[2019] Hearthstone at BlizzCon Day 1 Recap

BlizzCon 2019’s opening ceremony has concluded, the demo floor is open, and the Hearthstone team   gave us a dragon’s eye view of what’s on the horizon for seasoned tavern-dwellers and Hearthstone newcomers, alike. Read on for an overview of what went down on day 1 of BlizzCon for Hearthstone:

Here Come the Dragons:

The Year of the Dragon takes flight in Descent of Dragons, Hearthstone’s newly announced expansion hitting the tavern on December 10.

The fight between the League of E.V.I.L. and the League of Explorers has taken to the skies above Dragonblight. It seems that not all Plagues were contained in Uldum, and Rafaam plans to leverage his bounty of larceny to resurrect a great power thought long defeated – the progenitor of dragonkind, Galakrond. In addition to awakening this ancient terror, Descent of Dragons will introduce 135 new cards, the new Invoke keyword, Sidequests, and tons of awesome new gameplay moments!

For more details on Descent of Dragons, including how to pre-purchase for Legendary rewards, check out the links below:

• Announcing Descent of Dragons
• Galakrond Details
• Pre-purchase Descent of Dragons

Welcome to the Battlegrounds:

Hearthstone didn’t come to BlizzCon just on the backs of dragons. We also introduced Hearthstone Battlegrounds, the brand-new auto-battling game mode that brings a strategic, 8-player experience to the tavern. In Battlegrounds, you’ll take on the role of a familiar Hero straight out of Hearthstone history, craft a powerful board of recruited Minions, and face-off in an action-packed series of duels until a single winner is crowned! For more details on Hearthstone Battlegrounds, check out our introduction blog here:

• Battlegrounds Intro

What’s Up at the What’s Next Panel:

• Your Palakrond, Galakrond:
  • The League of E.V.I.L. has escaped Uldum with the Plague of Undeath and set their sights on resurrecting the most powerful draconic force Azeroth has ever known, Galakrond. Game developers Liv and Hadidjah showed off ‘Galakrond, the Unspeakable,’ the Priest manifestation of the new Hero Card, as well as some devoted dragon cultists and powerful spells to aid you in invoking (or defeating) this time-lost terror.
    • Check them out: [[Galakrond, the Unspeakable]], [[Devoted Maniac]], [[Time Rip]], [[Toxic Reinforcements]], [[Learn Draconic]]
• Dragons on a Larger Scale:
  • In addition to Galakrond in his many forms, Liv and Hadidjah held a lantern to some of the other scaled serpents taking to the skies in our upcoming expansion. In Descent of Dragons, every class will have access to powerful new dragon allies with terrifying Battlecry effects.
    • Take a look at a few here: [[Azure Explorer]], [[Primordial Explorer]], [[Ysera, Unleashed]], [[Malygos, Aspect of Magic]], [[Deathwing, Mad Aspect]], [[Waxadred]]
  • We also got a sneak peek at a few of the new Dragon Breath cards lighting up the board in Descent of Dragons:
    • [[Sand Breath]], [[Candle Breath]], [[Corrosive Breath]]
• On my Battle-Grind:
  • Game designers Mike and Conor took some time to dig into the more intricate details of Battlegrounds, Hearthstone’s new 8-player game mode hitting the tavern in just a few days!
    • Take a look at all of the cards and Heroes available in Battlegrounds HERE.

The Hearthstone Global Finals are Underway:

In Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas—48 players battled it out in weekly online play during Seasons 1 and 2 of Grandmasters. Six players were relegated from the competition, while six more ran the Playoff gauntlet to secure their place at the Hearthstone Global Finals.

In China, the field was wider, with a Playoff bracket determined by the victors from a pool of 64 veterans and an open pool of 1024 players represented at several live events over the course of the year. It’s all boiled down to two players from the region joining the best from the rest of the world at BlizzCon.

These players have butted heads in some epic matches during day 1, but a winner won’t be crowned until tomorrow. Be sure to tune in at www.twitch.tv/playhearthstone

We hope you’ve enjoyed the show so far, if you haven’t already, be sure to pickup a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket so you can claim your goodies and tune in to tomorrow’s show.