When is the next Hearthstone expansion announcement coming?
Hearthstone revealed Buddies returning to battlegrounds this week and with that, hinted to us the arrival of the next expansion announcement.
Yes, the usual Hearthstone announcement of the announcement of the expansion. This time we have a sense of security that news is coming up next week. But that's not all. Join me while I explain what will happen with the next Hearthstone expansion and how you can prepare for it.
Hearthstone expansion announcement next week
Alongside the Battlegrounds Buddies announcement, Hearthstone posted the following about the next expansion:
"Stay tuned for the 25.6 Patch Notes next week with more information about all the new Battlegrounds updates coming in this patch, as well as news about Hearthstone’s next expansion!"
From Blizzard's Official Blogpost
X.6 patches are the ones that carry everything about the next Hearthstone expansion. With them, we learn the expansion's name and theme, their new Keywords and mechanics, and on top of that, Hearthstone usually gives one free legendary from the new set.
Why is the next expansion key, and how can you prepare for it
The upcoming Hearthstone expansion will have a major impact on the game. With the first set of each year, Hearthstone sees its annual rotation. This means that the three expansions from 2021 will leave Standard.
Hearthstone expansions leaving standard in 2023:
- Forged in the Barrens
- United in Stormwind
- Divided in Alterac Valley
With them, every Hero card -except for Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion- will also be outcasted from Standard into Wild. The Mercenaries Hero cards introduced in 2021 shaped the meta in a significant way, to the point that Blizzard nerfed 4 out of 10 of them.
Moreover, the Core Set -Hearthstone primary and free card set- will change its composition to create variety and prepare the basis for the 2023 expansions. During the last Core Set rotation, we saw the League of Explorers returning to Standard. Who knows which surprises the next rotation can bring this year? Maybe Death Knights could even make a comeback.
Tips and free packs
There are two completely legal tricks that you can do to maximize your resources to start the next Hearthstone expansion on the right foot. The first of them is popular in the Arena and Duels community and will give you at least a free pack in each mode.
When the next expansion launches, Hearthstone will retire every ongoing Arena (and probably Duels) runs. This happens because those formats also see Set rotation. To compensate the players for the retired run, Blizzard gives them the rewards corresponding to the number of wins they had in that run, plus a free Tavern Ticket for a new run.
This way, if you start a run and play until you get two losses, you will get those rewards and another entrance worth 150 Gold that will grant you at least a free pack. This trick works only for when the expansion launches so be prepared.
Another less-known tip is that if you already have most of the standard Common and Rare cards in standard, you should stop opening Standard card packs. These are the packs you get for free from the weekly Tavern Brawls.
If you hold those packs until the next Hearthstone expansion, you will get cards from the 3 expansions from 2022 and from the new one. This increases the chances of getting the legendaries and epics you are missing and maximizes how fast you can get the next expansion cards. This also works for Class card packs.
That's all for now but keep vigilant, Hearthstone usually teases its expansions before releasing the official announcement, so we might get a sneak peek to start speculating.
As always, stay tuned to find out and check out more Hearthstone content. Be sure to visit Esports.gg for all the latest esports news.
Manuel "Rane" Delgado
Editor | Twitter @RaneTDF
Manuel “Rane” Delgado is an experienced Hearthstone caster, content creator, and tournament organizer from Argentina. He started his career on Esports casting his own tournaments, now he currently casts the Hearthstone Esports circuit for the LATAM region, among other content creation and tournament organization.