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March of the Lich King

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March of the Lich King is Hearthstone's 22nd expansion, featuring new 145 collectible cards released on December 6, 2022.[1] The expansion depicts the return of The Lich King, as he leads his Undead army to an all-out assault on the elven city of Silvermoon. The Blood Elves won’t go down easily; they are as thirsty for combat as they are for the magic of the Sunwell that they draw power from.

March of the Lich King introduces Hearthstone's 11th total and second-ever new class, the Death Knight.

The expansion also introduces a brand new permanent minion type - Undead. Undead minions trigger bonus effects if a friendly Undead minion died after the player's last turn. In addition to that, March of the Lich King introduces dual minion types, meaning some minions can have two different minion types. Both Undead and dual minion types are retroactively added to all cards from the past.

Manathirst is March of the Lich King's new keyword. Cards with Manathirst get more powerful once the player reaches a specified amount of mana. Mana isn't required to be spent to power up the cards, but that much mana must be in the player's control. In addition to Manathirst, Reborn from Saviors of Uldum returns as a permanent keyword going forward, and can be seen on Undead minions in March of the Lich King.

How to get[]

March of the Lich King craftable cards can be obtained by one of the following methods:

Uncraftable cards

These specific cards can be obtained through other means. For more information, see their respective articles.

Pre-order
  • Prior to the expansion's release and for one week after its release, players could purchase one or both of the following bundles:
  • Pre-purchase Mega Bundle
    Pre-purchase Mega Bundle
  • Pre-purchase Bundle
    Pre-purchase Bundle

Cards[]

March of the Lich King card set features 145 collectible cards, which can be recognized with a special watermark (a horned skull) behind the card text, not found on other cards. The Mini-set, Return to Naxxramas, is also considered to be part of the March of the Lich King set, and all 38 cards are categorized as "New Cards" in Collection manager.

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Themes[]

New Death Knight Class![]

Main article: Death Knight
The Death Knight is a new permanent addition to Hearthstone, coming with March of the Lich King. Death Knights command the Undead with their new hero power: Ghoul Charge. For two mana, summon a 1/1 Ghoul with Charge that dies at the end of your turn! That Ghoul does double-duty, because Death Knights gain a Corpse whenever a friendly minion dies. They can then spend those Corpses to power up their cards!
Death Knight is a powerful, flexible class, powered by three Runes: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. The Death Knight’s chosen devotion to those Runes determines which cards the Death Knight can put in their deck. You can learn all the details about this new class effects and special deckbuilding rules in the dedicated Death Knight introduction article.

New Signature Cards and Signature Golden Packs[]

Signature is a new cosmetic quality that cards can have (like Golden or Diamond), with stylized full-art images, starting in Patch 25.0. For March of the Lich King, the Signature cards will all feature an icy sepia style, evoking the Lich King’s powers over Frost and the Undead. The art style of Signature cards within each expansion will match their respective expansion’s style and the card frame for future Signature cards might also change from time to time. That means Signature cards from future sets will look different from these ones, to evoke different tones and styles.
Signature cards can’t be crafted or disenchanted; they can only be opened in packs or earned through special means. There are a total of 18 Signature cards coming with the launch of March of the Lich King, including 15 Legendary cards. Two of the Legendary cards will be available on the Tavern Pass, and the three non-Legendary cards will be earnable for free as part of an event with expansion launch. After the launch of March of the Lich King, the other 13 Legendary Signature cards can be opened in Standard Packs, class packs, March of the Lich King Packs, and new March of the Lich King Signature Golden Packs. Signature Golden Packs are like current Golden Packs, but they have a chance to include Signature cards instead of only Golden cards, and they have much better overall odds of opening a Legendary card!

New Minion Type: Undead[]

The Lich King commands the Undead Scourge, and these unholy masses will be Hearthstone’s next new minion type: Undead! In March of the Lich King, Undead minions will appear in Neutral and in the classes that have aligned with the Lich King. Many cards synergize with Undead, triggering bonus effects “if a friendly Undead died after your last turn,” meaning either on your opponent’s last turn, or earlier on your current turn.

