Hearthstone (game)

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"Sheathe your sword, draw your deck, and get ready for Hearthstone - the fast paced strategy card game that's easy to learn and massively fun. Start a free game on Battle.net and play your cards to sling spells, summon creatures, and command the heroes of Warcraft in duels of epic strategy.

"With powerful prebuilt decks, and hundreds of additional cards to win, craft or purchase - your collection never stops evolving.

"Challenge players of all skill levels on Battle.net or hone your skills in practice matches against some of the greatest strategists of Azeroth - Thrall, Uther, Gul'dan, and more!

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a free-to-play digital strategy card game that anyone can enjoy produced by Blizzard Entertainment and unveiled at PAX East in March 2013. Players choose one of nine epic Warcraft heroes to play as, and then take turns playing cards from their customizable decks to cast potent spells, use heroic weapons or abilities, or summon powerful characters to crush their opponent. Players can play against the AI, random players, or their friends.

Hearthstone will initially be available for Windows and Macintosh, with a version for iPad coming later, hopefully in the same regions and languages as World of Warcraft. A release date has not been set.

Game modes[]

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Medals players may earn.

Practice mode: Hone your abilities and test out new deck ideas against A.I. opponents of basic or expert skill levels, and unlock new playable heroes in the process.
Play mode: Duel other players to increase your medal ranking — which indicates your skill level and the level of opponents you'll face (resets weekly) — and earn new card packs along the way. Whether you're a grizzled veteran or curious newcomer, or fall somewhere in between, Battle.net matchmaking will pair you up against a worthy opponent.
The Forge: Put your skills to the test in this mode where deck-building is half the fun. Assemble a new deck by choosing from a selection of cards provided for the match, and then duel other Forge participants for a chance to win card packs. The cards you select to build your deck with are yours to keep and can be added to other decks in your collection after your Forge duels are complete. Note that you must trade in a certain number of card packs to participate in a Forge match (further details to be announced later).
Collection Manager: Browse your ever-expanding card collection, disenchant cards for raw materials to craft new ones, and build a variety of custom decks to suit your shifting strategies.

Card types[]

Once you’ve selected which hero (class) you want to play as, there are three types of cards you can build your deck with in Hearthstone: spells (abilities or hero powers), weapons, and minions. Each card falls into either the "basic" or "expert" card set.

Basic cards are the "starter" cards that form the foundation of each hero's class, and are earned each time you play a game (you can have up to two of every basic card in the game in your collection).
- Free rarity cards that come with the basic set will have white (free) card names and no rarity gem.
Expert cards are cards that can only be found in card packs or created using the crafting system (certain achievements grant them as well).
- They're distinguished by their rarity in card name color — common (white), rare (blue), epic (purple), or legendary (orange). Generally, the rarer a card is, the more complex it is...often providing you with new strategic options.
- You can have any number of expert cards in your collection, though only two of any common, rare, or epic card, and one of any legendary card, can be placed in a deck.
- Expert cards will have an oval colored gem of the rarity color: Fail:Hearthstone card common.png common, Fail:Hearthstone card rare.png rare, Fail:Hearthstone card epic.png epic, and Fail:Hearthstone card legendary.png legendary.
Golden card: All cards found in a card pack have a chance to be upgraded to a Golden card when the pack is opened. This upgrade will affect the appearance of the card but not its power.

Both basic and expert cards have important roles to play in all decks, regardless of whether you're just starting out or are a Hearthstone grandmaster.

Subtypes[]

So far there only 5 subtypes for cards:^[1]

Ability
Hero
Hero Power
Minion
Weapon

Collecting[]

Players may collect new cards by participating in the game modes (Practice, Play, Forge).
Crafting: Disenchant expert cards in your collection to receive arcane dust, and then use your collected dust to craft other cards of your choosing. Basic cards cannot be disenchanted.
Purchase: Purchase card packs containing five random cards using your Battle.net Balance or a variety of supported payment methods. One of the cards will always be of "rare" rarity or greater; in some cases, you may find that one or more additional cards has also "upgraded" to a higher tier of rarity.
Achievements
Cards may not be traded or sold.

Resources[]

These are attributes appearing on cards.

Heroes, Minions, Abilities, and Hero Powers

Fail:Hearthstone mana crystal 45x45.png Mana
Fail:Attack value back.png Attack
Fail:Health value back.png Health

Weapons

Fail:Weapon attack bonus value back.png Attack bonus
Fail:Weapon defense bonus value back.png Defense bonus

Interface[]

Players may presently choose from one of two gameboards: either Orgrimmar or Stormwind.
The layout of the interface is roughly as follows:
- The player's hand is in the bottom center, with all cards face-up. The opponent's hand is top center, with cards face-down.
- The player's hero is centered directly above this. The enemy's hero is likewise centered on the opposite end of the board.
- Hero Power is to the right of the player's hero. These are likely class/ability cards, as well as weapons in the case of some classes. Any resource is to the right of the player's cards.
- The player's deck is placed to the right of the screen near the End Turn' button.
- A history of players is to the left of the interface.
- Minion cards are played in the center of the board against the opponent.

Cards[]

To date there are over 300 cards; this is a small sampling.

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Note: This is a generic section stub. You can help expand it by clicking Edit to the right of the section title.

Media[]

Interface[]

Videos[]

Notes[]

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There is a possibility that players may be able to earn things for their World of Warcraft characters.
There will be an emote system that lets players communicate in a safe way with random folks they are playing with online. You can thank or congratulate or threaten your opponent with the voice of the hero you are playing.
There will be parental controls that limit the ability of children to purchase packs.