Awesome / Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

We must all choose sides, villains or heroes! There are no sidelines in this combat zone!

Legendary Cards

• When turning a card containing a legendary while opening a pack, the innkeeper can barely contain his amazement.
• Playing said legendary is often accompanied by a tune and a Battle Cry befitting of their legendary status.
  • "GARROSH! You are not fit to rule the Horde!" Look out, people, Cairne Bloodhoof is back and up for a rematch.
  • "LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYY JENKIIIIIIIINSSS!!!", as voiced by the Trope Namer himself. Also worth noting that Leeroy is usually treated as a joke or a pointless meme machine. But in this game? With proper preparation, Leeroy might as well get the enemy killed instead getting himself killed. Yes, Leeroy is a legit badass now.
  • Mal'Ganis enters roaring at the top of his voice while making his hero invulnerable. Even better when he's summoned randomly from Bane of Doom.
    Mal'Ganis: I am Mal'Ganis! I AM ETERNAL!
    • Though it's less exciting after this...
  • Grommash Hellscream doesn't get any flashy effects, but his summon quote makes it clear that he means business.
    Grommash: I can wait no longer!
  • Similarly, Cenarius only has one of his iconic lines, but it's more than enough.
    Cenarius: Who dares defile this ancient land?
  • C'Thun just has the standard entry animation, but it's accompanied by Ahn'Qiraj music and his menacing whisper. What sells his presence is that every time a card is played that affects his stats, he appears off to the side in a vortex of void energy and chuckles fiendishly, reminding you that he's always there, waiting to strike.
    C'Thun: My dreaming ends. Your nightmare begins.
  • His brethren don't disappoint either:
    N'Zoth: I taste the essence of your soul.
    Yogg-Saron: Bow down before the God of Death!
    Y'Shaarj: Gorge your hatred. Embrace your rage.
  • Fjola Lightbane enters combat informing the opponent just how inadequate they are.
    Fjola: You have been measured... and found wanting.
• On top of this, some legendary cards also enter the field with an unique visual effect.
  • King Krush causes the whole board to shake as a giant Dinosaur is walking onto the field
    King Krush: *Stomp* *STOMP* *ROAR!*
  • Al'Akir rides the tempest winds onto the field.
    Al'Akir: "WINDS! OBEY MY COMMAND!"
  • Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion floats off the board, spins around a few times to gain hero-border, and then squashes the puny warlock^note  Or priest, if you managed to copy the card prior to it being used, or mage, if you got the card from Unstable Portal.
    Jaraxxus: "You face JARAXXUS! EREDAR LORD of the BURNING LEGION!!"
  • Ysera doesn't enter the board with any visual effects, but every time you end your turn she opens a portal to the Emerald Dream and pulls a powerful card out from it.
    Ysera: "I dream and the world trembles!"
  • Tirion Fordring doesn't enter with a unique effect either, but his battlecry, plus the epic music and the fact that his death gives Uther the Ashbringer makes him alone a pretty good reason to play a Paladin deck. - Giving Uther the Ashbringer is accompanied by a unique visual effect, too.
    Tirion Fordring: "Put your faith in The Light!" Desideratus Bellum!
  • Archmage Antonidas also borrows a snippet of Call to Arms as BGM, and will happily win you the game by giving you an unlimited supply of Fireball spells.
    Archmage Antonidas: "You require my assistance?" Desideratus Fatum!
  • This got even more awesome when you used his ability to defeat a player who played Kel'Thuzad (or Kel'Thuzad himself!) as he allows you to utterly strike down their health while ignoring Kel'Thuzad's ability. Congratulation, you just helped him achieve revenge against someone who killed him in the main game.
  • With the patch, more have been added, like Ragnaros making a Call-Back to his Molten core days of emerging from a pool of lava.
    Ragnaros the Firelord: "BY FIRE BE PURGED!"
  • Prophet Velen emerges onto the board glowing with The Light's holy radiance
    Prophet Velen: "Not all who wander are lost."
  • Can't forget Deathwing. He covers the entire board in flames - and when the smoke clears, he's the only thing left standing.^note Aside from any minions spawned by Deathrattles, or minions recruited. There's a reason they call him Deathwing the Destroyer
    Deathwing: "I! AM POWER! INCARNAAAAAATE!!"
