The Grand Tournament is just what Hearthstone needs

After a good week of cryptic teasers, Blizzard recently pulled the veil off Hearthstone’s next major expansion, The Grand Tournament (TGT). The 132-card expansion doubles down on Hero Powers with the new Inspire mechanic, a passive minion ability which triggers when a Hero Power is used. We’ve only gotten a glimpse of the full set, making it difficult to evaluate individual cards, but it’s clear Inspire will be an integral part of many decks going forward.

As a control player, 'Inspire' has me ecstatic. The passive, long-term ability will naturally benefit control decks, which have only become rarer in the face of Hearthstone’s innately aggressive, early game-centric play. And while minions such as Emperor Thaurissan already offer powerful passive abilities, they rarely require further interaction.

That’s what makes Inspire so unique: it provides a way to get continued value out of minions by actually doing something every turn, making them more than stat-sticks and targets. It’s comparable to tapping creatures in Magic the Gathering, a type of play that Hearthstone still sorely lacks. TGT should help fill that gap.

Beyond a necessary injection of new cards for a long-stagnant meta, TGT represents a change in thinking. Rather than introduce a new archetype, as the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion did, it will accentuate an existing mechanic. It’s a healthy change of direction, because the game won’t get very far on new archetypes alone, as evidenced by the still underrepresented Dragon tribe. Instead, expansions will need to play with what makes Hearthstone unique. For that, Hero Powers are a good place to start.

Hero Powers are one of Hearthstone’s better innovations. They distinguish the game’s nine classes and provide remarkably accurate reflections of their play styles. Paladins, known for their iron grip on board control, can spawn soldiers. Mages, lovers of direct damage, can ping specific targets. Brutal and efficient Rogues can get two turns of weapon from a single use of their Hero Power. The list goes on.

Themes aside, Hero Powers also do wonders for gameplay by helping to eliminate floated (or wasted) mana. It’s usually better to simply play on curve and spend all of your mana on actual cards, but Hero Powers still provide a useful cushion when your curve is rocky. If your best turn-five play is only a three-cost minion, for instance, you can back it up with a use of your Hero Power. It gives players something to do every turn, all but negating the infamous Magic the Gathering adage, “Untap, pass.”

Still, the most unique and potent aspect of Hearthstone is its digital platform. Untethered by physical cards, mechanics can be wild but still easy to play with. Hero Powers could work in Magic the Gathering, but they would be messy. You’d spend more time fiddling with tokens and tapping than you would using the things. But in Hearthstone, you just press a button.

Moreover, cards like Bolvar Fordragon, which gains Attack points the longer you keep it in your hand, simply cannot exist in traditional card games. Nor could newcomers like Tuskarr Totemic or Lock and Load or Frost Giant. Creating, duplicating or modifying actual cards is a visceral experience thanks to Hearthstone’s clean and efficient aesthetic. This is one of the main reasons the game has caught fire: it’s approachable, not just simple. It’s easy to take in and control the many things on screen at once, and a delight to boot.

This sort of digital freedom also goes beyond gameplay. Hearthstone’ infrastructure allows players to spend in-game gold on packs and other rewards, which provides a fair free-to-play option for penny-pinching players. TGT will capitalize on this as well by updating the way the game’s Arena mode doles out packs to be more inclusive of new players. This is to say nothing of cosmetic details like game boards and alternate Hero portraits.

There will always be a place for Hearthstone’s Adventures, smaller add-ons that focus on providing a challenging, artful experience. But for major Hearthstone card drops, TGT should be the template going forward.