Hearthstone: League of Explorers Adventure

Of the three Hearthstone adventures released so far, I have to say that this one’s my favorite. Blizzard freshened up the format for Adventures, and made the process of getting the new cards easier than before.

There are a lot of pros for this card set; first, the set includes over 45 cards, which is the most cards they’ve included with an Adventure set. On top of that, they shortened the number of wings for the Adventure to four (from five), and you now earn two new cards (instead of one) when you defeat a main boss. They even included a couple of bonus cards that you unlock right off the bat, before defeating any bosses (another first!). The shorter Adventure means that the price is lower than that of the other Adventures ($20 USD, down from $25, or about 2,800 in-game gold), so there is already a lot more value included in this set than before.

The Adventure introduces one main new mechanic: Discover. When you play a Discover minion, you get to choose one of three random minions/spells to put into your hand. The conditions are different for each Discover card, but the potential cards that can be Discovered are numerous, which equates to potentially game-changing results. The random factor sucks at times, but it also adds to the fun that can be had.

In addition to the Discover cards, the effects attached to the other cards shake up the game in a number of ways. For example, you can get a card that will reduce all damage your hero can take to 1. Another card will give your opponent a ‘Cursed!’ card that deals two damage to them on their turn until they play it. The Legendary cards included in the set are very effective as well, some of which have entire decks built around them (especially Elise Starseeker, which can lead to your entire deck filling up with other Legendary minions). Each card has the potential to change the way the game is played.

The boss battles and class challenges are much less difficult than those in Curse of Naxxramas and Blackrock Mountain. While the previous two adventures were difficult and tedious, the ones for League of Explorers feel more fun-centered. They do have their difficult moments, mind you, but the frustration is lessened quite a lot. For the most part, the fights seem balanced and fair. In addition, the fights feel fresh and unique; one is a battle against a massive Murloc deck. A couple aren’t really boss fights, but rather a trap field where you have to survive for ten turns. For one, you have to intentionally build a crappy deck to succeed.

All in all, if I had to recommend an Adventure for anybody to play – new or seasoned – I’d recommend this one. The value alone is well-worth the price, the cards are friendly to everyone, and the boss fights are great for trying different game techniques.

Some other notes:

• I appreciate the original theme for this expansion. Previous sets drew from the Warcraft lore, and that’s cool in itself; however, it’s also great seeing some fresh, new ideas.
• This set provides some game-changing cards for Murloc decks. I find it difficult running a Murloc deck without at least one card from this set.
• This set has some really great synergies with cards from the newest Hearthstone expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods.

Cost: $20 USD or about 2,800 in-game gold.

Platform(s): Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android