Frost Festival

"I, FROST LORD AHUNE HAVE COME TO SAVE YOU FROM RAGNAROS’ TERRIBLE MIDSUMMER FIRE FESTIVAL! I WILL REPLACE IT WITH A MUCH COOLER PARTY!"^[1]

The Frost Festival, also known as the Midsummer Frost Festival,^[2] was a Hearthstone event which lasted between July 19th and August 8th, 2017. Having launched immediately after the conclusion of the Ragnaros-themed Midsummer Fire Festival, the Frost Festival was instead centered around Ragnaros' rival Ahune the Frost Lord. The event featured special emotes, a themed Tavern Brawl, and during each week of the event, players were granted free Arena runs.

Features[]

Frost Festival - poster — Official poster for the Frost Festival.

Upon first logging in during each week of the event, players are granted a special quest that requires them to play 3 games of Arena in exchange for 1 Knights of the Frozen Throne card pack: "The Frost Festival Begins" (week 1), "A Far Superior Festival" (week 2), and "A Cold Day in the Arena" (week 3)
- Players need to complete each week's quest in order before they can be given the next quest in the series^[3]
Each week, players are given one free Arena ticket
Arena runs started during the Frost Festival will automatically start with 1 free win
Hero "Wow" emotes are accompanied by frosty, magical snowflakes
A special, festive Tavern Brawl, Ahune's Superior Brawl, appears during the event
During the event, the main menu is populated by a light snowfall and the occasional frigid breeze

Narrative[]

The Frost Festival was accompanied by several encounters with Ahune the Frost Lord. For his interactions in Ahune's Superior Brawl, see Ahune's Superior Brawl#Narrative.

Upon first logging in during each week of the festival, the player was greeted with "PLAY MORE ARENA, FOOL!", a notice informing them that "Ahune would like you to enjoy a free Arena run during the Frost Festival."

Week 1 (July 19th - July 26th)[]

Immediately after being granted the first week's free Arena run, Ahune himself appeared for the first time.

Ahune: THE FIRE FESTIVAL IS OVER. IT IS AHUNE'S TURN.

Ahune: MY FROST FESTIVAL IS WAY BETTER THAN RAGNAROS' LAME FIRE FESTIVAL.

Ahune: PERHAPS YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THIS...

As the "Today's Quests" screen came up, the player was granted the golden "The Frost Festival Begins!" quest.

If the player entered the Arena, they were reminded of their free Arena ticket, as well as granted 1 free win. At the start of the draft, Ahune appeared again.

Ahune: ARENA MATCHES ARE A MAINSTAY OF THE FROST FESTIVAL. HAPPY DRAFTING, FOOL!

Upon completing "The Frost Festival Begins!":

Ahune: HERE! A GIFT FROM MY BENEFACTOR.

If the player entered the Tavern Brawl screen while Ahune's Superior Brawl was active, the Frost Lord appeared once more.

Ahune: PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY MY FROST BRAWL? IT IS MUCH COOOLER THAN RAGNAROS'S BRAWL!

Week 2 (July 26th - August 2nd)[]

During the second week, the player was given the "A Far Superior Festival" quest.

Ahune: PERFORM THIS TASK. AND ENJOY YOURSELF!

Upon completing this quest:

Ahune: DID RAGNAROS GIVE YOU FROZEN THRONE PACKS? HUH. I DIDN'T THINK SO.

Week 3 (August 2nd - August 8th)[]

During the third week, the player was given the "A Cold Day in the Arena" quest.

Ahune: A CHALLENGE WORTHY OF MY FROST FESTIVAL!

Upon entering the Arena draft:

Ahune: CELEBRATE MY FROST FESTIVAL BY PLAYING ARENA! ENJOY, FOOL!

Upon completing the quest:

Ahune: PACKS ARE THE BEST QUEST REWARD.

Lore[]

In Hearthstone[]

Ahune TCG — Ahune in the *World of Warcraft Trading Card Game*.

Blog: I, FROST LORD AHUNE HAVE COME TO SAVE YOU FROM RAGNAROS’ TERRIBLE MIDSUMMER FIRE FESTIVAL! I WILL REPLACE IT WITH A MUCH COOLER PARTY!

