This teaser for the next Hearthstone expansion looks very Horde flavored

Blizzard is hinting, none too subtly, at a big Hearthstone reveal coming at this weekend's BlizzCon event: A brief teaser released today suggests the next expansion looks to be leaning heavily on the World of Warcraft source material (as opposed to stuff like League of Explorers, which does not.)

The symbol that emerges at the end of the clip is that of the Horde, one of the major factions in WoW, which, along with the very overt orc chanting happening in the background, points toward the new set having a orcish vibe to it. 

Our in-house WoW expert Steve Messner might have it nailed down further: He suspects something based on Razorfen Kraul, a World of Warcraft dungeon located in the the southern part of the Barrens. It's the ancestral home of the quilboar, for one thing, who can quite clearly be seen surrounding the orcish figure at the center of the video, and there's also that wordplay in the YouTube video title: Quill you be ready?

We already know that at least one new mode is coming to Hearthstone later this year, and I rather strongly suspect that this might be it. Perhaps... a horde mode? I'll see myself out.

We'll find out one way or another soon enough: BlizzConline, as it's officially called (it's online-only, you see), begins at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET on February 19, and will be fully free for everyone. Here's the full schedule.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.