New Hearthstone expansion, Fractured in Alterac Valley, will introduce a Horde vs Alliance rivalry and each player can pick their desired side to join. Based on the side you pick, you will get a free Legendary card of the faction leader right away and once expansion launches, you will progress through a Legendary Quest chain containing various rewards where at the end, you will be awarded with another free Legendary, the opposing faction leader. So you will end up with both of them, only difference is when!
- You get the legendary you pick today!
- You get the legendary from the opposing side once you finish the Legendary Quest chain.
- From December 7th to January 11th, all players will earn Honor for their side by playing the game.
- Honor can be gained in Traditional, Arena, and Duels Modes.
- Gaining Honor will progress you through Legendary Quest chain, where you get additional rewards.
- 10 Honor for every game played
- 10 more Honor for every game won (20 total)
- 20 more Honor for every game won versus an opponent from the enemy faction (40 total)
- At the end of the event, the total Honor for both sides will be tallied and all players will receive Diamond copy of the winning faction leader.
Once you log-in to the game today, you will be presented with a choice to pick between the Horde leader Drek'Thar and Alliance leader Vanndar Stormpike.
Quote From Blizzard Patch 21.8, launching today, paves the way for Hearthstone’s next expansion with balance changes, Fractured in Alterac Valley pre-purchase, and more!
Choose Your Faction, Claim Your Leader
Next time you log in to Hearthstone, you will get to choose between Horde and Alliance! Your choice comes with a different free Golden Legendary ahead of the expansion. Joining the Horde will instantly get you the mighty Drek’Thar, of the Frostwolf clan! Those who aid the Alliance will instantly receive the stout Vanndar Stormpike, leader of the Stormpike Dwarves!
Fight for Honor and Battle for Alterac Valley!
After the expansion launches, from December 7 to January 11, all players will compete for Honor in order to receive even more free rewards and to claim ultimate victory for their faction! You gain Honor by playing and winning during the eligible period:
- 10 Honor for every game played
- 10 more Honor for every game won (20 total)
- 20 more Honor for every game won versus an opponent from the enemy faction (40 total)
Honor can be gained in Traditional, Arena, and Duels Modes. As you gain Honor, you climb the ranks within your faction and progress a Legendary Quest chain that takes you through the Alterac Valley battlefields and rewards cards from the expansion! All players who complete the Quest chain will receive the same total end rewards, including a Golden copy of the enemy faction’s leader. The order of the rewards depends on which faction you choose, and will be revealed closer to release!
At the end of the event, all Honor will be tallied and the winning faction’s accomplishment will be forever enshrined in Hearthstone, because every player will receive a Diamond copy of the winning faction’s leader card (Drek’Thar or Vanndar)! Every time a player opens their Collection, they will remember this glorious battle!
Which side will you pick? Horde or Alliance? Tell us in the comments.
Comments
Really would prefer Vanndar Stormpike based on what type of decks I usually enjoy laying.
That being said, for the horde! I'll never pick Alliance over Horde :P
I'm a control player at heart, but Drek'Thar is just way better and aggro decks are basically cockroaches in every meta due to their cheap nature and playstyle.
With Vanndar Stormpike, I wonder if he'd work if you played Hemet, Jungle Hunter before hand?
It'll definitely work if you play Hemet first... and also have no 4-drop minions left in your deck. Vanndar has to cost LESS than every remaining minion.
Based on the wording, if you reduce the cost of Vanndar, that should also be taken into account.
I hope horde wins the card art looks sweet
I am hoping so hard that Alliance wins. Not for any lore reasons, but because I will not be able to bear it if Diamond Drek'thar serves as a constant reminder that Hearthstone favors aggro. They'd better give control decks some decent support this expansion, because between the ridiculous unanswerable Druid boards, Mr Smite, and uninteractive face-burning questlines, I'm finding it harder and harder to have fun playing this game, while being frustrated and saddened that the hundreds of dollars I've invested in getting cool late-game legendaries are going completely to waste.
