Blizzard Watch Weekly: Waiting for the next big thing (still)

We’re between content releases for most Blizzard games right now, so it’s a quiet week… with a lot coming our way with the release of Mists of Pandaria Classic phase 5 and the game trailer storm of Summer Game Fest in early June, as well as the likely release of WoW patch 12.0.7 and Diablo 4 Season 14 later in the month. So there’s a lot of activity in the nebulous future, but not much going on right now.

Still, it’s Monday, so we’re going to round up what’s been happening in Blizzard games and what’s coming up.

What happened last week?

• Anyone who’s playing Midnight will be delighted to know that crest caps have been removed, so you may now grind out crest upgrades as fast as you’d like. (Unfortunately you now have Ascendant Voidcores to collect for further upgrades.)
• In WoW patch 12.0.7 news, Heroic World Tier is coming to Midnight… though in a pretty limited form.
• This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is Lead from the Front, in which your hero permanently has taunt, which makes you uniquely vulnerable throughout the whole match. And because it’s a Wild deckbuilding brawl, your card collection really counts — but fortunately we have some deck suggestions to try.

What’s happening this week (and beyond)

• June 2: Mists of Pandaria Classic phase 5 launches with Siege of Orgrimmar and the Timeless Isle
• June 6: Summer Game Fest (and many more gaming showcases)
• June 30: Diablo 4 Season 14 begins, though we don’t know anything about the theme just yet

Other things we’re playing, watching, and more

• Though Summer Game Fest isn’t until June 6, there are lot of gaming showcases lined up over the next two weeks, with several small showcases this week. Here’s a schedule if you want to watch them all.
• There’s a whole pile of free games in the Epic Game Store this week. Well, a bundle of classic Tomb Raider games plus a cute puzzler.

Our latest podcasts

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: Good riddance, Midnight crest caps!
• Lore Watch Podcast: Who is Astalor Bloodsworn, and what’s the deal with Anguish?

There was no new episode of Tavern Watch this week, but look for a new one later today covering the latest tabletop news.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back next week with another weekly news recap!