    • One of the main complaints about Deathwing's entrance is that it he simply reused the basic fire animation from Wild Pyromancer. On June 1 2017, Blizzard decided that this wasn't good enough, and replaced it with an animation where Deathwing flies over the board, dousing it in fire before landing and causing the entire area to explode. It's completely ridiculous and completely awesome.
    • Awesome entrances are pretty much expected of Deathwing, and Deathwing, Mad Aspect certainly delivers, with him emerging from a pool of lava with a pair of gigantic burning wings before proceeding to lay waste to everything around him. Sure, he might not be staying for long, but he doesn't even discard your hand this time, and the effect is enhanced by an excerpt from the awe-inspiring Deathwing's Last Stand.
    Deathwing, Mad Aspect: CATACLYSM!
  • Kel'Thuzad emerges from cold mist prepared to resurrect your minions and gives a chilling speech along the way.
    Kel'Thuzad: Minions, servants, soldiers of the cold dark, obey the call of Kel'Thuzad.
  • Bolvar enters to Wrathgate music as a golden lion roars at his opponent, screaming at the top of his lungs:
    Bolvar: "Come Forth, COWARD!"
    • Bolvar returns in Knights of the Frozen Throne as Bolvar, Fireblood, who enters the field from a plume of golden fire.
    Bolvar, Fireblood: "This last act of sacrifice... is mine."
  • Vol'jin appears in a stream of shadows and has a pretty neat tribal drums soundtrack to boot.
    Vol'jin: Da spirits be restless.
  • It's even better if you play him against Garrosh and get his alternate quote.
    Vol'jin: Who be da Warchief now? (laughs)
  • When Majordomo Executus dies, Ragnaros replaces the player's hero with himself, erupting from molten lava while some gold old Molten Core music starts playing in the back.
    Ragnaros the Firelord: "TOO SOON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!"
  • Nefarian soars into the battle and gives out one of his signature class calls depending on your opponent's class.
    Nefarian: "Mage! You should be more careful when playing with magic."
    Nefarian: "Paladin, does the Light forsake you?"
    Nefarian: "Priest! The Light serves me now!"
    Nefarian: "The Hunter becomes the hunted!"
    Nefarian: "Rogue, stop hiding and face me!"
    Nefarian: "Warrior, your strength becomes your weakness!"
    Nefarian: "Warlock! You play with magic beyond your understanding!"
    Nefarian: "Shaman! The elements obey me now!"
    Nefarian: "Druid! The wild is mine to control!"
    Nefarian: "Your magic is mine!" ^note  Said if your opponent is a Death Knight, Demon Hunter, or classless hero like Ragnaros
  • Varian Wrynn gets a custom animation, Stormwind music, and a Badass Boast against everyone but his son (see Heartwarming for that quote)
    Varian: Behold the armies of Stormwind!
  • Wilfred Fizzlebang emerges from a dark portal and re-enacts his original banter with Lord Jaraxxus should the enemy hero be playing as him.
    Wilfred: You are bound to me, demon!... I think.
    Jaraxxus: TRIFLING GNOME! YOUR ARROGANCE WILL BE YOUR UNDOING!
  • Aviana's actual card soars directly onto the battlefield.
    Aviana: My winged children fill the skies.
  • Confessor Paletress summons a legendary minion covered in a black shroud whenever her effect is triggered.
    Paletress: Take this time to consider your past deeds.
  • Nexus-Champion Saraad gets a wicked looking portal animation whenever his Inspire is activated. Also, despite being a wholly new character, he has some sweet voice acting and awesome quotes.
    Saraad: Let's negotiate. You concede, and I'll let you live.
  • Reno Jackson coats his hero in a blinding light while healing them to full health.
    Reno: We're gonna be rich!
  • Rend Blackhand drops onto the battlefield while instantly killing an enemy legendary if you have a Dragon in hand.
    Rend: We are the TRUE HORDE!
  • Ragnaros, Lightlord bursts out of a pool of light in an awesome Call-Back.
    Ragnaros: THE LIGHT PURGES!
  • Brann Bronzebeard descends onto the battlefield swinging on a vine while the League of Explorers music plays.
  Brann: "Who knows what secrets we'll uncover?"
