Expansions are major card set additions to the game of Hearthstone. Expansions introduce the majority of collectible cards into the game, with each expansion introducing around 130-145 new cards. These cards, referred to as expansion cards, are used primarily to create and build decks to play in Casual or Ranked mode, in either the Standard, Wild, or Twist game format modes. These expansion cards are obtained chiefly through purchasing and opening card packs, through crafting, or through earning Arena rewards.

In early 2017, the developers announced their plans to release three expansions each year, with each expansion featuring around 130 new cards, abandoning their previous annual release cycle of expansion-adventure-expansion.^[1] Starting with Knights of the Frozen Throne in August 2017, expansions also featured optional solo-player content in the form of Missions, effectively integrating an adventure into each expansion.^[1]

Hearthstone's first expansion was Goblins vs Gnomes, released in December 2014.

List

The following is a table of all expansions, counting all collectible cards and Mini-set cards.

Card sets

Format	Card set	Release date	Type	Year	Collectible	By rarity
Standard	TITANS	August 1, 2023	Expansion	Wolf	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Standard	Festival of Legends	April 11, 2023	Expansion	Wolf	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Standard	March of the Lich King	December 6, 2022	Expansion	Hydra	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Standard	Murder at Castle Nathria	August 2, 2022	Expansion	Hydra	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Standard	Voyage to the Sunken City	April 12, 2022	Expansion	Hydra	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Fractured in Alterac Valley	December 7, 2021	Expansion	Gryphon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	United in Stormwind	August 3, 2021	Expansion	Gryphon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Forged in the Barrens	March 30, 2021	Expansion	Gryphon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Madness at the Darkmoon Faire	November 17, 2020	Expansion	Phoenix	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Scholomance Academy	August 6, 2020	Expansion	Phoenix	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Ashes of Outland	April 7, 2020	Expansion	Phoenix	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Descent of Dragons	December 10, 2019	Expansion	Dragon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Saviors of Uldum	August 6, 2019	Expansion	Dragon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Rise of Shadows	April 9, 2019	Expansion	Dragon	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Rastakhan's Rumble	December 4, 2018	Expansion	Raven	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	The Boomsday Project	August 7, 2018	Expansion	Raven	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	The Witchwood	April 12, 2018	Expansion	Raven	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Kobolds & Catacombs	December 7, 2017	Expansion	Mammoth	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Knights of the Frozen Throne	August 10, 2017	Expansion	Mammoth	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Journey to Un'Goro	April 6, 2017	Expansion	Mammoth	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Mean Streets of Gadgetzan	December 1, 2016	Expansion	Kraken	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Whispers of the Old Gods	April 26, 2016	Expansion	Kraken	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	The Grand Tournament	August 24, 2015	Expansion		Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.
Wild	Goblins vs Gnomes	December 8, 2014	Expansion		Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.	Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found. /Cargo Query Error: Error: Table Card not found.

Release calendar

The following is the card set release calendar for all expansions and adventures. The highlighted sets are in Standard format.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2014							Naxx*					GvG
2015				BRM*				TGT			LoE*
2016				WOG				Kara*				MSG
2017				JUG				KFT				K&C
2018				TWW				TBP				RR
2019				RoS				SoU				DoD
2020	GA*			AoO				SA			MDF
2021	DR#		FitB			WC#		UiS			DM#	FAV
2022		OL#		VSC		ToT#		MCN	M&D#			MLK
2023		RtN#		FoL	Aud#			TTN			SitB
2024			WsW				PiP				TGDB
2025			ItED				TLCoU				AtT
2026			Cat

* Adventure

# Mini-set

Standard format expansions

Voyage to the Sunken City

Main article: Voyage to the Sunken City

Voyage to the Sunken City is Hearthstone's 20th expansion, featuring new 135 collectible cards released on April 12, 2022. The expansion depicts an underwater expedition down to the ancient city of Zin-Azshari led by Ambassador Faelin, who hired Sir Finley and Ini Stormcoil to aid him to return to his former home for personal purposes.

Voyage to the Sunken City features 2 new keywords, Colossal and Dredge, a new permanent minion type Naga, as well as bunch of cards with deck manipulation mechanic to take advantage of the keyword Dredge.

Murder at Castle Nathria

Main article: Murder at Castle Nathria

Murder at Castle Nathria is Hearthstone's 21st expansion, featuring new 135 collectible cards released on August 2, 2022. The expansion depicts a dinner party in Castle Nathria hosted by Sire Denathrius, where he unexpectedly meets his end. Detective Murloc Holmes has been called to solve the case and determine which of the ten suspects committed the crime.

Murder at Castle Nathria features a new keyword - Infuse - which allows cards to get more powerful as friendly minions die. The expansion also introduces a brand new card type - Location. Locations are played onto the battlefield for an initial cost, and then have an ability that can be activated for free on your turns, each time for a powerful effect.

