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March of the Lich King awaits! We interviewed the Hearthstone workforce concerning the new Dying Knight class, Runes, Undead minions, the Manathirst key phrase and extra!
March of the Lich King is the following Hearthstone growth! It showcases the brand new Dying Knight class, Undead minions and the Manathirst key phrase.
Hearthstone Options Lead Chadd “Celestalon” Nervig and Senior Recreation Designer Cora “SongBird” Georgiou sat down with us for a gaggle interview. Learn on for particulars!
“Three lessons have been constructed into simply the only Dying Knight class.”
Senior Recreation Designer Cora “SongBird” Georgiou
Dying Knight class, Ghoul Cost and Corpse synergy
The Dying Knight class arrives in March of the Lich King alongside the brand new Ghoul Cost hero energy. When a participant spends two mana, they will summon a 1/1 Ghoul with Cost that dies on the finish of their flip.
“The actually particular factor, I believe, about Ghoul Cost, the Dying Knight hero energy, being that it really works fantastically with the Corpse mechanic, which is integral to Dying Knight design — is exclusive to them particularly and so they acquire Corpses when their minions die,” SongBird mentioned.
![An image of the Ghoul Charge hero power for the Death Knight in Hearthstone. It reads, "Summon a 1/1 Ghoul with Charge. It dies at end of turn."](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/01200113/KLJPTY77WWC11666998990580.png)
![An image of the Army of the Dead card in Hearthstone. It reads, "Raise up to 5 Corpses as 2/2 Risen Ghouls with Rush."](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/01200119/VLUXRYEPYG6C1666998990760.png)
A Dying Knight participant can use the Ghoul Cost hero energy if there’s no minions on the board and easily go face, SongBird added. The large distinction is that the Ghoul dies on the finish of the flip and the participant will get that Corpse. The Corpse can activate different playing cards and be spent as a useful resource.
Celestalon went into how this new hero energy is coincidentally much like the Paladin’s Reinforce as a result of Arthas was as soon as a Paladin earlier than he grew to become the Lich King.
In World of Warcraft, you’ll be able to select to focus on any variety of methods with the totally different lessons. So with Dying Knight, it was a extremely fantastic manner for us to discover these various kinds of Dying Knights and the way we are able to form of tie deckbuilding into id from World of Warcraft and from this distinctive expertise that the gamers obtained to have enjoying as a Dying Knight.
Cora “SongBird” Georgiou on the inspiration behind the Rune system
Dying Knights and Runes in March of the Lich King
When Hearthstone followers get into March of the Lich King, they will play the Dying Knight tutorial, Celestalon revealed. When a participant first begins constructing a deck as the brand new class, they are going to be taught the Rune system.
“I believe we knew stepping into that as a result of we have been beginning with such a big set of playing cards for Dying Knight and since, basically, three lessons have been constructed into simply the only Dying Knight class — that we had much more complexity right here than with Demon Hunter or with any of the earlier 9 lessons,” SongBird defined, referring to the Blood, Frost and Unholy Runes.
![Death Knight deckbuilding screenshot featuring two Blood Runes and one Frost Rune.](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/01201341/image-1-1024x570.jpg)
These Runes are unique to the Dying Knight class in Hearthstone, and the Hearthstone workforce wished to tie deckbuilding into that id specialization from World of Warcraft.
A number of consideration was paid to the deckbuilding expertise and simplifying the UI as a lot as attainable. That is so gamers can intuitively perceive tips on how to construct decks with Dying Knight.
![Frostwyrm's Fury in the new Hearthstone expansion.](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31183905/FrostwyrmsFury-78355_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
![Corpse Explosion in Hearthstone March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31185638/DEATHKNIGHT_BB_RLK_035_enUS_CorpseExplosion-78333_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
SongBird additionally talked about that presently, the Hearthstone workforce doesn’t have plans for extending this Runes deckbuilding system to different lessons.
“It might be a big rework to different lessons to make them use a specialization form of system,” Celestalon added. “It’s to not say that may not be one thing we go to sooner or later, but it surely’d be a extremely massive change.”
Undead minions and dual-type minions in March of the Lich King
March of the Lich King isn’t complete without its Undead minions. This new minion type can synergize with other cards to trigger bonus effects. Celestalon noted how Undead minions fit perfectly with Death Knight and how cards with Unholy Runes have a lot of Undead synergies.
“We’ve had undead sort of creatures in Hearthstone forever, but not as their own minion type,” Celestalon told Esports.gg. “We’ve often thought, ‘Well, whenever we add Death Knights or a really undead-themed expansion, that’ll be the time to do it.’ And this is it.”
