[Updated on October 27]

Remember the new big expansion reveal rumors from the start of this week? There still isn't much else to report on the subject, and the expected Blizzard blog post has yet to materialize. But all of a sudden, Hearthstone's official Twitter account has decided to throw a different kind of teaser our way. At a rather unusual time of the day, too.

Here is the 'secret' message in question:

Quote From Hearthstone
Something big is coming but we won't spell it out for you 😉
 


(Source)

Now, whatever could it mean? Your guess is as good as ours, with the most common answers falling along the lines of:

  • Cosplay Contest or Cosplay Content
  • Company Content 
  • Cooplay Content
  • Coppery Contest

Let's just rule out some of these creative, wishful takes. One thing for sure, we could certainly use more Context here. Hearthstone Community Manager Alkali Layke has certainly enjoyed playing around: 

Quote From Alkali Layke
Whatever could it be??!!

Psst…been planning this one for awhile!

 

Quote From Alkali Layke
I mean, I'm not SAYING it's a cosplay contest. There's just too many missing letters for me to possibly guess :)

BUT…IF it were…you do have a Hearthstone Cosplay

This isn't actually the first time that "big secret work" was referred to. So dressing up might very well be in order. And you most likely know what goes along with that, right?


Hallow's End 2022 Cosplay?

Hallow's End is naturally the most obvious clue when it comes to any in-game Hearthstone cosplaying, as we are still awaiting any details on this year's festivities (although a familiar Tavern Brawl has just appeared). The annual Dual-Class Arena tends to combine two separate classes into one for the purposes of drafting and gameplay - also visually, with special costumes: 

The very same event from the previous year (announced well ahead of time, but coincidentally only starting in earnest on Nov 2) additionally gave us a special Legendary Quest chain, themed cosmetic bundles, and temporarily brought Diablo for Duels and Battlegrounds. A couple years back we saw something even more fitting - a proper Masquerade Ball. The denizens of Castle Nathria certainly wouldn't be any worse at throwing a big flavored party than the cast of Scholomance Academy; not with Sire Denathrius at the helm.

And if we were to look even further into the past, there was a special event called Doom in the Tomb, bringing over some Wild cards into Standard for a limited time. But its overall reception ultimately wasn't very positive, to put it mildly. Even with that in mind, the dev team went on record several times to talk about potential future options of such variety. Here is one relevant quote from former Game Director Dean "Iksar Ayala's Q&A series, made 7 months ago:

Quote From Dean Ayala
I like it. Lately we’ve been brainstorming having events that bring back some old favorites for a limited time in standard. Like if naxx invaded the whole game for a month, what does that mean? But yeah, core set hopefully will hit on some of that.

Whatever is being planned for this year, it should have enough unique elements to warrant this kind of hype. November 2 date would also be a fine choice for the expected Patch 24.6, with the team stating before they had "something fun" planned for the occasion. While it's going to be a Wednesday instead of Hearthstone's ever-favorite 'Patch Tuesday', it's not like we haven't already witnessed such precedents.


What of the New Expansion Reveal?

One thing does not necessarily rule out the other. This might still happen along with any Hallow's End specials, or perhaps Team 5 have figured out a better way to keep their big announcements separate. Unless we are headed for a full cosplay expansion, in which case feel free to shop your most wacky ideas around. You know, in case we are all totally off base and it's just an actual real-life cosplay competition to celebrate the lost spirit of Blizzcon.

Update #1: The latest tweet on the subject more than hints at this very idea: 

Quote From Alkali Layke
IF it were a cosplay contest…(that puzzle is just so difficult to solve!)… it would be worldwide and the list of eligible countries would be printed in the rules. 😉 more info posted 11/2.

Connected to the limited-time event speculation from above, certain members of the Hearthstone community also firmly believe that Hero cards from Knights of the Frozen Throne could make a guest return. All based on cryptic replies and a set of as of yet unconfirmed leaks. 

Quote From Celestalon
Is it too late to squeeze Uther of the Ebon Blade into next year's core set? I think he and the jailer would get along well

No, but…

 

Uther of the Ebon Blade Card Image Frost Lich Jaina Card Image Shadowreaper Anduin Card Image Deathstalker Rexxar Card Image

There was also that time when the other former Game Director Ben Lee randomly quoted some very memorable lines, as if hinting at something about the Undead tribe and Arthas (who, as you might know, went on to become the Lich King). 

That Twitch Drops campaign we pointed out before, promising a special Hearthstone expansion reveal? It has been since removed from the open category on the platform, and there currently doesn't seem to be any trace of anything similar. That's not to say it still couldn't take place on the previously specified time and date - we'll probably find out soon enough if there are more teasers coming our way, or if it's going to be a longer wait with not much else to go on until the very next week.

Update #2: The new expansion reveal stream has now been confirmed to take place on November 1! We were right the first time around. More details here.


Give us your best cosplay ideas! Or whatever else you believe this whole thing could indicate.