Gamescom Reveals: 14 New Grand Tournament Cards and New Ranked Play Rewards!

By Evident - August 5, 2015

A ton of new stuff has been revealed at the Gamescom event! After popular request we're going to see some new rewards from Ranked Play!

New Ranked Play Rewards

We love receiving feedback from the Hearthstone community. One thing that we’ve been hearing a fair bit of is that, when playing on the Ranked Play ladder, people often feel hesitant to continue playing after reaching a particularly good rank. It simply feels like too much of a step backwards if they lose a rank or two. Based on that feedback, we’re making a change that we think will help put players’ minds at ease so that they can continue enjoying Ranked Play and pursuing even greater heights.
Beginning this month, each player’s Quest Log will display the highest rank they have reached during the month and recognize their accomplishment. Additionally, we’ll be awarding players who progress past rank 20 with some minor rewards as a way of congratulating them for their achievements. Eligible players will receive a treasure chest at the end of each season containing the season’s Ranked Play card back, one or more golden cards, and some Arcane Dust. What’s in the chest is determined by your highest rank over the course of the season. For example, a player whose highest rank was 17 will receive a golden common card, 20 dust, and the season card back.
[Source]

rank-17-rewards — Potential Rank 17 Rewards

rank-5-rewards — Potential Rank 5 Rewards

Ranked Rewards Notes

August will be the first Ranked Play season that will count for a reward. [Source]
Rewards do not increase passed Rank 5 [Source]
-- You are rewarded (a little) more dust for going passed Rank 5 [Source]
Rewards are based on the highest rank achieved over the course of the season [Source]
You will not receive Golden cards from Adventure Modes (Naxx, BRM) [Source]
You can receive Common, Rare, or Epic Golden Cards - No Legendaries. [Source]

New Joust Mechanic

A new mechanic called "Joust" will be added.

Minions Joust by emerging from their decks, creating a brief contest within a contest wherein players each reveal a minion from their deck. In order to win, the minion who initiated the Joust must reveal a minion with a higher mana cost. The rewards are varied based on the minion starting the Joust, but players will want to emerge victorious from the lists as often as possible!
[Source]

Joust Mechanic Notes

If you initiate the joust and the minions revealed both have the same mana cost it's considered a tie and you lose the joust! [Source]
If your opponent has no minions, you win by default. [Source]
If you initiate the joust and have no minions then you lose the joust. [Source]
Cards are revealed to both players. [Source]