by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

This week I will be finishing the list of the special abilities that cards may have in Hearthstone. The abilities listed here are some of the simpler ones to understand, but that makes them no less beneficial or dangerous.

Deathrattle

Unless you can send him back to the player’s hand or silence him, he is definitely going to do 2 damage somewhere

Cards with this ability cause a special effect to occur upon their deaths. Think of them as the polar opposite of Battlecry; While those abilities activate when the minion enters play, these do so when they leave the board through being destroyed (Simply returning the card to your hand doesn’t count). With that said, the strategy behind Deathrattle cards needs to be different as well. With most Battlecry cards, just getting it placed can often be enough to make the card effective. Deathrattle, on the other hand, needs to be killed before it’s silenced or the state of the board changes to a point where its effect isn’t as useful anymore. Also, enemy players will sometimes not target certain Deathrattle cards until they can ensure that the effect won’t take place. If you encounter a situation like this, consider buffing up the Deathrattle card. This way your opponent will be stuck between a rock and a hard place by either allowing a strong card to sit on the board or suffering the Deathrattle effect. Like Enrage, Deathrattle might require a bit more creativity than some other cards but can pay off in big ways.

Charge

Kor’Kron Elite doesn’t believe in waiting its turn in line. It wants to attack now!

Nearly all minions in Hearthstone can not act during the turn in which they are activated. The cards that do not follow this rule are Charge cards. As soon as a card with this effect is played it can attack, making them excellent against control-heavy decks that won’t allow your cards to survive their first rounds. The downside to them is that they often have low health, thus lowering the possibility of them remaining useful past the first attack. Because of their tendency to die quickly, it might be best to think of them as nuke spells that have a chance of doing more damage next turn instead of as long-lasting additions to the board, thus making them perfect for nuke decks.

Windfury

Ignore the 2/3, he’s essentially a 4/3. Give him a +1 to damage and he comes a 6/3.

Ever wish that you could attack two targets with one minion in a single turn, or maybe instead attack one target twice? Windfury is the effect for you then. A Windfury card gets to attack twice in one turn, effectively doubling its damage output. The threat that Windfury cards can symbolize make them similar to Charge cards in that they are rarely allowed to survive very long. Unlike Charge cards, however, Windfury cards don’t get to act as soon as they are played, thus making it imperative that there be something else on the board that can protect them for a round or more. On the other hand, their ability essentially makes them additional Taunt cards since it is a rare thing to see a player ignore a card with Windfury. This makes even cheap Windfury cards fairly useful even in the late game.

Stealth

This is a particularly mean Stealth card. He can bide his time and kill any minion he wants, unless you have AoE abilities.

Stealth cards are essentially invincible until they act first. A card with this effect can not be targeted DIRECTLY by any spells or attacks, thus allowing the player to wait for the right moment to strike. Once an attack is made, the effect disappears and the Stealth card becomes an average minion. Unfortunately, Stealth cards can still be harmed by Area of Effect abilities, so players using them should not wait too long when up against decks that have access to many AoE abilities such as most Nuke and Control decks.

Spell Power +

Potentially every card in the opponent’s hand is more dangerous now.

Cards with this effect are primarily designed to make the hero stronger as opposed to other minions on the board. Any spell that deals damage, either direct or indirect, has that damage increased by the amount listed by the card with this effect. If there are Spell Power + cards on the board, then the numbers listed on the cards are tallied together and added to the spell. For example, a Mage’s fire blast deals 6 damage on its own, but let’s assume that there are two of the cards shown above on the the Mage’s side of the board. That fireball will now deal 8 damage! The tricky thing about Spell Power + cards that most new players don’t catch until its too late is that the effect doesn’t influence Healing spells at all. Even if the card does both damage to an enemy and heals the player, you’ll notice that the damage amount is increased but the healing stays the same.

Combo

a 1/1 for 3 mana is laughable, but during the endgame this card could potentially drop as a 15/15!

Combo cards are fairly similar to Battlecry cards except for a few small differences. First, Combo cards can be spells or minions while Battlecry cards are always minions. Second, Combo cards tend to be a bit more powerful than your average Battlecry, but that’s because of the third and final difference. That is that Combo cards can not be the first card played in the turn or else the Combo effect won’t occur. Even if the card doesn’t cost any mana, that’s all that the Combo card needs to take effect. Because of this, you’ll rarely see combo cards come out during the first few turns because of their reliance on other cards and thus decent mana supplies. Expect to see a lot of Combo cards against Rogue decks and keep in mind that a Rogue with 10 mana is potentially more dangerous than many other foes due to Combo cards.

Divine Shield

3 health isn’t a lot, but considering that he’ll survive the first blow regardless of the damage he sustains makes this card much more useful.

Divine Shield cards are similar to Stealth cards in that they’re invincible until another effect occurs. While Stealth cards must attack before they can be harmed, Divine Shield cards must be attacked first. This fact makes them resistant to the AoE abilities that would otherwise damage or kill a Stealth card, but it also makes them targets of abilities that could nullify their shield such as silence and instant-kill cards. Divine Shield effects are often combined with Taunt and Charge cards; the former allows them to keep the team alive for one more turn than that of another Taunt card with the same health, and the latter potentially allows them to survive the return fire as they rush an opposing minion on their first turn.