Hey, folks! We're back with another article looking at the various callbacks in Whizbang's Workshop, this time looking the freshly revealed mini-set, Dr. Boom's Incredible Inventions. The references are spread out very uneavenly for each class, so we'll instead group them by reveal days. Be sure to catch up on our other articles in the series:
- Part 1: Neutral, Death Knight, Demon Hunter
- Part 2: Druid, Hunter, and Mage
- Part 3: Paladin, Priest, and Rogue
- Part 4: Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior
Without further ado, let's get into it!
Day 1 - Druid, Priest, and one Neutral
The first day of the reveals was also the most packed with callbacks, with a whopping 4 (potentially 5) cards referencing Hearthstone's Past. Starting things off with Toyrantus, an homage to Tyrantus, the Druid Legendary minion from 2017's Journey to Un'Goro. This toy version of the big dino ends up with the same stats and keywords as the original, though admitedly a later version that got buffed. The Battlecry can also be seen as a callback to the Omega mechanic from 2018's Boomsday Project.
Moving over to the Neutral side of things, we have Puppetmaster Dorian, a clear nod to Dollmaster Dorian from 2018's The Witchwood expansion. Dorian is a character created for Hearthstone, and promotional material at the time tells us he creates dopplegangers of people that he controls as he pleases. His new effect is a nice remix of his old one, giving you 1/1 copies of minions you draw rather than summoning them. His exclusion from the base expansion was a bit baffling, so it's nice he managed to make it in the mini-set.
Last, but certainly not least, is Priest, whose entire package is callbacks. First, we have Funhouse Mirror, a common single-target version of Soul Mirror from 2020's Ashes of Outland. The Soul Mirror is an artifact that allows the one who posesses it to communicate with the souls of the dead, or, in the case of the Hearthstone card, attack them. This is the only Priest card to reference another card, as the other two are more meta.
Up next, Delayed Product looks to be a reference to Unicorn Priest, which we talked more about in out third article, since the card Purifying Power references the same thing (and this looks to be the same unicorn in both artworks). The name might also be a nod to the fact that it took a while for Priest to be be playable.
Finally, there's Puppet Theatre, which references, of all things, a Hearthstone cinematic. More specifically, it's about the Galakrond's Awakening Cinematic, where Arch-Villain Rafaam and Reno the Relicologist put up a puppet show explaining what happened in the previous expansions story-wise. We know that's Rafaam in the card's artwork because of the spooky eyes and the E.V.I.L. logo on the wall. Man, I miss single player stuff...
Day 2 - Hunter and Mage
Hunter's Legendary for the set, Product 9, is a reference to Subject 9, a sapient raptor in WoW attempting to espace a secret lab in Azshara. In Hearthstone, she's a Neutral Legendary that appearead in 2018's The Boomsday Project, with a lot more robotic parts than her WoW counterpart. The original version drew 5 Secrets from the deck, while the new one will simply recast your triggered secrets.
Darkmoon Magician is... a little baffling. It doesn't seem to fit into the mini-set theme at all, and I'm not even sure if it's a reference to 2020's Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, or simply a character that hails from there. I suppose the effect is somewhat reminiscent of Chaotic Tendrils, which are clearly created by the old god Yogg-Saron, who appearead in that expansion.
This looks like a good place to talk about the Pack cycle. Wilderness Pack, Standardized Pack and Twisted Pack all clearly reference the packs you can buy in Hearthstone, but the names are also references to the 3 main constructed game modes (R.I.P. Duels). Furthermore, the art is the same composition as the Un'Goro Pack generated by Elise the Trailblazer, but we'll have to see if they work the same (the cards generated by that pack followed the same logic as real packs, but with far better odds for cards).
Day 3 - Warrior and Demon Hunter
The only notable reference here is Gibbering Reject, a nod to Feral Gibberer and Gibberling. This is more of a recurring mechanic/theme, similar to the many Patrons we've seen throughout the years. The various Gibberers are unique to Hearthstone, and seem to be a species that can muliply rapidly and become a real nuisince.
Speaking of recurring mechanics, Bombs are back in Standard thanks to Safety Expert and Explodineer. This is a mechanic that was introduced in The Boomsday Project via Seaforium Bomber, and was expanded upon in 2019's Rise of Shadows with Clockwork Goblin, Wrenchcalibur, and Blastmaster Boom. You could even make an argument the Burrowing Mine generated by Iron Juggernaut to be a precursor to this.
Day 4 - Paladin, Rogue and Shaman
Not much in terms of direct callbacks here. Closest is Whack-A-Gnoll, which has +1/+1 buff that's similar to Whack-A-Gnoll Hammer form Darkmoon Faire, though the class is wrong (as are the hammers in the art), and Wave of Nostalgia depics several Legendaries from the past, like C'Thun, Ragnaros the Firelord and... Brann Bronzebeard?! How is he nostalgic? There's a version of him currently in standard!
Rocket Hopper is an interesting one. While the card itself isn't a reference, its flavour text is, and to a recent event at that. One of the cards released in Showdown in the Badlands (a.k.a. the previous expansion), the card Doctor Holli'dae equipped your hero with the Staff of the Nine Frogs. While the frogs depicted on the art are orange, the card itself would generate the usual green one, like from Hex. The community, uhm... brought this up to Blizzard, and a new version was made for the game.
Day 5 - Death Knight and Warlock
Unfortunately, we'll have to end this article on a bit of a whimper. The only real reference card is INFERNAL!, which is a nod to Lord Jaraxxus, who would yell the word whenever you'd use his Hero Power. The new minion even sets your remaining life to 15, which the original Jerry used to do (though that card changed your maximum Health to 15, while INFERNAL! seems to be more similar to Alexstrasza judging by the wording).
Other than that, there's Foamrender and Helm of Humiliation. The former's flavor text mentions Shadowmourne, a legendary weapon created to challange Frostmourne, the iconic weapon of The Lich King and one that's equiped when you play Scourgelord Garrosh, both cards hailing from 2017's Knights of the Frozen Throne.
The later looks to be a knock-off of the Helm of Domination, The Lich King's helmet, also from the aforementioned expansion. The Helm itself hasn't made it's way into Hearthstone yet, but it allows Ner'zhul, the previous Lich King before Arthas, to talk to the bearer. It's origin was explored in the Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft.
What do you think of the callbacks in the mini-set? Any you noticed that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
I agree that Rafaam is Iconic enough to have gotten a card in this set. But you can't get everyone. I would of loved another Hogger myself!
Happy Mini-set! Started with secret hunter with Product 9 myself. What's everyone else trying out first?
Small corrections: I think that was meant to be Toyrantus not Tyrantus picutre in the article. Also I believe it is "Helm of Domination" not Damnation for the Lich King.
Fixed both corrections, thanks! The Damnation part wasn't a typo, I genuinely thought that's what it was called.
I can't believe that the expansion that is all about toys and callbacks to previous expansions reduced the most important one into a background character of another card. I'm of course talking about Mini-Rafaam, the adorable surpreme archelogist.
Seriously, I think they are treating Rafaam pretty bad since the end of the year of the Dragon.