Deceptively simple in design but epically engaging, Hearthstone will be instantly accessible to players regardless of their familiarity with Warcraft or collectible card games. Whether players prefer to wield magic or arms in battle, strike from the shadows or head on—or have never given any of that much thought—they’ll be able to jump right in, create a deck, and get in on the card-slinging action.

In addition to honing their skills in practice matches against the computer and taking on their buddies via their Battle.net friends list, players can challenge each other in two competitive game modes. “Play Mode” features traditional head-to-head battles, with players facing off for a chance to increase their medal ranking and earn card packs along the way. And for a different type of challenge, players can enter “The Forge,” where they start each match by building a deck from a new set of cards, and then use that deck to duel other Forge participants. Aside from winning new cards, players will be able to round out their collections by purchasing new card packs or disenchanting some of their existing cards to craft the ones they’re missing.

With hundreds of cards to choose from, featuring a wide range of colorful Warcraft spells, weapons, and characters, players will have limitless possibilities for developing and fine-tuning their deck-building strategies.

Starting in Patch 26.6, coming later this month, Hearthstone will be replacing the Classic Mode with a new Mode called Twist!

Classic Hearthstone, With a Twist

Twist is a Hearthstone ladder Mode with regularly rotating seasons, each with a twist on the rules! Twist formats can include curated card pools and special rulesets. These formats are sure to bring back some of your favorites, but in a new setting with a new meta to crack!

We already have some fun and nostalgic Twist formats planned for the rest of the year, but we also want to hear from you about Twist formats you’d like to see, or if you end up loving one so much you want to see us bring it back. Twist formats are planned to change regularly, but not necessarily with every season. Twist also might be deactivated from time to time we prepare for the next upcoming season. You can find Twist in the Hearthstone menu, where Classic used to be, and you always check the current Twist season’s rules and eligible card pools from the deck selection screen.

Twist Timing

With Patch 26.6, Twist will be launching in its Beta. You’ll start your Twist climb from the beginning, at Bronze 10, and that first season will be a short season, lasting until July 1. You’ll also be able to earn ranked rewards from the Twist ladder, like Standard or Wild. June’s ranked rewards will be based on your highest ladder rank across Standard, Wild, Classic, or Twist. Once the Twist Beta kicks off, the official Leaderboards will switch from Classic to Twist.

The Twist Beta is planned for June and July. After the Beta, Twist will be temporarily deactivated for a short time while we prepare for the official Twist launch, coming soon!

Beta Format: New Age

Due to the short June season, there will be one format for both the June and July Beta seasons of Twist. That format is called “New Age,” a new evergreen format that includes the Core Set, plus all sets from Ashes of Outland forward. That means, during this Beta period, it will consist of:

• Core
• Ashes of Outland
• Scholomance Academy
• Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
• Forged in the Barrens
• United in Stormwind
• Fractured in Alterac Valley
• Voyage to the Sunken City
• Murder at Castle Nathria
• March of the Lich King
• Path of Arthas
• Festival of Legends

As new sets are added to the game, they will be added to the New Age pool, which might be brought back from time to time. For these Beta seasons, there will also be a special rules variant to the New Age format: no neutrals allowed. That will let you re-experience the New Age, but through new eyes! When we bring New Age back in the future, it might come back with the same rules variant, a different one, or no rules variant at all.

Twist Preview Event with Twitch Drops!

Join your favorite content creators on June 22 and June 23 for a special preview of the Twist Beta! Competitors from around the world will be playing on a private version of the upcoming Twist ladder to test out some decks and see how far they can climb.

NA, LATAM, and EMEA participants will be playing throughout June 22, at various times from 9:00 a.m. PST – 9:00 p.m. PST.  APAC players will be playing June 23, from 2:00 a.m. PST – 8:00 a.m. PST. Participating players will be streaming from their own channels, so make sure you follow your favorites to see when they go live!

NA Group

• Kibler
• Regis
• Alliestrasza
• TrumpSC
• Ike
• Zeddy
• WowHobbs
• GetMeowth
• MarkMckz
• Roffle
• Rarran
• Dreads
• Luna
• NoHandsGamer
• Redbeard
• Corbett

EMEA Group

• Danehearth
• Bunnyhoppor
• Feelink
• Solary
• Meati
• Hibadino
• Feno
• BabyBear
• Jambre
• Josemi
• Fishou
• DroodThund3r
• TheoHS
• TheHousewife
• EnDjinn
• Zetalot
• OldGuardian
• Berono91
• MrYagut
• Thanh
• Pocket_Train

LATAM Group

• Nayara Sylvestre
• KingVenom
• CerealForMe
• Digohs_
• Casanova
• Tesdey
• Rane
• rami94hs
• iCheky
• Zéltica (TCK)
• Jason Gamer HS
• AnotherAudio
• ZoomHS
• RusinhoHs
• Swagnaros_HS

APAC Group

• DawN
• DDaHyoNi
• Flurry
• Ghost
• Jinbae
• Kimukihun
• Kranich
• RenieHouR
• RoofTopCAT
• Ryvius
• Sooni
• Surrender
• Younjoy
• Zochi
• Jucon
• HearthFun

Category-wide Twitch drops will be enabled for this event! From June 22, 9:00 a.m. (PST) to June 23, 9:00 a.m. (PST), you can earn up to nine free packs for watching Hearthstone!

• Watch for one hour to earn 1 Ashes of Outland pack, 1 Scholomance Academy pack, and 1 Darkmoon Faire pack.
• Watch for another hour to earn 1 Forged in the Barrens pack, 1 United in Stormwind pack, and 1 Fractured in Alterac Valley pack.
• Watch for a third hour to earn 1 Voyage to the Sunken City pack, 1 Murder at Castle Nathria pack, and 1 March of the Lich King pack.

Each of the pack groups corresponds to one of the last few Years of Hearthstone, so you’ll be able to use the cards you open when you jump into Twist’s Beta and try out the New Age format! We hope to see you there.

Make sure you link your Twitch and Battle.net accounts so that your viewing time counts towards drops.

Hearthstone is available for Android, iOS and PC.