Play Arena for Free with Unreleased Goblins vs Gnomes Cards

To celebrate (hype) the upcoming release of the new Goblins vs Gnomes Hearthstone expansion, Blizzard has generously gifted all players one free Arena run. And there's the bonus: until the expansion goes live on Monday, December 8th, it will be the only place you can play with the new cards. It's basically a prerelease event, but for Hearthstone! Just log in before the 8th to get your free Arena ticket (value: $.199 or 150 in game gold)

HYPE!

If you haven't played Hearthstone for a while, this is a great time to get back in there and see all the new hotness on the house. The community's understanding is that Arena runs won't pay off in GvG packs until Tuesday, so if you want to wait until then to play your free Arena, that is understandable. Or, you could start the run now, play up to two losses or 11 wins, then wait and finish the run after the official launch next week.

Our Blizzard overlords have also changed a couple existing cards, so dust Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Flare now for full value, especially if you don't think you'll play them for a while.

Khans of Tarkir Prerelease Report: Midwest Edition

Big Fall Set Time, so Brent went to the local game store to battle some sealed at a Khans of Tarkir prerelease. [Side note: I cannot keep the clan names and abilities straight. Am I getting older or are these less evocative names than Shards or Ravnica?]

Which clan are you?

I picked Temur, because I like beef with a side of trickery. The Ferocious ability does little to tickle me, but I don't intend to build a whole strategy around it. If I see powerful cards with Ferocious, I will treat it strictly as a bonus. Recall that Naya in Shards was about big dudes, not the bonus you get for having big dudes.

In my pool, there is not much too exciting besides a Flooded Strand (what a lucksack) and the new five-mana Wrath. My promo card is the Temur mana-elf-morph, which is fine, but not a bomb.

I also own a whole bunch of the Onslaught fetches, so I have that going for me, which is nice.