Blizzard deals a winning hand to "Hearthstone" players, as the developers have revealed the nine new cards which will be included in the latest expansion for the online trading card game (TCG).

The latest expansion of the competitive online game is called "Kobolds & Catacombs," and will include a robust selection of new characters and features to the TCG. The most exciting additions, however, are perhaps the new cards which will add a new layer of strategy and synergy with existing ones.

The nine new additional cards which Blizzard will introduce are as follows: "Feral Gibberer," which lets players reinforce their hands with minions; "Sudden Betrayal," a secret card which allows players to divert the attacks of an enemy minion; "Cheat Death," another secret card which will prevent a minion from dying; "Branching Paths" which allows players to either draw a card and help their minions; "Level Up!," which can buff Silver Hand recruits; "Duskbreaker," a powerful dragon minion; "Kathrena Winterwisp," an even more powerful Night Elf hero; and "Runespear," a legendary weapon.

These new cards were revealed during a developer stream where game designer Peter Whalen teamed up with streamer Brian Kibler and talked about the upcoming expansion. One of the most significant twists in the new expansion was the Rogue secrets, that is, secret cards which work well with the Rogue deck build in "Hearthstone." These will provide Rogue players with even more options and combos.

One of the most notable additions in "Kobolds and Catacombs" was perhaps the legendary weapon cards, which lets players build their decks around them. Apart from the one introduced during the stream, the developers plan to release more.

This is sure to shake up the current most effective tactic available (META) of the online game, though players following this META might want to tread lightly as Blizzard usually weakens them to balance out the game and provide fairness for other options.

"Hearthstone: Kobolds and Catacombs" is set to be released sometime in December.