March of the Lich King

Main article: March of the Lich King

March of the Lich King is Hearthstone's 22nd expansion, featuring new 145 collectible cards released on December 6, 2022. The expansion depicts the return of The Lich King, as he leads his Undead army to an all-out assault on the elven city of Silvermoon. The Blood Elves won’t go down easily; they are as thirsty for combat as they are for the magic of the Sunwell that they draw power from.

March of the Lich King introduces Hearthstone's 11th total and second-ever new class, the Death Knight, a new minion type - Undead, dual minion types, a new keyword - Manathirst, and the return of the Reborn keyword.

Festival of Legends

Main article: Festival of Legends

Festival of Legends is Hearthstone's 23rd expansion, featuring new 145 collectible cards released on April 11, 2023. The expansion takes place in the Thousand Needles, where E.T.C., Band Manager is gathering the greatest musicians from all over Azeroth to put on the biggest music festival in history.

Festival of Legends introduces 2 new keywords: Finale, which allows cards to have bonus effects if playing them spends the rest of your mana, and Overheal, a new class-specific evergreen keyword for priests that allows minions to trigger special effects if they're healed above their max health.

TITANS

Main article: TITANS

TITAN' is Hearthstone's 24th expansion, featuring new 145 collectible cards released on August 1, 2023. The expansion takes place in the distant past, just after the defeat of the Old Gods, before life inhabited Azeroth. The Titans are gathering in Ulduar to prepare the planet for the Age of Mortals.

TITANS introduces 2 new keywords: Forge and Titan. Forge cards can be dragged into the player's deck to pay 2 mana and upgrade it, then return the card to the player's hand. Minions with the Titan keyword have three unique abilities that they activate instead of attacking normally. TITANS also features the return of the keyword Magnetic, featuring new class cards with Magnetic for classes that previously didn't have access to it.

Wild format expansions

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 is the first one in which two minions, Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane, 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 136 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 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 136 new collectible cards, the The Dalaran Heist single-player content, 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, released on August 6, 2019. Featuring 135 new collectible cards, the Tombs of Terror single-player content, and the new druid alternate hero Elise Starseeker, expansion introduces the Reborn keyword. The set also reintroduces quest cards again as we know it from Journey to Un'Goro. Following the events of Rise of Shadows, the League of E.V.I.L. successfully steals the city of Dalaran and takes it to Uldum, but the League of Explorers steps in to foil Rafaam's plan.

Descent of Dragons

Main article: Descent of Dragons

Descent of Dragons is Hearthstone's thirteenth expansion, released on December 10, 2019. Featuring 140 new collectible cards, and the new warrior alternate hero Deathwing, expansion introduces the Invoke keyword and Sidequest cards. The League of E.V.I.L. travels to Dragonblight to fulfill their ultimate plan: reawaken Galakrond, the primeval dragon. The League of Explorers and the League of E.V.I.L. face off once again, with the fate of the world at stake.

Ashes of Outland

Main article: Ashes of Outland

Ashes of Outland is Hearthstone's fourteenth expansion, featuring 135 new collectible cards and the alternate shaman hero Lady Vashj. The expansion was released on April 7, 2020. Like the previous expansions, this one also includes Trial by Felfire, a free single-player content, where Aranna Starseeker must stop the Rusted Legion.

Ashes of Outland also featured Hearthstone's first new class, the Demon Hunter. The expansion did not introduce any new keywords directly. However, the Demon Hunter class uses its own special keyword; Outcast, which has an effect if the card is played from the left or right-most spot in the hand. Meanwhile, one of the old abilities, Dormant, was keyworded.

Scholomance Academy

Main article: Scholomance Academy

Scholomance Academy is Hearthstone's fifteenth expansion, featuring 135 new collectible cards. The expansion was released August 6, 2020.

Set in the magical school of Scholomance, run by headmaster Kel'Thuzad at a time before he became an evil lich, the expansion sees aspiring young champions of every class studying in this prestigious academy. However, beneath the halls of Scholomance lies a secret, evil cult. Scholomance Academy introduced the new Spellburst keyword, an effect that triggers the first time you cast a spell with the minion on board. It also added dual-class cards, double majors that can be used by either class and combine themes and mechanics from each other.

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire

Main article: Madness at the Darkmoon Faire

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire is Hearthstone's sixteenth expansion, featuring 135 new collectible cards. The expansion was released on November 17th, 2020.

This expansion takes place on the mysterious Darkmoon Island, on the fairgrounds run by Silas Darkmoon and his carnies... with four sinister guests from the depths of the Void. This expansion adds the new Corrupt keyword, which powers up corruptible cards in your hand by playing a card that's more expensive than it. It also features the return of the Old Gods Yogg-Saron, C'Thun, Y'Shaarj and N'Zoth (the latter of which is also now a new Hero). This expansion is set to be the first in Hearthstone to follow a "mini-expansion" format, adding 35 additional cards to the set halfway through the expansion's life cycle with the Darkmoon Races.