  • Arch-Thief Rafaam uses the basic entry animation, but he'll give you one of three powerful artifacts to turn the tide of battle.
  Rafaam: I am Rafaam. The supreme archaeologist.
  • And then there's Eadric the Pure, he just shows up, and all your minions now hit like butterflies.
  Eadric: "Prepare yourself for the ultimate test!"
  • Medivh, the Guardian descends to the field in the form of an arcane raven while a choir announces his presence:
  Medivh: A game? So kind of you to join me!
  • Kazakus covers the board in red mist while brewing you a potion which can have game-changing effects:
  Kazakus: At last. A worthy disciple...
  • Wickerflame Burnbristle comes down while energetic music plays:
  Wickerflame: WHOA, I'M ON FIRE!
  • Don Han'Cho shoots up the board whilst giving a minion in hand a +5/+5 buff to turn the tide.
  Don Han'Cho: Join the Goons, or eat my fist!
  • Sunkeeper Tarim descends in a burst of golden light.
  Tarim: Un'Goro belongs to the Titans!
  • Kalimos, Primal Lord can unleash one of four different, powerful effects if that player played an Elemental the turn before.
  Kalimos: By the elements combined!
  • Summoning the Lich King unleashes a blizzard that coats the whole field before shattering to reveal him, and he summons Death Knight cards from an icy portal at the end of each of your turns.
  The Lich King: Warriors of the frozen wastes. Rise.
  • For the longest time, Illidan Stormrage was stuck without an entry animation. This was eventually rectified on February 6, 2018; now, his warglaives descend onto the board before Illidan himself appears in a cloud of smoke and spreads his demonic wings, accompanied by his now-infamous Catchphrase:
  Illidan: YOU! ARE NOT! PREPARED!
  • Lord Godfrey spraying the entire screen with bullets several times in a row, often turning everything but himself into Swiss cheese.
  Lord Godfrey: This will be a mercy killing!
  • Kalecgos soars into the battlefield and not only gives you an extra spell to play with, he also lets you cast any one spell for free. Did someone order a 0-mana Flamestrike?
  Kalecgos: The fate of the world hangs in the balance!
• Managing to summon the Golden Monkey. It has an insanely powerful effect that can singlehandedly turn a game around but is quite difficult to pull off. First you have to summon Elise Starseeker, whose battlecry effects puts the card "Map to the Golden Monkey" in your deck, then if you draw and play the map, it puts the monkey in your deck. THEN if you manage to get lucky enough to draw and play the monkey(a 6/6 with taunt) it will turn EVERY card in both your hand AND your deck into a legendary.
• Similarly, managing to summon Azari, the Devourer. It's a difficult and time-consuming process, summoning Rin, the First Disciple, then several weak demons turn after turn via the various Seals. The payoff is worth it when Azari drops onto the field and DESTROYS THE OPPONENT'S ENTIRE DECK, instantly fatiguing them and leaving them with nought but the cards in their hand.
• One for the game itself: after several long years with no information about them, it's none other than Hearthstone that gets the honor to reveal the identities and appearances of N'Zoth and Y'Shaarj, two key members of Warcraft's Big Bad Ensemble.
• Quests in general, from Journey to Un'Goro. Each are 1 mana Legendary spells that start in your hand will give you an extremely powerful card once a certain condition has been fulfilled. The rewards are purposeful Game Breakers, with relatively low costs and insane abilities.
  • The Warrior quest, in particular, is amazing. The quest is to play 7 Taunt minions. The reward? Sulfuras, the Hand of Ragnaros. The weapon permanently changes your Hero Power to "Deal 8 damage to a random enemy", basically turning you into an unpreventable version of Ragnaros for the rest of the game, and without the hilariously awful downside that Majordomo Executus has. On top of that, you get to wield freakin' SULFURAS!
  • The Priest quest is rather easy to accomplish in Wild due to the plethora of Deathrattle minions, and its reward is Amara, who sets your hero's health to 40. Yes, you can use her in conjunction with Majordomo Executus to reverse the annoying downside of Ragnaros's 8 HP!
• Knights of the Frozen Throne had to live up to the example set by Quests and did so by introducing Hero cards, and more specifically Death Knight versions of the nine original heroes, each with a powerful effect and a Badass Boast as they come into play:
  Scourgelord Garrosh: I will burn this world, and rule its ashes!
