Blizzard is reportedly working on a StarCraft shooter - again.
What if we did StarCraft, Gonzales says.
Weve never done this before, what are the rules?
Im down to figure it out.
When word got out, the team was ecstatic.
So many people were like, just, just, just.
We have to do this!
Pors, a lifelong StarCraft fan, couldnt wait to get started.
I grew up playing so much StarCraft, Pors explains.
I stayed up until 4 am countless times watching StarCraft tournaments.
Luckily, a lot of the iconic characteristics of StarCraft fit nicely into Hearthstones framework.
For example, Mean Streets of Gadgetzans multi-class faction mechanic served as a great blueprint for StarCrafts factions.
It just makes sense.
When you think of StarCraft, its impossible not to think of Zerg, Terran, and Protoss.
Pors says building mechanics that shaped the theme of each deck was a big priority.
Like, this is a Zerg Hunter deck, capital Z.
We wanted it to be very StarCraft-forward.
This also explains why Heroes of StarCraft is Hearthstones biggest mini-set to date.
In a normal 38-card mini-set, this would only leave room for two class-specific cards each.
It was like night and day when we made that decision, Gonzales explains.
I remember going into that like Man, were so close and its not working.
Hearthstone brings Blizzard’s storied Warcraft series to the digital collectible card game space. Free-to-play, it features thousands of cards to collect and several different modes, from Arena to Tavern Brawls.
We got one more card per class and it was great, it was flowing.
There is one card in the set that isnt tied to any faction.
Grunty is a Murloc wearing Terran Marine armor who first appeared as a companion in World of Warcraft.
Hes a lone ranger, Gonzales jokes.
For the entire mini-set, we needed to nail the vibe.
This is StarCraft peeking in through Hearthstone.
For Grunty, we did the opposite: what if we had Hearthstone peeking in through StarCraft?
A Match Made In Bastion
Other aspects of the mini-set fell into place fairly easily.
The Zerg in Hearthstone are well suited for aggressive, go-wide strategies.
And yes, many Zerg cards have Rush.
We ended up moving away from a lot of ideas that were really complicated.
Gonzales and Pors shared a couple of their favorite cards from the set.
The mechanic I love most from a designer perspective are the larva, Pors says.
It feels so StarCraftian, but its also really hitting a lot of the best notes of Hearthstone.
I love that mechanic and cant wait to see where players will take it.
Gonzales favorite is another card that perfectly captures its identity from StarCraft.
Mothership is an Epic Priest card with the Battlecry and Deathrattle: Get two random Protoss minions.
These minions may even be other class-specific Protoss cards.
Theres no other way to get other classes' Protoss stuff, Gonzales explains.
So Priest breaks that rule, letting you use things like the Templars alongside the Colossus.
Is this the start of Hearthstones Universes Beyond era?
Free-to-play, it features thousands of cards to collect and several different modes, from Arena to Tavern Brawls.