Forged in the Barrens

Main article: Forged in the Barrens

Forged in the Barrens is Hearthstone's seventeenth expansion, featuring 135 new collectible cards. The expansion was released on March 30th, 2021.

Set in the dusty savannah territory of the Barrens, a literal crossroads where tauren, troll, and orc adventurers gather to prove their worth. Mercenaries of old and newcomers alike train for an upcoming conflict with the Alliance. This set introduced the new keyword, Frenzy, which causes a minion to do something the first time it takes damage as long as it survived the attack. Additionally, it added seven Spell schools to the game; Arcane, Fel, Fire, Frost, Holy, Nature, and Shadow. This applies to new spells but also old ones, opening up many new synergies. It also added Ranked Spells that become more powerful as you gain mana, and Mercenaries that will have their stories told throughout the year.

United in Stormwind

Main article: United in Stormwind

United in Stormwind is Hearthstone's 18th expansion, featuring 135 collectible cards released on August 3, 2021.

Set in the majestic capital city Stormwind, a testament to all the Alliance stands for, United in Stormwind features the Alliance's mercenaries coming to rest, preparing for the next step in their journey, and filled with bustling trade, shiny equipment, epic mounts, and new Questlines.

United in Stormwind introduced two new keywords: Tradeable and Questline. Tradable cards can be dragged into your deck to spend 1 mana and draw a new card from your deck, while Questline cards, similar to Quest ones, are legendary spells that start in your hand, have a condition and along with the reward for meeting the condition. However, unlike Quest, each Questline card consists of three conditions and three rewards, with the first rewards functioning similarly to Sidequest, and the final reward which is added to your hand for completing all three conditions.

Fractured in Alterac Valley

Main article: Fractured in Alterac Valley

Fractured in Alterac Valley is Hearthstone's 19th expansion, featuring new 135 collectible cards released on December 7, 2021. Set in Alterac Valley, the expansion depicts the epic battle between the Alliance and the Horde and concludes the story of 10 mercenaries, who decided to join the battle for honor and shards of a fallen naaru.

Fractured in Alterac Valley features again 10 mercenaries, this time max leveled as hero cards, a new keyword Honorable Kill which triggers its bonus effect when the card deals exact lethal damage to the target on their owner's turn, and Objective spells which have an ongoing effect lasting for 3 turns.

Fractured in Alterac Valley also featured a faction event that lasted from December 7 to January 11, which the player fights for honor points to claim the diamond version of the faction leader card they have chosen.

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. Standard expansion cards may also be found in the Highest Rank Bonus chest at the end of each Ranked season.

Wild format expansion cards are obtainable through crafting or card packs.

Twist format cards can be obtained depending on whether the current available sets are part of Standard or Wild.

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. The old adventures can still be bought either in-game or 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, or Twist format matches, should the current rotation allow it. 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",^[2] including "not only the next [expansion] but the one after that as well".^[2] Former Game Director Ben Brode states that the team always have "3-ish expansions in development",^[3] 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".^[2] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Speculation

• Future expansions may bring increased level caps for heroes, although this has not yet been the case.
• World of Warcraft already has eight expansions, with the latest being Dragonflight. However, only two of the Hearthstone expansions so far have matched with one of these (Wrath of the Lich King, the Burning Crusade), with a preference for original themes that stem off of smaller pieces of Warcraft lore.

Trivia

• 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..."^[6]

References

Card sets (Expansions / Adventures / Mini-sets) Standard Path of Arthas Core TITANS Festival of Legends (Audiopocalypse) March of the Lich King (Return to Naxxramas) Murder at Castle Nathria (Maw and Disorder) Voyage to the Sunken City (Throne of the Tides) Wild Caverns of Time Fractured in Alterac Valley (Onyxia's Lair) United in Stormwind (Deadmines) Forged in the Barrens (Wailing Caverns) Madness at the Darkmoon Faire (Darkmoon Races) Scholomance Academy Demon Hunter Initiate Ashes of Outland Galakrond's Awakening Descent of Dragons Saviors of Uldum Rise of Shadows Rastakhan's Rumble The Boomsday Project The Witchwood Kobolds & Catacombs Knights of the Frozen Throne Journey to Un'Goro Mean Streets of Gadgetzan One Night in Karazhan Whispers of the Old Gods The League of Explorers The Grand Tournament Blackrock Mountain Goblins vs Gnomes Curse of Naxxramas Legacy Classic Classic Removed Promotion Reward Basic Classic Hall of Fame Wild Event