Year of the Dragon is coming quickly! On the heels of all the great announcements from last week, the Hearthstone team has peeled back the curtain to give us a taste of the first expansion of the year.
In the above teaser, we see the same fortune teller that we met in the Whisper of the Old Gods trailer. If you’re like me, you may have thought, “Was she a bigger deal than I remember her being?” The answer is a definite, “No,” but I think it’s a cue that the Hearthstone team is becoming more defined in what and who exists in the Hearthstone universe.
When Hearthstone began, it was a game that was based in the World of Warcraft universe. That changed in November 2016 when the subtitle “Heroes of Warcraft” was dropped, and it just became known as “Hearthstone.” The team drew a line that Hearthstone would be its own unique universe, even though its influences would always remain.
Now 2 years later, the team has explored many new places, times, and characters, and with a renewed vision to tell an overarching story in the Year of the Dragon, I believe the team is poised to take all of the people and remnants of stories they’ve hinted at through all these expansions and begin to tell some truly interesting stories.
During the video, the fortune teller flips a couple of her cards revealing some important symbols. But what do they mean?
The first eye in a globe is revealed as she says, “My own crystal ball.” It sure does bear some resemblance to Karazhan and Medivh. The magic and wonder from the One Night in Karazhan expansion could be nodded to in this portrait. I think that this symbol is the more mysterious of what we’ve seen though. It most likely has roots in the fortune teller’s mystery.
The second, however, is pretty recognizable. There is a single race that loves their candles more than their gold: The Kobolds. And with King Togwaggle’s crown at the bottom of the scales, there’s a very clear throwback to the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion.
Another important thing to note is that though Blizzard hasn’t yet confirmed that this trailer is a direct reveal for the next expansion, there’s at least the very clear connection with the
And in a split frame, we see the Fortune Teller transform into a tentacle-y monster just like in her first appearance in the Whispers of the Old Gods trailer. This, more than anything, is a clear sign that we’ll be revisiting some old friends in the new expansions this year. I’m of the mind that we’ll see new versions of old cards, similar to how we saw Elise, the Trailblazer after her initial appearance as Elise Starseeker.
In the video, the fortune teller says, “We be calling a team in–the masters of plotting and scheming.” It sure seems like we are going to see a throwdown of epic proportions this year through the three expansions of heroes and villains in the Hearthstone universe, and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
Stay tuned to The Happy Hearthstone podcast for updates and speculation around the forthcoming Hearthstone expansion and more!
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