Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows Guide

UPDATE 5th April: 30 deck guides now ready for launch!

Guide by John Bedford Contributor

Published on April 5, 2019

The next Hearthstone expansion - and the first of 2019 - is called Rise of Shadows. The news was confirmed by Blizzard towards the middle of March.

Rise of Shadows will see Hearthstone's roster of heroes seperated into two competing factions: The League of EVIL and the Defenders of Dalaran. There'll be the usual 135 cards to collect, as well as a new Twinspell keyword for Defenders, and a series of "callback cards" for League heroes which will reference keywords from Hearthstone's history.

In our comprehensive guide to Rise of Shadows we've pulled together all of the information that's been released by Blizzard so far. As card reveal season gets under way we'll add all the new cards to this article, and expand on any other information that's confirmed in the run-up to launch as well.

UPDATE 5th April: We've now got more than 30 decks for you to try out when the expansion goes live on Tuesday! We'll be converting all of the articles linked below into full guides once the lists have stabilised a little bit, but this should be plenty for you to get started with.

Overview

Here are all of the headline announcements that have been made for Rise of Shadows so far. After this section, we go into greater detail on each point.

Release Date: Hearthstone's Rise of Shadows expansion will launch on Tuesday 9th April 2019.
New cards: There will be 135 new cards in Rise of Shadows, with the usual distribution across rarities and classes.
League of EVIL: The bad guys of the expansion will each field a representative across the Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior and Warlock classes.
Callback Cards: Each League of EVIL character will re-introduce a keyword from the expansion they first appeared in.
Lackeys: The League of EVIL classes will also have access to Lackey minions. They have minor stats but huge Battlecry effects.
Schemes: The same classes will also gain access to Scheme cards, which grow in power for each turn they remain unused in your hand.
Defenders of Dalaran: These are the good guys in Rise of Shadows, represented by the Mage, Druid, Hunter and Paladin classes.
New Twinspell Keyword: Cast a Twinspell card and a second copy will be added to your hand for use either right away, or on a later turn. These cards are exclusive to Defenders of Dalaran heroes.

Decks

We're in the very early stages of putting together theorycrafted deck lists for Rise of Shadows. Expect this section to grow a great deal over time.

Druid

1. Heal Druid - Heal Druid deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Token Druid - Token Druid deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Malygos Druid - Malygos Druid deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Hunter

Meta

1. Spell Hunter - Spell Hunter deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Mech Hunter - Mech Hunter deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Beast Hunter - Beast Hunter deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
4. Midrange Hunter - Midrange Hunter deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Malygos Hunter - Malygos Hunter deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Mage

Meta

1. Spell Damage Mage - Spell Damage Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Hand Mage - Hand Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Tempo Mage - Tempo Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Freeze Mage - Freeze Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Control Mage - Control Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Dragon Mage - Dragon Mage deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Paladin

Meta

1. Secret Paladin - Secret Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Dragon Paladin - Dragon Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Immortal Paladin - Immortal Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Midrange Paladin - Midrange Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Holy Wrath Paladin - Holy Wrath Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Mech Paladin - Mech Paladin deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Priest

Meta

1. Deathrattle Priest - Deathrattle Priest deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Resurrect Priest - Resurrect Priest deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Silence Priest - Silence Priest deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Dragon Priest - Dragon Priest deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Control Priest - Control Priest deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Rogue

Meta

1. Thief Rogue - Thief Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Tempo Rogue - Tempo Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Pogo-Hopper Rogue - Pogo-Hopper Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Togwaggle Rogue - Togwaggle Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Pirate Rogue - Pirate Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Miracle Rogue - Miracle Rogue deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Shaman

Meta

1. Murloc Shaman - Murloc Shaman deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Control Shaman - Control Shaman deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Big Shaman - Big Shaman deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Shudderwock Shaman - Shudderwock Shaman deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Overload Shaman - Overload Shaman deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Warlock

Meta

1. Plot Twist Warlock - Plot Twist Warlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Zoo Warlock - Zoo Warlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Handlock - Handlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Control Warlock - Control Warlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Mecha'thun Warlock - Mecha'thun Warlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Demon Warlock - Demon Warlock deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Warrior

Meta

1. Bomb Warrior - Bomb Warrior deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
2. Dragon Warrior - Dragon Warrior deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
3. Big Warrior - Big Warrior deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)
4. Control Warrior - Control Warrior deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Experimental

1. Rush Warrior - Rush Warrior deck list guide (Rise of Shadows)

Rise of Shadows Cards

As new cards are revealed we'll add them into this pre-release chart for quick reference:

Druid cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Acornbearer	Dreamway Guardians	Crystalsong Portal	Keeper Stalladris
Crystal Power	Lifeweaver	Crystal Stag	Lucentbark
Blessing of the Ancients	The Forest's Aid

Hunter cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Rapid Fire	Shimmerfly	Nine Lives	Oblivitron
Ursatron	Hunting Party	Arcane Fletcher	Vereesa Windrunner
Marked Shot	Unleash the Beast

Mage cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Ray of Frost	Magic Trick	Mana Cyclone	Khadgar
Magic Dart Frog	Conjurer's Calling	Power of Creation	Kalecgos
Messenger Raven	Kirin Tor Tricaster

Paladin cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
No Surrender	Desperate Measures	Dragon Speaker	Commander Rhyssa
Lightforged Blessing	Call to Adventure	Duel	Nozari
Bronze Herald	Mysterious Blade

