Hearthstone 36.4: the four Azeroth's Most Wanted Class Sets land on August 25 — and the free event hands out a pack for each of those four classes

Blizzard posted the patch notes for Update 36.4 yesterday early evening, with an unambiguous phrasing: "Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to check out Update 36.4". So it arrives this Tuesday, August 25, and it's not one to skim through: four new class sets, a new Arena season, a free three-week rewards track, and twenty-seven fixes.

Here's what's changing, in the order that concerns you — from free to paid, not the other way around.

Free first: the Rulebreaker Revelry, from August 25 to September 15

This is the only element of 36.4 that costs nothing and has an expiration date. Blizzard is launching an event called the Rulebreaker Revelry, from August 25 to September 15, built around the successful escape of Vanessa VanCleef and her crew. You complete the event quests, progress along a rewards track, and pocket:

• 1 Warrior card pack;
• 1 Rogue card pack;
• 1 Priest card pack;
• 1 Warlock card pack;
• 1 golden card pack from Escape from Violet Hold;
• 2 random Epic cards from Escape from Violet Hold;
• 1 Get-Away Zeppelin card back;
• 1 Escape Coin.

The detail that matters: the four class packs handed out correspond exactly to the four classes receiving a paid set that same day. In other words, the free event lets you sample the new archetypes before deciding whether to pull out your credit card.

The four "Azeroth's Most Wanted" class sets

This is the main course. The Azeroth's Most Wanted pack adds a set for only four classes: Priest, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior. Each set contains seven cards, distributed identically: one Legendary, two Epics, two Rares, two Commons.

Blizzard announces four targeted archetypes, and names them: Reborn Priest, Stealth Rogue, Kabal Warlock, and Pirate Warrior, plus new cards carrying the "Tradeable" keyword. The set serves as a narrative prelude to Escape from Violet Hold: it tells the story of "the crimes, the pursuits, and the betrayals" that led the four outlaws to Violet Hold.

Three ways to get them, one of them free

This is the point most misunderstood with every class set release, so it's worth spelling out clearly. Azeroth's Most Wanted cards can be:

• obtained from Escape from Violet Hold packs — so, for free, with some luck;
• crafted using dust — so, for free, with some patience;
• bought directly, by set or by pack.

A set of seven cards is never a paid exclusive. What buying it guarantees is not having to rely on chance, plus some added cosmetics.

The price list, in euros and in gold

Do the math before you click: four individual sets cost $39.96 or 4,800 gold, versus $19.99 or 2,500 gold for the bundle that includes them all — and the bundle adds the bonus card and the hero skin. Buying individually only makes sense if you're interested in just one of the four classes.

Blizzard notes that "available purchase options vary by region": not all of these offers are guaranteed everywhere.

New Arena season: six sets in the mix

Patch 36.4 opens an Arena season in Standard format, with an increased appearance rate for cards from the brand-new class sets. The featured sets:

• Escape from Violet Hold
• CATACLYSM
• Across the Timeways
• The Lost City of Un'Goro
• Into the Emerald Dream
• cards from event sets

The boosted appearance rate for Wanted! cards is the real news here: Arena becomes the cheapest way to try out these cards before deciding on a purchase.

The World Championship Tavern Brawl returns from September 9 to 16

The 2026 Hearthstone World Championship takes place on September 12 and 13 at BlizzCon. Around those two dates, from September 9 to 16, the World Championship Tavern Brawl brings back the favorite decks of past champions:

• Firebat — Face Hunter (2014)
• Ostkaka — Patron Warrior (2015)
• Pavel — Tempo Mage (2016)
• Tom60229 — Jade Druid (2017)
• Hunterace — Control Shaman (2019)
• Liooon — Inner Fire Priest (2019)
• Glory — Soul Demon Hunter (2020)
• Posesi — Garrote Rogue (2021)
• BunnyHoppor — Control Priest (2022)
• PocketTrain — Pure Paladin (2023)
• mlYanming — Starship Warlock (2024)
• XiaoT — Discover Hunter (2025)

One clarification from Blizzard is worth noting, because it changes how these decks play: "all cards that have been changed since the original deck was created have been reverted to their original state." So you won't be playing these lists with 2026 balancing, but with the balancing of their respective years. A 2014 deck played as-is is far from a museum curiosity — some of these cards are in a state the game hasn't seen in ten years.

