On February 19, 2021, Blizzard announced Hearthstone‘s new year, the Year of the Gryphon. In the announcement, along with several smaller updates, they discussed card set rotations, the release of the Classic format, and introduced new upcoming game mode called Hearthstone Mercenaries. The roadmap set for the Year of the Gryphon was divided into three phases, and Phase 2 is now rapidly approaching. On June 28, Blizzard released a trailer for the incoming expansion and announced an Expansion Reveal Stream set for July 1. At 9:30 PT on July 1, Blizzard will be streaming on Twitch and YouTube about the immediate future of Hearthstone. The subjects discussed will consist of an overview of Phase 2, information on the expansion card set, and some Battlegrounds news.
Hearthstone Mercenaries, the big ticket item, will unfortunately not be featured on the stream. With the reveal of the Expansion Stream, Blizzard announced a delay for the new game mode. They do not have quite enough information to release on this stream, but have stated that there will be a stream later in the fall dedicated solely to Mercenaries, and the mode itself to be released in Phase 2 of the Year of the Gryphon.
The general consensus among fans and developers is that this delay is a good thing as Hearthstone continues to expand their game modes beyond the rules of the basic card game. According to the Year of the Gryphon announcement, Hearthstone Mercenaries boasts “strategic RPG gameplay and roguelike missions,” and features both PVP and PVE modes. Not much is known about the game at this point, but it is possible a little information will be revealed during the upcoming stream.