Blizzard Hearthstone’s latest expansion, Showdown in the Badlands has gone live so log in to the game now to update your decks with the new cards, just because you can and you would want to.
The new expansion introduces new keywords: Quickdraw and Excavate, along with 145 new cards to unpack and insert into your current decks.
I was gifted the Megabundle pack by Blizzard which includes 80 packs, 10 Gold Packs, a random Signature Legendary, a random Gold Legendary, and the Ulfar Hero Skin + Card Back. Getting two Legendary (at least) will give you a good position in the expansion.
After opening all the packs, here are the other Legendary cards I got:
- Drilly the Kid (Rogue)
- Boomboss Tho’grun (Warrior)
- Reno, Lone Ranger
- Gunslinger Kurtrus (Demon Hunter)
- Pop’gar the Putrid (Warlock)
- Elise, Badlands Savior (Priest),
- Spirit of the Badlands (Paladin)
The two, new, keywords offer more gameplay dynamics and advantages over your opponents.
Quickdraw
Cards with Quickdraw keyword give bonus effect at the time you draw the card. This will only come into effect if you play the card on that same turn you get the card. Cards like Sunspot Dragon, Heat Wave, Misfire are great examples of the new cards with Quickdraw and give great benefits if you play them right away.
Excavate
Cards with the Excavate keyword get you random treasure cards . Every time you Excavate, you’ll get a random excavated treasure from whatever tier you’re on, then move to the next tier. After receiving a treasure from the last tier, you’ll start over. This is definitely great for those who play Control Board or like to flourish in the late game.
Excavate cards like Blastmage Miner rewards you for having many cards in hand, Slagmaw the Slumbering is a 16/16 creature that goes dormant for 8 turns but each excavate wakes it up 2 turns sooner. So there are definitely new cards that offer you to excavate for treasures but there are also some who take advantage of playing such cards and decks.
The new cards added into the expansion are great for all kinds of decks. Howdyfin is a good card if you are playing smaller, rush, minions to make sure you always have something to fill the board with. Reno being Reno, rewards you for not having duplicates on your deck. This time, he’ll clean the enemy board and limit it to just 1 minion for a turn. It’s an awesome card to counter those small, rush minion decks for sure. Too bad that he requires 8 Mana to play though. There are also Gunslinger Kurtrus, Elise Badlands Savior, Spirit of the Badlands that reward you for having non duplicates. In total, the Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, and Shaman class gets these Legendary minions that reward you for having no duplicates in your deck.
The expansion also adds more cards for those who are playing Elemental decks like the Overflow Surger and Living Prairie.
Warrior’s Detonation Juggernaut rewards decks with Taunt minions. Reinforced is a great new card to boost your armour by 6 for just 3 Mana + gives you an excavate treasure action. I’ve been playing the Armour Warrior deck lately and this card is a great one to be added into my deck. So does Blast Charge as it allows you to destroy a big minion while excavating a treasure after.
You can find out more about the expansion here.
