September 1: After a week of playing around with The Grand Tournament, it's clear that the new batch of cards are a welcome addition to the game, bringing longevity and unique play to matches that would pale in comparison if only using Classic and Goblins vs. Gnomes cards.
Finding the perfect balance of cards is a tough challenge, but so it should be - bringing in new gameplay means that those who have mastered all that's come before may have to learn how to play all over again in different types of battles. That being said, I have been mildly successful lately with a TGT-only Warrior deck, made up with a fair few Taunt minions, Inspire cards and Jousting favourites. I'm not yet in the high competitive ranks, but with these cards I've done a lot better than I ever have done in the past before, because I'm investing time and effort into crafting something perfect for my gameplay.
Blizzard have done it once again, delivering an intense and exciting new element to Hearthstone when it was most in need of one - we can't wait to see how players' imaginations soar with the expansion.
August 26: (Above) An easy win really. I thought I'd play around with a Warlock deck that was made up of cards only from the new Grand Tournament expansion to see how the cards I have for Warlock from TGT fared without any backup from GVG and the classic packs.
Had a few losses before this win here, so I think it's fair to say that despite this victory, TGT only Warlock decks aren't the way forward! (At least not with THIS particular set of cards!)
August 25: Going up against a Mech Rogue with an Icy Mage/Grand Tournament deck, I was constantly on the defensive until some TGT cards and slick combos helped me out of the sticky situation. I made one silly mistake which could have cost me the win, but managed to push my opponent to concede.
The jousting aspect of the game still remains very fun - if a little slow - and Inspire is, well, 'inspired'. Check out the gameplay from my Icy Grand Tournament Mage versus Mech Rogue above.
August 24: Though we've not yet been able to have a proper play around with our new cards and the expansion due to the technical faults the game has been facing, we did manage to open a whopping 56 packs of new cards! Check out our video below to see what we got - here's our numbers condensed...
- Legendary x 3
- Epic x 12
- Rare x 59
- Golden Common x 3
- Golden Rare x 2
- Golden Epic x 1
- Commons - You do the math!
Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament is the latest expansion coming to Blizzard's hugely popular virtual card game, and ahead of the official release of the new cards on Monday (August 24), players have been allowed the opportunity to play with a selection of them in the latest Tavern Brawl.
Pitting Medivh the Mage against Alleria the Hunter, the Brawl gives gamers their first chance to get to grips with some of the new mechanics The Grand Tournament will be offering up for both of the classes, including the Inspire effect and Jousting gameplay.
Though it's way too early to say which cards need some work with balancing and which add more to your deck than others, one notable difference with this Brawl is the length of time some battles will take. Of late, it's been difficult to even get to the 10 Mana turns with lightning quick match-ups becoming all too common, but with at least half of the games we played in this Brawl alone the mark has been reached.
The cards themselves are a lot of fun to play around with. The Inspire effect is perhaps one of the most exciting additions to gameplay Hearthstone has ever seen, forcing the player to truly engage with their Hero Powers and implement them as an essential part of gameplay.
Though Jousting can also be fun, the length of time it takes for animations to complete is frustrating at times. For example, King's Elekk holds the Battlecry: "Reveal a minion in each deck. If yours costs more, draw it." It's a nice move, but if you get the chance to draw your card, the animation uselessly puts it back into your deck only to draw it once more, placing it into your hand. Fortunately, little niggles like this can be easily fixed with small patches before the official release.
We'll be updating our review as The Grand Tournament is released, opening 50 packs of new cards and detailing everything we come up against!
Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament officially begins on Monday, August 24.
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