  Shadowreaper Anduin: The Light has betrayed me!
  Bloodreaver Gul'dan: A bargain forged in blood and shadow...
  Frost Lich Jaina: Do not fear power. Fear those who wield it!
  Malfurion the Pestilent: The circle of life is over.
  Deathstalker Rexxar: The eternal hunt has begun.
  Thrall, Deathseer: I am the frozen heart of the Scourge!
  Valeera the Hollow: You cannot escape the shadow of death!
  Uther of the Ebon Blade: The Light's justice has failed!
  • Another moment for being able to pull off the alternative win condition for the Paladin Death Knight: Summoning all four Horsemen and instantly killing the enemy hero, regardless of health, immunity or anything else.
• The Loa in Rastakhan’s Rumble don’t disappoint either:
  Akali The Rhino: FLEE, LITTLE DRAKKARI!!!
  Bwonsamdi the Dead: You followed de wrong light moooon…
  Hi’reek the Bat: I feast upon your flesh!
  Jan’Alai the Dragonhawk: Spirits of the flame, turn them to ash! ^{if you triggered her effect:} BY FIRE BE PURGED!!
  Gonk the Raptor: You dare challenge the Lord of the Hunt?!
  Halazzi the Lynx: Bow to the fang and claw.
  Krag’wa the Frog: Tiny flies! Flee before me!
  Graal the Shark: You’re mine , chum!
  Shirvillah The Tiger: It's time to test your mettle!
• From The Boomsday Project, Mecha'thun. This minion is a Desperation Attack in card form; if it dies when you have no cards in deck, in hand or on the field, the enemy hero is instantly killed, with no way to prevent it. Pulling this play off feels awesome.
  • Just the idea of a robotic eldritch god is awesome in its own insane way.
• Quests make a grand return in Saviors of Uldum, one for each class. Instead of giving overpowered cards, completing one automatically rewards you with a brand-new Hero Power to turn the tide.
• Zephrys the Great, a Benevolent Genie that examines the board and lets you Discover the perfect card for the situation when he's played, and his Artificial Brilliance means he's very good at it. If he sees lethal, he'll give you a Windfury, Bloodlust, or burn spell to finish the opponent off. Opponent has a huge board? He'll grant you a Flamestrike or Twisting Nether to clear them out. Low on health? Holy Fire will patch you right up, and probably kill the biggest threat on the board as well. Just need something to threaten the opponent with? One Tirion Fordring coming right up. It's not hard to justify running a singleton deck just to see Zephrys in action, since sooner or later he will save you in a big way.
  Your wish is my suggestion!
• Similar to the Death Knights above, Descent of Dragons introduced several Hero Cards for the E.V.I.L classes, all of them different versions of Galakrond. They live up to the standard set by them, each with a flashy entrance and a badass quote:
  Galakrond, the Nightmare: Darken the skies. My nightmare reigns!
  Galakrond, the Tempest: The oceans churn, and the heavens cry!
  Galakrond, the Unbreakable: I am unbreakable, I AM UNSTOPPABLE!
  Galakrond, the Unspeakable: I am beyond imagination! Succumb to your madness!
  Galakrond, the Wretched: The endless legions are at my call…
• Silas Darkmoon appears with an eyeball and rotates the field to your choosing:
  Silas Darkmoon: The Darkmoon Faire! Adventure and excitement awaits!
• Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon appears with a ton of colorful smoke, and can draw a hand's worth of cards if you've triggered enough friendly secrets.
  Sayge: What once was cloudy shall become clear.
• E.T.C., God of Metal makes his entrance by marking his initials and bursting out of the ground, dealing damage to the enemy hero every time a friendly rush minion attacks.
  E.T.C.: Woo! Let's melt some faces!
• C'thun, The Shattered, the mighty old god's incarnation from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, is just as, if not more awesome than the original. Inspired by the unstoppable Exodia himself, C'Thun starts the game shattered into 4 pieces- his Body, Eye, Heart, and Maw- all of which are 5-mana spells with different effects that are shuffled into your deck. Over the course of the game, you'll play these spells to reassemble him, resulting in C'Thun himself getting shuffled into your deck. Finally, when C'Thun is drawn and played, he deals a massive 30 damage, split between enemy minions and your opponent's face, all the while spouting this fittingly chilling line that lets your opponent know how screwed they are:
  C'Thun: My awakening brings a new age. Pray to your gods, that your pleas may go unanswered.
