Hearthstone Legendaries Guide

Hearthstone Legendaries Guide by Bane

AIM: The aim of this guide is to provide a list that puts all the current legendaries into a tiered list that, at a glance, should give a decent indication of their relative power. The list will also include basic stats, pros and cons of each legendary.

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to be a top-level, pro player, nor am I particularly a TCG veteran, though I’ve played my fair share. I do not claim that the following list will be entirely complete, nor accurate, though hopefully – especially as others contribute – it should be functionally robust. For my first solo attempt at the list, I will be drawing on discussion I have witnessed or joined in with on these forums, my own knowledge of game mechanics, and general common sense.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This guide assumes knowledge of basic mechanics, cards and strategies. It is assumed that you know not to just mulligan your legendaries into obvious removals, and instead will bait them out with other minions. Legendaries are not auto-win cards, and should be used with as much thought and care as any of your other key cards.

PLEASE GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK, RATHER THAN JUST FLAMING IF YOU THINK I HAVE SOMETHING WRONG. I AM MORE THAN OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS AND CRITIQUES, BUT IT MUST BE REASONED OUT, NOT JUST “LOL DEATHWING IS IMBA NOOB” OR “YSERA SUCKS IDIOT”.

Key:
MC = Mana Cost
AP = Attack Power
HP = Hit Points
BC = Battlecry
DR = Deathrattle
SD = Spell Damage
AoE = Area of Effect

GOD TIER
The undisputed top dogs. Incredibly strong Pros, Cons are very limited

Ragnaros
8 MC – 8 AP – 8 HP
Can’t attack. At the end of your turn, deal 8 damage to a random enemy

Pros:

• Incredibly powerful ability when left alone, that gives unparalleled board control and/or lethal hero damage
• Does not take damage when striking with its ability
• Still a very powerful minion when silenced
• Effectively has Charge

Cons:

• Targeting is random, so it’s effectiveness is somewhat reduced depending on how many minions are on the board.

Tirion (Paladin)
8 MC – 6 AP – 6 AP
Divine Shield. Taunt. DR: Equip a 5/3 Ashbringer

Pros:

• Powerful taunt minion that trades very well
• Extremely powerful DR, effectively adding 15 damage
• Paladins in general have a lot of silence draw with their myriad of buffs and effects, usually resulting in all your opponents silences being burnt before Tirion comes into play

Cons:

• Extremely susceptible to silence (moreso than any other except Al’Akir), which turns it into an 8 cost 6/6

Bloodmage Thalnos
2 MC – 1 AP – 1 HP
SD +1. DR: Draw a card

Pros:

• Powerful mid game spell booster
• Trades reliably well thanks to its DR
• Can draw silences/spells/removal helping your bigger minions down the line
• Combines the functions of Kobold Geomancer and Loot Hoarder into 1 same cost card

Cons:

• Debatable just how much overall impact it has on the match

STRONG TIER
Powerful cards that can easily find a place in a lot of decks. Generally very strong Pros, but some specific Cons

Ysera
9 MC – 4 AP – 12 HP
At the end of your turn, draw a Dream Card

• Dream – 0 MC – Return a minion to it’s owners hand.
• Emerald Drake – 4 MC – 7 AP – 6 HP
• Laughing Sister – 3 MC – 3 AP – 5 HP – Can’t be targeted by Spells or Hero Powers.
• Nightmare – 0 MC – Give a minion +5/+5. At the start of your next turn, destroy it.
• Ysera Awakens – 2 MC – Deal 5 damage to all characters except Ysera.

Pros:

• Guaranteed 2:1 minimum trade vs anything except Mind Control, thanks to the card draw happening at the end of your turn
• Dream cards are very powerful for their cost, and can swing games
• Rapidly snowballs if left alone
• High Health
• In the ‘sweet spot’ of 4 AP vs Priests
• Still a tough minion if silenced

Cons:

• In the current aggro meta, the high cost can be a liability outside of control decks

Cenarius (Druid)
9 MC – 5 AP – 8 HP
Choose One – Give your other minions +2/+2; or summon two 2/2 Treants with Taunt

Pros:

• Unparalleled versatility, allowing you to solidify board control if you have minions out, or regain it if yours have been cleared out
• Decent minion with high health that allows it to trade fairly well

Cons:

