We've got a card reveal coming in hot tonight from the Coin Conceded podcast. The cast is going to be interviewing Hearthstone's Game Director, Ben Lee, with a card reveal 40 minutes in.

I have updated the countdown timer on our website for the actual card reveal time and not the start of the podcast, but if you're interested, you can watch today's episode of Coin Concede live down below. We'll also be taking notes on anything Ben Lee has to say and provide updates down below.

Congratulations to the Coin Concede crew on episode 300!

Card Reveal

Touch of the Nathrezim Card Image

Ben Lee Interview Recap

Here's a summary of the Coin Concede interview with Ben Lee.

United in Stormwind / Year of the Gryphon

  • Some of the fan theories about the third expansion of the year are very close.
  • They want to end the year of "Classic WoW in Hearthstone" with something exciting and they hope they hit that mark.
  • Spell Schools came into development a bit later into the set than they may have liked.
  • Spell Schools will continue to grow as the game goes on. It has become a new tool for the team to create cards with.

Hearthstone Development

  • Ben and Dean both work on larger picture stuff within Hearthstone.
  • Over the past few weeks, Ben has been helping work directly on Mercenaries content. "Its a joy to create things"
  • Ben wants to see everyone on the Hearthstone team to succeed in their careers and be happy. He helps ensure this happens.
  • They have been researching more on AI for the future of Hearthstone.
  • The current AI in adventures is based on machine learning.
  • More machine learning in Hearthstone will help the development team create and test the game.
  • Ben further confirms that more minion types are being worked on for Hearthstone.
  • The size of Hearthstone's player base is so big that it can sometimes be hard to comprehend the numbers and is an enormous challenge.
  • Battlegrounds by itself is "probably top 3 on Steam" if it wasn't a part of Hearthstone.
  • The diverse player base of Hearthstone causes no true consensus within the community - especially true when you consider the different regions and even countries.
  • With so many players you can't just take it offline to fix things. Care must be taken to keep the service available.

Games Industry

  • The industry today gives players expectations of more. There is so much competition that it drives this further.
  • Live service games can eventually create boredom with players that have been playing a long time. 
  • They don't expect players to play every day forever, but they want new stuff available for when players return.

Hearthstone Misc

  • Hearthstone always is and always will be a Warcraft game for Ben. Not all people share that thought.
  • Hearthstone isn't Warcraft canon though so they can have fun with it. Sometimes they want to hit the hard Warcraft fantasy though.
  • Scholomance Academy had a basis in Warcraft but you could still understand the expansion's theme without having knowledge of it from the franchise.
  • The Hearthstone player base is super loyal to the game.
  • Players that came back when Battlegrounds came out could jump into it right away easily.
  • The new core set was a way to make the game more approachable and gets returning players back in easier.
  • They have more ideas for the future on increasing the accessibility of content in Hearthstone.
  • There are tons of players still playing Arena. Tons of games would love to have the number of players in Arena.
  • Arena has consistenty in the number of players.
  • The wider Hearthstone audience loves to experience what is new.
  • They will play everything new that comes out whether it be Battlegrounds, a new Expansion, or adventures.
  • Rewards Track had some stumbles initially but its been improved since then.
  • Ben originally said he'd be getting about 5000 Gold an expansion, he actually gets around double that.
  • Deckbuilding can be made easier for players with more minion types since they can identify what they should put in decks better.
  • Priest has been an interesting journey in learning for the team.
  • There are a huge number of players that enjoy the play style of Priest. Is it right that they can't play the way they want to play?
  • They need to figure out that middle ground with how Priest plays. They don't want players fighting Priests to always feel bad.
  • Too much card generation is obviously bad for the game. They never seem to hit the right balance with it.
  • In recent sets they have been trying hard to get the balance right for card generation. Ben thinks they're doing a better job now.

Ben Lee Hearthstone

  • Ben's favourite class is "definitely not Priest" - It is Warrior!
  • Ben has over 2000 wins with Warrior in Hearthstone.
  • Although that is his favourite deck, Ben is probably the person on the team that hates OTK decks the most.
  • Ben's favourite deck of all time is Molten Giant Worgen OTK from the beta era.

Ben Lee Gaming

  • Baldur's Gate 2 and Final Fantasy 7 are two of Ben's favourite games. Character development and advancement along with the stories = A+.
  • Ben also loves the Souls series and is really looking forward to Elden Ring.
  • In MMO and Strategy games, Ben has always identified with Warriors.
  • Ben loves Orcs and the depth they have in Warcraft. 

Ben Lee Personal

  • Ben Lee worked on RuneScape at one point.
  • Blizzard games have been a huge part of Ben's life.
  • Ben's way into the game industry was by learning how to create maps in Warcraft III.
  • Leading raids in World of Warcraft also helped Ben in becoming a leader and talking to different types of people.
  • Ben is grateful for the worlds and characters that have made a difference in his life. They've always been there for him when needed.

Watch Live

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Learn more about United in Stormwind

Head on over to our dedicated guide for United in Stormwind to learn more about the new expansion and to see all the revealed cards!

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