BlizzCon 2019 is almost here and with it, we'll be hearing about the next big expansion for Hearthstone - the final one for Year of the Dragon.

Here's everything you need to know for this year's BlizzCon. First, the quick points.

  • BlizzCon starts on Friday, November 1 at 2 PM Eastern.
  • Panels taking place on the Mythic Stage during the first day are going to be open and free to watch for everyone, a first.
  • If you want to watch other panels, you'll need a Virtual Ticket.
  • There will be a Hearthstone announcement in the opening ceremony.
  • There is almost certainly a panel for Hearthstone currently titled "Coming Soon". We don't know what time that will take place.
  • "Hearthstone Update" takes place in the evening on Friday (8:15 PM EDT) on the Epic Stage. No details are known yet.
  • You'll want to check out the full schedule for an overview of everything taking place.
  • You can buy BlizzCon merch on the new Blizzard Gear Store.
  • A charity auction is taking place with some awesome Blizzard loot. Ends Nov 5.

About the 2019 BlizzCon Virtual Ticket

  • Tickets are $49.99 USD ($64.99 CAD)
  • The pricing is the same as last year. You can buy a ticket here.
  • You'll receive exclusive cosmetics for many Blizzard games with the purchase. Check out more info here.

Hearthstone players are going to be getting a Legendary Card and a commemorative card back for purchasing a virtual or physical BlizzCon ticket. The legendary card appears to be specific and not random, which means this may be another Marin the Fox scenario where ticket purchasers get a golden version for free and other players to receive a normal one. That is not yet confirmed though, just a bit of speculation.

What to Expect from Hearthstone

Every year, BlizzCon brings us news of the newest expansion that is about the rock the Hearthstone world.

  • We should get to see at least a dozen new cards for the set.
  • We'll get some information on the story and maybe a peek at how Year of the Dragon is ending.
  • Expect community card reveals to start 2-3 weeks after BlizzCon like previous years.

Unfortunately with Blizzard being very tight-lipped on most of the BlizzCon schedule, unlike past years, we don't have a great idea of what we can really expect.

What to Expect from Blizzard

If you've been online over the past few weeks, there is a decent chance you've encountered some leaks! Nothing concrete on the Hearthstone side of things, but here's what we are fairly certain will be taking place for other Blizzard titles. We're not sourcing anything on this because there is too much potential for misinformation, so just be excited cool stuff should be happening.

  • Diablo 4. Possibly a very early announcement and not actually available for some time.
  • World of Warcraft expansion titled Shadowlands.
  • Overwatch is going into "Chapter 2"
  • Diablo 2 "Remastered".

Hearthstone Esports at BlizzCon

The Hearthstone Global Finals are the BlizzCon Esports event for Hearthstone this year.

  • Twitch drops will give anyone watching 5 Saviors of Uldum packs for 6 hours of total watch time.
  • Twitch drops also will be giving out 1500 random classic packs every hour.
  • The Global Finals are made up of 8 players competing for their share of $500,000 USD!
  • Shielded Conquest with dual tournament groups and a single-elimination bracket is how things will be going down.

Blizzard had some art done of the 8 players, check it out and the official blog post with more details on the event down below.

     

     

Recognize the players? From top left to bottom right, they are - Surrender, tom60229, PNC, bloodyface, Fenomeno, Casie, VKLiooon, and Leaoh.

Quote From Blizzard

In Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas—48 players battled it out in weekly online play during Seasons 1 and 2 of Grandmasters. Six players were relegated from the competition, while six more ran the Playoff gauntlet to secure their place at the Hearthstone Global Finals.

In China, the field was wider, with a Playoff bracket determined by the victors from a pool of 64 veterans and an open pool of 1024 players represented at several live events over the course of the year. It’s all boiled down to two players from the region joining the best from the rest of the world at BlizzCon.

Competitors will play the Shield-Phase Conquest format through dual tournament groups before facing off in a single elimination bracket. All matches will be best-of-three except for the semifinals and finals which will be best-of-five. US $500,000 is on the line, along with the Global Finals trophy.