Blizzard has begun previews of its next Hearthstone expansion: Whispers of the Old Gods. The set represents more than just more cards to the world’s most popular online card game, but will also bring with it a format change to how tournaments work.
Whispers of the Old Gods is yet another 134 card expansion for Hearthstone. It is thematically less colourful or quirky as the last two expansions, instead focusing on some sort of corruption brought by forgotten Lovecraftian horrors.
Several cards already previewed are twisted versions of existing cards. For instance, the Corrupted Healbot heals your opponent for eight life when it dies, which is an inversion of the Ancient Healbot that heals the player for the same amount when it enters play.
In addition to being a new expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods introduces block rotation to Hearthstone. From then on, tournaments will be played under the standard format. Standard only allows cards from expansions from the current and previous calendar year; in addition to the classic set. In other words, only three expansions will be legal for tournaments at any time.
The other format is being called wild. This allows players to use cards from all expansions, although it will not be used for official tournaments. Additionally, the Arena will default to the wild format.
Whispers of the Old Gods packs can be pre-ordered today in 50 pack bundles. Pre-orders will receive a special card back as a bonus. The set itself is scheduled to be released late April or in early May.
[Source: Hearthstone]
