Expansion

Expansions are major card set additions to the game of Hearthstone. Expansions introduce large amounts of cards into the game, in contrast to adventures, with expansions featuring around 130-145 new cards and adventures only around 30-45 cards. Cards introduced into the game through expansions are referred to as expansion cards, and these are obtained chiefly through card packs, crafting, or Arena rewards.

As of early 2017, the developers plan to release three expansions each year, each featuring around 130 new cards. Starting with Knights of the Frozen Throne, expansions will also feature optional solo-player content in the form of Missions, effectively integrating an adventure into each expansion.

Hearthstone's first expansion was Curse of Naxxramas, released in July 2014.

List

For a table of all card sets, see: Card set table

Goblins vs Gnomes

Main article: Goblins vs Gnomes

Goblins vs Gnomes (often abbreviated as GvG) was the first expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The second infusion of new cards to be added to the game, after Naxxramas , the expansion features 143 new cards (123 of which are collectible), with a strong mechanical theme, and introduced the Mech minion type, as well as debuting the long-awaited spectator mode. The expansion was debuted in an arena-only launch event on December 4th, 2014, with the full launch taking place on December 8th/9th/10th.

The Grand Tournament

Main article: The Grand Tournament

The Grand Tournament is Hearthstone's second expansion, launched August 24th, 2015. With more than 130 new cards, the expansion features a strong theme of Hero Power-related effects, as well as seeing the introduction of the first full new keyword since the game's release - Inspire - allowing minions to grant special effects each time the player uses their Hero Power. It also introduced a new non-keyword mechanic, Joust.

Whispers of the Old Gods

Main article: Whispers of the Old Gods

Whispers of the Old Gods is Hearthstone's third expansion, launched April 26th, 2016. Featuring 134 new collectible cards, this sinister expansion revolves around the dark influence of the Old Gods, ancient and unspeakably evil creatures that have long lain hidden, imprisoned in the dark places of the world millennia ago. Despite their imprisonment, these shadowy beings' influence can be felt in every corner of Azeroth, twisting and corrupting any who hear their maddening whispers. With an army of followers performing forbidden empowerment rituals, the tentacles of these massive horrors are growing rapidly toward the light, eager to bring their own kind of excitement to the sunlit kingdoms and merry taverns of Azeroth.

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Main article: Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Released December 1, 2016, Hearthstone's fourth expansion, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, features 132 new collectible cards. Set in the bustling, lawless port city of Gadgetzan, the expansion features characters from the city's three ruling crime families - the brutish Grimy Goons, the assassins of the Jade Lotus, and the shadowy spellcasters of the Kabal. With their own minions, spells and weapons, each family is formed from an allegiance of three different Hearthstone classes, resulting in multi-class cards, usable by heroes of any of those three classes.

Journey to Un'Goro

Main article: Journey to Un'Goro

Journey to Un'Goro is the fifth expansion to Hearthstone, featuring 135 collectible cards. The expansion was released on April 6, 2017 in the Americas region, and April 7, 2017 in the Europe and Asia regions. The expansion features the new Adapt mechanic, the new Quest card type, and adds the new Elemental minion type. Set in the primordial mists of Un'Goro Crater, the expansion sees Elise Starseeker leading an expedition to explore the strange wonders of the region. The denizens of the region include dinosaurs, raging elementals and unusually active plants, many of whom have learned to adapt to the needs of the situation with impressive new powers.

Knights of the Frozen Throne

Main article: Knights of the Frozen Throne

Released August 10th, 2017, Knights of the Frozen Throne is the sixth expansion to Hearthstone, featuring 135 collectible cards. Set in the frozen wastes of Northrend, the expansions sees each of the nine classic heroes of Warcraft fall under the sway of the Lich King, becoming undead death knights in his service. The expansion features the introduction of a new card type in the form of the hero card, which replaces the player's hero portrait and Hero Power, as well as the Lifesteal keyword. Knights of the Frozen Throne is also the first expansion to feature a new type of free, optional single-player content in the form of Missions, which take the player through the halls of Icecrown and rewards card packs and a random Legendary hero card.