• United in Stormwind introduces Questlines, which are essentially three Quests in one, each with their own completion conditions and rewards. Right off the bat, these are awesome not only in concept, but also for their Gameplay and Story Integration- each quest essentially tells the story of what each of the ten Mercenaries does during the events of the expansion, with the reward for the final part of the Questline being a triumphant version of the Mercenary with a 5-mana 7/7 statline and an extremely powerful Battlecry. While most of the final rewards are awesome, there are a couple standouts:
  • The Mage Questline gives you Arcanist Dawngrasp, who gives your Hero +3 Spell Damage for the rest of the game, enabling easy board clears, a guaranteed 4-card draw off of Cram Session, and the most obvious application- slamming your opponent's face with high-damage spells.
  • Priest gets Xyrella, the Sanctified, which has Taunt and shuffles the Purified Shard- a 10-mana spell- into your deck. What does the spell do, you may ask? Why, it destroys the enemy hero, of course! That's not an exaggeration, for the record- that's the actual text on the card. Granted, you need to draw the thing and hope your opponent doesn't kill you before you can play it or- if they're a Mage or Paladin- they don't have Counterspell or Oh My Yogg! active, but the fact that you gain access to a literal "win the game" card is awesome (or frustrating, depending on your point of view).
  • Warlock is rewarded with Blightborn Tamsin, who redirects all self-damage taken on your turn to your opponent. While the obvious application is taking no damage from your cards and Hero Power, there's an aspect that is arguably even more useful- fatigue. Why get punished for not having cards in your deck when your opponent can take the damage instead?
  • However, in terms of sheer awesomeness factor, none of these really compare to the Warrior reward, Cap'n Rokara. She summons The Juggernaut, a big, armored pirate ship that's akin to the portal from the Un'Goro quest- it permanently stays on your board, and at the start of your turn, it summons a random pirate, equips you with a random Warrior weapon, and hits 2 random enemies for 2 damage. It's board presence, a weapon, and damage, all wrapped in an amazing pirate theme, and it's freaking awesome.
• Whizbang's Workshop features the return of one of the game's most iconic legendaries in a brand-new form as the Splendiferous Whizbang. Rather than give you a basic deck recipe, though, this Whizbang gives you one of twelve very special decks, which have unique themes and/or gimmicks to make the match extra spicy. Some of the cooler decks include:
  • Hunter's Deck of Legends is filled with nothing but Legendaries, all of which come as two-ofs. That means two sets of Astalors for incredible flexibility, two sets of the Acidmaw/Dreadscale combo to all but guarantee a board clear at the end of your turn, two King Krushes to hit your opponent's face with, two Thaurissans to discount everything, and even more Legendary insanity.
  • Shaman's Questing Deck gives you a special spell called Quest Accepted! in your opening hand, which upon being played starts all three Shaman Quests at once. Have fun overwhelming your opponent with Murlocs, Battlecries, and Overloads!
  • On the surface, Warlock's Shrunken Deck isn't that special — after all, how can starting with 10 less cards be any good? But look through the decklist and you'll find tools designed around emptying that deck as fast as possible, capped off with Chef Nomi, Neeru, Fanottem, and finally Archivist Elysiana to reload.
  • Paladin and Warrior get decks themed around the League of Explorers and League of E.V.I.L., respectively, featuring every pre-Showdown version of each member, and with plenty of Year of the Dragon cards for extra nostalgia.
  • The final deck in Whizbang's library isn't class-specific... because it's literally a copy of your opponent's deck. Assuming they're actually running a good deck, there's nothing more satisfying than turning your opponent's gameplan against them.

Single Player Content

• Beating Heroic Curse of Naxxramas - each Heroic boss is, for all intents and purposes, the card-game equivalent of an SNK Boss with overpowered abilities and cards. Beating them will make you feel awesome:
  • Anub'Rekhan summons a 4/4 nerubian each turn right from the get-go - and if you try to swarm him he has a Locust Swarm that deals damage to your entire board AND heals him.