Kel'Thuzad and the phylactery: September 8, not August 25

Watch the calendar closely, because the patch notes mix up two different timelines. Lich Lord Kel'Thuzad, presented by Blizzard as "our most feature-rich Mythic Hero Skin yet," isn't arriving with 36.4: he's joining the Darkmoon Faire Treasures from September 8 to October 13.

What he brings, once he's here:

• available for both Mage and Death Knight;
• two interchangeable appearances, Necromancer and Lich, swappable mid-turn via the "Transform" option on his Emote Wheel;
• the phylactery, a reactive element placed in a corner of the board, which builds up power as minions take damage and die;
• once charged, the phylactery activates custom hero powers — brand-new versions of Fireblast (Mage) and Ghoul Charge (Death Knight).

Two caveats, written by Blizzard itself. First: "All Mythic Hero Skin features are purely cosmetic and have no impact on gameplay" — the phylactery won't win you any games. Second: "the phylactery appears in a corner of the board and is replaced by your companion once you've selected one." If you're set on seeing the phylactery, you'll have to give up your Pet.

The Darkmoon Faire Treasures remain a random reward system: the first attempt is free, subsequent ones cost Runestones, and every attempt yields a reward. Blizzard also announces "many more Kel'Thuzad-themed surprises" for 36.6 — so still another patch away.

Battle.net Shop: the window we reported was wrong, and Blizzard has fixed it

At the time of publication, Blizzard's language versions of this page did not give the same window: the English page read "From August 25 - September 15", while the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese versions all dated it 4 to 25 August. Six versions against one, and we sided with the majority.

Updated August 30. Blizzard has since aligned every page. The French version now reads 25 August to 15 September, as do the German and Spanish ones. The English page was right all along, and the other six were carrying a stale date. The run is not over: it goes on until September 15, in step with Rulebreaker Revelry.

The cadence has not changed: a different gift every Tuesday at 10 a.m. PDT (7 p.m. in Paris). That leaves several visits to make before September 15, and each gift expires after a week.

The same day, another offer kicks off: the Legendary Mob Boss Valeera bundle, available "one week before its release." The Legendary Sylvanas, Ranger General bundle returns alongside it, and a third bundle combines them both.

Twenty-seven fixes, four of which actually unblock something

The list is long, and half of it is visual — misaligned portraits, effects that don't display, missing animations. Four entries deserve your attention because they fix behavior that was skewing games:

• Shadow of Demise could be played when drawn by The Kingslayers — that's fixed;
• Deathborne, cast twice by Breakout Architect, summoned an incorrect number of Volatile Skeletons;
• Mystic Misdirection could cancel Baroness Vashj's attack;
• Objection! could trigger before Double Cross, which prevented the latter from working.

On the Battlegrounds side, two fixes are also worth a look: Winner's Bread wasn't granting its stats to tavern minions after a won turn, and several triple rewards were lost when holding multiple copies of Cho'gall Sticker.

Finally, two mobile crashes have been fixed: the freeze when several end-of-turn healing effects triggered simultaneously, and the crash on first access to Practice Mode.

What to do today

1. Visit the Battle.net Shop every Tuesday until September 15: a different Escape from Violet Hold gift each week, and each one expires after seven days.
2. Start the Rulebreaker Revelry quests: three weeks, eight rewards, no money down.
3. Don't buy anything right away: the four free class packs offered by the event cover the same four classes as the paid pack. Play those first.
4. Mark September 8 for Kel'Thuzad, and September 9 for the Tavern Brawl.