14 DAY TRIAL // You can now play with Goblins vs Gnomes cards in Hearthstone, ahead of the expansion's official release on December 8.
The only catch is, you can only get the cards during arena runs. Those meddlesome Gnomes did it again! Apparently, due to a "miscalculation," Goblins vs Gnomes cards have entered the random pool from which arena cards are selected, enabling everyone to get an early look at some of the upcoming cards.
The latest client update has introduced a number of changes, including all the new cards, for players to get an early taste of all the new interactions.
In addition to getting a sneak peek at the new cards, developer Blizzard Entertainment has also awarded everyone logging in from now up until December 8 a free arena run ticket, in order to make sure that everyone gets to see the cards in action.
Those who are already in the middle of some hot arena action need not worry, as they only need to log into the game during the December 4 to December 8 period in order to gain the free arena ticket, and they will then be able to use it at their leisure.
Other changes
Furthermore, the Hearthstone balance changes Blizzard has recently talked about have also been introduced to the game, and now some pesky decks have been slightly de-peskified. Soulfire's mana cost has been upped to 1 from 0, the Hunter's Flare now costs 2 mana instead of a measly 1, and Gadgetzan Auctioneer, the card draw engine of the infamous Miracle Rogue deck, has a mana cost of 6, up from 5.
The update has also made some necessary modifications, such as adding some minion types to already existing ones, in order for them to work properly with the new cards.
For instance, Harvest Golem, a popular 3-drop, now has the Mech minion type, in both his initial and damaged form, enabling it to properly interact with the many Mech-based abilities of the new cards.
You won't be able to add the new cards to your library yet, but once the expansion officially launches on December 8, you'll be able to earn Goblins vs Gnomes card packs through arena runs and to permanently add cards to your collection by purchasing the new packs, earning arena rewards, or using dust to craft them.
The Goblins vs Gnomes cards will have a conveniently placed cog on them, in order to make identifying them easier when browsing your collection, and a new sorting category has been added to Collection View.
Furthermore, the regular card packs, formerly known as Expert Packs, are now dubbed Classic Packs, and a new pane has been added to the Shop interface, where players will be able to select which packs to purchase.
