The current meta is getting increasingly stale, with aggro themed pirate decks rushing to hit the face, and control decks trying to counter them in every possible way. People had even vented their frustration at a livestream event featuring game director Ben Brode and game designer Dean Ayala. With Shaman being too overpowered as a class, the new pirate cards buff shaman to the point where it’s almost unbeatable and has answers to every situation on the board. So is the cancer of warrior, and their habit of smorcing you to death (or hitting you in the face repeatedly till you die), with their habit of conceding if you put up a few taunt minions in self defense. Meanwhile, Hunter and Paladin have been wiped clearly off the scene, and game director Ben Brode had promised to “look into it” in the next expansion.
A leak off the resume of a voice actor, Lani Minella has surfaced from the Internet and ended up as a hectic discussion on Reddit (expansion or adventure? big question!) The resume suggests a new expansion (or adventure) by the name of ‘Hearthstone : Lost Secrets Of Un’Goro’, where she is said to have voiced minions like the Golakka Crawler,Pteradactyl, Anklesaur,Hydra and the Brontosaurus. She had voiced minions like the Cult Master,Arathi Weaponsmith and the Imp Master. These minions are likely to be cards in the upcoming expansion (or adventure). It is a direct reference to the Un’Goro crater of World Of Warcraft, where dino mobs rampage with no human habitation to stop them, and where Titans performed experiments for the creation of new life forms in Azeroth.
Blizzard is known to have used leaks in various forms before the actual announcement of an expansion or adventure. Does this signify a new adventure or creature? Probably does, as voice acting seems to be done and wrapped up, with Blizzard’s community managers looking into every forum (including Reddit) where the leak is being discussed, to try and understand the needs of the community and tweak the expansion to that effect. Trying and controlling the community’s outburst at the large number of aggro pirate decks, while also hinting at a Hunter and Paladin buff in the future (more likely Hunter, since the location synchronizes with the Beast synergy of Hunter). With The Grand Tournament, League Of Explorers and Blackrock Mountain rotating out soon, people are going to need new favorite cards (in place of Reno Jackson, because let’s face it, if you’re playing Hearthstone, you’re probably not going to be rich anytime soon).
Is a new expansion coming up, or is it an adventure? Will it introduce a new class of “Dinosaur” among the minions? What new mechanics will be introduced? And finally, will the badly nerfed classes of Hunter and Paladin (especially Hunter) ever see the light of competitive and ranked play in the upcoming expansion (and drastic changes in the meta?) A lot of questions remain unanswered , and its upto Blizzard to clear them all, when the time is right.