Players receive free Thunderbringer Legendary ahead of new Hearthstone expansion

Players can test out the Thunderbringer minion ahead of the new Hearthstone expansion! Read on for our quick guide on how to unlock the free Showdown in the Badlands Legendary minion. This article also includes some exclusive insights about Thunderbringer from Hearthstone game designer Leo Robles Gonzalez and lead narrative designer Valerie Chu!

To obtain this Legendary minion for free, simply update Hearthstone and launch the game. This is because Thunderbringer gets added to your collection upon login! To start building decks with Thunderbringer, visit the in-game collection, click on the "New Deck" button, select a class, and add the pony to your deck.

Thunderbringer is a Neutral Legendary minion, which means any Hearthstone class can use it. This minion is also an 8-mana 6/6 Elemental Beast with the Taunt and Deathrattle keywords. When it dies, it summons an Elemental and Beast from the player's deck.

The artwork for this Showdown in the Badlands card is by James Ryman. It features a navy horse that has a wild mane of electrical energy. Thunderbringer also has glowing blue eyes.

In an interview with esports.gg, game designer Gonzalez and lead narrative designer Chu expressed enthusiasm about the arrival of Thunderbringer. On top of going well with the expansion's overall theme, the pony's animation, artwork, and how it works bring them both a lot of joy.

"If I could just nerd out about that card specifically for a sec, I think this design is super cool," Gonzalez told esports.gg. "It's really simple. You see it — it's an Elemental Beast. And then you read its effect. Okay. Elemental and Beast. But it also just lends itself to a lot of creativity for players to figure out like, 'What is the best Elemental and the best Beast?'"

Gonzalez then talked about how he likes the simplicity of the card. "So you've got this big thunder pony! And when it dies, you get a potential thunder thing and potential pony things on the board. Designs like this make me really happy," he said. "They're really easy to understand and digest. But the possibilities are limitless, right? It's up to the players to figure out what's the best thing to do with this."

Meanwhile, Chu noted how Thunderbringer vibes with the Wild West theme of the new Hearthstone expansion.

"And the best thing about it is — it's a pony!" she said. "So you go to the Wild West with us and you get your very own pony to ride out there. Honestly, just the way the card came together — the mechanic and the animations and art look so cool. I'm thrilled for people to get to enjoy that."

That's all for now. Stay tuned on esports.gg for more news and updates!