What Hearthstone Expansion Themes We Might See In The Future

As we all know, after the initial release of a very successful card game – Hearthstone – Blizzard has decided to push a cascade of related content. And so, we’ve got a Hearthstone RTS (Warcraft), Hearthstone MMORPG (World of Warcraft), and tons of books, comics and other medias that explore the deep lore of our beloved card game.

Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly that way, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Warcraft universe has a really rich story. Azeroth is incredibly flavorful, and Hearthstone has already explored some of its themes. We have visited iconic places like Naxxramas, Blackrock Mountain, Karazhan, Gadgetzan and Un’Goro, even if not always in their original form. But that’s merely a fraction of what awaits us in the vast… World of Warcraft (no ™).

And so I began to wonder – what are some of the other places that Hearthstone might explore in the future? Or maybe what themes our favorite game will take upon and add a little (or not so little) twist to? Here is my short list of ideas. Mind you that I would need a dozen of articles like that to list all of them, so I’ve decided to focus on some of my favorites instead.

Troll Tribes

Trolls have such an interesting, “exotic” lore in Warcraft, yet they are very underrepresented in Hearthstone. Yes, trolls are depicted on some cards, but… that’s all, actually. I’m not even saying that they should have their own tribe tag, but right now every troll card is just a regular card that happens to be troll on the art. Most of them could be replaced with any other race and it would still be the same – most of them don’t have that… “voodoo” theme to them.

Not only there are many different tribes of trolls, but each one of them has a rich history to draw inspiration from. They could focus on one of the “subspecies”, like Jungle Trolls, or Forest Trolls, or just go all in and add some cards from all of them. Since it’s Hearthstone and the regular lore rules don’t apply, they could even add some lore background and let’s say stage a big war of different tribes.

If they had to pick one tribe to focus one, my favorites would probably be Gurubashi trolls. They live in Stranglethorn Vale’s jungle, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to add some jungle beasts to the expansion too. And then, the Zul’Gurub itself – an ancient troll city. It was one of my favorite locations back when I used to play WoW. It just felt so flavorful.

Oh, and not to mention that Hakkar the Soulflayer, the God they worship (which you ultimately have to fight) would make for a badass 10 mana Legendary with some awesome effect.

Titans / Ulduar

Of course, turning an actual Titan into a card might be a bit problematic even for Hearthstone. They’re the most powerful beings that ever existed, much powerful than let’s say Deathwing or the Old Gods like N'Zoth, The Corruptor or C'Thun. Titans are like gods in the Warcraft universe. They create, shape worlds and then watch over them.

So they would need to tone them down A LOT before turning into even a 10 mana Legendary, which might feel a bit underwhelming for lore fans. But hey, ultimately the lore rules don’t really apply in a card game. For example, if 12 Stonetusk Boars could really kill the Deathwing, well, life in Azeroth would be pretty crazy.

However, whether they would want to have actual Titans in Hearthstone or not, what they could totally introduce are some Titan creations, most notably Watchers. We actually already have one in the game already – Keeper of Uldaman art depicts Ironaya, who is, exactly, a Titanic Watcher. Titanic Watchers were directly created by the Titans to protect Azeroth. Most notable of them, the Keepers, were imbued by the Titans with special powers, and they’re responsible for the actual life in Azeroth.

Writers have taken heavy inspiration from Nordic myths when creating the Keepers (and, to some extent, Titans in general) – just looking at their names (Loken, Thorim, Freya, Odyn) and backstory is enough.

They could also introduce some of the “original” races of the Azeroth. For example, the original Dwarves weren’t like they look right now – they were called Earthen and were made of living stone. Similarly, gnomes were mechanical – akin to the Clockwork Gnome we have in the game right now. Only much later, the so-called “curse of flesh” was created by Old Gods, and it turned many beings bodies from stone and metal into flesh.

And of course, Ulduar. One of the most iconic raids in WoW, which was built as a prison for the Old God Yogg-Saron, Hope's End. However, after a long time, the beings that kept him imprisoned slowly fell under its influence and have gone mad. The final fight against Yogg-Saron was one of the coolest boss fights in the entire game, while the whole location was just so beautiful. We already have some of the bosses in the game, like Flame Leviathan, V-O7-TR-0N (Mimiron's Head) and of course the Yogg-Saron himself. But there is still a lot to draw from.

Funnily enough, Sargeras, who is a leader of the very beings that threaten the Azeroth – Burning Legion – is also a titan. But in this case, I think that a Legion-related expansion would be a better time to introduce him. Which is also a cool idea for the expansion, and a way to introduce more Neutral Demons into the game.

Pandaria

Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the Mists of Pandaria expansion in World of Warcraft, I think that the whole theme would fit Hearthstone so, so much more. The thing is that the other games try to be serious, and expect players to treat them as such. Big, fluffy pandas didn’t necessarily fit into WoW. It was just a bit too… goofy. But Hearthstone embraces that goofiness and turns it into an actual defining quality of the game.

