The Great Dark Beyond Hearthstone expansion release date is November 5!

The Hearthstone team has been incredibly reliable about releasing new expansions since the game launched its first expansion over a decade ago, releasing them with nearly clockwork precision. While there’s a little bit of wiggle room around the exact dates, Hearthstone expansions usually launch in April, August or December, depending on when you’re reading this post.

However, the next Hearthstone expansion, The Great Dark Beyond, is launching earlier than we expected: The Great Dark Beyond release date is November 5.

We’ve had a couple of expansions launch in November, but both towards the middle of the month; an early November launch is unusual. We’ll have to wait to see if Blizzard plans to move its release schedule up or this is simply an odd expansion out, but for now we have a new expansion to talk about.

The Great Dark Beyond features

In The Great Dark Beyond, the Draenei are adventuring through the cosmos in search of a new home, and you’re here to help. The expansion will feature 145 new cards, including a new sci-fi themed keyword: Starship, in which you collect Starship Pieces minions, like Arkonite Defense Crystal or Starlight Reactor. When these minions die, their stats and effects are added to your Starship, which you can summon at any time for five mana. In addition to Starship, the Spellburst keyword is making a comeback, providing an extra effect from the first spell you cast after you play the card.

Since it’s a Draenei-themed expansion, we’re getting new Draenei minions, which have a powerful reaction with the new Velen, Leader of the Exiled neutral legendary. Velen is a 7/7 with Taunt who will trigger the Battlecries and Deathrattles of all other Draenei you’ve played this game. At a cost of just seven mana, this will certainly make Draenei decks popular, particularly for classes with ways to duplicate cards or return them to their hands to play again. Perhaps Velen will become the next Shudderwock.

The expansion will also have plenty of demons, including a new Archimonde Warlock legendary that will summon every demon you’ve played in this game that didn’t start in your deck.

The Great Dark Beyond pre-orders

You can pre-order The Great Dark Beyond now, with the typical pair of pre-order bundles:

• The Great Dark Beyond Mega Bundle includes 80 card packs, 10 Golden card packs, 1 random Signature Legendary card, 1 random Golden Legendary card, 6 Tavern Tickets, and the Prophet Velen Card Back and Priest Hero Skin
• The Great Dark Beyond Bundle includes 60 card packs, 2 random Legendary cards, and the Prophet Velen Card Back.

The Great Dark Beyond freebies

If you log on now, you can get a free legendary from The Great Dark Beyond: Nexus-Prince Shaffar. Shaffar is a 3/3 neutral legendary with the Spellburst effect to give a minion in your hand +3/+3 and a copy of its Spellburst effect. For just three mana, this card provides great value.

There will also be a Pre-Release Tavern Brawl from October 29 November 5. It appears to have a Brawliseum-style tournament format with an entry fee (though the first entry is free), which dulls our enthusiasm a little. However, if you dive into the Brawl and win, you’ll earn more The Great Dark Beyond packs.

Hearthstone’s expansion release schedule

When I said the Hearthstone team is reliable on expansion releases, to date, they’ve released 27 expansions, and all but two prior to this year have released in April, August, or December. This year we’ve seen a slight shift to release a few weeks earlier, but that shift is still relatively predictable, and very close to the original time frame they set 27 expansions ago:

1. Goblins vs Gnomes: December 8, 2014
2. The Grand Tournament: August 24, 2015
3. Whispers of the Old Gods: April 26, 2016 – Year of the Kraken
4. Mean Streets of Gadgetzan: December 1, 2016 – Year of the Kraken
5. Journey to Un’Goro: April 6, 2017 – Year of the Mammoth
6. Knights of the Frozen Throne: August 10, 2017 – Year of the Mammoth
7. Kobolds and Catacombs: December 7, 2017 – Year of the Mammoth
8. The Witchwood: April 12, 2018 – Year of the Raven
9. The Boomsday Project: August 7, 2018 – Year of the Raven
10. Rastakhan’s Rumble: December 4, 2018 – Year of the Raven
11. Rise of Shadows: April 9, 2019 – Year of the Dragon
12. Saviors of Uldum: August 6, 2019 – Year of the Dragon
13. Descent of Dragons: December 10, 2019 – Year of the Dragon
14. Ashes of Outland: April 7, 2020 – Year of the Phoenix
15. Scholomance Academy: August 6, 2020 – Year of the Phoenix
16. Madness at the Darkmoon Faire: November 17, 2020 – Year of the Phoenix
17. Forged in the Barrens: March 30, 2021 – Year of the Gryphon
18. United in Stormwind: August 3, 2021 – Year of the Gryphon
19. Fractured in Alterac Valley: December 7, 2021 – Year of the Gryphon
20. Voyage to the Sunken City: April 12, 2022 – Year of the Hydra
21. Murder at Castle Nathria: August 2, 2022 – Year of the Hydra
22. March of the Lich King: December 6, 2022 – Year of the Hydra
23. Festival of Legends: April 11, 2023 – Year of the Wolf
24. TITANS: August 1, 2023 – Year of the Wolf
25. Showdown in the Badlands: November 14, 2023 – Year of the Wolf
26. Whizbang’s Workshop: March 19, 2023 – Year of the Pegasus
27. Perils in Paradise: July 23, 2024 – Year of the Pegasus

Cards from the current and previous year — currently Year of the Pegasus and Year of the Wolf — are in Standard format along with the Core cards, while all earlier years are also available in Wild format. The year rotation occurs with the first expansion of the new calendar year, so the next expansion will also be in the Year of the Pegasus. Also, since the release of Darkmoon Races in January 2021, each expansion now includes a mini-set released in between each major expansion, which usually adds a small number of cards (around 30), but no new mechanics.

When is the next Hearthstone expansion release date?

You can start playing The Great Dark Beyond on November 5, 2024.