Blizzard today announced the first full Hearthstone expansion for 2022 – Voyage to the Sunken City. This set of 135 new cards will be available on April 12 in NA and April 13 in ANZ, and will take players deep underwater to the ancient city of Zin-Azshari, once the ancient capital of the Night Elves, before being submerged during the cataclysm. Hearthstone players can expect a typically colourful take on this well-known piece of World of Warcraft lore, and mechanically, the set introduces two keywords: Dredge and Colossal, as well as formalising a brand new minion type: Naga. Let's quickly go through the new inclusions.
Dredge lets players look at the bottom three cards of their deck, and choose one to raise to the top. This keyword will obviously work well if players have sent a "Sunken Sweeper" card down there already, or a Rogue opponent has banished a critical minion to the bottom of your deck. This keyword lets you bring key tools back into the light.
Creatures with Colossal, meanwhile, are kind of like a minion with a main body, but also appendages that take up additional space on the board. A creature with Colossal +1 has one other part that is summoned alongside the main body, while Colossal +2 summons two appendages (both the same). And on it goes until you reach Xhilag of the Abyss (below)! The different parts are designed to synergise with one another, creating small tactical packages for players to experiment with.
Fianlly, the new minion type, Naga, also comes with its own mechanic. These vengeful creatures are spell-focused minions that often give bonuses for playing spells while they're in your hand.
Not only do the cards that have been revealed so far look like they'll shake things up, but they won't be alone in doing so. The release of Voyage to the Sunken City will coincide with the end of the Year of the Gryphon, which means Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire will all be leaving the Standard format. This will leave a new – and yet to be announced – core set (which is free to use for all players, incidentally), as well as 2021's sets – Forged in the Barrens, United in Stormwind, Fractured in Alterac Valley – and, of course, Voyage to the Sunken City, as the card pool kicking off the new face of Standard Hearthstone in 2022.
Pre-purchase bundles for Voyage to the Sunken City are now available, and keep your eye on IGN tomorrow for our exclusive Voyage to the Sunken City card reveal.
Cam Shea has worked at IGN since before the before times, and has played more Breath of the Wild than just about any other game. When he's not playing games he's mixing records.
