Hearthstone shifts from mini-sets to class sets, with Restoration of Azeroth adding new cards for four classes on May 5

Hearthstone has changed things up for the Year of the Scarab: gone are the mini-sets for each expansion, and to replace them we’re getting twelve class sets, released four at a time. The current expansion, Cataclysm gets a theme for this first batch of class sets: Restoration of Azeroth will add sets for Druid, Hunter, Paladin, and Mage, launching on May 5.

Each class set will offer a larger number of cards for each class than what we used to get from mini-sets: they’ll have one Legendary, two Epics, two Rares, and two Commons — with two copies of each non-Legendary — for a total of thirteen cards per class. So, in total, Restoration of Azeroth will offer a total of 52 new cards.

We’ve only seen a few cards from these class sets so far, but this is how each set is shaping up:

• The Druid Class Set values longer games, with powerful cards that have delayed payoffs. The longer a game goes, the more power and sustained healing you’ll get, though you might have to pay that cost in advance with weaker earlier turns.
• The Hunter Class Set is all about upgrading your Animal Companion effects. You can get bigger, stronger companions as the game progresses.
• The Paladin Class Set empowers your “dudes,” the Silver Hand Recruits from your hero power, allowing you to quickly fill the board with them, and then buff them.
• The Mage Class Set is focused on the Leylines, which are powerful spells that can be upgraded over the course of the game with more power, reduced cost, or the ability to trigger effects additional times.

How do I get Hearthstone Class sets?

Like mini-sets, the class sets are a purchase that give you access to all cards in the set immediately. You can purchase class sets with in-game gold, the Runestones shop currency, or directly with real money. The big difference is that you can purchase each Restoration of Azeroth Class Set individually, or get a bundle with all four at a discounted price.

• You can buy class sets individually (Druid, Hunter, Paladin, or Mage) for $10 each if you pay with real money, 1000 Runestones each, or 1200 Gold each.
• If you want all of the class sets, the bundle is a value, costing $20, 2000 Rhinestones, or 2500 Gold for every set. The bundle will also include two copies of the Cultivating Sprite card,and the Volcanic Krush Lite hero skin.
• There’s also an expensive Golden bundle, where every card is golden, and which also includes two copies of the Cultivating Sprite Signature card, and the Volcanic Krush Lite hero skin. This one costs a whopping $80, 8000 Runestones, or 12000 Gold.

It’s important to remember that even if you don’t get the class sets, you can still find these new cards in normal Cataclysm card packs, or craft them with dust after the sets become available.

When will the next class sets come out?

Class sets will have a staggered release throughout the year, with four new sets coming out with each expansion. However, the math doesn’t quite work out here. Blizzard has announced that Restoration of Azeroth, which is attached to the Cataclysm expansion, will have the four class sets for Druid, Hunter, Mage, and Paladin. Then, the next expansion (patch 36.0), will have class sets for four more classes. And the final expansion of the year (patch 37.0) will have four more class sets. However, there are only seven classes left currently… so either Blizzard has miscounted (unlikely), one class is getting double cards (also unlikely), or there’s a new class due out later this year.

Blizzard has teased us about this, making the following statement:

But Blizzard has also been teasing that a twelfth class will be added to the game for a while now. Speculation about a Monk class, in particular, has been going strong, and rumors have it that it should be announced at the next BlizzCon — though they’re just rumors.

Would it really make sense for Blizzard to release two class sets for one of the eleven classes? If that’s gonna be the case, my only guess is that this class would be Death Knight, since that class has a rune system which does give ample design space for a larger collection of cards. But even then, this would feel weird (and a bit unfair) to the other ten classes.

Should we take this quote at face value? Or are the Hearthstone developers just misdirecting us so that they can then “surprise” us with the announcement of a twelfth class? Or are those two things independent from each other: even if we do get a brand-new class, maybe that class doesn’t get a class set, and we do, in fact, have one class with two class sets?

This is all pretty weird. What we do know for sure is that the cards from Restoration of Azeroth will be revealed over the following days, from April 27 to May 1 — you can find more information about the sets and the reveals on Blizzard’s official blog post about the Restoration of Azeroth class sets.

And that Restoration of Azeroth will be released with patch 35.4 on May 5, 2026, so look for these new class cards to arrive soon!