One thing I really liked in the Mists of Pandaria expansion, though, was how it looked. It doesn’t take long to realize that they took a lot from the Eastern Asian culture when designing Pandaria. I might not be objective here, because I’m a sucker for such a set-up, but I just adored it. Especially Vale of Eternal Blossom, which, in my opinion, was simply beautiful (well, before it was corrupted, at least). I think that it would translate really well into the Hearthstone – the colors were generally warm and bright, which fits the Hearthstone stylistics.

It would obviously be a great time to introduce one of the coolest characters in Warcraft lore – Chen Stormstout. And funnily enough, just like with many other cards, Chen is already technically in the game through the artwork of another card. Youthful Brewmaster‘s art is actually a slightly altered art of Chen. But it doesn’t matter. He would make for a really amazing Legendary, especially if they could somehow incorporate his iconic ability – Storm, Earth and Fire – into the game. It splits him into three elemental spirits, each with unique abilities.

And of course, such an expansion would feel empty without Chen’s witty niece Li Li. Some people loved her, others hated her, but she definitely made a significant impression on anyone who followed her quest line in Valley of the Four Winds.

But Pandaria is not all about Pandas. There are many other races inhabiting that land. Starting with the Jinyu and Hozen, which join their forces with Alliance and Horde respectively, and which we already have in the game too. While not a lot, there are two Hozen minions (Hozen Healer and Grook Fu Master) and two Jinyu minions (Gadgetzan Ferryman, Jinyu Waterspeaker). Then, we have Virmen, which are Kobold-like, primitive race of rabbit creatures. In this case, we have one Virmen minion in the game right now – Virmen Sensei.

And if someone wants to see more baddies, there are baddies too. Saurok, which are lizard-people of the Warcraft (Cruel Dinomancer in Hearthstone). Mantid – huge, insectoid creatures, who swarm and try to take over the entire island like locust (e.g. Jade Swarmer and Xaril, Poisoned Mind in Hearthstone). Mogu, which were originally created by the Titans to protect that land, but after being affected by curse of flesh, they’ve dominated the whole island (Jade Chieftain, Mogu'shan Warden or all the Jade Golem tokens in the Hearthstone are Mogu). Possibly even Sha, which is not exactly a race, but rather physical manifestations of negative emotions. They were spawned by the Old God Y’Shaarj and take a form of twisted, dark spirits (Shadowbeast summoned by Possessed Villager is a sha).

And I’ve only covered a part of the whole Pandaria. As you can see, there is more than enough material for more than a single Hearthstone expansion, and they definitely would not be boring.

Caverns of Time / Alternate Universes

Caverns of Time is a very unique and interesting place. It’s a home to the Bronze Dragonflight and their leader, Nozdormu. While he’s merely a meme card in Hearthstone, he plays a more significant role in the lore (alongside other Dragon Aspects such as Ysera or Alexstrasza).

The whole Caverns of Time are like the crossroads between different timelines. You can hop into the portal to experience some of the most important events from the past, or even a dark, possible future of Azeroth destroyed by Deathwing. Which, ultimately means, that there would be a lot to draw from in a “Hearthstone-like” style. Remember that a big part of Hearthstone is not exactly lore, it’s like a twist on it, or “what if” approach. Caverns of Time Hearthstone expansion could be centered around Bronze Dragonflight, manipulating time, alternative history etc. I feel like it would fit Hearthstone really well.

Infinite Dragonflight could also take a big role in the expansion. In World of Warcraft, they were this mysterious race of Dragons who meddled with important events from the history of Azeroth. They were led by Murozond, which is, yes, anagram of Nozdormu. Murozond is a very interesting fella, as he is a future, “corrupted” version of Nozdormu, seeking to destroy the main time line. Not just for the sake of it – he comes from a distant future and it seems like he truly believes that it’s for the best, because the real future that all the game’s events lead to is even worse. At the same time, since he is corrupted by the Old Gods (in the future), maybe the terrible future world he speaks about is just some sort of hallucination? Or maybe he is really a good guy and we are the bad guys making the future of Azeroth even worse? We will probably never know, but I find that part of the lore really interesting (even though there are some plot holes and such).

Caverns of Time would also be a good time to introduce Chromie, who is a really powerful Bronze Dragon Chronormu disguised as a Gnome. She’s one of my favorite characters. Just check out her Heroes of the Storm introduction trailer.

And More!

Those are just some of my favorites. With three expansions per year, we will definitely see a lot of iconic Warcraft places or lore moments in the near future. Burning Legion, Draenor (or its Outland version, including Black Temple), maybe an Undead-related expansion covering northern part of Eastern Kingdoms (Tristfal Glades, Plaguelands, Stratholme), maybe an underwater expansion with Nagas, sea monsters and such.

One of the reasons I can keep playing Hearthstone without getting bored is that the team does really great job with the expansions, flavor-wise. Each one of them feels unique and interesting, and I simply can’t wait to see more.

And what are your predictions for the future Hearthstone expansions? Are there are any themes you would like to see? Let me know in the comments, and until next time!