Blizzard has showcased some of the new cards coming in the Galakrond's Awakening solo content!
- The new content will launch on January 21, with chapters releasing over 4 weeks.
- Each week brings us a new chapter and new cards.
- A total of 35 new collectible cards will be added to the game.
- The cards will be unlocked by progressing through the chapters.
- The whole adventure can be purchased for $20, or each chapter can be purchased individually for $7 or 700 gold.
New Cards
Four new cards have been revealed.
Cinematic Trailer
Quote From Blizzard Do you feel that? A chill swirls across the frozen wastes, glints of sunlight reflecting off the ice crystals carried by rising winds. But these winds carry more than frost…there’s an ill portent in Northrend as Dalaran soars in the skies and the final phase of an evil master plan is set into motion. In Dragonblight, the bones of an ancient power stir, and good and evil prepare for a clash that will save the world…or one that could bring about its utter destruction. And it all hinges on one name: Galakrond.
Introducing: Galakrond’s Awakening
Galakrond’s Awakening is the final solo adventure in the Year of the Dragon and will conclude the saga that began with The Dalaran Heist. When we last left our heroes and villains, the Tombs of Terror had been unsealed, spreading plagues across the sands of Uldum. The League of Explorers defeated the Plague Lords, but Arch-Villain Rafaam escaped with the Plague of Undeath. We now know why: to resurrect Galakrond, the progenitor of all dragons!
Will E.V.I.L. prevail and prove that Rafaam is truly the evilest of all villains? Will the Explorers defeat Rafaam and save the world? In this adventure, you have the power to choose. Galakrond’s Awakening is two stories in one, giving players the ability to play through both versions of the story and experience two completely different endings. Unlike The Dalaran Heist and Tombs of Terror, Galakrond’s Awakening returns to the classic linear adventure format, allowing you to progress through the story by completing individual boss encounters in order.
A Story of Good and E.V.I.L.
Each story contains four chapters, each one with three encounters for a total of 24 unique battles. In each encounter, you’ll take control of one of the heroes or villains you’ve seen this year, and you’ll be given a premade deck built specifically for that encounter. You’ll come up against some new and familiar faces; without saying too much, you’ll see more of some of the side characters you’ve grown to love including George and Karl.
After you finish a chapter, try your hand at the Heroic mode, where you’ll build your own deck to take on a more challenging experience. As a reward for clearing Heroic, you can earn two different card backs, one for Explorers and one for E.V.I.L.
Book of E.V.I.L.
Book of Explorers
The four chapters will roll out on a weekly basis like previous solo adventures. When Galakrond’s Awakening launches, you’ll be able to play through both the League of Explorers and League of E.V.I.L. versions of the first chapter. The first E.V.I.L. chapter will be free for all players, and the Explorers chapter will be available for purchase.
All individual chapters will be available for $6.99 or 700 gold each, which includes both the Explorers and E.V.I.L. side of the story. (The first chapter is the only exception: since the E.V.I.L. campaign is free, purchasing Chapter 1 gets you the Explorers campaign and three bonus cards.) The full adventure will be available for $19.99 and includes all chapters and all cards. Players can prepurchase the adventure starting today and get a Golden Classic Pack that will be available right away.
Collectible Cards Are Back!
Galakrond’s Awakening also marks the return of collectible card rewards that will become available to add to your collection. Over the course of the four chapters, a total of 35 cards will be unlockable by clearing encounters in both the Explorers and E.V.I.L. campaigns. Clear an encounter, get a card (sometimes two!). It’s that easy! As a bonus for purchasing the first chapter’s good campaign, you’ll get an additional three cards at the beginning of that chapter.
After you earn a card, you’ll also have the option to craft the golden version.
Here’s a quick view of how you’ll be able to unlock all 35 cards.
Chapter E.V.I.L. Campaign Rewards Explorers Campaign Rewards 1. (E.V.I.L.) 4 Cards - 1 (GOOD) - 4 Cards + 3 Bonus Cards 2 4 Cards 4 Cards 3 4 Cards 4 Cards 4 4 Cards 4 Cards TOTAL 16 cards 19 cards
A Peek into the Future
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the cards you’ll be able to earn in Galakrond’s Awakening.
Earned from Chapter 1 of the League of Explorers Campaign
Priests will add some extra Discovery utility – and a big bump of minion health – with Dark Prophecy. Combo this with other cards that buff minions for a variety of exciting new options.
Earned from Chapter 4 of the League of E.V.I.L. Campaign
This Paladin card can take a punch. Bringing back the Reborn mechanic introduced in Saviors of Uldum, Shotbot will stay on the board and combo extremely well with any of your Magnetic cards.
Earned from Chapter 4 of the League of E.V.I.L. Campaign
The rather horrifying Chaos Gazer will select a random card in your opponent’s hand and corrupt it, giving your opponent the tough choice of playing it immediately or losing it next turn. Chaos, indeed.