Kobolds & Catacombs

Main article: Kobolds & Catacombs

Kobolds & Catacombs is the seventh expansion to Hearthstone. It was released on December 7, 2017 and is the final expansion in the Year of the Mammoth. This set consists of 135 collectible cards, along with the new Recruit keyword, Legendary weapons for all classes, and offers the new Solo Adventures option of Dungeon Run. Hearkening back to the roots of classic fantasy and dungeon crawlers, the expansion sees players venturing deep into dark dungeons and winding catacombs in search of treasure and loot, encountering monsters, traps, rival adventurers, and — above all — slovenly, candle-obsessed kobolds along the way.

The Witchwood

Main article: The Witchwood

The Witchwood is the eighth expansion to Hearthstone. It was released on April 12, 2018 and is the first expansion in the Year of the Raven. This set consists of 135 collectible cards, featuring three new keywords: Start of Game, Echo, and Rush. It also added a new game mode called Monster Hunt, a single-player mode akin to Dungeon Run that features four exclusive playable classes. The expansion also celebrated the release of Lunara, a new druid alternate hero. The release of The Witchwood ended the previous Standard year, the Year of the Mammoth. Set in the Worgen kingdom of Gilneas, its citizens band together to fight the evil witch Hagatha who has corrupted the neighboring forest. The Witchwood expansion in the first one in which two minions, Baku the Mooneater and Genn Graymane, rotated out of standard after one year instead of two.

The Boomsday Project

Main article: The Boomsday Project

The Boomsday Project is Hearthstone's ninth expansion, released on August 7, 2018. Featuring 135 new collectible cards, the Puzzle Lab single-player content, and the new warlock alternate hero Mecha-Jaraxxus, the expansion introduces the Magnetic keyword, Legendary spells for all nine classes, and themed "Project" and "Omega" cards. Set in the shattered, otherworldly region of the Netherstorm in Outland, the science-themed expansion is centered around the famous Dr. Boom and his team of elite scientists at Boom Labs working on a mysterious top-secret project, unleashing all manner of strange experiments along the way.

Rastakhan's Rumble

Main article: Rastakhan's Rumble

Rastakhan's Rumble is Hearthstone's tenth expansion, released on December 4, 2018. Featuring 135 new collectible cards, the Rumble Run single-player content, and the new shaman alternate hero King Rastakhan. Set in the Zandalari troll kingdom's Gurubashi Arena, combatants fight for glory of the Loa spirits. The expansion introduces the Overkill keyword, and spirits and legendary Loa minions for all nine classes.

Rise of Shadows

Main article: Rise of Shadows

Rise of Shadows is Hearthstone's eleventh expansion, released on April 9, 2019. Featuring 135 new collectible cards, and the new priest alternate hero Madame Lazul, the expansion introduces the Twinspell keyword. Five of the villains of Hearthstone's previous expansions band together to form the League of E.V.I.L., devising a scheme to take over the magical floating city of Dalaran.

Saviors of Uldum

Main article: Saviors of Uldum

Saviors of Uldum is Hearthstone's twelfth expansion, launching on August 6, 2019. Featuring 135 new collectible cards, and the new druid alternate hero Elise Starseeker, expansion introduces the Reborn keyword. There will be also quest cards again as we know it from Journey to Un'Goro.

Expansion Release Calendar

	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2014							CoN*					GvG
2015				BM*				TGT			LoE*
2016				WOG				ONK*				MSG
2017				JtUG				KFT				K&C
2018				TWW				TBP				RR
2019				RoS				SoU

* Adventure

Expansion cards

Expansion cards are cards added to the game through expansions, or the game's original release, rather than through adventures or other means.

How to get

All Standard format expansion cards are obtainable through card packs, through crafting, or as Arena rewards. Golden versions of Standard expansion cards may also be found in the Highest Rank Bonus chest at the end of each Ranked season.

Wild format expansion cards, however, are obtainable only through crafting or through the online Blizzard Shop.