• Treants are fairly easily removed at late game, so requires timing

Jaraxxus (Warlock)
9 MC – 3 AP – 15 HP
BC: Destroy your hero and replace him with Lord Jaraxxus

• Hero Power – 2 MC – Summon a 6/6 Infernal

Pros:

• Can be used as a very powerful clutch heal
• New Hero Power is insanely powerful
• One of the few cards that can turn an inevitable defeat into a strong victory

Cons:

• Only feasible when you are at 15 health or lower, otherwise you’re damaging yourself
• Attack damage is not permanent, and counts as a weapon, making it removable by Acidic Ooze
• When played against a Paladins’ Repentance secret, it reduces your health to 1
• Opponent Warlocks can insta-kill you with Sacrificial Pact

The Black Knight
6 MC 4 AP 5 HP
BC: Destroy an enemy minion with Taunt

Pros:

• Incredibly strong Taunt removal
• Taunt minions are rife in the meta, especially prevalent at the stage of the game when you can play this card
• Sweet spot of 4 AP vs Priests

Cons:

• Requires the opponent to have a Taunt minion out, otherwise it has horrible cost/stat efficiency.

Velen (Priest)
7 MC – 7 AP – 7 HP
Doubles the damage and healing of your spells and Hero Power

Pros:

• Very powerful ability that can easily turn/win games if left alone
• Guaranteed to get benefit from it’s ability, either by playing a 2 MC 4 HP Priest Heal, or through combining with any of the other damaging/healing 0-3 cost Priest spells
• Still a cost-efficient minion when silenced

Cons:

• Limited use if you’ve been forced to mulligan a lot of your spells early on to relieve pressure

Antonidas (Mage)
7 MC – 5 AP – 7 HP
Whenever you cast a spell, put a ‘Fireball’ spell in your hand

Pros:

• Synergises very well with spell heavy decks
• Can guarantee at least one use of his ability if you have a 3 MC or less spell in hand when you play him
• Fantastic synergy with Counterspell, giving a very high chance of survival for even more spells
• Snowballs very quickly, as the ‘Fireball’ spells it gives you can proc the ability as well

Cons:

• Mages generally play control, and as such, by the time you’re ready to drop Antonidas, you’re generally low on spells from maintaining board control

Sylvanas Windrunner
5 MC – 5 AP – 5 HP
DR: Take control of a random enemy minion

Pros:

• Trades VERY well
• Draws Polymorphs/Hexes/Silences, benefiting your bigger minions down the line
• If silenced, still a cost effective 5/5

Cons:

• Due to the random nature of her BR, can end up taking control of a limited or useless minion

Hogger
6 MC – 4 AP – 4 HP
At the end of your turn, summon a 2/2 Gnoll with Taunt

Pros:

• ‘Splits’ its AP/HP (vs 6 MC) and protects itself from attacks
• Spreads the threat across multiple minions, making removal a difficult choice for the opponent
• Synergy with minion buffers like Raid Leader, Stormwind Champion, Paladin’s Sword of Justice etc

Cons:

• More susceptible to AoE board wipes

MID TIER
Good cards that function well but can be substituted comfortably with non-legendaries. Fairly balanced Pros and Cons

Grommash (Warrior)
8 MC – 4 AP – 9 HP
Charge. Enrage: +6 AP

Pros:

• Synergises very well with Warrior enrage decks
• Powerful enrage that makes him hit like a truck
• Can trade VERY well

Cons:

• Underwhelming initial AP
• Typical enrage drawbacks – anti-synergy with healing effects, double-edged sword, etc

King Krush (Hunter)
9 MC – 8 AP – 8 HP
Charge

Pros:

• Hits hard and fast
• Beast typing gives great synergy with typical hunter minions

Cons:

• Hunters tend to play aggro/rush decks, so difficult to find a place for it
• Core Hounds combined with Tundra Rhinos/UTH perform much the same function, hit harder and cost less (both MC and dust)

Cairne Bloodhoof
6 MC – 4 AP – 5 HP
DR: Summon a 4/5 Baine Bloodhoof

Pros:

• Trades very well with it’s DR, particularly against removal
• In the ‘sweet spot’ of 4 AP vs Priests

Cons:

• Silence renders it a very inefficient minion for its cost

Illidan Stormrage
6 MC – 7 AP – 5 HP
Whenever you play a card, summon a 2/1 Flame of Azzinoth

