History VideoGame / HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft

* '''Whizbang's Workshop, March 2024''': The twenty-sixth card expansion, with 145 cards. The wondrous Whizbang, Azeroth's greatest inventor and toymaker, has opened the doors of his magnificent toy factory/shop to all of Azeroth! Just be careful around all the magical machinery... and also the maniacal scheming of Dr. Boom. This set introduced the Miniaturize keyword, which adds a 1 mana 1/1 copy of a card to your hand when it's played. It also added Elusive, the long-awaited keywording of "Cannot be targeted by spells and Hero Powers", which was also retroactively applied to a number of old minions. Other notable additions include a set of "Artist" cards that draw cards and trigger effects based on what kind of card they draw, "Wind-Up" minions whose effects grow stronger when Traded, and the first-ever fully-customizable card in Zilliax Deluxe 3000.

* '''Whizbang's Workshop, March 2024''': The twenty-sixth card expansion, with 145 cards. The wondrous Whizbang, Azeroth's greatest inventor and toymaker, has opened the doors of his magnificent toy factory/shop to all of Azeroth! Just be careful around all the magical machinery... and also the maniacal scheming of Dr. Boom. This set introduced the Miniaturize keyword for minions, which adds a 1 mana 1/1 copy of the minion to your hand when played. It also adds Elusive, the long-awaited keywording of "Cannot be targeted by spells and Hero Powers", which was also retroactively applied to a number of old minions. Other notable additions include a set of "Artist" cards that draw cards and trigger effects based on what kind of card they draw, "Wind-Up" minions whose effects grow stronger when Traded, and the first-ever fully-customizable card in Zilliax Deluxe 3000.

** '''Delve Into Deepholm, January 2024''': The tenth mini-set, with 38 cards. Despite the outlaws' best efforts, Bloodrock has dug too deep and unearthed a portal to Deepholm, the domain of the Elemental Lord of earth, Therazane -- and she's ''not'' happy about the intrusion. With the outlaws and Bloodrock now working together to combat Therazane, this mini-set sees each side's signature mechanics (Highlander synergies and Excavate) cross party lines, further emphasized by the addition of more dual-class cards. Other additions include cards that mix together or put new spins on mechanics from throughout the year, more Elementals and Elemental synergies, and a few more Excavate treasures, including unique Legendary treasures for two of the outlaw classes.

** '''Delve Into Deepholm, January 2024''': The tenth mini-set, with 38 cards. Despite the outlaws' best efforts, Bloodrock has dug too deep and unearthed a portal to Deepholm, the domain of the Elemental Lord of earth, Therazane -- and she's ''not'' happy about the intrusion. With the outlaws and Bloodrock now working together to combat Therazane, this mini-set sees each side's signature mechanics (Highlander synergies and Excavate) cross party lines, further emphasized by the addition of more dual-class cards. Other additions include more Elementals and Elemental synergies and a few more Excavate treasures, including unique Legendary treasures for two of the outlaw classes.

* '''Battlegrounds''': An auto-battler game. Players fight in an 8 player free-for-all, taking turns recruiting, selling, and buffing minions before transitioning to 1v1 automated fights between their boards, with the winning player damaging their opponent. Each player also has access to a unique hero with their own hero power. Players gain more gold and access to stronger minions as the game goes on. Boards are kept between rounds, letting you steadily build an unstoppable army.
* '''Duels''': Build a deck of 15 cards from a selection of legal sets, then choose a special hero power and signature treasure to compete against opponents until you have 12 wins or 3 losses. At the end of each game, players can draft bundles of cards and occasionally gain new passive and active treasures. Hero Powers and treasures are PurposelyOverpowered (Though not as much as their Solo Adventure counterparts, considering this is still PlayerVsPlayer), and warp the game entirely. Comes in Normal, which is free to enter but just for practice or fun, and Heroic, which has an entrance fee and gives rewards for high wins (the fee and rewards are identical to Arena).
* '''Mercenaries''': An {{RPG}} and {{Roguelike}}-style mode. Players build a roster of Mercenaries which are earned through mode-specific card packs and quests. After building a team of 6, the player selects a bounty and progresses through a randomly-generated map to claim it. Each map is filled with encounters, both of the combat and non-combat varieties. In combat, you select three of the Mercenaries in your party to place on the board. Each Mercenary has up to three abilities to use, and once all abilities are chosen combat will resolve, with abilities taking action sequentially based on their speed. Mercenaries level up through combat to become more powerful, and their abilities are upgraded out of missions using a mode-specific currency.

The game allows you to step into the shoes / boots / what-have-you of the original nine character classes from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' (and the Demon Hunter), each represented by a character from the ''VideoGame/WarCraft'' universe. Each class has a special SupportPower costing two mana (except the Demon Hunter, whose power costs one mana), which can be used once a turn (another change from the original, where hero abilities could only be used once ''period''). Each class has its own unique cards, along with neutral cards that every class can use.