Expansion cards are added to the game in large batches with each new expansion from patch updates. They are different from adventure cards in the way they are obtained. Adventure cards are obtained in small batches, as each wing of the corresponding adventure is released. The introduction of new expansion cards thus tends to have a larger impact on the game's meta than that of adventure cards. Note that adventure cards are now deprecated in Hearthstone and new adventure cards are no longer released, but the old adventures can still be bought in the online Blizzard Shop.

Standard format

Main article: Standard format

When the first new expansion is released each year, all card sets that weren't released in the same year or the year prior are removed from Standard format. Cards from these removed sets are termed Wild cards and can only be used in Wild format matches. For details on how the Standard format year works, see The Standard year.

Expansions and adventures

Starting in 2014, only a few months after the game's release, Hearthstone presented two different forms of content: adventures and expansions. The former featured a small number of cards and a substantial solo experience, with special bosses and challenges; while expansions brought far larger amounts of cards, but without solo content of any kind. Additionally, while adventures' cards were earned through defeating bosses, expansions' cards were earned through regular means such as crafting and card packs.

Despite these differences, in more general parlance, adventures can be considered equivalent to expansions in other games, with substantial changes to the game's basic play experience that far exceed the impact of a regular patch. For example, Curse of Naxxramas, the game's first adventure, is commonly considered its first 'expansion'.

Between the release of the game in March 2014 and the start of the Year of the Mammoth in spring 2017, Hearthstone saw an alternating pattern of adventures and expansions. However, in early 2017 the developers announced plans to integrate future adventure content into expansions. Starting with the second expansion of 2017, each release will feature optional single-player missions, themed around the expansion and serving to illustrate its story, setting and characters. These missions will be free of charge, but may not award cards in the same way or numbers in which adventures have until now. Further details will be announced later in the year.

Notes

• By the time an expansion is released, Team 5 are "already working a lot on future expansions", including "not only the next [expansion] but the one after that as well". Former Game Director Ben Brode states that the team always have "3-ish expansions in development", although it is likely this also includes adventures. According to Senior Producer Yong Woo, the developers are always "trying to get ahead of the curve". In April 2018, shortly after the release of The Witchwood, Ben Brode stated that the next set had passed through final design, the stage in development during which Team 5 focuses on refining the balance and clarity of the set's new cards. The set after that was currently in the final design process, and the set after was in the initial design phase, during which Team 5 comes up with the ideas for the set's general theme and for the cards and their mechanics. All in all, there are usually at least three sets that Team 5 know about but which players don't yet know about. Later in 2018, the expansion development process was described as a full year cycle with different people working on it for about 16 weeks per team. First, the initial design team spend about 16 weeks nailing down the mechanics, art, and voice overs for the set before passing it onto final design, who refine and tweak the set's mechanics to "make an awesome set that's fair and fun, has cool themes, and all that stuff". At the same time, artists work on creating the card art and golden card animations. When final design starts finishing up, the team records all of the voice lines for the cards while the sound department engineer the various sound effects and the effects artists create the in-game visual effects and animations. At this point, when final design is done and animation is in progress, the engineering team spend time "cleaning up [...] whatever horrible things we've done in design" to ensure that cards function on a technical level and don't cause server or client crashes. The set then heads towards the very end of the cycle, at which point the PR team starts working on how best to market the set and reveal all of the various cards before it is finally released and becomes available to players.

Speculation

• Future expansions may bring increased level caps for heroes, although this has not yet been the case.
• World of Warcraft already has seven expansions, with the latest being Battle for Azeroth. However, only one of the Hearthstone expansions so far have matched with one of these (Wrath of the Lich King), with a preference for original themes.

Trivia

"Only YOU can decide who will be the victor in this epic conflict."

• Eric Dodds has jokingly referred to a potential The Lich King vs Battle Pets expansion.

"There was another idea out there... well actually it wasn't really an idea out there, but I was kinda wishing it would have been [...] because it's one that I think would be super awesome, is the idea that maybe we could do something like, you know, "THE LICH KING... VS... BATTLE PETS" [...] of course I've only put that up there to have a little fun with it, but on the other hand as I've been looking at it and thinking about it, it... it's starting to grow on me, actually..."