Blizzard Watch Weekly: Solstice

For a long time — probably until I was older than I should admit — I thought “solstice” and “eclipse” were synonyms. I thought there had to be some kind of awe-inspiring visible celestial event to go along with the earthly one, and an eclipse is one of the coolest ones out there. I know better now, but every time I’m reminded it’s the solstice, I try to take a peek at the sky to see what kind of magic is in the air.

And then I quickly turn away, because oh my god, stop looking at the sun, what is wrong with you.

While I call my optometrist — I need new contacts anyway — let’s look back at what happened this week, what we have to look forward to next week, plus some stuff you may have missed.

What happened this week?

• Battle for Azeroth Timewalking begins June 17
• World of Warcraft patch 11.1.7, Legacy of Arathor, released June 17
• Overwatch 2 Pride Celebration, May 30 – June 30
• This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl: Shiftcon West (Wild, Provided)
• Active Twitch Drop campaigns
• Epic Games Store free games of the week: The Operator

Patch 11.1.7 arrived in World of Warcraft with a ton of stuff to do, including turning Delves to 11 with Overcharged Delves and a snazzy new belt to go with them. A cute accessory makes the outfit, after all.

We got news this week that some very notable former talent on D&D — Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford — are joining Darrington Press, the Critical Role arm publishing TTRPG content. We were already excited to see how Darrington shakes up the TTRPG industry, with its lone behemoth, but now we’re practically through the roof.

Our most anticipated game of the year, Date Everything, released this week.

If you’re looking for cuteness, this week we have a bevy of adorable lil piggies.

What’s Happening Next Week (and beyond)

• Overwatch 2 season 17 begins June 24
• The Lost City of Un’Goro Hearthstone expansion releases July 8
• WoW Classic Anniversary Realms phase 5 releases July 10
• Mists of Pandaria Classic: prepatch July 1, full release July 21

The big announcement this week was patch 11.2, Ghosts of K’aresh. We have a good amount of details based on that announcement. However, the one detail we haven’t yet been supplied is the release date. It’s currently already on the PTR if you just cannot wait.

We also got the news about the timing of phase 5 for WoW Classic Anniversary realms, which is the part with the AQ War Effort and raids. They’ll be hitting servers July 10.

Next week we’re looking forward to Overwatch 2‘s seasonal rollover to season 17. This one doesn’t have a ton of new stuff and shakeups — there are a couple new things, including new map Aatlis, but this season is mostly quality of life adjustments to existing content, rebalances, all that fun stuff.

Also, yep, we’ll probably keep reminding you about this lizards vs turtles stream every week in the leadup to the Lost City of Un’Goro release. You can still watch the VOD, and we’ll probably have it on repeat until July.

This week’s podcasts

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: Lorewalking and Timewalking and Delves, oh my!
• Lore Watch Podcast: Faerin Lothar and the Arathi legacy
• Tavern Watch Plays Masks, Episode 2: Heroes and hero worship

While the headline on the Blizzard Watch Podcast this week was patch 11.1.7 and all the activities it contained, it also served to strengthen Valentina the lizard’s stranglehold on the team. We don’t know what we’re gonna do when Lost City of Un’Goro launches.

Speaking of patch 11.1.7, this week’s Lore Watch Podcast was very timely, all about Faerin Lothar and the Arathi as we venture back for the Arathi Campaign. Matt and Joe run down all the lore from centuries, all the way up to Faerin herself.

Finally, it’s episode 2 of our Masks playthrough, and the teen superheroes get to meet their idol! It isn’t awkward at all! But with silver age heroes may come silver age villains…

We hope you have a great weekend. Stay cool out there, friends.