Priest cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
EVIL Conscripter	Forbidden Words	Lazul's Scheme	Madame Lazul
Hench-Clan Shadequill	Convincing Infiltrator	Shadowy Figure	Catrina Muerte
Unsleeping Soul	Mass Resurrection

Rogue cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Daring Escape	Togwaggle's Scheme	Waggle Pick	Heistbaron Togwaggle
EVIL Miscreant	Underbelly Fence	Unidentified Contract	Tak Nozwhisker
Hench-Clan Burglar	Vendetta

Shaman cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Mutate	Sludge Slurper	Witch's Brew	Scargil
Soul of the Murloc	Underbelly Angler	Muckmorpher	Swampqueen Hagatha
Walking Fountain	Hagatha's Scheme

Warlock cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
EVIL Genius	Plot Twist	Darkest Hour	Arch-Villain Rafaam
Rafaam's Scheme	Impferno	Jumbo Imp	Fel Lord Betrug
Aranasi Broodmother	Eager Underling

Warrior cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Improve Morale	Sweeping Strikes	Omega Devastator	Blastmaster Boom
Vicious Scraphound	Clockwork Goblin	Wrenchcalibur	The Boom Reaver
Dr. Boom's Scheme	Dimensional Ripper

Neutral cards - Rise of Shadows

Common	Rare	Epic	Legendary
Potion Vendor	Arcane Watcher	Magic Carpet	Archmage Vargoth
Toxfin	Spellward Jeweler	Hench-Clan Hag	Barista Lynchen
Arcane Servant	Hecklebot	Portal Overfiend	Chef Nomi
Dalaran Librarian	Portal Keeper	Unseen Saboteur	Archivist Elysiana
EVIL Cable Rat	Recurring Villain	Batterhead	Jepetto Joybuzz
Hench-Clan Hogsteed	Sunreaver Warmage	Whirlwind Tempest
Mana Reservoir	Mad Summoner	Big Bad Archmage
Spellbook Binder	Exotic Mountseller
Sunreaver Spy	Tunnel Blaster
Faceless Rager	Underbelly Ooze
Flight Master
Hench-Clan Sneak
Proud Defender
Soldier of Fortune
Travelling Healer
Violet Spellsword
Dalaran Crusader
Eccentric Scribe
Safeguard
Violet Warden
Heroic Innkeeper
Burly Shovelfist

League of EVIL

Five of Hearthstone's classes will be members of the League of EVIL, and each will have its own special ringleader.

Here's how the bad guys look in Rise of Shadows:

Warrior - Dr. Boom
Rogue - Togwaggle
Warlock - Rafaam
Shaman - Hagatha
Priest - Madame Lazul

Note that Madame Lazul is the character more commonly known as the Fortune Teller from the recent expansion teasers, as well as the cinematic trailer for 2016's Whispers of the Old Gods.

Callback cards

Each of the above characters will be getting something known as “callback cards”, which are drawn from the expansion in which they made their first appearance.

In the case of Madame Lazul (who first appeared as the Fortune Teller in the Whispers of the Old Gods trailer), this will be the Forbidden-related word. Think of old cards like Forbidden Ritual or Forbidden Healing in this context.

The Warlock's Arch-Villain Rafaam has a similar effect to the Golden Monkey from League of Explorers, for example, replacing your hand and deck with Legendary minions when played.

You can expect similar effects for the other EVIL characters, and they'll be announced in a future reveal.

Lackeys

The League of EVIL will have access to a special kind of token minion called Lackeys. These are very low-statted minions which nevertheless have a high-impact Battlecry.

They can't be collected, and are instead spawned by other cards. They work a little like the Spare Parts from Goblins v Gnomes, or the Dream cards created by Ysera.

EVIL Miscreant is one example that's been provided for the Rogue class.

Schemes

Schemes are a new kind of card available to the League of EVIL heroes. They start off very low in power, but grow steadily in strength for each turn that they remain in your hand.

Hagatha's Scheme, for example, damages enemy minions. If you're facing a aggro deck you can play this quite early on in order to do the minor damage that's required. Alternatively, against slower decks, you can play it in the late-game for potentially massive damage.

Defenders of Dalaran

The Defenders of Dalaran are the good guys in Rise of Shadows, and are represented by the four remaining classes in Hearthstone: Druid, Hunter, Paladin and Mage.

Much less detail has been provided on these four characters so far, but we do know that the Mage will be represented by Kalecgos.

This mighty Dragon adds an effect which makes the first spell you cast each turn free. It also has a Battlecry which lets you discover a spell - which you can then cast for free if it's your first spell of the turn in question!

We understand that there'll be lots of Neutral cards to support the Defenders of Dalaran in particular. Chef Nomi is one such card that's been revealed so far.

New Keyword: Twinspell

Each of the four Defenders of Dalaran will receive two cards which feature the new keyword called Twinspell.

When you play a card that features the Twinspell mechanic, you'll receive a single extra copy of that card in your hand. This replacement card can be played on any future turn. Note that the duplicate card does not feature the Twinspell mechanic, and so can't be duplicated further.

One example that's been confirmed so far is The Forest's Aid.

Twinspell cards will have a real mix of Mana costs too. Some will be extremely cheap at one or two Mana, while others will be considerably more expensive.