New Hearthstone expansion has giant multi-card minions

Recognizing that land was a mistake and our ancestors should never have left the oceans, Blizzard have announced that Heartstone will rectify that with the next expansion, Voyage To The Sunken City. The watery set of 135 new cards will visit the city of Zin-Azshari with new Naga critters and a monstrous new keyword, Colossal, which is for creatures so big that their body is spread across several cards. Unfathomable megafauna is my favorite part of water.

The new Naga minion type is a “permanent addition to Hearthstone,” Blizzard say in the expansion announcement, and “tend to give bonuses for playing spells while the Naga are in your hand.” New keyword Dredge lets you look at the bottom three cards of your deck and put one on the top; anything to search for cards is always welcome. And the Colossal keyword, well! It’s a big’un.

Colossal is for minions so vast that a single card cannot represent their entire body. Drop a Colossal unit onto the battlefield and it’ll automatically summon another card(s) representing more bodyparts. The vast 6/5 snapping turtle Colaque has a separate card for its shell, and the beastie is immune until you’ve destroyed the shell (a 0/8 with Taunt and Deathrattle: Gain 8 Armor). And the aquatic felhunter Xhilag Of The Abyss comes with four 1/2 tendrils which each deal 1 damage to a random enemy at the end of your turn, and which grow in damage every turn. And yes, Blizzard say, the appendages (actual official term) are summoned alongside the body “even if the Colossal minion wasn’t played from hand.”

For cards revealed so far, visit Blizzard’s virtual library.

Hearthstone: Voyage To The Sunken City will launch on the 12th of April. Log in now, as of Patch 22.6and you can get a week peek with a free copy of a Legendary minion, Blademaster Okani.

Blizzard’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, are currently embroiled in scandal and lawsuits alleging a culture of discrimination and harassment across Activision Blizzard. They’re fighting Raven Software QA workers attempting to unionise too. Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra recently said their top priority is to “rebuild your trust in Blizzard.” Despite all this, Microsoft are buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion (£50 billion).