Hearthstone takes a field trip to Darkmoon Faire in the next expansion, but even just a strange carnival takes an even stranger turn when it is corrupted by "unspeakable horrors." That unspeakable horror is, in fact, the old gods who are about to be resurrected.

C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and N'Zoth's gang are reappearing in Hearthstone for Madness at the Darkmoon Faire as revamped legendary cards. This impossibly powerful and evil band of cosmic beings, all but stopped in World of Warcraft, returns to terrorize the card slingers. If you played Hearthstone during the "Whispers of the Old Gods" era, you may be glad to see your old friends back, or you may worry about facing them again.

The Old Gods also have a new keyword. Corrupted cards can be upgraded after playing cards with higher mana cost. Corrupting a card makes it stronger and allows you to enjoy new artwork with far too many tentacles and eyeballs. You want to wriggle with the cards in your hand. If you have a lot of them, you definitely want to use "Isharj, the Old God," which adds one card for every one in your hand. And it will cost you 0 this turn.

Old God? Old God?

How can you have an ancient evil god and not also have some weird artifact? Thankfully, the artifact does indeed exist.

Pre-purchasing the expansion gives you early access to the "Hearthstone: Duels" mode and a free "Silas" card. His rotating Battlecry effect seems to be very situational, but there will be some very powerful situations. (Think of it in terms of trading a trash minion on your board for an incredibly powerful minion on your opponent's board.)

Below is a gallery of the new cards announced today. In particular, I want to draw your attention to Yogg. His Battlecry triggers a Wheel of Fortune that ultimately lands on one ridiculous effect. From things like destroying all minions on the board and gaining their stats to even more ridiculous things like the "roasting rod" effect where a spell called Pyroblast is cast until someone wins the game, among high-level esports competitors who love to see the RNG decide their careers. It is bound to be very popular.

Here's what else you can get in pre-purchase and mega-bundles:

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire pre-purchase ($40)

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire mega-bundle ($80)

Madness at the Darkmoon Faire will add all of these and 135 new cards to its roster on November 17. An update to the progression system will also take place on November 12, promising changes to the achievement system, reward track, and quests. More details will be forthcoming.