It's about time. Hearthstone will get a Starcraft cross-over set featuring Raynor Kerrigan, and Artanis

Hearthstone's ten-year history has seen no major crossovers between the game and other Blizzard titles. It's obvious that it's built on the Warcraft universe but, given the liberties that have been taken with the source material (the latest expansion involves launching rockets), it's surprising that we haven’t seen any major team-ups. The launch of the Heroes of Starcraft Mini-Set in January will change that.

Blizzard has promised to include as many iconic units possible, in addition to fitting perfectly with the current interstellar themes. Cards will have an icon indicating their Terran or Protoss affiliation but be playable in multiple classes. It's no surprise that the Zerg are all-out aggressive, while the Protoss are focused on high-cost mana-cheating cards, and Terrans can build and launch Battleships.

Each faction has a Hero card that, when played, replaces the current Hero power. I'd be surprised if these weren't equally flavourful and OP.

Here's a breakdown of which Heroes and factions work best with which classes.

• Jim Raynor (Terran): Warrior, Paladin, Shaman
• Artanis (Protoss), Druids, Mages, Priests, Rogues
• Kerrigan: Queen of Blades, Death Knight, Hunter (Warlock), Demon Hunter

Alex Horley is my favourite Hearthstone artist. So I guess I will be getting the gold edition of the set. Leo Robles Gonzalez, senior game designer, also hinted that we can expect to hear classic Starcraft music and confirmed that a card will be based off Grunty the Terran-armored Murloc who was given out as a BlizzCon companion in 2009. Don't expect to hear a lot of seriousness just because there's a high-APM conflict.

Heroes of Starcraft were announced today as part of the Warcraft 30th anniversary direct stream. This also included a look at the future of Hearthstone including the names of three major expansions, and their respective mini-sets. Here's the map.

The Year of the Raptor will take players to iconic Warcraft locations. Starting with the Emerald Dream where druids battle the Old Gods over the fate of the World Tree. (I thought Sylvanas had burned this down but I'm a WoW fan and a quick google suggests there are multiple World Trees. If you like, call it a world thicket. The Shrouded City is the next expansion. It shares a theme with Journey to Un'Goro, a popular expansion. The Heroes of Time will close out the year. This set has Chromie traveling through multiple realities in order to recruit alternate versions of legendary Warcraft Heroes. It ends with a final battle against Murozond.

Sincerity be damned, I was laughing when I wrote that paragraph. Despite all the fun set-dressing, it's going to be yet another year of smashing numbers together and praying you don't get killed by your opponent with a degenerate OTK combination.

Blizzard has also announced a major update to the long-standing Arena Draft mode, which was barely touched in Hearthstone’s history. The Underground format, which has a higher stakes, will be joining the normal format. This format will have longer runs and allow you to redraft your deck if you lose. Both modes will also have ratings for your performance. Interesting Underground will not use SBMM. You who believe matchmaking is the reason you're not a millionaire Call of Duty pro are in for a treat.

The only disappointment is that Battlegrounds players were not informed of any news, despite the huge popularity of this game. Blizzard mentioned that Hearthstone had logged 160 billion games since launch. This does not include Battlegrounds. It would be interesting to know how many ended with a Leeroy J. Jenkins to the dome. I'm excited for the Starcraft collection. Magic: The Gathering is known for its unlikely crossovers. How about cards with Monty Python themes? Why not? The appetite is there. If Heroes of Starcraft becomes a hit, don't surprise yourself if there are more tie-ins between Blizzard games and other titles from Bethesda or Microsoft. Hearthstone X Doom, when?