Are you ready to learn about the next expansion for Hearthstone? It’s going to be an absolute rollercoaster. Today, we’ve got details on the next expansion for Hearthstone coming in November called Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. We’ve got new keywords, the Old Gods’ return, and 135 new cards to create incredible, maddening new decks. This is a colossal expansion—more than the Old Gods’ arrival, more than the card amount. Hearthstone is receiving a new mode in Hearthstone Duels and a major overhaul to the progression system.

So, let’s gaze into the abyss. Surely it won’t gaze back at us. It all kicks off on Nov. 17.

“In the land of Ny’ alotha there is only sleep.” – Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron

This otherworldly carnival may be our most-anticipated Hearthstone expansion of all. This writer played a lot of World of Warcraft, and one of the most fascinating parts of the lore was the Old Gods. They are timeless beings of terrifying, unreasonable power. They bring madness, doom, and worse anywhere they tread. When we saw that Hearthstone’s Madness at the Darkmoon Faire is bringing them to the card game, we were naturally overwhelmed with hype.

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire is, in a way, a tribute to an earlier set, Whispers of the Old Gods. C’thun and Yogg-Saron are both back, but with new, terrifying forms and overwhelming power. We can’t tell you all of the Old Gods coming to the game, only that they are coming. How, though? They will be Legendary Minions to put in your decks.

We think it would be awesome if the Old Gods took over your Hero Portrait, a’la Galakrond. Players will also have the ability to harness Old Gods Artifacts if they dare. These are powerful spells that are inspired by the designs of the Old Gods of Whispers of the Old Gods. Along with this, there’s also a new keyword, Corrupt. This changes the card in question into a more powerful version of the original after a higher-cost card is played.

Now, that sounds like it’s going to be a blast.

“This is a huge moment for Hearthstone, with the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion, as well as an all-new game mode in Duels, and a fundamental overhaul of the game’s progression system,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “As Hearthstone continues to evolve and grow, our focus is squarely on continuing to deliver a uniquely deep and fun game experience, and we think players are going to lose their minds over all of this new content.”

We’re honestly very excited to see this kind of expansion come (back) to Hearthstone. The Old Gods represent power and madness, just what we’re looking for. We don’t have any card reveals yet, but once we do, be sure that we’ll be covering them right here on Esports Talk. But that’s not all we have, not by half.

Hearthstone Duels is an all-new, completely free game mode that’s going to combine the thrill of PVP Arena and over-the-top deckbuilding as we’ve seen in the Solo Adventures. It’s similar to Arena in that players will face each other, aiming for 12 wins before hitting 3 losses. There’s a really fun twist. You’ll be drafting custom-built decks from your collections and then draft additional cards in or game-changing Treasures after each match.

The farther you go, the more powerful your deck has the potential to be. That’s not all Hearthstone Duels will bring to Hearthstone by way of the Darkmoon Faire either. There’s also going to be Hearthstone Duels Heroic Mode. This will let players try and earn in-game gold, cards, card packs, as well as Arcane Dust. Unlike Duels, this mode is not free; 150 gold or a $1.99 Tavern ticket. The better you do, the greater the rewards. We’re glad that there is a free way to play this mode, that’s for sure.

Hearthstone Duels will evolve with each new season, with the pool of cards refreshed from Hearthstone’s vast card set catalog and accompanying new Heroes, Hero Powers, and signature Treasures. The theme for the debut season is Wizard Duels, starring a cast of Heroes pulled from the scholars and luminaries of the Scholomance Academy expansion.

If you prepurchase a Madness at the Darkmoon Faire bundle for Hearthstone, you will also get early access to the Duels mode from Oct. 22-Nov. 11. On Nov. 12, everyone will have access to try it out, with the first season starting on Nov. 17.

Finally, there are upgrades to the progression system in Hearthstone courtesy of Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. According to Blizzard, this is the biggest systems update to the game ever and comes on Nov. 12. This aims to bring regular, exciting rewards to players, no matter how they enjoy the game. Here’s what’s changing:

• The new Achievements system tracks players’ statistics and in-game accomplishments. New achievements will be added with every expansion, as well as future game modes and major updates.
• The Reward Track allows players to earn in-game gold, card packs, cosmetics, and more—with bonus rewards for players who purchase a Tavern Pass. Every expansion will introduce a new Reward Track, and players progress through its 50 levels by accumulating experience points from Quests, achievements, and play.
• The revamped Quest system adds robust and rewarding Weekly Quests to the regular rotation of Daily Quests and the special event-driven Legendary Quests that accompany expansions and content updates.
• Players will be able to view their progress through all of these systems via the new profile page, which will track lifetime stats across a player’s account, including ranks, ratings, and wins.

Personally, this writer knows several people that will be diving back in at the mere mention of the word “Achievements.” This is a lot of seriously handy content to get people into Hearthstone or bring back old players. One of the hardest parts of the game is keeping up with content and farming cards/dust. Hopefully, this will help to alleviate some of that burden.

The Reward Track is essentially a Battle Pass with a free track and purchasable Tavern Pass. Each expansion will have one. What we do know is that purchasing the Tavern Pass will grant the Golden Silas Darkmoon Legendary, a 10% bonus in XP for the whole expansion, and any of the items you have already unlocked that you would have gained in the Tavern Pass.

There are some pretty interesting alternate card arts on offer, but the best part is what you get for reaching level 50. For every level beyond 50, you gain 150 gold. For people that like to grind, you can amass quite a fortune to spend on the next expansion (or whatever, we’re not your bosses). Getting free card packs and cosmetics is another lovely bonus.

We also mentioned a Bundle for Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. There are two bundles which you can see below:

The Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Mega Bundle is available today for $79.99 and comes with 85 card packs from the expansion. Five of which are Golden Card Packs (containing all Golden cards)—plus one random Golden Legendary card; the N’Zoth Warlock Hero; the N’Zoth card back; perks for Hearthstone Battlegrounds that last until the next expansion; and early access to the upcoming Hearthstone Duels game mode from (see dates above).

Also available is the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Bundle for $39.99, which includes 45 packs from the expansion, one random Legendary Card, the N’Zoth card back, and early access to Hearthstone Duels.

Make sure you keep your eyes on Esports Talk, where we’ll be covering all the Hearthstone news that’s fit to read.

“The giant rook watches from the dead trees. Nothing breathes beneath his shadow.”