Pros:

• Even when silenced, still a strong, cost effective card
• Relatively low cost allows for guaranteed use of its ability
• If left alone, can snowball very quickly

Cons:

• Relatively low health can cause it to trade badly with slightly cheaper minions
• Strongest presence is during mid game, when a lot of removal and nukes are still flying around, making him difficult to play

NICHE TIER
Can function extremely well, but only in limited scenarios

Edwin Van Cleef (Rogue)
3 MC – 2 AP – 2 HP
Gain +2/+2 for each card played earlier this turn

Pros:

• Can become an absolute monster
• Only requires one other card played to be very efficient

Cons:

• Requires very careful planning in both deck building and matches to get the most out of him
• Best case scenario is getting to play this late game, with many cheap spells/minions. Needless to say, those conditions aren’t often met

Alexstrasza
9 MC – 8 AP – 8 HP
BC: Set a hero’s remaining health to 15

Pros:

• Versatility: Can be used as a clutch heal or a powerful nuke
• Strong minion in it’s own right
• Currently bugged: when used on the opponent, also strips them of all armour. This allows for broken shenanigans when facing Druids and, particularly, Warriors

Cons:

• Effectiveness relies heavily on health disparity

Lorewalker Cho
2 MC – 0 AP – 4 MP
Whenever a player casts a spell, put a copy into the other’s hand

Pros:

• Against an idiot, can give you a very strong advantage, particularly early on
• Against someone reasonably competent, provides a pseudo barrier to spells (the opponent is less likely to use spells unless they can first clear Cho

Cons:

• Double-edged sword, making it difficult to play your own spells
• Generally, needs to be out early, when most spells have yet to be played, and when minions aren’t strong enough to wipe it out

King Mukla
3 MC – 5 AP – 5 HP
BC: Give your opponent 2 bananas
– Bananas are +1/+1 minion buff cards

Pros:

• Extremely cost efficient and trades well
• Early game powerhouse

Cons:

• Careful planning is needed to ensure opponent doesn’t use the bananas to gain an advantage

Tinkmaster Overspark
3 MC – 2 AP – 2 HP
BC: Transform an enemy minion into a 5/5 Devilsaur or a 1/1 Squirrel at random

Pros:

• Potentially game-changing BC that can work as a Polymorph, and you can then trade comfortably
• Against powerful minions, can be a guaranteed AP/HP reduction

Cons:

• Limited in what targets it can safely be used on
• By the time said targets are in the field, other than the BC, its a very underwhelming minion

Leeroy Jenkins
4 MC – 6 AP – 2 HP
Charge. BC: Summon two 1/1 whelps for your opponent

Pros:

• Powerful charge minion for relatively low cost
• BC synergises well with AoE clear spells

Cons:

• Have to be careful not to hand board advantage to the opponent with whelps
• Low health means it will likely only trade 1/1

Old Murk-Eye
4 MC – 2 AP – 4 HP
Charge. Has +1 for each other Murloc on the battlefield

Pros:

• Synergises perfectly with Murloc decks
• Potentially extremely powerful charge minion

Cons:

• Requires clear board advantage and pre-established Murlocs
• Murloc decks are gimmicky at best

Captain Greenskin
5 MC – 5 AP – 4 HP
BC: Give your weapon +1/+1

Pros:

• Synergy with weapon based decks
• Decent minion for cost, particularly with BC
• The only neutral that buffs weapon AP AND durability

Cons:

• Very limited use

Harrison Jones
5 MC – 5 AP – 4 HP
BC: Destroy your opponents weapon and draw cards equal to its durability

Pros:

• Acidic Ooze on steroids
• Potentially powerful card draw

Cons:

• Very limited use
• Against none weapon classes, is an average minion at best

The Beast
6 MC – 9 AP – 7 HP
DR: Summon a 3/3 Finkle Einhorn for your opponent

Pros:

• Powerful minion for its cost
• Strong synergy with Hunters (Charge, Beast buffs) and Warriors (Charge)

Cons:

• Requires careful planning so that the DR doesn’t swing board control in your opponents favour

Baron Geddon
7 MC 7 AP 5 HP
At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to ALL other characters

Pros:

• Strong minion with decent cost efficiency
• Can be a very powerful board controller

