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Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows guide

Everything you need to know about Hearthstone's first expansion of 2019.

John Bedford avatar
Guide by John Bedford Contributor
Updated on

The first Hearthstone expansion of 2019 was announced towards a few weeks ago, and thematically we're about to see the game's nine heroes get separated into two very different factions.

The League of EVIL characters will each be represented by a dastardly character from years gone by, while the Defenders of Dalaran will have their own special tricks of the trade to help them fight back against the devilish new threat.

There will, of course, also be a massive injection of cards to help revitalise Hearthstone, along with a handful of new mechanics which should freshen things up a bit as well.

In our Rise of Shadows guide, we've gathered together all the information you need to know about the new expansion, so you're well prepared ahead of launch next month. In the build up to release, our friends at sister-site Metabomb are busy cooking up theorycrafted guides on promising new archetypes, and we've dropped a few of them in here so you can start brushing up.

Once the expansion goes live they'll be putting together in-depth guides with the latest deck lists, and we'll drop those links in here as well so you can get stuck into all the new stuff.

Rise of Shadows Decks

Certain archetypes already seem promising. Here are some of the standout ideas that are starting to rise to the surface:

Druid

Hunter

Mage

Paladin

Priest

Rogue

Shaman

Warlock

Warrior

Rise of Shadows Overview

Here are the headline details that have been confirmed for Rise of Shadows so far:

  • 135 new cards will be available to collect in the new set.
  • Rise of Shadows will be released on Tuesday 9th April 2019.
  • The Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior and Warlock classes will join the League of EVIL.
  • Each League member will introduce a so-called “callback card” referencing mechanics from earlier Hearthstone expansions.
  • League heroes will also have access to Lackeys, which are low-stat minions that have a big impact on the board.
  • The League of Evil members each have a Scheme card, which grows in power the longer it remains in your hand.
  • Mage, Druid, Hunter and Paladin fans will be batting for Defenders of Dalaran.
  • A new Twinspell mechanic will let you cast the same spell twice if it's marked with the keyword.
  • The new single player content will be bigger than ever before, and will tell a story across all three of 2019's expansions.
Cover image for YouTube videoRise of Shadows Announcement Trailer | Hearthstone
Watch on YouTube

League of Evil

The five members of the League of EVIL will be represented by the following mischievous characters:

  • Priest - Madame Lazul
  • Rogue - Togwaggle
  • Shaman - Hagatha
  • Warlock - Rafaam
  • Warrior - Dr. Boom

What about those callback cards we mentioned earlier on though? Well, each of these characters will have access to a keyword or mechanic that featured in the expansion they first appeared in.

Madame Lazul, for example, gets access to Forbidden cards that are similar to those featured in 2016's Whispers of the Old Gods. Rafaam works a bit like the Golden Monkey from League of Explorers, replacing your hand and deck with Legendary minions.

Scheme cards start off quite primitive, but gain power for each turn you let them sit in your hand unused. Hagatha's Scheme does one point of damage to all minions as standard, but this damage increases by one each turn - and with no upper limit on how strong it can get either.

As for those Lackeys, these are 1/1 minions that have a big Battlecry when they appear. They're not collectible cards, rather they are generated when associated cards are played.

Cover image for YouTube videoRise of Shadows Cinematic Trailer | Hearthstone
Watch on YouTube

Defenders of Dalaran

Although we don't know nearly as much about the Defenders of Dalaran as we do the League of EVIL, we do know which heroes will belong to the faction.

Here's the information we've got so far. Only the Mage's lead character has been confirmed at this stage of the reveal season:

  • Druid
  • Hunter
  • Mage - Kalecgos
  • Paladin

As mentioned at the start of this guide, these characters will all have access to Twinspell cards.

When played, a Twinspell card pops another copy of itself (minus the Twinspell keyword) into your hand. You can play it straight away if you've enough Mana to do so, or hold onto it for a future turn.

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