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Showdown in the Badlands moseys in as Hearthstone's next expansion

The next Hearthstone expansion takes players into Azeroth's Wild West.

Ozzie Mejia

October 17, 2023 10:00 AM

Blizzard Entertainment

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This town's only big enough for one Hearthstone expansion. Blizzard's Team 5 is taking its long-running card game into the Wild West for its latest expansion. Get ready to duel in more ways than one with Showdown in the Badlands.

Hearthstone: Showdown in the Badlands veers away from the game's present timeline and instead goes back in time to when the Bloodrock Mining Company sought to drain the Azerite resources from Azeroth. It'll take a merry band of Outlaws like Elise Starseeker to stop those no-good miners. As players experience this expansion, they may even learn some fun facts about the origins of the League of Explorers.

Showdown in the Badlands features not one, but two new keywords. Quickdraw will offer a special bonus effect if a card is played on the exact turn that it's drawn. Meanwhile, Excavate is a little more complex. Players can Excavate from the Azerite mines with each designated card and level up tiers as they do so. The rewards will grow greater the more they Excavate up until the Azerite mine is tapped out, at which point the process starts over.

The Death Knight, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior will be the bad guys who will be pillaging Azerite mines with the Excavate keyword. They'll continue up until they uncover powerful Legendary cards. Meanwhile, the Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, and Shaman will get new Legendary minions that get special boosts when played in Highlander decks.

There's no release date for Hearthstone: Showdown in the Badlands just yet, but expect it to hit around November, possibly in time for BlizzCon 2023. More information on the newest expansion, including how it will affect the November Twist season, can be found on the Hearthstone website. (Update: Look for the expansion to drop on November 14!)

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?