Dual-Type Minions[]

In March of the Lich King, some minions will have two minion types! For Undead minions, this might be a second type to represent what they were before they became Undead. These will be retroactive additions, with both Undead and second minion types being added to many older minions as well as those in this expansion.

Returning Keyword: Reborn[]

Some Undead have Reborn, a returning keyword mechanic that will now be a regular part of the game going forward. The first time a Reborn minion dies, it is resummoned with 1 Health remaining—the perfect keyword for representing pesky Undead minions, and for pumping up your Corpse counter!

New Keyword: Manathirst[]

The Blood Elves draw more power from the Sunwell the longer they hold off the Scourge advance. Cards with Manathirst get more powerful once you reach a specified amount of mana. You don’t have to spend that mana to power up the cards, you just need access to it.

Blood elves[]

As the events of March of the Lich King take place in Silvermoon, the Blood elves stand strong against the Undead.

Deathrattle[]

Deathrattle comes naturally with the Undead Scourge, as was seen in Knights of the Frozen Throne.

Granting Deathrattles[]

Cards that specifically grant Deathrattles to other minions are also a recurring theme.

Resurrection[]

The Undead are persistent, as they can be reanimated with ease.

Lore[]

This section uses content from Wowpedia.

Silvermoon[]

Silvermoon City TCG

The city of Silvermoon

Silvermoon City (or the City of Silvermoon and just Silvermoon) is the crown jewel of the blood elves and their capital city. It is nestled in the northern reaches of the Eversong Woods (at the northernmost tip of the Eastern Kingdoms) in their ancestral homeland of Quel'Thalas. The beauty of the spires and thoroughfares of Silvermoon stand in stark contrast to the Dead Scar, the tainted path that Arthas Menethil tore through the city in his quest for power. Though nearly destroyed by Arthas' attack on the Sunwell, Silvermoon is once again a thriving city. Most recently, the rebirth of the Sunwell has lifted spirits among the elves, and they have continued to heal Silvermoon's scars in the hopes of returning their beloved capital to its former glory, the western half of it still being in ruins since the Third War.

Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas[]

Path of the Damned TCG

Arthas commanding the Scourge.

“The hourglass empties. Lower your defenses; grant me access to the Sunwell; and I will reward you with eternal servitude. Refuse... and I will end not only your lives, but the lives of those you love. Your mothers, fathers, and children. No one will remain to mourn your passing.”
— Arthas Menethil's ultimatum

The Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas, also known as the Fall of Quel'Thalas and the Fall of Silvermoon, was a massive battle that occurred during the Third War, instigated by the twisted Arthas Menethil and his Scourge army. The conflict took place all throughout the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, including its southern and northern woodlands, capital city, and the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Fresh from destroying his homeland of Lordaeron, Prince Arthas turned his gaze northward, and led his phalanxes toward Quel'Thalas with the purpose of defiling the kingdom's mystical Sunwell, a key component in the resurrection of the necromancer Kel'Thuzad. The elves were aware of the Scourge in Lordaeron and thus were busy preparing for the undead. Anasterian rallied his people to action but left the command of their army and defense to Sylvanas Windrunner. The elves resisted Arthas but were ultimately unable to prevent the Scourge from advancing. The elven homeland was overrun by the Scourge, the capital of Silvermoon was sacked and reduced to ruins, roughly ninety percent of the high elves were killed – including the elven king, ranger-general, and grand magister – and Arthas successfully managed to defile the Sunwell, bringing forth the dread necromancer as a powerful lich.

His goal achieved, Arthas abandoned Quel'Thalas to its fate and left to bring about similar destruction to Dalaran.

The Scourge invasion was the most damaging event in Thalassian history, and a blow its survivors, calling themselves the blood elves in honor of their perished brethren, would take years to begin recovering from.

In Hearthstone[]

Expansion overview[]

Warriors of the frozen wastes, rise and hear the Lich King’s call. The Lich King is returning to Hearthstone, and he’s bringing with him Hearthstone’s next class: Death Knight! He’s leading his Undead army in a siege on the Blood Elf city of Silvermoon. Will you join the Undead masses, or will you stand with the Blood Elves to stop their advance?

