Blizzard announces new Reveal mechanic for Hearthstone

Blizzard has announced a new Reveal mechanic for Hearthstone at its Gamescom media briefing, which allows players to not only get a sneak peek at what might be lurking in their opponent's deck, but also gain some handy advantages if certain conditions are triggered.

When you play Master Jouster onto the board, for example, both players reveal a minion from their decks. If the card you reveal is more expensive to play onto the board than your opponent's, Master Jouster gains defensive bonuses. Other cards gain attacking power or return Health points to your Hero, depending on similar comparison conditions.

As well as this new mechanic, Blizzard also intends to shake up Hearthstone's seasonal Ranked Play reward system. Right now, all players who log in and reach the game's lowest rung on the ladder receive a new card back as a reward.

To encourage people to keep playing and improving their rank during each monthly season, there'll be new tiered rewards depending on how high up the ladder you manage to climb before the end-of-month reset. Those who reach Rank 17 will receive a Golden Common card, for example, along with some bonus crafting dust and the shiny new card back.

There's still no word on a release date for the Grand Tournament expansion which ushers in all of these new cards and features, but it will arrive at some point in August.