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Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows begins new Standard year now

The Year of the Raven is over. Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows is live and marks the start of the Year of the Dragon.

Ozzie Mejia

April 9, 2019 10:00 AM

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Hearthstone is changing in a big way today. The new Rise of Shadows expansion is officially live, introducing 135 new cards to Blizzard's digital collectible card game. It also means that the Year of the Raven is at an end. A new Standard year has begun with Rise of Shadows ushering in the Year of the Dragon.

With Hearthstone Update 14.0 going live late last week, activating Rise of Shadows was simply a matter of Blizzard flipping a switch. And the publisher did indeed do so at 10AM PT Tuesday morning, marking the first time that a Hearthstone expansion has launched worldwide simultaneously. Those looking for a headstart will be happy to know that there are some freebies awaiting those who log in today. Beyond the free Archmage Vargoth, Hearthstone players can find a handful of quests to help them earn free stuff.

The intrepid crew at Hearthpwn did some datamining and found five quests that will reward players with two Rise of Shadows packs each. That's ten free packs for playing. According to the datamined info, the quests will consist of the following, though this information is subject to change:

• Play 25 Cards in Play mode
• Play 3 game in Play mode
• Draw 20 cards in any mode
• Win 1 game in Play mode
• Play 100 Cards

Those looking to get even more of a headstart have one week to purchase a special Shadow Bundle. This will include nine Rise of Shadows card packs, along with a free Arena ticket. Considering $9.99 usually nets you only seven card packs, this is a pretty good bargain. However, it should be noted again, this bundle will only be available for one week.

Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows is now available, so take some time to look at our card analyses:

Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 1)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows live stream cards and analysis
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 2)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 3)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 4)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 5)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 6)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (Part 7)
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows card analyses (The Rest)

What, that's still not enough? Alright then, come back to Shacknews in just a couple of minutes. We'll help you get started with a few deck ideas.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?