Hearthstone: Reign of the Black Empire expansion revealed, Monk coming in 2027

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Hearthstone's Standard season is wrapping up in a big way while a new class joins the fun for the next one.

Ozzie Mejia September 12, 2026 11:38 AM Blizzard Entertainment 1

Following some exciting reveals for StarCraft and Diablo, the BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony moved on to what's next for Hearthstone. Hearthstone is going into the distant past for its next expansion, as it explores the cataclysmic clash between the Old Gods and the Titans with the Reign of the Black Empire expansion. However, that's not all. The long-awaited Monk class is also making its way to the game and will be available in time for the next Standard year.

Hearthstone: Reign of the Black Empire will introduce a handful of new keywords, including ones that tap into the omnipotent powers of the Old Gods and the Titans. The Assemble keyword can fuse two monsters together to create something entirely devastating. It can be used across 250 different cards, offering hundreds of new possibilities.

However, that's not all that's coming to Hearthstone. Aberrations are coming to Hearthstone Battlegrounds, which are cards that tap into the power of the Old Gods. These cards will be playable on the BlizzCon showfloor.

The Hearthstone: Reign of the Black Empire expansion is set to release on October 20. The new Monk class will be available in March 2027.

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Ozzie Mejia Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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