Thanks to a bit of meddlesome tinkering, and perhaps a little goblin-induced sabotage, all Goblins vs Gnomes cards are now available to choose from in the Arena!
You heard that right—those pesky pint-sized engineers (being an impatient bunch) have rigged the Arena to give Hearthstone players a sneak peek at what’s in store when Goblins vs Gnomes officially launches next week. In doing so, they’ve calibrated things to throw all Goblins vs Gnomes cards into the Arena deck-building mix ahead of schedule.
Anyone who logs in to Hearthstone between December 5 and December 9 automatically gets their next new Arena run for free! It’s a zero-risk chance to see some of the new cards in action, with a high-risk chance of something going explosively awry. And if you’re already in the middle of an epic Arena run that won’t be finished before December 9, don’t worry—just make sure to log in during the pre-launch period, and you’ll be good to go.
You’ll be able to permanently add Goblins vs Gnomes cards to your collection by purchasing packs, using dust, or earning Arena rewards when Goblins vs Gnomes packs will be available to purchase via the in-game Shop upon the official release of Goblins vs Gnomesthe expansion officially launches in Europe on December 9th! Until then, it’s a great time to hop into the Arena and tinker with all the new Mechs and other devices that’ll be available for players to collect next week. New strategies and card choices await, so dive in to the Arena today!
Goblins vs Gnomes
- Don’t let Goblins and Gnomes have all the fun building things: All Goblins vs Gnomes cards have been added to the Arena and can be chosen even if you do not have them in your Hearthstone collection.
- All Goblins vs Gnomes cards can be found easily in My Collection using the search function, and all Goblins vs Gnomes cards have a “gear” watermark in the card text box.
- Expert card packs have been renamed to “Classic” card packs. Classic card packs are still available to acquire in the in-game Shop as well as through Crafting Mode.
- New minion type “Mech” has been added. Use Mechs along with other Mechs for surprising (often devastating) results!
- An all-new interactive Goblins vs Gnomes-themed game board has been added. Turn the gears, wind the springs, and try not to blow anything up in the process. We warned you.
General
- Spectator Mode has been added. Watch your friends play through their games of Hearthstone and observe their epic victories all with the click of a button! Spectator Mode is accessed through the Friends list by clicking on the “Spectate Match” button next to your friend’s name.
Card Changes
- Flare now costs 2 mana, up from 1.
- Flare allowed the Hunter an advantage versus decks that revolve around Secrets, while also allowing the Hunter to draw a card for little cost. We want to encourage a variety of decks in Hearthstone. With this change, Flare will continue to be useful against Secrets decks, but will be weaker against other decks.
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer now costs 6 mana, up from 5.
- Gadgetzan Auctioneer’s ability allows for a player to potentially draw many cards for little cost. Card draw and card advantage are important to the game – overall, games are less interesting when a player draws their entire deck. This change brings Gadgetzan Auctioneer’s cost more in line with its power level.
- Soulfire now costs 1 mana, up from 0.
- Soulfire, along with fast and powerful minions, allowed Warlock rush decks to get ahead on the board and stay ahead. We’ve upped Soulfire’s mana cost by 1 to slow down the Warlock rush deck just a bit and allow more players time to react and interact against the Warlock.
Bug Fixes
- The left-most enemy minion can once again be targeted on a full board if Counterspell counters a Secret.
- Nozdormu, self-proclaimed “Master of Time”, once again gives players 15 seconds a round instead of 30.
- Blood Imps will no longer target Imp Masters with no life left. It’s dead, Jim.
- Baron Rivendare in the Naxxramas Adventure has fixed his heater and will no longer cast Frostbolt on himself.
- Faceless Manipulators will now copy the Echoing Ooze as well as its effect.
- Faceless Manipulators will now copy the Echoing Ooze as well as its effect.
- Faceless Manipulator now functions properly when targeting minions with Enrage that refuse to follow the rules.
- Druid of the Claw is embracing his wild side and now becomes a Beast minion type upon switching Cat Form or Bear Form.
- Multiple mechanical minions have been upgraded to Mechs, unlocking additional synergy with other Goblins vs Gnomes cards: Harvest Golem, Damaged Golem, Alarm-o-Bot, Demolisher, Mechanical Dragonling, and all of Gelbin Mekkatorque’s AWESOME inventions.
- Kel’thuzad’s mastery of undeath has been tempered and it will no longer resurrect itself after perishing at the hands of Ragnaros the Firelord.
- Gnomes have been hard at work fixing Goblin “upgrades”, forcing our engineers to step in and fix the fixes that the gnomes “fixed”. Ultimately, a number of display issues and other bugs have been resolved.