While Blizzard Entertainment has previously gotten into trouble for banning professionalHearthstoneplayerNg “Blizchung” Wai Chung due to pro-Hong Kong protest comments, theWarcraftspin-off card game remains popular over six years into its life. That popularity is evidenced by the announcement of a newHearthstoneexpansion called Scholomance Academy today, one themed around a Hogwarts-esque magic college with the classic party tropes of movies likeAnimal Housebased on its cinematic trailer.
Scholomance Academy will release in early August, with Blizzard revealing some of its 135 new cards incrementally until then. The stand-out new additions are 40 “Dual-Class” cards, which mix the unique mechanics of two different classes in ten categories, such as combining a Warlock with thenewly-added Demon Hunter class. There will also be a Legendary minion associated with each Dual-Class combination based on a professor at the college.
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A new keyword called “Spellburst” will also be added through Scholomance Academy that adds extra effects to casted spells, as well as new “Studies” spells allowing players to discover a particular card and reduce its mana cost. ThisHearthstoneexpansion is the second part of the “Year of the Phoenix” updates revamping the game, applying balance changes, and addingnew game modes such as Hearthstone Battlegrounds.
To prepare for the new expansion, Blizzard released the 17.6 patch forHearthstone, updating a couple of cards and adding a pre-purchase option for Scholomance Academy. There is a basic pre-purchase bundle and a Mega bundle that includes five golden card packs for the first time ever. By logging in before October 20, players can also receive two “Transfer Student” cards for free, which have different effects based on the game board being used.
TheWarcraft-based card game is not the only piece of that universe that Blizzard Entertainment has announced updates for recently. During a special broadcast last week, theWorld of Warcraft:Shadowlandsexpansionwas given a fall 2020 release date, and the expansion’s beta period is set to launch sometime soon.
After more than half a decade, it is good to see a popular title likeHearthstonecontinue to receive attention and more content to keep its player base active. Over that time the team behind the game has changed around, with formerArt Director Ben Thompson recently announcing he leftHearthstonesoon after BlizzCon 2019.
Hearthstoneis available for PC, Android, and iOS.
