Blizzard Watch Weekly: When it rains…

I’m not sure I’ve said that a week was “chill” at any point in recent memory — I know better than to poke the ghost that haunts this website by now — but this week seemed particularly, somewhat unexpectedly busy. On a scale from one to BlizzCon, I’d say we were at a solid 6 with announcements, seasonal turnovers, and lots of to-do lists to wrap up before even more fun gets started next week. And next week is also a doozy. At least there aren’t any limited-time seasonal events?

So, let’s see what happened this week, and what we have to look forward to next week, and some stuff you may have missed.

What happened this week?

• Overwatch 2 season 15 began February 18
• Hearthstone Battlegrounds midseason patch
• Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Monster Manual officially released February 18
• Cataclysm Classic phase 4 began February 18
• This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl: Battle of the Bans CURRENTLY BUGGED, SEE BELOW (Wild, Constructed)
• Active Twitch Drop campaigns
• Epic Games Store free game of the week: Garden Story and World War Z: Aftermath

It was a big week for Hearthstone news. First off, as of this writing, the Brawl for this week is still bugged and only lets you use cards in your collection from the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion from late 2020. The Hearthstone team has said they will push a hotfix before the Brawl switches next, but for now, here’s hoping you were actively opening packs 4 years ago. We got news that the next Hearthstone expansion is set to release March 25, along with some information about the new mechanics we’ll see during that expansion.

Finally, rounding out all the raccoons in a trench coat, the Hearthstone Battlegrounds midseason patch hit, bringing the usual card and mechanics shakeup. In addition to Anomalies re-entering the Tavern, there are three new StarCraft-themed Heroes to play. Good news: the last half of the Battle Pass also finally has assets! Bad news: the Zeratul Bartender also seems to be bugged! He isn’t saying any voice lines

Overwatch 2 jumped right in to season 15 this week. A new Battle Pass sprinkled with — we still cannot believe this — loot boxes started, as well as a limited time event to celebrate Perks. Perks are the new Overwatch 2 feature which allows you to boost your abilities in certain ways, customizing your Hero on the fly for what you need in the moment.

There were a ton of new games that released this week — we’re particularly excited about Avowed, but we highlighted several of them in our weekly roundup of games to check out this weekend. There’s also a fun event for the Bethesda modding community to check out — mostly Fallout, but also Starfield and Elder Scrolls — benefitting Make-A-Wish.

What’s Happening Next Week (and beyond)

• Patch 11.1 of World of Warcraft, Undermine(d), releases February 25
• Plunderstorm ends February 25
• Turbulent Timeways ends February 25
• Season 2 of TWW begins March 4
• Journey to the Emerald Dream Hearthstone expansion releases March 25

It’s officially time to move it to the exits and wrap stuff up in WoW as we start thinking about next week. Plunderstorm and Turbulent Timeways both conclude next Tuesday as patch 11.1 releases, and we have a short list of things you should try to speed through before season 1 concludes as well. There are a ton of new, exciting features coming, all the way down to changing your Warband background and the item level you need to step into the raid. Plus, there are some changes to Delves coming in season 2 (including Brann’s choice of headwear).

Also concluding February 25 is the current round of the Mother’s Blessing XP boost in Diablo 4.

In extracurriculars, Steam NEXT Fest begins next Monday February 24 and goes until March 4. As aficionados of all things free, we truly adore NEXT Fest, as it is pack wall-to-wall with demos of upcoming indie games. We’ll definitely have an article or two of favorites to check out when the event goes live.

This week’s podcasts

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: Overwatch 2’s season 15 parties like it’s 2019
• Lore Watch Podcast: Alliance vs Horde: can we just get along?
• Tavern Watch Plays Murder on the Eberron Express 3: To (maybe) catch a killer

This week’s podcasts all touch the third rail, in one way or another. On the Blizzard Watch Podcast, we talk about Overwatch 2 re-adding loot boxes back to their monetization scheme, and all the new details we have for Hearthstone‘s Journey into the Emerald Dream. The Lore Watch podcast talked, in part, about whether individuals can be besties even if their factions aren’t on good terms — ah, good ol AvH.

Plus, it’s the conclusion of our playthrough of Murder on the Eberron Express (this third rail is literal, because trains). If you’ve been following along, you — like me at this point — probably have no idea who the murderer is. But now that I’ve listened I can tell you! I mean, I can, but I won’t. You’re just going to have to listen for yourself. Got em.