  • Grand Widow Faerlina rains fire upon you for one mana each turn - one point worth of random damage for each card in your hand, and it's for half the mana of a regular hero power. She also has a 2/4 minion which grants her a three-damage attack, and the effect of these STACKS.
  • Maexxna pretty much makes playing non charge/non battlecry minions worthless by webbing two creatures back to your hand each turn - oh and it's free. She also starts with two Haunted Creepers already on the board.
  • Noth the Plaguebringer gets a 5/5 skeleton whenever one of your minions die - he also has the card Plague, which destroys all non-skeletons.
  • Heigan the Unclean gets a free Hero power that deals 3 damage to your left most minion, meaning he gets a few turns to build up his side of the board unless you use spells. Not only that, he starts with a Voidcaller already on the board.
  • Loatheb has 99 HP and a free hero power which deals 3 damage to your hero; he also starts with a Fen Creeper (a 3/6 with taunt) and a spore (a 0/1 that grants you minions +8 attack when it dies) on the board.
  • Instructor Razuvious has a one mana hero power that deals 4 damage and his Massive Runeblade deals 10 damage to minions and 20 damage to your hero.
  • Gothik the Harvester has a hero power that draws him a card and gives him one mana crystal. When certain minions of his die, you get a 0 attack ghost that deals one damage to you a turn.
  • The Four Horsemen have 3 2/7 minions that make Rivendare immune already on the field at the start of battle. Unless you draw the right cards early, you won't be able to do much before they win.
  • Patchwerk only has a 4/8 hook with Windfury and his 4 mana hero power which destroys a minion... and that is all he needs.
  • Grobbulus gets a free hero power which deals 2 damage to everything on your side of the board and summons slimes when it kills a minion. He also has his Mutating Injection cards (which gives +4/+4 and taunt) which he loves to give to his echoing oozes (a 1/2 that creates a copy of itself at the end of the turn its played) - summoning 2 5/6 taunts in one turn.
  • Gluth constantly reduces your minions Health to 1 with his hero power and his Jaws can get very powerful very quickly with all his deathrattle minions.
  • Thaddius will have both Fuegen and Stalagg come onto the field on his first turn - and there's his Hero Power that changes minion's Attack and Health constantly.
  • Sapphiron kills all your minions for free at the start of his turn because the Frozen Champion does not appear.
  • Kel'Thuzad starts with 20 armor and 45 health. His hero powers deals 3 damage and freezes your hero in phase 1 and becomes what is essentially an 8 mana Mind Control (take control of an enemy minion) in phase 2
• One for Kel'Thuzad. Despite being Lighter and Softer than his normal incarnation, he's still very threatening; doing certain actions while playing heroic Naxxramas will cause him to get upset and nullify the action without refunding the cost.
  • Upon using Alexstraza against Heroic Loatheb, who has 99 hp]], he will snidely remark:
  Kel'Thuzad: "This is Heroic Naxxramas; I won't stand for such cheap tactics here!
  • Upon using Equality or Doomsayer against Heroic Four Horsemen he will angrily berate you or sarcasticly remark, respectively:
  Kel'Thuzad: "Equality?! Not on my watch!"
  Kel'Thuzad: "Doomsayer? Oh you think you are so clever..."
• Beating Heroic Blackrock Mountain, like Naxxramas most bosses are a SNK Boss.
  • The Grim Guzzler summons 2 minions compared to your one minion a turn.
  • Dark Iron Arena is you fighting a all Legendary deck - here he starts with 4 mana.
  • Emperor Thaurissan starts with a 3/1 Moira which you must keep alive at all costs.
  • Garr has his board filled with Firesworns that deal 3 damage for every firesworn that died that turn.
  • Baron Geddon has 50 armor and 50 life, Ignite mana does 10 damage if you don't spend all your mana, and Living Bomb will deal 10 damage to everything on your side of the board on his turn.
  • Majordomo Executus summons a 3/3 with his hero power. When he dies Ragnaros takes his place with 30 armor and 30 life, and his hero power deals 8 damage to two things at random. Not to mention the army of Molten Giants they can afford to spam.
  • Highlord Omokk destroys a random minion for free at the start of his turn.
  • General Drakkisath makes all cards cost one mana, but he has two mana compared to your one mana.
