Kargal Battlescar and Watch Posts revealed in Hearthstone’s Forged in the Barrens expansion

Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Forged in the Barrens, has shown off an interesting trio of cards which forms a “Watch Post” cycle in its latest card teaser. The three cards are as follows:

• Kargal Battlescar
• Crossroads Watch Post
• Mor’Shan Watch Post

Kargal Battlescar is a seven mana 5/5 Neutral Legendary minion with a Battlecry effect that summons a 5/5 Lookout for each Watch Post that you’ve summoned during the game.

Watch Posts are entirely new cards that cannot attack and activate specific abilities after your opponent triggers certain abilities.

Mor’shan Watch Post is a Rare three mana 3/5 minion that summons a 2/2 Grunt after your opponent plays a minion.

Crossroads Watch Post is an Epic four mana 4/6 minion that gives all of your minions +1/+1 stat boosts whenever your opponent casts a spell.

The Mor’shan Watch Post has a chance of giving you immense value overtime as your opponent tries to develop a board. While 2/2 minions aren’t good at tackling taller minions your opponent may play, the ability to use your newly summoned Grunts to clear wider boards will have your opponents needing to find a way to deal with the Watch Post if they want to keep control of the board.

Crossroads Watch Post can give your wider boards more power while making them more bulky whenever your opponent casts any spell. Since the Crossroads Watch Post has a “whenever” trigger, your opponent will need any removal spell they cast on your minions to deal one more damage than the minion’s current health, otherwise it’ll survive with its new buff.

While these Watch Posts have a healthy chance of accruing immense value over time, if your opponent is already ahead and doesn’t need to play into their activation requirements, then you leave yourself with a set of minions that are unable to contest the board due to their inability to attack.

Kargal Battlescar can circumvent this weakness by making a wide board with only one card depending on how many Watch Posts you were able to summon over the course of the game. This can be game ending for opponents especially if you have a Crossroads Watch Post active, as your summoned 5/5s can now receive +1/+1 buffs.

Forged in the Barrens will release at the end of the month on March 30. Players can pre-purchase the expansion in one of two different bundles from Blizzard’s online store or in the Hearthstone client.