The much-awaited spring announcement for Hearthstone is coming! The announcement was teased on Twitter and Instagram with a short video clip showing cards floating towards mysterious ruins and the date of the announcement given as March 17th at 9 am Pacific Daylight Time (which is 5 pm Central European Time).
What can we see in the teaser? All the floating cards have the Classic card back, which could indicate the regular Hall of Fame rotation, but given the large number of cards shown, it could also indicate more extensive changes to the Classic set.
Players have speculated on a rotating Classic set for some years now, and perhaps the time is finally here.
There are four stone statues on the foreground: Lunara, Medivh, Morgl, and one character that I cannot recognize because the status is a bit further away and it is hard to see it properly.
It is hard to see what these characters have in common, but the fact that they are stone statues is interesting. There are some basilisks in Warcraft, but the main appearances of stone statues are the terracotta armies of the Mogu.
Speaking of Mogu, storms are also associated with them. Mogu Cultist, in fact, says that “the storm is coming.” Storms and thunder have a long history with the Mogu, as one of the villains that players faced in World of Warcraft during Mists of Pandaria was Lei Shen, The Thunder King.
Lei Shen, in turn, stole his storm powers from Highkeeper Ra, who also appears in Hearthstone – summoned by Mogu Cultists!
In World of Warcraft, players fought against Ra in Mists of Pandaria after defeating Lei Shen, and very recently Ra became an ally in the war against N’Zoth. Unfortunately, he was corrupted by N’Zoth and players had to fight him again, this time killing him.
So, what is the storm that is coming? Lei Shen? Ra? Corrupted Ra?
It seems likely that we are getting some kind of Mogu and Mists of Pandaria themed expansion.
There are still some gaps though.
First, I cannot recognize the place where the video is from. It is possibly underground and there are some ruins there, but where is it? Pandaria?
Second, I do not understand the line about darkness looming upon the garden. Which garden is that? Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the old seat of power of the Mogu, is kind of a garden. In ancient Warcraft history, Emperor Shaohao became one with the land there to prevent The Sundering from reaching Pandaria.
Vale of Eternal Blossoms is also known for its pools, one of which is underground in Mogu’shan Palace. Perhaps that is where the video takes place?
We will find out soon, but I have high hopes that this will be a Pandaria-themed expansion. It was a great expansion for World of Warcraft, and maybe it can be great for Hearthstone too.
Here’s the analysis on video, if you prefer that. Check out my youtube channel for lots of other Hearthstone videos too!