United in Stormwind is Hearthstone’s newest expansion

The next set in Hearthstone has been announced, and it’s called United in Stormwind. Featuring a heavy focus on the Alliance, the lore of the set is based largely in the titular capital city. The set will release on August 3 and feature 135 new cards. Blizzard already started revealing cards today, and will continue to do so until the set releases.

The set will also feature a new keyword called Tradeable. The effect is meant to represent the various shopkeepers, bakers, and other merchants that peddle their wares in Stormwind. Cards with the Tradable keyword can be played normally, or for one mana, you can put the card back in your deck and draw a different one. The card you draw might be better or worse, but having built-in hand filtering as a keyword is a great option to have. This should be especially helpful in toolbox decks.

This new set will also feature brand new Questlines. You will be able to take on special three-part quests that are tied to certain mercenary heroes. During each quest, you will start the game with a Legendary Questline spell card in your hand. Each card will have certain conditions that you must fulfill, be it playing certain types of cards, or having extra effects take place during the game. Each card has three tiers of progression, and if you meet all three requirements, that mercenary hero will join you as a Legendary minion. These characters will also probably tie into the upcoming Mercenaries Mode.

New cards and modes coming soon

There will also be new Mount spells. These spells power up your other minions, and when the rider of the mount dies, the mount will remain on the field. There are also new weapon cards called Profession Tools. These cards don’t have any attack power, but have passive abilities that activate under certain conditions. These are usually tied to specific classes or types of minions and typically offer a tradeoff of some sort for extra power or a bonus effect.

United in Stormwind marks the beginning of Phase 2 of the Year of the Gryphon for Hearthstone. You can take a look at the roadmap below. Phase 2 will bring some big changes to the Battlegrounds format, including the launch of cosmetics exclusive to the mode. There will also be the usual updates to Duels, Tavern Brawls, and Solo Experiences throughout the year. Lastly, the aforementioned Mercenaries Mode will launch sometime during phase 2.

As usual when a new set drops, you can pre-purchase a United in Stormwind Mega Bundle. This bundle will include 80 packs, five golden packs, two random golden Legendary cards, the Lady Katrana Prestor Mage alternate Hero, the Lady Katrana Prestor card back, the Ve’nari alternate Battlegrounds Bartender, and exclusive perks for Battlegrounds. The standard pre-purchase bundle includes 60 packs, two random Legendary cards, and the Lady Katrana Prestor card back. The Mega Bundle will cost you a whopping $79.99 USD, while the standard bundle will still cost you $49.99 USD. Both bundles are available for purchase now on battle.net.

Lots to do before heading to Stormwind

The 20.8 patch also launches today, which contains loads of changes for Battlegrounds. You can check out the full patch notes here. Once you login after the patch is downloaded, you’ll get a free copy of Flightmaster Dungar. You also have five more days to join the Fire Festival before it ends on July 6.