Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Guide

Malfurion Stormrage, Druid

Old Malfurion should really crack a smile once in a while, as he’s a great class for starters and grizzled card collectors alike due to powerful offensive spell cards, mana boosting cards and a great defensive hero power, allowing you to go in mana crystals blazing or to get ahead to mete out a mid-game trouncing. Use this particular set of perks to play powerful, mana heavy minions early on.

A welcome bonus of the Druid deck is the Choose One mechanic, which is present on certain cards, giving you the option to choose one of two possible effects most suited to your current predicament and a fairly serviceable deck can be constructed for this class without sinking too much time and money (real or otherwise) into the endeavour.

Essential cards:

The disadvantage of a solid, high-cost minion outfitted with taunt is that opponents will be prepared to take him out with spells like Polymorph (transform a minion into a 1/1 sheep), Hex (transform a minion into a 0/1 frog with taunt) or the less hilarious Assassinate which does what it says on the tin. Baiting an opponent into frittering these spells away on other cards on your deck is advisable before use.

Swipe

Swipe is a Druid-only spell card that deals direct damage to an enemy minion and has added AoE damage to all of the other enemies on the board, albeit not a great amount. On a good day it can wipe the board when combined with Spell Damage. On a bad day, it can put down a strong minion and cause a bit of a kerfuffle in the remaining ranks.

Rexxar, Hunter

The Hunter has a menagerie of low cost minions that can be played early on to swamp the opposition with sheer numbers and synergistic strategies. In layman terms, that means that a lot of the beast cards will imbue others on the board with various buffs and benefits, so that an initially weak minion may very quickly present a very serious threat on the board when paired with the right sidekick.

The Hunter’s hero power allows him to deal damage to an opponent and he can also wield ranged weapons and has access to Secret cards. Overall, he’s a formidable bastard best suited to an aggro style with the purpose of swiftly dispatching his enemies as soon as possible. He’ll struggle to keep it together for the long haul though and is vulnerable to classes that utilise powerful AoE spells that decimate his minions before he has a chance to buff them sufficiently.

Essential Cards:

Houndmaster

A Hunter-only minion card that should be played when there are other beasts on the board to make good use of its battlecry, boosting both attack and defence as well as imbuing his fellow beasts with taunt.

Shattered Sun Cleric

A neutral minion whose battlecry grants a friendly minion a +1/ +1 buff. Basically any cards that bolster the stats of the minions in play is a boon to the Hunter. Consider the slightly more costly and very much more durable Stormwind Champion for the same reason.

Jaina Proudmoore, Mage

Jaina has spells coming out the wazoo, both single target and AoE, and it’s advisable to establish board control in the early phase of the game by hobbling enemy minions, removing them from the board and casting spells for direct damage to your opponent. Don’t forget to synergise with Spell Damage cards to get the most out of Jaina’s playstyle.

When it comes to offensive Hero Powers, Jaina’s is probably the best as she can attack without taking any damage in a skirmish.

Essential Cards:

Jump to Section:

Shabana Arif
Shabana was born looking like a girl wearing a Pikachu hoodie, so when such things became popular, she fitted right in. She writes guides, reviews and features for GR+ when she isn't screaming at Dark Souls 2 on YouTube.