Whispers of the Old Gods is the next Hearthstone expansion

Today, Ben Brode and Yong Woo jumped on Twitch to announce Hearthstone’s newest expansion: Whispers of the Old Gods. There’s a little while to wait, with the expansion coming in late April or early May with 134 new cards. It will herald the beginning of the Standard format, though, as you know, the Wild format will still be available.

While we wait, we’ll be getting a new patch on Monday which offers a lot of cool features. We’ll get nine new deck slots as well as new deck recipes which will help you build fun decks for each class and new search filters for your collection manager. We’ll also get a preview of the user interface to switch between Standard and Wild modes.

Check out the card gallery below, with more updates as they arrive.

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With his customary flair, Brode explained how this isn’t the sort of expansion we’ve seen before. The inn isn’t the jovial place we’ve seen before, filled with strange hooded figures — which of course means Brode is now wearing a hooded cloak, with lighting going off behind him.

Because the Old Gods slowly corrupt people over time, some current minions have been corrupted and completely changed — some almost becoming their own evil twins. So just what’s changing?

• Loot Hoarder becomes Polluted Horder, now a 4 mana cost 4/4 with a Deathrattle to draw a card.
• Antique Healbot becomes Corrupted Healbot, now a 6 mana cost 6/6 with a Deathrattle that heals the enemy hero for 8 health.
• Doomsayer becomes Validated Doomsayer, now a 5 mana cost 0/7 which gains 7 attack at the start of your next turn.

Then, of course, there are the Old Gods themselves, starting with C’Thun, a 10 mana cost 6/6 with a battlecry that does damage equal to its attack randomly split between enemies. Sound weak for a 10 mana cost card? New cultist cards in the expansion will buff C’Thun, adding to his health even when he’s not on the board. So while C’Thun may not be the weakest card straight off, by the time you put it on the board, your opponent could be in real trouble.

You’ll be able to pre-purchase 50 packs — just like in The Grand Tournament — and you’ll get three free decks plus C’Thun itself during a promo period when the expansion launches. And, for C’Thun fans, you’ll also get a C’Thun-themed card back, complete with a moving eyeball that will watch you while you’re sleeping playing.