Hearthstone Unveils Thrilling Plans for the Year: New Expansion and Monk Class Incoming

During the opening ceremony for BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled exciting developments for its enduring collectible card game, Hearthstone. The upcoming expansion, Reign of the Black Empire, will place a stronger focus on storytelling than ever before. Additionally, players can look forward to a brand-new class debuting in 2027.

Set tens of thousands of years in the past, Reign of the Black Empire explores a time when Warcraft’s Old Gods reigned supreme. While lore may not appeal to everyone, this expansion is revamping the Journal, transforming it into a hub for Hearthstone’s narrative vignettes and upcoming limited-time events, including a 2v2 mode.

For those more interested in gameplay, there will be new cards and an exciting new keyword to explore. A new minion type called Aberrations is being introduced, with Blizzard hinting that each Aberration that falls in battle could awaken the gods.

The new keyword, “Assemble,” allows players to combine the text of two minions, creating a unique text box for their card. This mechanic promises to unlock some incredible deck-building and combo possibilities that haven’t been seen before in Hearthstone. I might just reinstall the game to experiment with this new keyword when Reign of the Black Empire launches on October 20.

Looking ahead, Blizzard is also set to introduce something fresh for Hearthstone players in 2027. Next March, the game will welcome its first new card class in several years: the Monk class from World of Warcraft. I’m eager to see how Hearthstone will reinterpret this class. It would be great to see the Evoker class make its way to Hearthstone in the future, although no plans for that have been shared yet.

Hearthstone continues to be free-to-play on Android, iOS, and Windows PC.

Azeroth feels like 2008 again.