Hearthstone is a digital collectible card game released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2014, available for Microsoft Windows and macOS PCs and iOS and Android smartphones. The game is free-to-play, with players gaining in-game currency and card packs via winning matches and completing quests, while real-world money can be spent to acquire additional card packs and cosmetic items. The game has been critically well-received and financially successful, estimated in August 2017 to earn nearly per month. , Blizzard has reported more than 100 million Hearthstone players. Blizzard has continued to expand the game with the addition of multiple expansions, adventures and game modes, which adds new cards and mechanics to the game.
Background Blizzard has expanded Hearthstone roughly three times a year by the addition of expansions and adventures. Most expansions present more than 100 new cards to Hearthstone developed around a theme or gameplay concept; once released, players can purchase or win card packs with cards from the available expansions to add to their library. With the "Darkmoon Races", a mini-set expansion that builds upon prior expansions featuring a smaller number of cards was also introduced. Mini-sets are typically released in the half-way point between the release of two full expansions. Adventures used to be prevalent additions among expansions, but have been phased out in favor of mini-sets. The last adventure "Galakrond's Awakening" was released in January 2020. Adventures represent fewer new cards like mini-sets, typically a few dozens, which are only gained by winning specially designed matches against computer opponents in the single-player mode. Access to an adventure requires payment with in-game gold or real-world money. All adventures have multiple "wings" that could be completed. Later, Blizzard moved away from Adventures as they found that because Adventures gated the set's cards until the challenges were completed, these cards did not readily enter the meta-game, and when they did, they would be used more by expert players who could easily complete the Adventures' challenges compared to amateur players. Blizzard recognized that players do enjoy the single-player narrative events and have worked in quests and missions around the new card sets for those players.
Since the "Year of the Mammoth", which began with Journey to Un'Goro in 2017, there were no future more adventure card set releases. Instead, the game included freely-available single-player missions, similar to those in adventures, to earn card packs from that expansion. However, in the "Year of the Dragon", starting in April 2019, there were additional single-player modes with paid content, separate from expansion pack releases. While structured similar to Adventures, there were several "wings" to process through, the approach was closer to the "Kobolds & Catacombs" Monster Hunt or "The Witchwood" Dungeon Run in that players made choices related to their hero and deck over the course of several battles through each wing. Rewards from these single-player modes were card packs from the associated expansion by completing individual battles, so one could possibly earn more new cards by completing the single-player modes than by simply buying new packs directly.
Starting in January 2021, the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire set and subsequent sets have included a mini-set of 35 cards that expanded that set. Mini-sets are considered to be a part of their parent expansion, and mini-set cards can be opened from the same card packs as their preceding expansion.
In the "Year of the Mammoth", Standard moved some Classic cards to the "Hall of Fame" set that is not playable in Standard but the cards still can be obtained and are available to play in Wild format. In the "Year of the Raven", three additional Classic cards were moved to the "Hall of Fame" set. In 2021, Blizzard introduced an annually rotating Core set that can be used in Standard and Wild modes. The first iteration of the set consisted of 235 cards: 31 new ones and 204 selected from various non-Standard sets. The Core set is free to use for all players that completed the game's tutorial. With the introduction of the Core set, the Basic, Classic, and Hall of Fame sets were grouped into a Legacy set confined to the Wild mode. Alongside the Core set, Classic mode was introduced where only the original 2014 versions of cards from the old Classic set can be used.
As of August 2022, there have been 21 expansions, five mini-sets, and six adventures that include collectible cards. + Collectible cards breakdown Set name (abbreviation) Release type Release date Removal datefrom Standard Total Common Rare Epic LegendaryRemoved setsBasic None March 11, 2014 March 30, 2021 into Legacy colspan="4" ClassicClassic cards were only available to use in the Classic format, which was removed on June 27, 2023.94793631RewardFour Reward cards were originally included and given to players on completing certain tasks. Two Reward cards were not playable in Standard in the Year of the Kraken; with the Year of the Mammoth, all Reward cards were moved into the Hall of Fame set.SpecialApril 6, 2017 into HoF0013Hall of Fame (HoF)Removed SetsHoF released in April 6, 2017March 30, 2021 into Legacy77610NoneLegacyThe Basic, Classic, and Hall of Fame sets were removed from the game in March 2021, with all cards from these sets being grouped into the Legacy set. Cards in this set are only available for use in the Wild format.Removed SetsMarch 30, 2021Legacy is technically a representation name of two separate sets, coded as LEGACY and EXPERT1. LEGACY is a custom-made set consisting of various former cards (e.g. Basic and Reward cards), and it was constructed on March 30, 2021. EXPERT1 simply contains all cards that were originally in the Classic