Blizzard released Journey to Un'Goro for Hearthstone just last week, but the latest expansion to the digital trading card game is already causing problems.
An exploit was discovered using two cards from Journey to Un'Goro that forces opponents to skip their turn. How can this be done?
Journey To Un'Goro Exploit
The exploit was discovered by Hearthstone streamer DisguisedToast, who demonstrated how to take advantage of the combo in one of the videos.
The two cards used for the exploit are Shadow Visions and Radiant Elemental. Shadow Visions is a 2-cost Priest spell that allows players to Discover a copy of a spell in their decks, while Radiant Elemental is a 2-cost 2/2 Elemental Priest Minion that reduces the cost of its owner's spells by 1.
As DisguisedToast revealed in his video, Shadow Visions is capable of making copies of itself if there are only three other spells in the deck, and with two copies of Radiant Elemental out, the spell becomes free to cast. The combination of the two cards allowed him to create a loop that spammed cards into play.
The combo does not win the game on its own, but as DisguisedToast showed, the aspect of Hearthstone being abused are card animations. Many cards in Hearthstone feature animations when they are played, and because some of them are comparably slow to finish, players are allowed to play other cards before the animations end to make sure that the timer of their turn does not run out.
However, when a player passes his turn to an opponent, all remaining animations must first compete before the opponent is able to play any cards. The turn timer starts as soon as the player passes his turn to his opponent, though, so with the multitude of animations that the exploit allows players to stack, opponents can be locked out of their turn while waiting for the animations to end. Players can do this every turn, dealing some damage in between, until eventually wining the match.
Will Blizzard Issue A Fix?
Now that the exploit has been discovered, it is likely that Blizzard will soon release a fix for the problem. It is unclear when the solution will be rolled out and what Blizzard will do, though it will likely not make any functional changes to the cards in question. Possible fixes include removing the animation of Shadow Visions and allowing players to start their turn even when animations have not yet ended.
Fortunately, players have not yet started heavily abusing the exploit, though with word of the combo spreading around, it could soon rear its ugly head in competitive matches. Hopefully, the chance of that happening will push Blizzard to release a fix sooner rather than later.
Blizzard Shakes Up 'Hearthstone'
Last month, Blizzard implemented several drastic changes to Hearthstone to shake up the digital trading card game. The first change was nerfing Small-Time Buccaneer and Spirit Claws, along with making it easier to climb up ranked ladders.
Blizzard then revealed that the Year of the Mammoth, launched alongside Journey to Un'Goro, will push iconic Classic cards such as legendary minions Sylvanas Windrunner and Ragnaros the Firelord out of Standard. The release cycle of new cards has also been changed, dropping Adventures for another 130-card expansion.
Blizzard also made changes to Hearthstone's Arena, switching the mode to Standard and offering less common cards and more spells during drafts.