Earned from Chapter 4 of the League of Explorers Campaign
Reno may have been captured by Rafaam and subjected to endless rhyming puppet shows, but that won’t stop him from injecting some of his signature flavor into Galakrond’s Awakening. Play the Amazing Reno and all minions will disappear. Where did they go? Who knows? Reno definitely doesn’t. Truly amazing work, Reno.
The Chapters will unlock on the following dates.
- Chapter 1: January 21
- Chapter 2: January 28
- Chapter 3: February 4
- Chapter 4: February 11
That’s it for now. We’ll have more of the 35 cards to show off soon. We’ll see you in Northrend to retake Dalaran and save the world! Or soar with Rafaam to the highest heights of villainy? It’s your choice.
Comments
Just to be clear - the only difference between pre-ordering and buying the adventure with gold is a golden classic pack? No exclusive card back or anything?
Injured Tol'vir 2/9? Why not? :D
I loved the puppet show!
Like many others here, I'm curious how Reno's Battlecry actually works. Not to mention we don't know what his Hero Power is, so it's hard to judge the card atm.
Shot Bot looks like a great addition to Aggro Paladin decks. I'm actually glad they brought back Reborn because the whole "leaving keywords to specific sets" (i.e. Witch's Brew not having Echo) was genuinely one of the more confusing aspects of HS. I kind of hope this is a sign that the dev team has realized that this prior tradition is not really conducive to a CCG.
Chaos Gazer is an interesting card. It's a decent minion stat-wise for a Turn 3 play, but appears to be better suited for a later turn if you want to utilize the disruption effects.
Dark Prophecy looks kind of meh, but I started to think of old Combo Priest lists (shudders with disgust) and if people replaced Extra Arms with Dark Prophecy, it actually fits into Combo Priest fairly well. Does that mean Combo Priest is going to make a rebound? I really hope not.
Gotta say, I was never really a fan of tying card availability into the purchase of adventures. I’d rather be playing a live opponent than slogging away at solo content.
So if I read the wiki correctly, as long as the cards are in Standard they are uncraftable? Once in Wild they can be made with dust?
I am a little concerned that the normal-difficulty version uses a pre-built deck, with only the Heroic versions requiring deckbuilding. It seems like that would significantly lessen the replay value for weaker players.
They want to tell a story, so they had to make a compromise imho, also it actually helps players with small collections, so it is more new player friendly.
I agree that it's probably better for newer players, but let's be honest, HS is not in any way friendly to new players so I feel like that's a drop in the bucket :P
In grand scheme of things, i would agree with you, but at the same time, the last year they did make some big steps towards that and this looks like they want to keep going in that direction, which is good for players and obviously good for them, they want to grow their playerbase, or at least maintain it, when old players leave, new come in. They cant just do what they have been doing and keep the game sustainable that way.
At the same time, basing this adventure in "pre-built mode" besides your collection makes easier to new users to obtain, hopefully, some new meta-changer cards available to "everyone". Never forget Sludge Belcher , Undertaker, Reno Jackson and Brann Bronzebeard. Seems pretty fair to me :)
I'm still upset at how freaking long we had to wait for the solo content... Either i use my gold to buy packs, or i keep it for the solo...
Would be really cool if minions also disappeared from the graveyard. Priests would get the hard counter then.
Because Priests really need more misery right now? O.o
Well, I see your point. Not that I hate priests so much, just had a thought that it would be a really interesting mechanic and a cool tech feature against them =D
It would be interesting, and certainly a unique mechanic, but making a mechanic that basically deletes another archetype from the game probably wouldn't be all that healthy in the long run. And if that mechanic WERE printed, I'd want it to follow the crab tradition. Graveyard Crawler - 5 mana 1/1, battlecry: eat all 7+ cost minions that have died for your opponent this game and gain +1/+1 for each one.
Horribly, horribly broken. But funny.
I would really like to have them skip the reveals once in a while. Keep those cards a secret and let the players figure out new decks on release. This would be way more fun than having the pros put OP decks together way before the actual fun begins and most everyone else netdecking those. Maybe that would be too much with a whole expansion of 100+ cards, but with a smaller amount like this it would absolutely be possible.
I was of the same opinion, especially considering it would be more fitting for a smaller set like this, but Frosty made an astute observation, when patch hits, you would see all the cards in the crafting menu anyway, so it wouldnt be much of a surprise, they would get spoiled in advace either way. I mean obviously, this could be dealt with on Blizzard's side, but that would maybe require a patch on the release date and would bring back old launch day issues, maybe it could be solved some other way, dunno. Guess we will see in the future.
now that I think about it, all I really want from this story is to explain what E.V.I.L. stands for
...and maybe have some lasting repurcussions that might make future expansions interesting
At first I was like "yawn, more broken adventure cards we can't actually use in Standard."
And then I was like... oh shit.
This'll certainly be interesting.
Well Shotbot is fricking broken. Reno and the Warlock card are cool, tho.