The horde is also better than the alliance though so not just aggro
This. Well said.
totally agreed. well said.
Drek'Thar because:
1. It's good in most aggro decks and more reliable than Stormpike. To get Stormpike effect you need to fill your deck with 5+ mana minions, pray to get and play him as fast as possible and be lucky with later draws (because he only works on minions in deck). At this point you probably will be dead.
2. FOR THE HORDE!
I went with Vanndar Stormpike. I've tried a Shadow N'Zoth Priest, Big Demon DH (without Proving Grounds) and an Antonidas Fire Mage and they all seemed fun. The Fire Mage is probably a terrible idea but I liked the idea of 2 mana Sanctum Chandler and 5 mana Grand Magus Antonidas.
I’m interested in trying out a turbo C’thun Rogue using Drek’tharr :D
Vandarr is interesting too, but eh. He just screams “put me in a big deck” while being anti-thetical to everything it wants to do… he’s a battlecry first and foremost.
just thought that we need an Out Of Cards event, Horde vs Alliance!
I preffer a control style much more but... The horde just ñures me in... Will wait to play the new nice control card
FOR THE HORDE >:)
First of all, I love this idea. Choice in legendary is a great thing. The factions fighting is a great story, love to see more battle grounds get into HS. Speaking of story I actually liked the United in Stormwind stuff so far. Can't wait to see where it concludes! Now to the cards:
Vanndar Stormpike I love this effect but feels real slow. Wish his stats were a bit beefier too. Seems rough to put him in what I currently use as Commencement Warrior. But I can see it in a slower priest or ramp druid.
Drek'Thar This is just the faster and potentially stronger card. I think this is going to be the winner for sure. I just see him fitting easily into a lot of classes. The less than 4 cost thing is a bit restrictive. I can see some aggressive classes wanting 1 or 2 5-7 cost for finishers (Mr. Smite).
Both fun build arounds, like the deck building restriction of card costs. However my choice is clear. I played an Orc Shaman in WoW so For the Horde!
Speaking purely anecdotally, Vandarr has felt like he's made a huge difference in Amulet N'Zoth Priest, Commencement Warrior, and Big Demon Demon Hunter. I haven't gotten around to trying him in Clown Druid or Corrupt Priest yet, but I imagine he'd slot in well there too. Even if Vandarr doesn't end up being good in the long run, it feels really good for slow decks to get some payback in the early meta against faster stuff like Taunt Druid and Handbuff Paladin. Now if only someone would delete Handlock...
Could you share Amulet Priest list?
For sure! Here's the list I'm currently running: https://outof.cards/hearthstone/decks/31084-amulet-nzoth-priest. I've seen mostly Shadow Amulet Priest builds on ladder, but I feel like the extra healing from Holy cards/your hero power is more valuable than a proactive hero power. Still tinkering a lot, but this build has felt like a low tier-2 deck--I've been yo-yoing between Diamond 4 and 2 with a winrate that's just a tick higher than 50%. The main issues (as with all slow decks) are Quest Mage and Questlock... you win those two "fun" and "interactive" matchups so rarely that it's actually probably worth conceding as soon as you see them play the quest, but pretty much everything else is winnable. (I did find out the hard way that this deck loses to Mozaki Mage. -_-)
I'm actually watching Kibbler play a Amulet Priest.
I believe both are good cards for sure. I just think Drek'Thar being faster gives him the edge. I went horde and am enjoying Drek'Thar. Having a lot of fun with a Deathrattle Demon Hunter with a lower curve.
Agreed. When I first saw Drek'Thar, I immediately thought of Grim Necromancer, which is right on the edge of playability (it seems to me like it almost always pops up in early versions of board-flooding decks before getting cut in more refined lists). Given that his stats and (usually) the stats of the minions he summons are quite a bit more threatening than a 2/4 and a couple 1/1s, I feel like he'll be a staple of faster minion-based strategies for quite a while.