FROST THINGS FROST, LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS FIRE FESTIVAL THING.
FIRE IN SUMMER? THAT’S SNOOOOW CLEVER, RAGNAROS. QUESTION: DO YOU NEED MORE FIRE DURING A HEAT WAVE? ANSWER: NO, BECAUSE FIRE IS FOR LOSERS. FIRE IS ALSO A TERRIBLE PARTY DECORATION. YOUR HOUSE BURNS DOWN WHEN YOU DECORATE WITH FIRE. WHICH IS DUMB. LIKE RAGNAROS.

LET’S TALK FROST FESTIVAL!

THE FROST FESTIVAL IS THE COOLEST PARTY OF ALL TIME, AND I’VE GOT SOME GREAT STUFF SLEETED FOR YOU.

DECORATIONS! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT TAVERN IS A CHILL PLACE TO HANG OUT, SO I WILL MAKE IT SPARKLE WITH FROST.

WHEN YOU BREAK THE ICE YOUR OPPONENT SHOULD KNOW HOW COOL YOU ARE, SO YOUR EMOTES WILL NOW SPORT SOME SNOWFLAKES FROM ME. THIS IS AWESOME.

I HAVE PREPARED A FEW ARENA QUESTS FOR YOU TOO, WITH SOME VERY SPECIAL REWARDS: KNIGHTS OF THE FROZEN THRONE CARD PACKS*!

ICE IS NICE (HA HA I RIMED**), SO I MADE SOME CHILLY CHANGES TO THE ARENA.

THERE WILL BE A TAVERN BRAWL FEATURING ME, AHUNE. HAIL YES!

IN CONCLUSION, YOU WILL HAVE A BLAST AT THE FROST FESTIVAL, MORTALS. DON’T FLAKE OUT--I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR ARRIVAL WITH GREAT PRECIPITATION.

*THERE’S A FREEZE ON OPENING THESE PACKS UNTIL KNIGHTS ARRIVES!

**ICY WHAT I DID THERE. I SLEIGH ME.^[1]

Video

Ahune WoW — Ahune in *World of Warcraft*.

"THE TIME HAS COME TO CHILL! AHUNE HERE. "ICE" TO MEET YOU, HEH HEH. I HAVE DECIDED TO BESTOW A COOL ALTERNATIVE TO RAGNAROS' DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO REHEAT HIS FADING GLORY: THE MIDSUMMER FROST FESTIVAL! SPEND 3 WEEKS LOST IN THE HAZE OF COMPETITION, FRIENDSHIP, AND POLITELY ANNIHILATING YOUR OPPONENT AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY! RIDE THE TWO-HEADED MURLOC, EAT DELICATELY PREPARED BLOODFEN RAPTOR FEET, PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVELY MOCK RAGNAROS FOR TRYING TOO HARD, AND TRY TO GET JAINA PROUDMOORE'S AUTOGRAPH! YOU WON'T, BY THE WAY. PLUS, COMPLETE ARENA QUESTS AND EARN KNIGHTS OF THE FROZEN THRONE CARD PACKS THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL! STARTING TODAY, WILL YOURSELF BE THERE, AND IT SHALL BE! THE MIDSUMMER FROST FESTIVAL IS SPONSORED BY FRIENDLY'S VEGETARIAN BAR & GRILL, THE PERFECT PLACE TO UNWIND AFTER THE FESTIVAL, WHERE OUR MILK IS FRESH AND OUR "MOOSIC" IS LIVE, HEH HEH. IN THE TENDERLOIN DISTRICT VINE STREET."^[2]

In World of Warcraft[]

This section uses content from Wowpedia.

Ahune is a frost elemental in Neptulon's service. The Twilight's Hammer planned to have him battle Ragnaros to start an elemental war on Azeroth.

During the Midsummer Fire Festival, players encounter Ahune by entering a special variation of the Slave Pens instance. A player queues for the special instance through the Dungeon Finder or by talking to a particular event NPC in a major city. Entering the instance in this way places the party in the second room of the Slave Pens, near an Ice Stone which can be activated to summon Ahune.

The Frost Festival is unique to Hearthstone, and appears to represent an attempt by Ahune to match his rival, Ragnaros, seeing as the Frost Lord takes every opportunity in Hearthstone to remind the player how much more impressive his celebration is compared to that of the Firelord.

Notable, Ahune has never been shown to speak in World of Warcraft, but his Hearthstone counterpart appears to be quite talkative and particularly fond of frost-themed puns.

Notes[]

Despite the lore rivalry between Ahune and Ragnaros, using Majordomo Executus to become Ragnaros during the Frost Festival will not elicit any reaction from Ahune.^[4]