Blog overview[]

The Lich King returns to Hearthstone, leading his Undead army and the new Death Knight class in an all-out assault on the elven city of Silvermoon! The Blood Elves won’t go down easily; they are as thirsty for combat as they are for the magic of the Sunwell that they draw power from. As the Corpses pile up, the Death Knights’ army swells, and so begins the March of the Lich King.

Solo Adventure[]

Play through the iconic story of the haughty prince Arthas Menethil as he forsakes the Light and becomes The Lich King, Hearthstone’s first Death Knight! The prologue will show you the strength of the Death Knight as you explore its new Hero Power and three Runes: Blood, Frost, and Unholy.[2]

Death Knight Prologue[]

Main article: Death Knight Prologue
A tutorial, serving as a instructional manual for the new class.

The Death Knight Hunter Prologue has the player take control of Arthas Menethil during his rise to the Lich King, and learn about his deeds during that time, including how he became a death knight. It features four bosses, and completing it awards the Death Knight class, and Death Knight core cards.

Summary[]

Boss Reward
Mal'Ganis
Uther Lightbringer
Sylvanas Windrunner
Illidan Stormrage Death Knight Core cards

Trivia[]

  • March of the Lich King is the second expansion to center around The Lich King, after Knights of the Frozen Throne.
  • March of the Lich King is the largest expansion in Hearthstone, at 145 collectible cards.
  • March of the Lich King is the first expansion to receive a fully animated 3D cinematic trailer, and is akin to the League of Legends TV series, Arcane.
  • March of the Lich King tells the story of the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas, although in the original lore, this was performed by Arthas when he did not yet have the Helm of Domination like he does in Hearthstone.

History[]

Teasers[]

March of the Lich King, Undead, the death knights, and other features of this expansion have been teased in a variety of ways throughout 2021 and 2022. Some teasers include:

  • The Lor'themar Theron boss battle in Varden Dawngrasp's Book of Mercenaries had the dialogue: "My great fear is that the Lich King will return to Silvermoon to finish the job." Developer Matt London said that he teased a future expansion in Book of Mercenaries but no one had found it.[3] This dialogue was then brought up as the potential teaser mentioned by Matt London.
  • A new class has always been a matter of 'when' rather than 'if'.[4]
  • This expansion was teased to be larger than normal.[5]
  • Developers have wanted to reintroduce the Lich King, as he is such a major character.[6][7]
  • The return of a non-evergreen keyword (Reborn).[8]
  • A location frame for death knights was added to the game in Patch 23.0.0.135540.
  • There are many other hints, but these are just some of them.

Announcement[]

On October 27, 2022, the a blog post[9] previewing Patch 24.6 was posted, announcing a 30-minute reveal stream on November 1.

On October 31, 2022, the PlayHearthstone Twitter account posted a teaser[10] where a group of trick-or-treaters entering an inn suddenly experienced snowfall, teasing at the theme of a cold expansion.

On November 1, 2022, the expansion and death knight class were revealed, along with new cards.

Gallery[]

Battlefield
Banners
  • Key art
    Key art
Concept art
  • Blood death knight concept art
    Blood death knight concept art
  • Unholy death knight concept art
    Unholy death knight concept art

Videos[]

References[]

 
  1. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment (2022-11-1). Announcing March of the Lich King, Hearthstone’s Next Expansion!. PlayHearthstone. Retrieved on 2022-11-1.
  2. ↑ {{{2}}}. ({{{1}}}). 
  3. ↑ Matt London on Twitter. (2022-07-28). 
  4. ↑ Ozzie Mejia (2021-03-05). Hearthstone interview: Unused mechanics, new classes & Battlegrounds. 
  5. ↑ IksarHS on Twitter. (2021-10-02). 
  6. ↑ IksarHS on Twitter. (2021-05-01). 
  7. ↑ IksarHS on Twitter. (2021-10-16). 
  8. ↑ Celestalon on Twitter. (2021-12-02). 
  9. ↑ Patch 24.6 Preview!. (2022-10-27). 
  10. ↑ PlayHearthstone on Twitter. (2022-10-31). 
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