Hearthstone's 10th Anniversary Plans Include A Big New Expansion, Tons Of Free Nostalgic Gifts

The next expansion for Hearthstone is coming right alongside the game's 10th anniversary, and Blizzard has outlined its plans for both special occasions. The game will host a ton of in-game events on and around the official anniversary on March 11. Then, on March 19, the new Whizbang's Workshop expansion will add another new set of cards and mechanics, with a particular focus on paying homage to Hearthstone history.

Hearthstone's 10th Anniversary

To start, you can log in now to claim a special Harth Stonebrew card modeled after the game's innkeeper mascot. When you play Harth, your hand will be replaced with eight cards from notable moments in the Hearthstone meta, like the infamous Grim Patron combo. Plus you'll get 11 more gift cards--one for each class--that discovers one of that class's iconic spells.

From February 27-March 19, you can complete a free rewards track to earn golden versions of all the gifts, along with a Birthday coin. And on March 11, to mark the actual date of Hearthstone's anniversary, you can do a Legendary quest to earn a 10-Year Anniversary card back. A Hearthstone: Music from the Tavern (Anniversary Picks) album will launch on music services like Spotify and Apple Music, and there will be Twitch Drops for watching along with Hearthstone streamers.

Finally, the ever-changing Twist mode will speed through the entirety of Hearthstone history in a matter of days. On March 1, you'll be restricted only to legacy decks. Then on March 2, you'll be able to add the first expansion, Curse of Naxxramas, followed by the second expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes, on March 3, and so on.

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New Expansion: Whizbang's Workshop

The new Whizbang's Workshop expansion will launch on March 19, with a few whizbang new mechanics to match. There's a new keyword, Miniaturize, which gives you a 1-Mana 1/1 "Mini" copy of any card that has the keyword. That lets you double up on effects with cheap bonuses. The new cards also feature classic throwback mechanics and references to cards from Hearthstone's past, like one revealed card that invokes the classic Spellstones. Another of these is the Zilliax Deluxe 3000, which lets you use modules to customize your own Zilliax in the deckbuilder, and even choose a cosmetic skin for it, to make Zilliax your own.

Logging in now will get you a card to start kicking off the Whizbang festivities early, Colifero the Artist. These new "artist" cards have special effects when you draw a card. Get it? Draw? Colifero will draw a card and then turn all of your in-play minions into a copy of it.

Whizbang's Workshop pre-purchases are now available in two tiers. Pre-purchasing either will get you two copies of Corridor Sleeper, one of the cards from the next set, which you can start using right away.

• Whizbang's Workshop Standard Bundle
  • 60 card packs
  • Two random Legendary cards
  • Patches the Pirate card back
• Whizbang's Workshop Mega Bundle
  • 80 card packs
  • 10 golden packs
  • One signature Legendary
  • One Golden Legendary
  • Patches the Pirate rogue hero skin
  • Patches the Pirate card back

As always, the first expansion of the new year also means a new annual season of Hearthstone, with a new Core set. This one is being dubbed the Year of the Pegasus and will bring back lots of iconic older cards like Fiery War Axe and Leeroy Jenkins.