Original subtitles

Hey, everyone. My name's Stephen Chang.

I'm a game designer

on the Hearthstone team.

I'm excited to chat with you today about Magnetic,

one of the new mechanics coming in the Boomsday Project.

Magnetic is a new keyword found on some of the Mechs in this expansion.

Mechs with Magnetic can either be played as a standalone Minion,

or fused with other Mechs already on the board.

When a Magnetic Minion attaches to another Mech,

the targeted Mech will gain its attack and health,

along with any other abilities that it has.

So, just how do you attach a Magnetic Minion?

Well, they work a lot like magnets, in that they have polarity,

because it matters which side of a Mech you place them on.

Placing a Magnetic Minion to the left of a Mech already in play

will combine both cards,

and have them share their attack, health and abilities.

However, if you would prefer to play the Minion on its own,

place it to the right of the Mech already in play.

This gives you more flexibility in how you want to interact with the board.

When we started on the Boomsday Project,

we knew we wanted to bring Mechs back in a big way.

We looked for a mechanic that celebrated Mechs

but felt different than playing those from Goblins vs Gnomes.

We initially had the idea of these Mechs that could plug-and-play into each other.

What we came up with was a mechanic we called Modular,

and we tried a lot of different implementations.

One was a Choose One-type effect,

where you were presented with a choice to play it as a Minion

or attach it as a buff.

In the end, it felt too clunky to have to choose each time you played one.

Ultimately, a designer had a great idea of Modular Minions being sticky.

They would attach to Mechs if next to them,

but would play as standalone Minions if they weren't.

We iterated on this idea and landed on the directional implementation,

which acts like magnetic poles.

From there, we changed the name of the keyword to Magnetic

to better explain the effect.

Artists ran with it, creating some awesome visuals to illustrate how it works.

It feels super-intuitive to fuse a Magnetic Minion onto another Mech,

and the effects help show off the directional polarity.

The Boomsday Project has three classes that focus on Mechs:

Hunter, Paladin and Warrior.

Magnetic Minions can be found in these classes and in neutral.

Depending on the board state,

the decision to play your Magnetic Minions as Minions or as buffs is compelling.

Do you want to spread yourself wide

to play around single-target removal and Silence effects?

Or do you want to build the biggest, baddest Mech this side of Netherstorm?

I know what I want to do.

Let's build a giant Mech.

This is Wargear.

Wargear is a 5-Mana 5/5 Mech with Magnetic.

This card has a solid stat line for its cost

and comes with inherent Mech synergies,

but its Magnetic ability is what makes it exciting.

When you have a Mech on board that is ready to attack,

you can attach this onto it and give it +5/+5.

It's almost like the Blessing of Kings for Mechs and neutral.

So, what's a good target to attach this to?

How about this unassuming little Mech,

Upgradeable Framebot?

This is a 2-Mana 1/5.

This simple but hard-to-remove neutral Minion

is a great way to set up for a Fallout Magnetic upgrade.

You can place Magnetic Minions onto each other,

but we wanted to ensure there were some good, resilient neutral targets

for you to Magnetize onto.

Framebot was one of them,

and putting Wargear on it makes it a menacing 6/10 Mech.

What else can we attach onto our Framebot?

Let's try something with an additional ability.

Beryllium Nullifier is a 7-Mana 3/8 Mech with Magnetic

that can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers.

It can be played as a big target for future Magnetic upgrades,

or fused onto an existing Mech

to make it sturdier and stickier on the board.

In general, Magnetic Mechs have higher health than attack.

We wanted to mitigate the burst potential you could get from them.

So now our mega-Mech is a 9/18

that can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers.

What else can we put on it?

I think I have just the thing.

Zilliax.

Zilliax is Dr. Boom's personal bodyguard.

He is both an excellent candidate for Magnetic upgrade,

and the ultimate upgrade himself.

Putting Zilliax onto our uber-Mech makes him a 12/20 Mech

with Divine Shield, Taunt,

Lifesteal and Rush,

that can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers.

That's one mighty Mech.

That's all the cards we have to show today.

We hope you've enjoyed this look into Magnetic,

and we'll reveal more cards closer to the release of the Boomsday Project.

Thanks for watching. See you in the Tavern.