March of the Lich King marches into Hearthstone

The ghastly villain has risen from his slumber and is leading his Undead army and the new Death Knight class in an all-out assault on the elven capital city of Silvermoon. The corpses are piling up, but the Blood Elves won’t go down without a fight!

“It isn’t often that a new class is brought into Hearthstone, so we’re especially excited to introduce the Death Knights to the game,” said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “One of the most popular villains in World of Warcraft returns to wreak havoc on the whimsical world of Hearthstone, shaking up the meta and adding new challenges for players who want to dive deeper into their deckbuilding.”

Upon completion of a short prologue, players will be armed with an all-new Death Knight class, unlocking 32 unique core cards to challenge the meta. All Death Knight heroes will be equipped with Ghoul Charge, a hero power which summons a 1/1 Ghoul with Charge that dies at the end of the turn. Plus, even your dead minions will be cause for celebration, as they play a pivotal role in powering up specific cards requiring Corpses. Death Knight is a powerful, flexible class, powered by three Runes: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. The player’s chosen devotion to those Runes will determine which cards they can put in their deck. Learn more about Rune deckbuilding in the Death Knight introduction article, and be sure to check out the Path of Arthas bundle ($24.99) for even more Death Knight class cards.

Assisting the Death Knights are a new minion type: Undead. Hundreds of minions from previous expansions have been updated retroactively with the Undead tag (with some minions even sporting dual types), and the Reborn keyword is returning as an evergreen mechanic.

Another element shaping gameplay meta is the juicy new keyword, Manathirst. The Blood Elves draw more power from the Sunwell the longer they hold off the Scourge advance. Cards with Manathirst get extra powerful once you reach a specified amount of mana, but you won’t need to spend that mana to power up the cards.