Hearthstone’s next expansion and format will probably be dated next week

Blizzard today perpetuated the increasingly popular, ceaselessly annoying trend of announced announcements by teasing big news for Hearthstone’s upcoming Winter Championship, all while deftly avoiding saying anything substantive.

Unfortunately for the coquettish introverts at Blizzard, we already know their hand. The studio has been sitting on the impending release of Hearthstone’s Standard format, which will shake up competitive play with card restrictions, for months, along with the 130-plus-card expansion that will come with it.

In other words, Blizzard will all but definitely reveal the release dates for the Standard format and/or the expansion at the Winter Championship, which will be held on Friday, March 11. Lead Designer Ben Brode and Senior Producer Yong Woo will do the honors over on the Hearthstone Twitch channel at around 1 p.m. Eastern.

Going by Hearthstone’s announcement track record, either the format or the expansion will release at the end of the current month and kick off the April season. Try your best to act surprised.