for the expansion to launch and earn packs through gold, too.
Hearthstone is available now on PC and mobile devices.