Hearthstone’s Scholomance Academy expansion – everything you need to know
Kel'Thuzad-enough.
The upcoming Hearthstone expansion, Scholomance Academy, brings players to the college of Necromancy from World of Warcraft.
Here’s all the new Hearthstone cards and mechanics you’ll need to understand what Scholomance is all about.
What is Scholomance?
Scholomance Academy is a bit of a horrible nightmare. In World of Warcraft, you only ever see the place as a run-down hive of necromancy and the Scourge. However, in Hearthstone’s imagining of the academy, it’s a thriving educational institution with books and students and professors and all kinds of good stuff!
Scholomance Academy – New Cards
Here’s a few of the new cards available – just hover over them to see how they’ll play!
- Shan’do Wildclaw
- Nature Studies
- Lightning Bloom
- Wand Thief
- Devolving Missiles
- First Day of School
- Goody Two-Shields
- Frazzled Freshman
- Diligent Notetaker
- Troublemaker
- Rattlegore
- Transfer Student
- Wretched Tutor
- Cult Neophyte
That’s a lot of new stuff we’ve got to prepare for, and many more to come!
New Keywords and Effects
Scholomance Academy is attempting to bring the vibes you remember from your first day of school of university. From Frazzled Freshman‘s nervous expression to First Day of School‘s anticipation and excitement, Scholomance Academy has all kinds of unique aspects to watch out for.
Dual-Class Cards
That’s right, Dual-Class cards are here. 40 cards are coming out that’ll be usable in more than one class of deck. There are 10 combinations in total, with every class paired with two others. The cards are designed in such a way that ensures a balance of identity within the two classes, such as Wand Thief combining the Mage Spell Discovery effect with Rogue’s Combo keyword.
We’ll keep you updated on all the Dual-Class Cards on a specific page!
Spellburst
Spellburst is the unique keyword for the Scholomance Academy expansion. It triggers a one-time effect the next time a spell is cast.
So for example, Wretched Tutor‘s Spellburst effect deals 2 damage to all other minions. A powerful way to use this is to save up the effect until the enemy board is full of tokens, then cast a spell and wipe them all. Banking a Spellburst is likely to be a popular way to use the effect – just don’t forget about it and kill your own minions!
Studies
Of course, students at Scholomance Academy have got to put the study time in. These cards, like Nature Studies, are 1-mana effects that let you Discover a card. Then, the next card of that type costs 1 mana fewer. Players might like to bank this discount for otherwise-impossible combos, just like with Spellburst, but they’re just as useful as a trigger for cards like Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Stargazer Luna.
Pre-orders and pricing
Scholomance Academy, like all Hearthstone expansions, has access to an array of pre-orders, as well as free-to-play options. Here’s what you’ll be able to buy:
- Scholomance Academy Mega Bundle: $79.99 gets you 80 packs, 5 golden packs, 1 Scholomance Academy Golden Legendary, The Kel’Thuzad Mage Hero portrait and card back, and 4 Arena Tickets.
- Scholomance Academy Pre-Purchase Bundle: $49.99 for 55 packs, 1 Scholomance Academy Golden Legendary, and the Kel’Thuzad card back.
The Kel’Thuzad card back can be found pictured below:
That’s all you’ll need to look out for with the Scholomance Academy expansion! We’ll keep you updated though – bookmark our Hearthstone Deck Tier List for updates when we know more, and keep an eye on our Battlegrounds Tier List if you’re looking for some non-constructed action in the meantime!
