Hearthstone’s new expansion is Rastakhan’s Rumble

Rastakhan’s Rumble will be the next expansion to Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment’s digital trading card game.

The new card set is themed around the spirit of competition and the culture of an ancient fictional civilization. Nine Legendary Troll Champions (one for each of Hearthstone’s classes) are gathering in the Stranglethorn Wilds to compete in a once-in-a-generation battle for the blessings of their animal Loa spirits, and the favor of the troll king Rastakhan. The name of it matches the name of an upcoming Tavern Brawl event that was accidentally leaked from Blizzard Korea’s YouTube channel.

The nine Loa will appear as a new Legendary minion card for each class, including “Shirvalla, the Tiger,” a 7/5 Legendary Paladin minion with Divine Shield, Rush and Lifesteal, that costs 25 mana — but whose cost can be reduced by casting spells. Each class will also get its own Spirit card, each one a Rare, 0/3 minion with Stealth for one turn, and an additional ability. Each class’ Spirit card will synergize with its Legendary minion.

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• Blizzard Entertainment
• Blizzard Entertainment

Rastakhan’s Rumble will introduce a new keyword in Hearthstone, “Overkill,” which will allow a weapon or minion’s to attack more than once per turn, if its previous attack destroys a minion by dealing an amount of damage to it that is at least 1 point greater than the minion’s health. I.e., an amount of damage that is overkill.

It will also launch with a new solo mode, Rumble Run, where players will meet an upstart young troll who seeks the title of champion; and a new Tavern Brawl event that uses some of the expansion’s new mechanics and is playable on the floor of BlizzCon today.

While Blizzard was expected to reveal the expansion at BlizzCon today, PC Gamer accidentally posted the details early (which were snapped up by Reddit), giving us some of the info. PC Gamer has since pulled its post.

If Rastakhan’s Rumble follows the pattern of previous Hearthstone expansions, players will be able to pre-purchase a 50-pack bundle of the new cards and an exclusive card back for $49.99, and possibly an 80-pack bundle for $79.99 that comes with an extra Legendary card or hero character as well.

Rastakhan’s Rumble will be available on Android, iOS, Mac and Windows PC on Dec. 4, 2018, with pre-orders available immediately. It will be the final expansion in Hearthstone’s Year of the Raven. Hearthstone’s most recent expansion, The Boomsday Project, was released in August 2018.