The Grand Tournament expansion confirmed for Hearthstone next month

Blizzard has detailed the next big expansion on the way to its World of Warcraft themed card battler Hearthstone.

It’s called The Grand Tournament and will feature 132 new cards. The main new mechanic to be introduced sees tweaks and alterations to how players use their Hero power. Some cards will be buffed every time a Hero power is used while other will increase the number of times Hero powers can be used each turn.

Also new is ‘Inspire’. The mechanics of this aren’t quite clear as of yet, but ‘Inspired’ cards will get some sort of functionality buff such as increased attack or additional card draw.

Pirates will at last get a moment in the spotlight, too, although Ogres, Dragons and Murlocs are also mentioned in the press material.

Grand Tournament cards will be added as possible rewards for Arena runs, although players will also have a chance of instead winning Classics or Goblins vs Gnomes cards.

The Grand Tournament will be available for pre-purchase next week in the form of a discounted 50 pack purchase that will cost 34.99 in the UK. That price will right now net you only 40 packs.