set on March 11, 2014. It represents the set that used to be called "Classic".1121144652Caverns of TimeRemoved Sets & ExpansionSeptember 1, 202354452325Event Special February 13, 2024 0 0 6 2 Year 1 & 2 (2015) Curse of Naxxramas (Naxx) Adventure July 22, 2014 April 26, 2016 30 18 4 2 6 Goblins vs Gnomes (GvG) Expansion December 8, 2014 123 40 37 26 20 Blackrock Mountain (BRM) Adventure April 2, 2015 April 6, 2017 31 15 11 0 5 The Grand Tournament (TGT) Expansion August 24, 2015 132 49 36 27 20 League of Explorers (LoE) Adventure November 12, 2015 45 25 13 2 5 Year of the Kraken (2016) Whispers of the Old Gods (WOG)The Next 'Hearthstone' Expansion Is 'Whispers Of The Old Gods' Techtimes, Retrieved March 13, 2016. Expansion April 26, 2016 April 12, 2018 134 50 36 27 21 One Night in Karazhan (Kara, ONIK) Adventure August 11, 2016 45 27 12 1 5 Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (MSG) Expansion December 1, 2016 132 49 36 27 20 Year of the Mammoth (2017) Journey to Un'Goro (Un'goro) Expansion April 6, 2017 April 9, 2019 135 49 36 27 23 Knights of the Frozen Throne (KFT) August 10, 2017 135 49 36 27 23 Kobolds & Catacombs (KnC) December 7, 2017 135 49 36 27 23 Year of the Raven (2018) The Witchwood (WW) Expansion April 12, 2018 April 7, 2020 135 49 36 27 23 The Boomsday Project (Boomsday) August 7, 2018 136 49 36 27 24 Rastakhan's Rumble (Rumble, RR) December 4, 2018 135 49 36 27 23 Year of the Dragon (2019) Rise of Shadows (RoS) Expansion April 9, 2019 March 30, 2021 136 49 37 26 24 Saviors of Uldum (SoU) August 6, 2019 135 49 36 27 23 Descent of Dragons (DoD) December 10, 2019 140 49 36 27 28 Galakrond's Awakening (GA) Adventure January 21, 2020 35 15 12 4 4 Demon Hunter Initiate (DHI) April 2, 2020 20 8 6 4 2 Year of the Phoenix (2020) Ashes of Outland (AoO) Expansion April 7, 2020 April 12, 2022 135 52 35 23 25Scholomance Academy (SA) August 6, 2020 135 52 35 23 25Madness at the Darkmoon Faire (DMF) with Darkmoon Races (DR) November 17, 2020 170 70 46 25 29 Year of the Gryphon (2021) Core 2021 (Core) Core March 30, 2021 April 12, 2022 235 128 55 27 25Forged in the Barrens (FitB) with Wailing Caverns (WC)ExpansionMarch 30, 2021 April 11, 2023 170 66 49 26 29United in Stormwind (UiS) with Deadmines (DM) August 3, 2021 170 66 49 26 29Fractured in Alterac Valley (FAV) with Onyxia's Lair (OL) December 7, 2021 170 66 49 26 29 Year of the Hydra (2022) Core 2022 (Core) Core April 12, 2022 April 11, 2023 250 130 55 29 36Voyage to the Sunken City (VSC) with Throne of the Tides (ToT) Expansion April 12, 2022 March 19, 2024 170 66 49 26 29Murder at Castle Nathria (MCN) with Maw and Disorder (M&D) August 2, 2022 170 66 49 26 29Path of Arthas (PoA)SpecialDecember 7, 20222612833March of the Lich King (MLK) with Return to Naxxramas (RtN)Expansion December 7, 2022 183 69 55 28 31 Year of the Wolf (2023) Core 2023 (Core) Core April 11, 2023 March 19, 2024 283 155 58 29 41Festival of Legends (FoL) with Audiopocalypse (Aud) Expansion April 11, 2023 March 26, 2025 183 69 55 28 31 Titans (TTN) with Fall of Ulduar (FoU) August 1, 2023 183 69 55 28 31 Showdown in the Badlands (SitB) with Delve into Deepholm (DiD) November 14, 2023 183 70 54 28 31 Year of the Pegasus (2024) Core 2024 (Core) Core March 19, 2024 March 26, 2025 288 143 65 40 40 Whizbang's Workshop (WW) with Dr. Booms Incredible Inventions (DBII) Expansion March 19, 2024 March 17, 2026 183 69 55 28 31 Perils in Paradise (PiP) with The Traveling Travel Agency (TTA) July 23, 2024 183 69 55 28 31 The Great Dark Beyond (GDB) with Heroes of Starcraft (SC) November 5, 2024 194 77 58 28 31 Year of the Raptor (2025) Core 2025 (Core)CoreMarch 25, 2025March 17, 2026288143654040 Into the Emerald Dream (TED) with Embers of the World Tree (EWT)ExpansionMarch 25, 2025 rowspan="3" 18369542931The Lost City of Un'Goro (TLC) with the Day of Rebirth (DoR)July 9, 202518369552831Across the Timeways (AtT) with Echoes of the Infinite (Eotl)November 5, 202518369552831Year of the scarab (2026)Core 2026 (Core) Core March 17, 2026 288152583741CATACLYSM (CATC) with Restoration of Azeroth (RoA) Expansion March 17, 2026 rowspan="2" 164 51 46 36 31Escape from Violet Hold with Azeroth's Most Wanted Expansion July 6, 2026 164 51 46 36 31 All unique released cards: 6191 (Includes 143 free cards) (through Whizbang's Workshop) 2321 1712 1001 1014
Basic, Classic, Reward, Hall of Fame, and Core Prior to the removal of these sets, all new players to Hearthstone acquired over 130 cards in the Basic card set to start playing with so they have enough cards to assemble decks for each of the ten classes. The Classic card set was generally class-specific cards that were not associated with any expansion and card parks could always be purchased in the game's store or won as rewards. Basic and Classic cards were playable in both Standard and Wild formats, and were not rotated out of Standard play from Hearthstone's launch until March 2021, as with cards from other expansions. Over time, some cards were retired to a separate Hall of Fame, taking them out of Standard play format but remaining available for Wild play and being obtained by crafting. Any class-specific Classic cards retired in this manner were eventually replaced with new Classic cards for that class to prevent class card-count imbalances.
At the start of "Year of the Dragon" in April 2019, two legendaries from The Witchwood set that powers up the hero power, Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater, as well as four cards that synergize with those cards, were moved to the Hall of Fame so those cards left the Standard set a year earlier than normal. Prior to the year moniker system, the Reward set consisted of four cards that could only be obtained by completing meta-game achievements in Hearthstone, such as by collecting at least one copy of every "murloc" card in the Basic and Classic sets.