Hearthstone's Next Expansion, Rise Of Shadows, Brings Back Old Villains And Some Old Mechanics

Hello darkness, my old friend -- and the focus of the next expansion for Hearthstone.

Hearthstone's Year of the Dragon kicks off soon, and yesterday Blizzard filled us in on what's coming in next month's expansion. It's called Rise of Shadows, which sees five of Hearthstone's biggest bad guys forming their own "evil league" -- seriously, it's called the League of E.V.I.L. -- to loot and plunder the magical floating city of Dalaran.

In addition to the villains themselves, several cards from the new set hearken back to expansions of yore. The set's new mechanic, Twinspell, puts a copy of a spell into your hand after you play it. Unlike the previous Echo mechanic, a Twinspell card stays in your hand past the end of your turn, letting you cast it again whenever you want. Schemes are another subtype of new cards, spells that grow more powerful the longer you hold them in your hand.

Overall, the set adds 135 cards, including the usual smattering of legendary cards themed around the battle between the defenders of Dalaran and its would-be conquerors.

Rise of Shadows launches on April 9. You can pre-purchase packs from the set in either 50- or 80-card bundles. Learn more about this expansion, and the Year of the Dragon, on the Hearthstone site.