Hearthstone: Mini-sets are gone — how class sets work, and why there will be 12 for 11 classes

Since update 35.4, rolled out on May 5, 2026 at 7 p.m. Paris time, mini-sets no longer exist in Hearthstone. Blizzard has replaced them with class sets, a format that no longer hands out a few cards to everyone but delivers a full batch to a handful of classes.

Three months and one expansion later, the second wave still hasn't been announced: neither update 36.0, deployed on June 30, nor 36.2 on August 4, contained one. This is the right time to understand the system before it comes back, because it changes the way you spend your gold.

A class set is 7 cards for a single class

The official definition is simple: "a series of new cards specially designed for a single class." Four sets release at the same time, and Blizzard plans three launches a year.

The composition is fixed: 1 legendary, 2 epics, 2 rares and 2 commons, i.e. seven brand-new cards. Counting the extra copies of the epics, rares and commons, that's 13 cards per set, and 52 cards for all four combined.

That's where the break with mini-sets lies. A mini-set sprinkled a few cards across all eleven classes; a class set concentrates everything on four of them. Blizzard owns it: "by focusing on a smaller number of classes, we can give each one its own strategy and identity."

The math to do before buying: the pack costs half as much

Three options coexist, and the gap between them is considerable.

Buying all four sets separately comes to 4,800 gold coins, versus 2,500 for the bundle: 2,300 coins saved, or nearly half. The ratio is similar in runestones (4,000 versus 2,000) and in euros (€39.96 versus €19.99), where the saving reaches exactly half.

In other words, the only situation where buying individually makes sense is that of a single-class player who will never touch the other three. As soon as you want two, the bundle becomes competitive again; with three, it's unbeatable.

Both bundles additionally include two copies of the bonus card Sproutling Farmhand and the light heroic skin Volcanic Krush.

The free way out that many overlook

None of these purchases is mandatory. Blizzard specifies that class set cards can also be obtained from THE GREAT DARK BEYOND packs or crafted from dust — including the Sproutling Farmhand bonus card.

For a player only aiming for a specific archetype, crafting one or two key cards with dust will very often cost less than 1,200 gold coins for a full set of which they'll only use two cards. The math is worth doing card by card before clicking.

Eleven classes, twelve sets: the anomaly is intentional

Blizzard slipped in a detail that sparked plenty of chatter: three waves of four sets makes 12 sets for 11 classes. The studio confirmed it in its announcement, without revealing which class it is: "one class will receive a second set."

To date, the information still hasn't been published, and the second wave remains entirely unknown — classes included. Any list circulating today is pure speculation.

What the first wave, "Azeroth's Greeting," contained

The first four classes served were druids, hunters, paladins, and mages, on a theme of rebuilding after Deathwing's rampage.

• Druids — a set built for long games, rewarding patience. The card Wise Naturalist pays you for refusing to play a minion, and gives you back the advantage later.
• Hunters — the gradual upgrading of animal companions. Tame Beast lets you search for bigger beasts and turn them into increasingly heavy summons as the game goes on.
• Paladins — the buffing of Silver Hand recruits. Boosting Blade turns recruits into real threats, Battle Regiment fills the board, and Arator the Redeemer crowns the whole package.
• Mages — the ley lines, three spells that can be upgraded during a match. New cards let you boost their power, reduce their cost, or trigger their effects multiple times.

The common thread is obvious: all four sets reward the long game. None of them were designed to speed things up, which, on paper, favors control archetypes.

Why Blizzard changed the format, and what that means for your class

The studio gives three reasons, all aimed at making the meta easier to read: more distinct classes, more noticeable meta shifts, and updates spread throughout the year rather than one big shake-up all at once.

The downside is admitted in black and white: "Even if your favorite class isn't in the initial lineup, it will get its time in the spotlight later in the year. We know that can be disappointing."

In concrete terms, if you play warlock, priest, shaman, warrior, rogue, demon hunter, or death knight, your class hasn't received anything since May 5 apart from expansions and balance adjustments. It will fall into one of the two remaining waves of the Year of the Scarab.

Where things stand as of August 18, 2026

The update schedule is clear: patch 36.0, released on June 30, set the stage for the Escape from Pale Fort expansion released on July 7, and patch 36.2 on August 4 launched Battlegrounds Season 14 with the Sinister Gifts of Dalaran. Neither one delivered a class set.

Yet the announced rule is explicit: "four new class sets will be added after every expansion this year." That schedule hasn't been kept so far, unless the wave is being held back for a still-undated mid-cycle update.

In the meantime, a bit of financial advice: if you play one of the seven classes that haven't been served yet, hold onto your gold. If the price doesn't change, the next pack will cost 2,500 gold, and you'll be better off having it than having bought a mage set out of curiosity.