The "craziest card" in Hearthstone will be released in The Witchwood, according to game director Ben Brode, who added that the card is also "the most complicated to engineer."
On The Witchwood release date of April 12, players will get to meet Shudderwock, the card Brode is referring to that is already drawing comparisons to the controversial Yogg-Saron, Hope's End from the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion.
Shudderwock: The 'Craziest Card' In 'Hearthstone'
Shudderwock is a 9-cost 6/6 legendary minion for the Shaman class with a Battlecry ability that repeats all other Battlecry abilities that the player has triggered in the game, with targets chosen randomly.
Hearthstone game director Ben Brode said that he was "very worried" about one specific card, and it is easy to see why after finding out what Shudderwock does.
"The Shudderwock is the craziest card we've ever made," Brode said, adding that it is also the most complicated to engineer because of the possible number of abilities that Shudderwock will trigger.
Brode narrated a scenario where Shudderwock copied the Battlecry ability of Saronite Chain Gang from Knights of the Frozen Throne, which summoned another copy of Shudderwock. Then the Shudderwock also copied the Battlecry ability of Grumble, Worldshaker from Kobolds and Catacombs, which returns the player's minions to their hands and reduces their costs to just 1. More Shudderwock triggers follow, resulting in an absolute madness of a board state.
Is Shudderwock The Next Yogg-Saron?
Shudderwock follows the footsteps of Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, for players who would love to have "pure insanity" in their decks.
Yogg-Saron caused controversy, particularly in the competitive Hearthstone scene, because it placed a huge part of the outcome of matches on luck, instead of skill. Yogg Saron, a 10-cost 7/5 legendary minion, has the Battlecry ability of casting a random spell, with targets randomly chosen, for each spell that the player has cast in the game. It was eventually nerfed to make the spells stop if Yogg-Saron was killed before finishing all the spells.
Will Shudderwock cause the same issues as Yogg-Saron? The new legendary minion probably would not, as there is a huge difference in gaining access to the whole spell library of Hearthstone compared to just the Battlecry abilities in the player's deck. In addition, Shudderwock may only be played in Shaman decks, compared to Yogg-Saron that may be played with any class, so Shudderwock might not be seen as much.
Shudderwock, however, is still a very powerful Hearthstone card, and Shaman class users will likely hope that they crack it open from their first packs of The Witchwood.