Cons:

• Hits your own minions (and you) as well
• Generally a “win more” play, used to solidify your advantage

Gruul
8 MC 7 AP 7 HP
At the end of each turn, gain +1/+1

Pros:

• Snowballs VERY fast if left alone for even 1 round

Cons:

• Pretty much never gets left alone
• Silence renders it an inefficient (but still strong) minion

Malygos
9 MC 4 AP 12 HP
SD +5

Pros:

• Great synergy with spell based decks (particularly Mages), with by far the strongest SD buff in game
• In the ‘sweet spot’ of 4 AP vs Priests
• High health means it trades well and, removal aside, has a good chance of surviving at least 1 round
• Works very well with a multitude of 1 cost, low damage nukes, turning things like Earth Shock and Holy Smite into 6 damage nukes.

Cons:

• Due to it’s high cost, needs to survive at least 1 round to get any benefit from the SD for moderate-hard hitting spells (the spells you’re more likely to still have at late game)
• Requires you to hold on to spells in anticipation of Malygos

Onyxia
9 MC 8 AP 8 HP
BC: Summon 1/1 Whelps until your side of the battlefield is full

Pros:

• Great for establishing quick board presence
• Synergises very well with a single minion buffer, a la Raid Leader/Stormwind Champion

Cons:

• Highly susceptible to AoE clear
• Maximum benefit from the BC requires your board to be empty. If they have board control, this is unlikely to swing it in your favour, unless it was close to begin with

TRASH TIER
Just don’t

Gelbin Mekkatorque
6 MC – 6 AP – 6 HP
BC: Summon an AWESOME invention

• Repair Bot – 1 MC – 0 AP – 5 HP: At the end of your turn, restore 6 health to a random character
• Poultryizer – 1 MC – 0 AP – 3 HP: At the start of your turn, turn another random minion into a 1/1 Chicken
• Homing Chicken – 1 MC – 0 AP – 1 HP: At the start of your turn, destroy this minion and draw 3 cards
• Emboldener 3000 – 1 MC – 0 AP – 1 HP: At the end of your turn, give a random minion +1/+1

Pros:

• Solid cost/stats efficiency
• Should the RNG Gods favour you, can be a massive boon

Cons:

• False advertisement on the inventions
• Inventions are either too easily removed, or can horribly backfire and aid your opponent
• The definition of RNG

Millhouse Manastorm
2 MC – 4 AP – 4 HP
BC: Enemy spells cost (0) next turn

Pros:

• Extremely cost efficient
• In the ‘sweet spot’ of 4 attack vs Priests
• Can gimmick play with Cho: Turn 1 Coin Cho, Turn 2 Millhouse, your opponent can play all the spells they want but must then give a copy to you. Incredibly limited use.

Cons:

• Requires careful prediction and planning to avoid crippling backfires
• The safest time to use (late game) is the time when it has the least impact, whilst conversely, the most dangerous time to use it (early game) is also when it has the most impact

For your enjoyment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydiqTuEvXCA

Nat Pagle
2 MC 0 AP 4 HP
At the end of your turn, you have a 50% chance to draw a card

Pros:

• Potentially fantastic card draw machine if left alone

Cons:

• Inherently random
• 0 AP means that its use is strictly limited, unless investing attack buffs. Also makes it a prime silence target
• Confirmed: Nat Pagle is bugged and only draws 25% of the time, making it even worse.

Al’Akir (Shaman)
8 MC 3 AP 5 HP
Windfury, Charge, Divine Shield, Taunt

Pros:

• Its myriad of abilities look impressive?

Cons:

• Horrible ability synergy
• Trades terribly
• A single silence makes it the worst card in the game

Nozdormu
9 MC 8 AP 8 HP
Players only have 15 seconds to take their turns

Pros:

• Great for trolling, or stomping noobs
• Can, in certain circumstances, against certain players, force errors

Cons:

• Incredibly underwhelming in almost all practical situations. By the time it comes into play, aggro decks tend to be top decking anyway, or if not, with a small and thus easy to play hand
• Can backfire quite easily

Deathwing
10 MC 12 AP 12 HP
BC: Destroy all other minions and discard your hand

Pros:

• Amazing for clutch plays late in the game when you’re top decking and they have board control

Cons:

• Terrible in almost every other situation