  • Rend Blackhand has multiple hero powers - they switch between 3 2/2s for 2 mana, 2 2/2s with taunt for 2 mana, a 5/4 for 1 mana and an 8/8 for 4 mana
  • Razorgore the Untamed has Corrupted eggs that start with 3 health and turn into 7/7s when they reach 5 health.
  • Vaelastrasz has both players drawing 3 cards a turn with Vaelastrasz gaining a mana crystal each turn.
  • Chromaggus has spells known as Brood Inflictions, which cost 3 to get rid of, and give him a variety of benefits as long as they are in your hand.
  • Nefarian prevents Ragnaros from helping you more than once - no endless amount of overpowered cards here.
  • Omnotron Defense System`s various Hero powers are reduced by 2 mana.
  • Maloriak gives all his minions +2/+2 and switches the health and attack of all minions.
  • Atramedes doesn't give out his "Destroy the opponents weapon cards" and starts with it already equipped.
  • Nefarian starts with 30 armor and health and his Bone constructs are 4/2s. When his Armor is depleted, he rises and a 30 health Onyxia takes the field. Then when Onyxia dies, he destroys all your minions for free.
• The boss fight against Nefarian begins with you thinking it's going to be a gimmick duel and then he transforms into a Dragon: unlocking all of his mana crystals and giving him 30 armor on his first turn. It seems almost hopeless, especially for new players who do not even have more than basic cards, but then Ragnaros shows up to give you a hand and even up the odds starting from your third turn onwards with powerful 0 mana cards.
  • Using the Archmage of the Freaking Universe deck created by TotalBiscuit against Nefarian. Basically, it is made with a simple purpose: screw your magic, I have counters! So, Fireballs? NOPE. My minions can't be targeted (Wee Spellstopper). Flamestrike? Oh, look, a Counterspell. Frostbolt? Well, the troggs are now stronger for it. However, what REALLY makes the deck amazing for this run is the Echo of Medivh card. Why? Because it copies the minions in the field... and Ragnaros is sending a bunch of them to you, each costing 0 mana. Now you can play EVEN more of those.
• The final battle with Rafaam in League of Explorers. Rafaam spends most of the battle Immune and only comes out of it every 3 turns to summon one of the adventure's bosses, all of whom pack seriously strong effects. What does they game do to even the odds? Why, you receive help from the titular League, replacing your hero power with the ability to grab a powerful artifact at your leisure! Falling behind on the board? Blow them up! Getting low on health? Heal up! Got a terrible hand? Replace it with a bunch of Unstable Portals!
  • He also steals your deck in the preceding fight. You can intentionally fill your deck with god-awful cards that sabotage each other, making Rafaam's Hero Power the only threat in the fight. Checkmate.
    • Even more awesome if you let Rafaam take one of your strong decks and still kick his ass.
• The prologue to One Night in Karazhan puts you in the shoes of Medivh as he squares off with Malchezaar. Malchezaar has an initial advantage on you, but you're playing a preconstructed overpowered deck. Have fun!
• Managing to beat the Lich King with all 9 classes. Challenging him with certain classes, like the Warrior or Mage, are known to make the fight a fair bit harder than normal, creating a difficulty almost on par with Heroic mode of other Adventures.
• Quel'delar is a Wrecked Weapon, split into two mediocre treasure cards during the dungeon runs^note Give a minion +3/+3 for 1 mana, and a 3/3 weapon for 1 mana would normally be Game Breakers, but the dungeon runs run on a powerlevel much higher than the main game. Should you manage to obtain both the hilt and the blade, however, it turns into a 6/6 weapon with the special ability of dealing 6 damage to every enemy on the board, making it capable of dealing 12 damage a turn to the enemy targeted, and it still only costs 1 mana. This Reforged Blade is a bona-fide Infinity +1 Sword - and it can solo every single boss in the dungeon.
• In general, completing a Dungeon Run, due to the great difficulty of its final few bosses regardless of who they are. It's even more awesome if you were dealt several poor card choices but still claimed victory against the odds.
• Likewise, defeating your Nemesis in the Monster Hunt. You'll take on a ghost pirate captain, a treacherous Forsaken, a head cultist and your future self depending on your class, and win against their overpowered decks.
