The Rise of Shadows is nearly upon us! In this Hearthstone update we’re sharpening swords, feeding familiars, and stockpiling staves in preparation for descent into Dalaran and the launch of Rise of Shadows on April 9. This expansion introduces 135 devious new cards to add to your collection, kicks off the Year of the Dragon, adds in our first Arena set rotation, and much more!

Read on for details on everything that’s new in the tavern, and what’s included in the upcoming Rise of Shadows expansion!

Live Now!

Archmage Vargoth

Try Archmage Vargoth early, for free! This Neutral Legendary spinner of spells and defender of Dalaran will be automatically added to your collection and can be played RIGHT NOW in Standard & Wild matches before Rise of Shadows officially launches on April 9.

“Choose One” Card Art Updates

A number of “Choose One” cards have had unique art added for each possible option. The following cards have received updates:

Wrath

Nourish

Starfall

Power of the Wild

Mark of Nature

Jade Idol

Living Roots

Raven Idol

Dark Wispers

Complete My Deck, Part 2

Hearthstone’s EVEN better at helping you build decks than ever before. We’ve made some improvements to the Smart Deck Builder introduced in our last major update:

Now use the smart deck builder to complete decks from the deck selection screen with a single click

Easily convert Wild decks to Standard with a single click using the intelligent card replacement algorithm

Please note that the smart deck builder will need some time after Rise of Shadows goes live in order to gather the necessary data to effectively suggest cards from the new set. We recommend waiting a couple of days before using this feature to create or complete Rise of Shadows decks.

Rise of Shadows – Launching April 9

Under the leadership of Arch-Villain Rafaam, notorious ne’er do-wells from across Hearthstone’s history have heeded the call and banded together under the decidedly unsubtle but exceptionally fitting moniker - the League of EV.I.L.!

After years working on their own and constantly being foiled, flustered, beaten, and bested, these masters of mischief have cooked up a scheme sure to bring them out of shame and into infamy! Their target? The magical floating city of Dalaran…

New Minions: Lackeys – Generated by EVIL cards that add Lackeys to your hand, Lackeys are 1/1 minions that, while lacking in terms of raw stats, have powerful Battlecry effects.

– Generated by EVIL cards that add Lackeys to your hand, Lackeys are 1/1 minions that, while lacking in terms of raw stats, have powerful Battlecry effects. New Spells: Schemes – Schemes are powerful spells that become even more powerful the longer they stay in your hand.

– Schemes are powerful spells that become the longer they stay in your hand. New Keyword: Twinspell - Twinspells are spells that, once cast, create a copy of themselves in your hand to be used whenever you like.



Once Rise of Shadows launches, keep an eye on your quest log for a series of Legendary quests that will reward Rise of Shadows card packs along with card packs from other Year of the Dragon sets.

Year of the Dragon

The Year of the Dragon starts soon, meaning that we are waving a fond farewell to the Year of the Mammoth sets. Once Rise of Shadows launches on April 9, you will no longer be able to purchase packs from the Journey to Un’Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne, and Kobolds & Catacombs expansions, and any cards from those expansions will no longer be playable in Standard game modes.

Arena Updates

With Rise of Shadows, the Arena will start a regular rotation of available cards from both new and older expansions. To kick things off, the available cards will have a decidedly… E.V.I.L. theme. Here’s which sets you’ll have access to when choosing cards in the Arena, starting April 9:

Basic

Classic

Naxxramas

Whispers of the Old Gods

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

The Witchwood

Rise of Shadows

Hall of Fame

The following cards have been moved to the Hall of Fame on April 9:

Doomguard

Naturalize

Divine Favor

Baku the Mooneater

Genn Greymane

Gloom Stag

Black Cat

Glitter Moth

Murkspark Eel



Up to the maximum number of cards you could put in a deck, we will give you the full dust value of any cards you have that are being added to the Hall of Fame set. The dust will be automatically awarded upon log-in once the Year of the Dragon begins.

Shadow Bundle

Embrace the shadows and celebrate the launch of Hearthstone’s new expansion with this limited-time bundle, available from April 9 – 15.

Get 7 Rise of Shadows packs plus two bonus packs and one Arena Ticket bundled together. Don’t delay! This Bundle will disappear in the blink of an E.V.I.L. eye.

Events

The tavern is lively this time of year. Pull up a chair and join in the fun!

Ignoblegarden - Dr. Boom is tired of eggs and bunnies. According to him, what a holiday really needs to succeed is custom, high-powered explosives. Play around with his adorable Egg-Bombs, but be careful, some of them might be rotten!

Join us April 17-21 for this explosive new Tavern Brawl and earn some awesome rewards!

HCT World Championships – It’s almost time for a new champion of Hearthstone esports to be crowned! Login from April 26 – 28 for daily rewards and play decks used by previous champions in the HCT Tavern Brawl. Be sure to also check out the HCT World Championship live at www.twitch.tv/playhearthstone

Henchmania - The E.V.I.L. league has been assembled! There’s only one thing left to do before they can attempt their heist: hire some henchmen! You, the player, get to fight for the glory of your new evil lords and see if you're tough enough to be a Henchperson!

Card Backs!

Added the following card backs:

Awesome Blossom Pristine Scenes Legion Schemes Machine Dreams

Game Improvements

Poisonous, Lifesteal, and Overkill Update Before this patch, if a card lost its Poisonous, Lifesteal, or Overkill keyword in the time between dealing damage and applying its keyword effect, that effect would not be applied. After the patch, if a card has a Poisonous, Lifesteal, or Overkill keyword at the moment it deals damage, that keyword effect will apply no matter what. As an example, imagine a Stubborn Gastropod attacks an Acolyte of Pain. Then when Acolyte of Pain triggers, it draws a Scroll of Wonder, which in turn casts Silence on the Stubborn Gastropod. Before this patch, the Stubborn Gastropod would not apply its Poisonous effect, and the Acolyte of Pain would live. After the patch, the Stubborn Gastropod will still apply Poisonous after being silenced and the Acolyte of Pain will die.

Fixed an issue where playing The Golden Monkey with Augmented Elekk on the board would cause extra legendary minions to be shuffled into your deck.