Hearthstone's next expansion brings back Dr. Boom and adds Legendary spells

Those of you who have PTSD flashbacks at the sight of spawning boombots and maniacal, mechanical laughter might want to look away now. Blizzard has just announced that Hearthstone's next expansion will be The Boomsday Project, and it's due to launch on August 7. 

Headlined by none other than Dr. Boom—aka Dr. 7, and isn't that fitting given the release date—The Boomsday Project will add 135 new cards, including nine Legendary spells, a host of new Mech minions, and the new keywords Omega and Magnetic. What do those Legendary spells look like? Well, have a gander at Rogue's unique spell, Myra's Unstable Element: 

You read that right: draw your whole deck. For five mana. It's hard to evaluate Myra's Unstable Element without seeing the rest of the set, but I'm not sure milling most of your deck and entering Fatigue on turn five is a good idea, even for hyper-aggressive decks. Maybe you could hold onto it until you have no cards in hand and only 10 cards or so left in your deck? It could also be a potent way to refuel in an aggro deck. In any case, it sure is bonkers. 

Speaking of bonkers Legendaries, if Shaman's Legendary spell is as crazy as Rogue's, then its new Legendary minion is also going to be nutty:

VIDEO: Footage of The Boomsday Project in action

Blizzard says the Legendary minions in Boomsday are all scientists and inventors, so I'm pretty sure we're going to get a revamped Dr. Boom Legendary. 

Now, about those keywords. Omega is the simplest one: simply put, if you play an Omega card when you have 10 Mana, it gets a bonus. In the case of Omega Defender, that bonus is a whopping 10 extra attack.

Magnetic is a little more complicated. It's a Mech-exclusive keyword "that allows players to merge Mech minions, combining their attack, health, and abilities," Blizzard says. It sounds like Blizzard took Deathstalker Rexxar's Death Knight hero power, swapped Beasts for Mechs, and turned it into a keyword, which is actually pretty cool. My biggest question is whether Magnetic is automatic. Can I choose to combine two Magnetic Mechs, or if I play another one alongside, say, Spider Bomb, will they automatically fuse? 

On top of Legendary spells, The Boomsday Project will also add a new spell type: Projects. "Projects are spells that provide a bonus to both players when played," Blizzard says. "Those who build around the bonus most effectively will be able to edge out the competition." Have a look at Druid's Biology Project, which looks to benefit decks with heavy mana curves:

In addition to 135 cards, The Boomsday Project also comes with a singleplayer mode called The Puzzle Lab. It will go live on August 21, two weeks after the expansion itself, bringing "over 100 different mind-boggling puzzles." Nearest I can tell, each wing of the Puzzle Lab has its own theme. Some focus on Survival puzzles where your goal is to survive a set number of turns, while others feature Lethal puzzles where your goal is to find a way to kill your opponent from a specific board state. 

There are also Board Clear puzzles, which are presumably about killing everything on your opponent's board, and less obvious Mirror puzzles, which are anyone's guess (perhaps winning the game when you and your opponent have the exact same cards?) If you manage to clear the Puzzle Lab, you'll get "a one-on-one with Dr. Boom himself, at his personal workshop," Blizzard says, perhaps earning a new card back or portrait in the process. 

As always, Blizzard is also offering one-time pre-order bundles. For $50, you can get a 50-pack Boomsday bundle which comes with a free golden Legendary and the new Mecha-Jaraxxus card back. For $80, you can upgrade to the 80-pack bundle which comes with the free golden Legendary, the Mecha-Jaraxxus card back, and the Mecha-Jaraxxus Warlock hero skin which, I have to admit, is glorious. Behold, the Eredar Lord of the scientific community: