The next Hearthstone expansion has been revealed, titled The Grand Tournament. A total of 132 unique cards will be part of the expansion, expected to arrive sometime in August 2015, that will also bring the addition of a new keyword: Inspire. The Inspire flavor text will only be activated when a player uses their Hero Power, adding a nice layer of complexity and diversifying plays in a creative fashion. Expect plenty of new minions from various types to be part of the expansion, ranging from dragons to pirates and ogres, and even the Shaman will get a playable Totem card. To continue with the theme, a new game board will also be added to play.
Read: Hearthstone: The Journey to Legend
Blizzard Entertainment gave a sneak peek of some of the cards that will be heading to The Grand Tournament expansion:
- Lock and Load (Hunter spell): 2 cost with “Each time you cast a spell this turn, add a random Hunter card to your hand.”
- Maiden of the Lake (Neutral): 4 cost, 2/6 minion with “Your Hero Power costs (1).”
- Nexus-Champion Saraad (Legendary): 5 cost, 4/5 minion with “Inspire: Add a random spell to your hand.”
- Coldarra Drake (Mage): 6 cost, 6/6 Dragon with “You can use your Hero Power any number of times.
- Lowly Squire (Neutral): 1 cost, 1/2 with “Inspire: Gain +1 Attack.”
- Frost Giant (Neutral): 10 cost, 8/8 with “Costs (1) less for each time you used your Hero Power this game.”
- Skycap’n Kragg (Legendary): 7 cost, 4/6 Pirate with “Charrrrrge Costs (1) less for each friendly Pirate.”
With The Grand Tournament expansion, Blizzard is changing up how the Arena will reward packs, making it so that players have a chance to receive a Grand Tournament card pack, a Goblins vs. Gnomes card pack or a Classic card pack whenever a pack is awarded.
Lastly, The Grand Tournament will offer a pre-purchase option, allowing players to pre-purchase a bundle of 50 Grand Tournament card packs for $49.99 starting next week. In addition to having 50 packs ready to open when the expansion goes live, the bundle includes a new fancy card back.
