So the new Battlegrounds update has gone through. I must admit, seeing the two missing slots where I used to be able to pick Heroes irks me more than I remembered. I'm sure you've heard enough about people's thoughts on our new currency, so I won't bore you with mine - I'm excited to see more cosmetics, at least, even if I won't be using them myself. Spices up the game a little to see different things each game, y'know?

Conversation this week is about none of that, of course. We're Fan Creations here, mate!

Silent Srike

We start with a congratulations to FooBars for winning the latest Competition with Lady Deathwhisper!

They'll be in charge of the theme for the last competition of the Season - exciting!

Beach Episode

Sometimes you just need a nice break to sit down and relax. Where better to do that than the islands of this week's Spotlight, the wonderful "Holidays at Un'Gol Island" by Moondreamer! Sun, sea and cards - what more could you need?

This expansion interests me because it takes an existing mechanic - Tradeable - and uses it in addition to a new Keyword. Hearthstone hasn't actually done this itself yet outside of the Keywords that became Evergreen immediately, like Discover and Rush. I suppose you could argue that the Dragon-in-hand mechanic from Blackrock Mountain eventually returned in Descent of Dragons, but that feels like a bit more of a stretch than a full-on Keyword.

Now, I'm a huge fan of this. Re-using an old mechanic feels like it has to be an inevitability. Some of them were just so well received - like Tradeable, funnily enough - that to not return to them and expand upon them eventually would be a wasted opportunity.

One of the great things about fan creations is the ability to mix and match mechanics from over the years into something unique and interesting that never had the chance to shine in Hearthstone because Adapt wasn't from the same expansion as Frenzy, or whatever. Hearthstone dipped its toe into this with the year-end mini-sets, but you can get way more creative when you remove the barriers of specific expansions.

Click the link above to read the full interview, which contains a link to the full set!

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