Blizzard announced a new Hearthstone expansion at BlizzCon 2026, Reign of the Black Empire. It arrives on 20 October and takes players to ancient Azeroth, when the Old Gods fought the Titans. The headline mechanic is the Assemble keyword, which merges two cards into one. And in March 2027 the game gets a new class, the Monk.
Reign of the Black Empire: the Old Gods in power
- Release. 20 October 2026.
- Setting. Ancient Azeroth, long before the Old Gods were imprisoned.
- The new Assemble keyword. Merges two cards into one stronger card, with combinations promised to be unpredictable.
- A story driven Journal. The in game Journal gets narrative pieces and events, so more lore.
Battlegrounds and the Monk
- A new Battlegrounds minion type, 22 September. Aberrations, born from the corruption and experiments of the Old Gods.
- The Monk class, March 2027. The first new Hearthstone class since the Death Knight arrived in 2022, landing in time for the next Standard year.
Monks in Warcraft are known for flexibility and switching between roles, so expect a class that changes its style mid match.
Sources
The 20 October release of Reign of the Black Empire, ancient Azeroth, the Assemble keyword merging two cards, the new Aberrations minion type in Battlegrounds on 22 September and the Monk class in March 2027 come from Blizzard's official BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony recap. The setting before the Old Gods were imprisoned and the Journal updates with story content come from GameSpot and Massively Overpowered. The Death Knight arriving in 2022 as the previous new class is part of the game's history. The video is an official upload from the Hearthstone channel. The image comes from the official Hearthstone website.
