The Deadmines is one of the most famous dungeons in all of Warcraft. For those who don’t know, it’s a four player dungeon set near Ironforge that has some gnomes and their inventions running around. The VanCleefs are just another group trying to get rich quick and if you’re able to beat them, then they’ll give you enough money to buy your own airship! Check out this video guide for how we did things:
For Blizzard fans of all stripes, the first week of November couldn’t come fast enough: the long-awaited World of Warcraft Patch 9.1.5 will be released on Wednesday – but that’s not all!
Hearthstone’s second mini-set for 2021, Deadmines, will be released on November 2. The United in Stormwind expansion’s second content patch takes Hearthstone players to one of Warcraft’s most famous and iconic dungeons. The gold mine that became the Defias Brotherhood’s headquarters beneath Westfall gave birth to a slew of Azeroth legends, including the tale of everyone’s favorite bandit family, the VanCleefs.
I’m Tharid, and I’ll be reviewing the new content in Hearthstone’s mini-set Deadmines and Patch 21.6 for Wowhead’s sister site Hearthstone Top Decks. Visit hearthstonetopdecks.com for the most up-to-date information on the expansion!
This Year’s Alliance Counterpart: Deadmines
United in Stormwind’s mini-set theme should come as no surprise to most players with a rudimentary understanding of Warcraft mythology. As we all know, Hearthstone’s current year-long narrative continues to follow two rivaling mercenary organizations as they search Azeroth for the enigmatic Naaru shards, all while including the classic Warcraft faction conflict between Horde and Alliance.
During this time, the Horde’s band of mercenary adventurers stopped by the Wailing Caverns, the first expansion of the current Standard year’s Hearthstone. Team 5 opted to make Naralex, the sleeping druid and protagonist of the Wailing Caverns plot, into a void-possessed nightmare, twisting the enigmatic original dungeon story. They ultimately recover the tainted Naaru shard that jolted Naralex up from his green nightmares.
The Alliance portion of the mercenary narrative will be revealed now that the Deadmines have been introduced to the Hearthstone realm.
The Deadmines, formerly a lucrative gold mine, fell prey to the First World War. Captain Bramblebeard’s pirate crew finally made the eerie caverns their home, only to be brutally murdered by the Defias Brotherhood, who subsequently made the mines their base of operations.
The fraternity headed by skilled thief Edwin VanCleef grew into a political danger to the Alliance over time. The Stormwind House of Nobles, on the other hand, had been infiltrated by a suspicious woman named Katrana Prestor, and as a result, the Westfall people’s plight was ignored.
Lady Prestor, interestingly enough, has a prominent part in the current Hearthstone plot! She seeks to get a hold of the strange Naaru shards that have been discovered all across the Barrens with Kazakus, a sleazy Zandalari dealer.
VanCleef’s gang members wave golden Naaru shards about in the attached cinematic trailer. That implies they were able to take the shards from Katrana and the Alliance mercenaries who had just delivered them to Stormwind – and here is where the soon-to-be-released mini-set sets the scene!
Pirates and parrots are a match made in heaven!
Hearthstone’s mini-sets attempt to present a clear image of the chosen topic, apart from the serious primary storyline consequences. While the Wailing Caverns introduced the Adventurer card tokens, the Deadmines set takes the pirate fantasy to the next level by unleashing the Warcraft parrots!
Three of the four pirate sidekicks will be familiar to Deadmines players: Monstrous Parrot, Brilliant Macaw, and Sunwing Squawker all reinforce the pirate cave concept and, owing to their Repeat Battlecry abilities, provide unique deckbuilding opportunities.
But these adorable tiny monsters aren’t the only ones that contribute to the lovely Deadmines scene.
As you can see, Edwin has gone to great lengths to protect what the Brotherhood has taken – and he’s accompanied by his most dependable henchmen: Mr. Smite, Sneed, and, most crucially, Cookie the Cook!
The Defias Brotherhood is shrouded in mystery, but one of them is exposed via Hearthstone card flavor text!
Mr. Smite, the flamboyant tauren and Edwin’s chief honcho, is said to have escaped the cleaning of the Deadmines and taken up residence in Pandaria as Yorik Sharpeye. Mr. Smite’s flavor text identifies him as Yorik, confirming rumors that he has been hiding among the yaungol of Pandaria since his time with the brotherhood – a fact alluded at by one of Yorik’s drops, Mr. Smite’s Brass Compass.
The new edition of Hearthstone’s Edwin VanCleef is a much less mysterious addition to the game.
With the previous Standard rotation, the original VanCleef of Hearthstone was finally buried after many years of unchallenged domination. However, something has been lacking since then, and it’s encouraging to see Team 5 not be afraid to reprint classic characters with new – and hopefully more balanced – card text.
Cariel’s Book of Mercenaries – The Year-Long Storyline
The newest edition of Book of Mercenaries will be published about one week following Patch 21.6. This time, players will get the opportunity to learn more about Cariel Roame, a human paladin who is trying to right the wrongs of her sister Tamsin Roame, the undead warlock who called the dreadlord Anetheron into Stormwind.
Over the previous several chapters of Book of Mercenaries, the Hearthstone community unanimously feels that both gameplay and storyline have greatly improved.
Tamsin Roame was certainly established as the major adversary of the year in the most recent episode, which had a horrible meeting with Cornelius Roame, her own father. The last battle alone demonstrated an exceptionally somber tone in Hearthstone storyline, which was a nice contrast from Blizzard’s card game’s relatively joyful premise.
GAAS is the way of the future, but story reigns supreme.
The new mini-set demonstrates that Team 5 continues to rely on its main game modes and so devotes significant development resources to them. Adding 35 new cards throughout the course of an expansion isn’t a bad thing; in fact, it’s a good indicator that the Hearthstone team is expanding and improving their processes. GAAS, or Games as a Service, seems to be the name of the game for Hearthstone today more than ever – not least due to the new game mode expansions.
But it’s as satisfying to see that Hearthstone hasn’t lost its grip on the general fantasy of the game after all these years.
With the customary hilarious, point-blank style of every expansion and mini-set theme, the year-long story surrounding Hearthstone’s mercenaries instantly charms fans. The intricacies in narrative, on the other hand, bring Hearthstone’s personality to a whole new level.
Hearthstone in its current form is a very cozy, familiar, and safe place for every Warcraft fan because the current storyline takes place in a past world of Warcraft, and the fact that the writing team added a whole new exciting layer of history without retconning major characters or locations like the Deadmines makes it a very cozy, familiar, and safe place for every Warcraft fan.