The game is very streamlined compared to most [=CCGs=]. New {{mana}} crystals are automatically gained each turn without having to play/sacrifice a card, to a maximum of 10. Mana is spent to cast Minions (creatures), Spells (one-shot effects that act directly on the game state), Weapons (which your Player Character wields to deal direct damage, but are {{breakable|Weapons}}), Hero Powers (weak abilities that can be used once per turn), Hero Cards (cards that give you a new, stronger Hero), and Secrets (traps which sit on your character until triggered, typically by something your opponent does). Secrets are your only way to interact with the opponent when it's their turn: they make all the other decisions, being able to target your Minions with their own, or bypass them entirely to hit you in the face. Targeting Minions can be worthwhile, though, because -- as in the original CCG -- damage is ''not'' reset at the end of each turn, so applying DeathOfAThousandCuts to a large enemy creature is a viable strategy. The game also takes advantage of its digital medium to embrace certain mechanics, like shuffling things into your deck, mechanics like "[[http://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Ogre_Brute 50% of the time, this Minion attacks the wrong enemy]]," and single-player duels against AI bosses, which are much easier to implement digitally than they would be at a gaming table. Because of its emphasis on swiftness and spectacle, cards can have [[GameBreaker extravagant]] effects, such as [[https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Zephrys_the_Great wishing for the perfect card]], or [[https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Archbishop_Benedictus shuffling a copy of your opponent's deck into yours]]. (And that's before we get into the ''really'' absurd things played by those AI bosses.)

* '''Showdown in the Badlands, November 2023''': The twenty-fifth card expansion, with 145 cards. The Bloodstone mining company has come to the Badlands, seeking to excavate valuable [[{{Unobtanium}} Azerite]] ore. However, the locals are upset about the rampant damage Bloodstone is causing the environment, leading to outlaw gangs forming to put a stop to their business. The set introduced two new keywords: Excavate allows you to dig up a random treasure, with the treasures getting more and more valuable the more you dig up and Bloodstone classes eventually digging up a powerful, unique class Legendary. Meanwhile, Quickdraw is a bonus effect that activates if you play a card on the same turn it was drawn.

* Weapons have attack power on the left and number of uses on the right, so a 3/2 weapon means you get to attack twice for 3 damage each time. Mana works the same way as minions, you may occasionally see something like 3-3/2 but usually the word mana is just used to avoid confusion.
* Spells have no set system involving 2 numbers and their effects have to just be spelled out in text. Similarly, Locations have no attack, so to avoid confusion both their mana and durability are spelled out, e.g. "3 mana 2 durability".

* '''TITANS, August 2023''': The twenty-fourth card expansion, with 145 cards. Long ago, before mortals came to being on Azeroth, the great and mighty Titans came and used their awesome powers to bring order to the Old God-corrupted planet. Before they left, they imbued Keepers with their power so as to watch and nurture the planet as it grew, leaving behind advanced technology to aid in that task. We now return to that ancient time, and call upon the Titans and their servants to aid us in battle! This expansion introduced the titular Titan keyword for minions; Titans don't attack, but instead have three abilities that they can use once per game, once per turn, and only once all three are used up can they attack like normal. Also added was Forge, a new keyword similar to Tradeable that lets you return a card to your deck to upgrade it at the cost of 2 mana. In addition to a Titan, each class also received one of the Keepers as a legendary minion, and new minions featuring the Magnetic keyword were also added.

* Spells have no set system involving 2 numbers and their effects have to just be spelled out in text

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** '''Classic''': Only cards from the original Basic and Classic set can be used, in their unnerfed versions as they appeared in 2014. Owning a card allows you to play it in its current Legacy form or its unaltered Classic form.

** '''Wailing Caverns, June 2021''': The second mini-set, with 35 cards. This set follows Rokara and her band of mercenaries as they venture into the Wailing Caverns. This is no ordinary adventure however, as the nightmares of Archdruid Naralex have twisted nature itself throughout the caves. This set featured Dungeoneers, minions that draw a spell and gain an effect if that spell was from a specific school, and Adventurers, eight 2/2 tokens with different bonus effects.

* '''March of the Lich King, December 2022''': The twenty-second card expansion, with 145 cards. The Lich King has awoken to lay siege to the Blood Elf capital of Silvermoon, with his legions of ravenous Undead minions at his command. This set saw the debut of the Death Knight class and its associated mechanics: Corpses, a secondary resource generated by friendly minion deaths, and Runes, a trio of symbols (Frost, Blood and Unholy) selected during deck creation that determine which Death Knight cards are eligible for use depending on your chosen combination of Runes. Additionally, the set saw the return of the Reborn mechanic as an evergreen keyword, as well as the debut of the Manathirst keyword, which empowers cards after certain thresholds of mana have been achieved without actually costing the specified mana. Finally, the Undead tribe was introduced, which also necessitated the creation of Dual Tribe minions.
** '''Return to Naxxramas, February 2023''': The seventh mini-set, with 38 cards. The dread citadel Naxxramas has appeared over the skies of Silvermoon, to aid the Lich King in the conquest of the city. This mini-set featured call-backs to features from the original ''Curse of Naxxramas'' adventure, as well as mixing together mechanics from throughout the year.

** '''Frost Festival, late July-August 2017:''' An event that started ''immediately'' following the end of the first Fire Festival and was hosted by Ahune the Frost Lord, who looked to top his firey rival with a festival of his own. This event featured a unique Tavern Brawl, a near copy-paste of the Fire Festival's themed Brawl literally named ''Ahune's Superior Brawl'', as well as free weekly Arena runs with accompanying Legendary quests.