Hello everybody and welcome back to another Fan Community Spotlight. Our previous installment was a follow-up to an installment from a while ago covering a class that has received some updates. The same story applies to this installment as well. A month ago, I covered Trouble in Thunder Bluff, which is a set that added a new Tauren mini-type which has synergy with locations, a new Ability keyword, and a flavor emphasis on role-playing.

Today we're back to cover the mini-set that has since been added to the base expansion, titled Boss Fight in Mulgore. The entire set can be viewed here, but this article is strictly covering the mini-set.

The keyword of the main set that also reappears in the mini-set is Ability (X). While you control a card with Ability on it, you will have a card in your hand associated with the card in question that functions as a spell, but isn't actually a spell (and uses a different card frame). A more detailed explanation can be found on the article on the main set.

Let's give it up for Art to see the new cards for this set.

What is the mini-set about and how does it tie with the main set?

Art: "Boss fight in Mulgore is about, well... a boss fight. The Venture Company has built a gigantic robot to destroy Thunder Bluff and force all the taurens to leave this place. But our heroes have banded together to fend off this machine.

This theme is a huge reference to role-playing game. There's always a boss fight, and here it is. While the main set was more focused on Thunder Bluff, this one is more about fighting the Venture Company.

All the forces of the Venture Company are now unleashed, who will win this battle?"

How did you want to design the mini-set in relation to the base set? What cards do you think best signify what the mini-set is about?

Art: "To be honest, I had no idea of what the mini-set would be. It was hard to find a nice plot that fit the main set. But I think the card that gave me the idea for the boss fight was Defeat the Boss. So I've been trying to create cards that give the same feeling as this one.

Interviewer's note: Defeat the Boss is a card that we covered in the main set article, but is relevant to the information in this context.

First of all, what would an epic battle be without heroes? But there is a problem, the heroes are already made. What I did is that I created the apprentice cycle. These are minions with a keyword that gain +1/+1 if you already control a minion with the same keyword.

My favorite is the Duelist's Apprentice. It gives the taunt warrior (which is the main archetype of the warrior series) a nice 3-drop.
And then there are the bad guys. They didn't get a specific mechanic but two unique legendaries.

The first one is Goldastraz, a dragon that leaves a chest when it dies. Destroy it and Goldastraz will come back to life! Last but not least is The Destruct-0-Tron! This card is spicy. It's a pretty strong 9-drop, but the threat doesn't come from its 4 keywords. If it's still on the board after one turn, that's a 10-damage aoe you're going to take in the face!"

Are there any other cards you wish to highlight for any particular reason?

Art: "I said the bad guys didn't get a specific mechanic. I lied. Hunter did. I didn't have enough time to develop it for the main set, so I added it in the mini-set. Here they are, the dynamites! Dynamites are like abyssal curses. They explode after 3 turns in hand dealing 6 damage to their owner. There are 3 cards that generate them, a 1-drop, a secret, and the hunter legendary: The Explosive Jaggy.

Jaggy can do a lot of damage to both players. It's a really dangerous card since your opponent can take advantage of it and kill you before you kill them.

Another class that has some cool cards is Warlock. Of them all, Armed to the Teeth is my favorite. It summons 7 Insignificant Characters, a Trouble in Thunder Bluff token that gives its stats equal to its Attack to another insignificant character when it dies. If your opponent has no aoe, it can be hard to kill all the minions. You'll have to kill a 1/1, then a 2/2, a 3/3... it's like a reversed Rattlegore!"

Do you have anything behind the scenes that you wish to share?

Art: "Of course, here are some cool anecdotes.

This mini-set was created rather quickly. Many of the cards are excess cards from the main set that were too weird or not finished. For example, Monster Bait and Trickery were originally planned for the main set. I found the right version of these cards too late to keep them.

Twilight is a reference to Sunrise, the paladin location from the main set.

Shadowhoof was supposed to be the rogue legendary from the main set. He has been replaced by Hooktusk, which fits more the theme.

Goldastraz was not supposed to be part of the mini-set. Instead, it was Blademaster Olkaz. This card was cool, but there were too many broken interactions with it."

Do you have anything else you wish to share?

Art: "This mini-set was cool to make. I think that it's a nice addition to the main set.

I hope people liked the whole set, it was released later than I expected but it's finally here.

Have fun on Hearthstone!"

That will conclude this week's follow-up installment, but there is a lot more to see in Trouble in Thunder Bluff and Boss Fight in Mulgore. You can see the full set by clicking the banner below.