![Arthas' horse, Invincible is in March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31183507/NEUTRAL_RLK_592_enUS_Invincible-86367_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
![Lord Marrowgar is Death Knight Legendary](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31184302/LordMarrowgar-79480_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
One of the things that made the Hearthstone team hesitate to add Undead for so long was the combination of different minion types. Celestalon mentioned how some minions must be fairly specific if they are both a Mech and a Murloc.
“Undead — Oh, there’s a lot that are like, ‘Is this an Undead and a Dragon ‘cause it’s a Skeletal Dragon? Is this an Undead and a Pirate ‘cause it’s a ghostly pirate? Undead and a Murloc because it’s an Undead Murloc?’” Celestalon continued. “So we also wanted to wait to do Undead until we do dual type minions, which is what we’ve done.”
![Death Knight hero in March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31181933/Death-Knight-Hero-Art-1024x576.jpg)
Retroactively looking through every minion to determine if it’s Undead or not was also a labor of love by the Hearthstone team. SongBird told Esports.gg that in a lot of edge cases, the team screenshot images and posted them on Slack to ask if the minion counts as an Undead.
And you know, in a lot of edge cases screenshotting it, putting a picture into one of our Slack channels and being like, ‘Is this Undead?’ And somebody — most of the time it’s Chad — will react yes or no. Because a lot of the time these things are not super cut and dry. So yeah, I think it was really interesting. It was certainly a labor of love.
Cora “SongBird” Georgiou on the Undead minion type
Manathirst keyword, Blood Elves and Silvermoon City lore
The Blood Elves are also in the spotlight in March of the Lich King as they draw power from the Sunwell. Celestalon said the new Hearthstone expansion focuses on the Scourge invasion of Silvermoon City, adding that March of the Lich King takes place at the very start of the second Scourge war.
“At that point, the Lich King has awoken and is attacking the various capital cities of Azeroth,” Celestalon said. “And we’re focusing specifically on the Scourge invasion of Silvermoon City. So it’s not strictly canon, but it does fit within the Warcraft [timeline].”
![The Sunwell is Hearthstone's first neutral Legendary spell March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31184157/NEUTRAL_RLK_590_enUS_TheSunwell-86228_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
![Silvermoon Sentinel has the Manathirst keyword March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31183140/NEUTRAL_RLK_518_enUS_SilvermoonSentinel-82689_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
The Manathirst keyword fits in with Blood Elves as they use the Sunwell for power to combat the Scourge’s advance. Manathirst has solid gameplay and is flavored nicely to focus on that side of battle, according to Celestalon.
“If you have x mana crystals do something extra,” Celestalon explained. “It doesn’t spend that mana.”
You’re playing a very tanky, control-oriented Death Knight deck. You’re gonna have to figure out ways to end the game, but you certainly won’t have much trouble surviving.
Cora “SongBird” Georgiou on the Vampiric Blood card
When asked about a favorite card out of the ones revealed so far, SongBird said Vampiric Blood. This card gives a player +5 health. The player can spend 3 Corpses to gain 5 more health and draw a card.
“I think in this initial batch, Vampiric Blood is such a cool,” SongBird said. “You obviously need to build into a triple Blood deck to be able to play it, which is a big ask. You’re playing a very tanky, control-oriented Death Knight deck. You’re gonna have to figure out ways to end the game, but you certainly won’t have much trouble surviving.”
SongBird added how playing cards like School Teacher can result in additional copies of Vampiric Blood. “I’m very curious to see what the highest health total a triple Blood Death Knight can hit with Vampiric Blood ‘cause that card is spicy.”
![Vampiric Blood in Hearthstone March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/31185645/DEATHKNIGHT_BBB_RLK_051_enUS_VampiricBlood-78345_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
![Overseer Frigidara March of the Lich King](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/01202518/OverseerFrigidara-86732_NORMAL-1024x1024.png)
Meanwhile, Celestalon is excited about Overseer Frigidara. This is a Legendary minion with a Battlecry that draws 2 spells. If they’re both Frost spells, then the card deals 2 damage to all enemies.
“I like a lot of the Frost, aggressive, spell damage sort of decks,” Celestalon said. “It’s good to draw some of your combo pieces, clear off at least some of their board at the same time and it’s just sort of a workhorse card in the deck.”
![March of the Lich King Death Knight Preview Showmatch information](https://cdn.esports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/01202822/YUTNARW8V5VS1666730200512.jpg)
March of the Lich King launch date
The March of the Lich King launch date is December 6th. Until then, Hearthstone players can look forward to a bunch of exciting card reveals and a creator-driven event.
The Death Knight Preview Showmatch will happen on November 16th to 17th starting at 9 a.m. each day. It will happen on Twitch and be casted by Slysssa and Garrett. Twitch drops can be enabled, permitting followers to earn a few free March of the Lich King card packs.
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