Showdown in the Badlands Brings New Cards, Game Mode, Rewards to Hearthstone
Hearthstone is getting 145 new cards in the latest expansion, Showdown in the Badlands. It’s coming on November 14, bringing Legendary outlaws, in-game events, and the new Quickdraw and Excavate keywords.
The new cards are in the card library here. A new Rewards Track is also coming, filled with XP boosts, card packs, single cards, and a motherlode of Gold.
Here’s everything else you need to know.
Pre-Release Theorycrafting
The launch of Showdown in the Badlands comes November 14 but before it drops, watch popular content creators try out the expansion from November 9 - 10. You can check out their livestreams to watch your favorites compete.
- NA/LATAM/EMEA players will play on November 9, 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. (PT)
- APAC players will play on November 10, 2:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. (PT)
All participants need to include at least 10 Showdown in the Badlands cards in their decks (that can be 10 individual cards, 5 duplicates, or anything in between).
“Your favorite posse of casters is also returning for their TheoryCASTING stream on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel. Join them as they bounce between games from all the participating players and provide their expert analysis,” the patch notes read.
There will be Twitch Drops enabled both days. Watch any creator you want and you’ll earn up to two Showdown in the Badlands packs. To ensure you get these rewards, you need to link your Battle.net account to Twitch.
Hearthstone Updates
Want to know how the game will change when Patch 28.0 drops? Here’s everything you need to know.
Anomalies Update
Yogg-Saron has been contained once again! Anomalies will no longer appear in 1/4 of matches. Anomalies will now only appear if one or both players have Cho-Gall, Twilight Chieftain in their deck at the start of the game.
Card Updates
Stitched Giant
- Old: [Double Unholy Runes]
- New: [Single Unholy Rune]
Catch-Up Packs Unlock on November 14
Catch-Up Packs are a new type of pack that was announced at BlizzCon. Each Catch-Up Pack has a variable number of cards in it, based on your collection—up to 50 per pack! Login after Patch 28.0 goes live for 2 free Catch-Up Packs.*
Catch-Up Packs have also been added to the Showdown in the Badlands Pre-Purchase Bundles, and more! Check out our dedicated Catch-Up Packs blog for more information.
* Available until Patch 29.0.
In-Game Event—Wanted: Dead or Alive!
Outlaws and crooks ride rampant in the Badlands. Starting on November 20, get deputized and start chasing their bounties! From November 20-December 5, complete Event Quests to earn Event XP on the special event rewards track.
Complete the rewards track to earn 2 Showdown in the Badlands Packs, 5 Catch-Up Packs, and the Trader Rafaam Warlock Hero Skin.
Blizzard
Battlegrounds Updates
There are no new Anomalies coming with Patch 28.0, but Anomalies will continue to be in all games until the next Battlegrounds Season begins in Patch 28.2.
No more choosing between favorites! You can now toggle multiple favorite Strikes and Boards, to get a random one of your favorites at the start of each game.
Duels Updates
Season Update
On November 7, the current Duels season will end, ratings will be reset, and current runs will be concluded. At that time, Descent of Dragons and Galakrond’s Awakening will be added to deckbuilding and card pool offerings.
Showdown in the Badlands will also become available in all card pool offerings at that time, but will not be available for initial deckbuilding until the launch of the expansion on November 14.
Bucket System Update
Adventure card sets will no longer have their own buckets. Instead, they’ll be rolled into an expansion set bucket. Curse of Naxxramas will be added to the Goblins vs. Gnomes bucket; One Night in Karazhan will be added to the The Grand Tournament bucket; Galakrond’s Awakening and Blackrock Mountain will be added to the Descent of Dragons bucket; and The League of Explorers will be added to the Saviors of Uldum bucket.
Card Pool Updates
The following card is banned from deckbuilding and all buckets:
- Arcane Amplifier*
The following cards are banned from all draft buckets, but are legal for initial deckbuilding:
- Embiggen
- The Amazing Reno*
- Goru the Mightree
- Nozdormu the Timeless
- All 5 forms of Galakrond*
- Waxadred*
- Flik Skyshiv*
- Maw and Paw
- Rheastrasza
- Theldurin the Lost
- Tae’Thalan Bloodwatcher
- Spirit of the Badlands
- Reno, Lone Ranger*
* These cards are also banned from Discover and random generation effects.
