The keyword will be replaced with new wording on each of the nine affected cards.
The Enrage keyword is to be removed from Hearthstone with the release of The Witchwood. The news was announced on the official Hearthstone blog late yesterday evening. Although the keyword itself is to be taken out of the game, the mechanic itself will remain intact.
Raging Worgen was presented as an example of how the new approach will work. Instead of card text which currently reads: “Enrage: Windfury and +1 Attack”, the new version will simply read “Has +1 Attack and Windfury while damaged.”
The effect remains the same, in other words, it’s simply the phrasing that’s going to be different.
Why make this change though? As explained in the blog by designer Peter Whalen, the Hearthstone team like keywords, as they make learning cards easier, provide flavour and condense text.
In the case of Enrage, however, it’s not only a keyword that’s rather vague about the effect provided, it also only appears on a total of nine cards. As the team have no current plans to produce more Enrage cards, it seems like the right time to make the change.
The news comes hot on the heels that Hearthstone’s eight expansion – The Witchwood – will introduce two new keywords to the game.
Rush will act a lot like Charge, but only allows the affected minion to attack other minions, not the enemy hero. Echo allows a card to be played multiple times on the same turn, and as long as the player has enough Mana to continue casting it.
The new expansion will also add the usual 130+ new cards to the game, as well as new single-player content. You can find out everything you need to know about what’s coming over at our Witchwood guide, and our Monster Hunt guide. We’ve also got a bit of insight into the likely Witchwood release date for you as well.
