Welcome one and all to another Touchstone Tavern, our weekly column on everything and anything Hearthstone [Free]. I hope you've been enjoying your holidays and your rest - if you've been lucky enough to have some of that. And, of course, I hope you've had the opportunity to play Hearthstone more than usual; if you have, then you've probably seen plenty of Pirate Warriors and, increasingly, our old friend, Mr. Midrange Shaman. As you can imagine, this past week (and a bit) hasn't been the most eventful in the world of Hearthstone, but there's still news to talk about and plenty of videos to watch. Without further ado, let's jump in then, shall we"

 
 
The Making of Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
If you want to learn more about the design process that brought us Gadgetzan, take a look at this story where designer Matt Place and art director Ben Thompson talk about the origins of this very entertaining expansion. They talk about how early in development the team had a very different concept better described as "cops and robbers." As the expansion evolved, it became all about the robbers side. The ideas for Jade Lotus came pretty early in development, with the Kabal coming later.
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In terms of mechanics, originally there were cost reductions to the three crime faction Legendaries, which would urge you to use cards from one family more. While thematically the idea was fun, they found it limited design space,...