Minion Update
Sr. Navigator
Old: Whenever you target this minion with a spell that costs (2) or more, add a copy of the spell to your hand.
New: After you target this minion with a spell that costs (2) or more, restore 3 Health to another random friendly minion.
Arena Updates
On November 7, with Patch 28.0, all current Arena runs will end and a new Arena season will begin. The eligible sets will rotate so that the following sets will make up the Arena card pool:
- Core
- Showdown in the Badlands
- Caverns of Time
- TITANS
- Path of Arthas
- Descent of Dragons
- Saviors of Uldum
Updated: For the upcoming Arena season, we’re excited to try a new drafting structure! The first pick of each draft is now guaranteed to be a Legendary card. Then, Legendary cards won’t appear at all in subsequent picks. We hope this will allow for the new “no duplicate” Legendary cards in Showdown in the Badlands to feel like a viable strategy in Arena, too.
Along with this change, we’ve removed all Titans from the Arena pool (and, as a reminder, Hero Cards are already unable to be drafted in Arena — except for Lord Jaraxxus). We’ll be monitoring the experience and player feedback closely and make adjustments if necessary.
Twist Updates
Journey to Un’Goro has come to Twist for the November season, now live! Head to Twist now to dino-size your climb. After the November season, Twist will be temporarily disabled for the December and January seasons. We look forward bringing Twist back in February with a fun new season!
Bug Fixes and Game Improvements
- [General] Addressed various localization issues.
- [Hearthstone] Void Scripture will no longer reveal a Secret selected and immediately cast by its effect.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where a Reborn trigger counted as summoning an extra time.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where a doubled Celestial Shot would result in an extra damage buff.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where certain cards were able to Discover different set versions of themselves.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Crusader’s Aura was missing its “turns left” indicator.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Shadowtouched Kvaldir’s effect wouldn’t be spent if it was used to pop a Divine Shield.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug with Shadowtouched Kvaldir and Overheal effects.
- [Hearthstone] Fixed a bug where Conjurer’s Calling didn’t work with Fanottem, Lord of the Opera.
- [Battlegrounds] The Yogg-iseum Anomaly will no longer be able to roll Curse of Flesh on the first turn of the game.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where the Anomaly for the match couldn’t be seen on mobile devices during Hero Select.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where Sea Witch Zar’jira’s Spellcraft spell made a base copy instead of an exact copy.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where a minion with Reborn couldn’t re-gain Reborn after it lost Reborn from being attacked by Sin’dorei Straight Shot.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed a bug where, if one player disconnected during a game with the Yogg-isseum Anomaly, the same result would then be spun every turn for the rest of the game.
- [Battlegrounds] Fixed an issue causing disconnects.
- [Duels] Deathcharger and Joras Thuldoom have had their minion types updated.
- [Duels] Fixed a bug where Aviana would appear in Duels buckets.
- [Features] Spacebar input now works with the Mass Pack Opening feature.
- [Features] Fixed a bug where if you opened 12+ Legendary cards with Mass Pack Opening Harth would be so flabbergasted that the summary screen would show an empty Legendary banner.
- [Progression] We’ve adjusted the amount of Rewards Track experience gained from playing in Mercenaries.
- [Progression] Fixed various bugs with the reworked tutorial.
- [Cosmetics] Fixed bugs with the appearance of Rafaam’s Legendary Skin on Android devices.
- [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug with Wallflower Halveria’s Hero Power animation.
- [Cosmetics] Fixed a bug with Omen’s Hero Power animation.
- [Achievements] Fixed a bug where the “What We Heal in the Shadows” Achievement didn’t properly track AoE effects.
- [Achievements] Fixed a bug where the “The Answer May Shock You” Achievement didn’t properly track.
- [???] Fixed issues with the Mystery puzzles.
- Misc. other bug fixes and game improvements.