• The final battle for the Witchwood against Hagatha the Witch. All four heroes get to bring their decks, powers and passive effects to the battle, making for a spectacular final stand against the source of the Witchwood corruption.
  • The heroes get to trade some awesome Badass Boasts with Hagatha.
  Hagatha: A thousand dark spirits are arrayed against you!
  Shaw: I got dogs.

  Toki: I've moved heaven and earth to take you out!
  Hagatha: You're as much an abomination as me, gnome.

  Hagatha: You're an outcast, even among your own.
  Darius: At least I HAVE a people!

  Hagatha: These woods will claim your city!
  Tess: Gilneas has weathered worse than you.
• The Puzzle Labs are full of puzzles with very controlled variables, and your ability to solve them depends on how you analyze the situation and work on it, rather than rely on RNG like what most of normal Hearthstone games. You could look up a guide to blitz your way through, but nothing's more satisfying than the "Eureka!" Moment when you finally discover the solution to that one puzzle that's stumped you.
• The Rise of Shadows single-player game mode, The Dalaran Heist, is full of awesome moments.
  • Wonderous Wisdomball can provide some game-changing help, turning a lost battle into a clutch victory. Or screwing you over epically.
  • The final chapter, Kirin Tor Citadel, ends with a boss gauntlet against three of the most powerful mages Azeroth has to offer. And Magistrix Norroa. Taking them down is an amazing finale to the Dalaran Heist.
• Tombs of Terror's final chapter.
  • The entire League of Explorers, having defeated the four Plague Lords over multiple runs, face their greatest challenge; a powered-up Tekhan, having been granted control of the Plague of Flame by Rafaam. The player gets to choose one of the League to start with, gaining a strong deck and that hero's Signature Treasures to do battle with. And if Tekhan manages to defeat one member, the rest of the League are there to take their place. It's a grueling battle, but defeating Tekhan and freeing Uldum from the League of E.V.I.L. will leave you feeling awesome.
  • Props to Tekhan too - he isn't a manifestation of the plagues of Uldum like the other Plague Lords, just a powered-up Tol'vir. And yet, he takes on the entire League in a four-on-one battle, showing exactly why he deserves to wield the power of the plagues.
  • If you manage to get one of Bob's house special decks, you basically already won. They are hard to get, requiring you to get the V.I.P. Pass and even then they're rare, but they are WELL worth it: They include a deck stuffed with various Treasures, one made of nothing but fully-upgraded Spellstones and Quest rewards (and Highkeeper Ra for good measure), one based on Medivh's deck from One Night in Karazhan, and one that's nothing but 30 Pogo Hoppers.
  • A similar situation comes in Flex-plosion; when played, it "Blows up half your opponent's stuff." What does that mean? Well, it halves everything on the opponent's board, hand and deck, and even their health and mana! Using it on a Plague Lord at max health will deal 150 damage to them. Needless to say, you want Flex-plosion.
• Galakrond's Awakening: Pretty much EVERY playable hero/boss has at least one.
  • Khadgar gets called on to help battle the giant ice elemental Avalanchan. Given he has access to all of the deliberately overpowered cards and hero power he had as the final boss of The Dalaran Heist (and the Wisdomball as well!), a Curb-Stomp Battle likely ensues.
  • Lazul resurrects Dragonslayer Skruk, a massive Gronn capable of facing and slaying several dragons at once, while fending off Chenvalla at the same time. During the Explorer's campaign, when she is defeated by Finley, she summons a full-fledged Old God to the battlefield.
  Lazul: By my demise... de Old Ones rise!
  • Hagatha goes out of her way to attack a Storm Dragon, something even Rafaam is wary of, and defeats it handily. Furthermore, it takes the efforts of Alextrasza herself to take down Hagatha for good.
  Rafaam: Hagatha - get down from there! That's a storm dragon!
  Hagatha: I've corrupted MUCH more powerful monsters. Watch me work.
  • Although too late to save Reno, Brann avenges his capture by destroying Dr. Boom's new weapon. Then during the air battle over Dragonblight, he manages to tame a monstrous undead dragon.
  • Chromie versus Dragonslayer Skruk: If Skruk gets the upper hand and does lethal damage, Chromie reverses time, transforming into her dragon form, gaining double the health she had, and a power that works as a permanent Time Warp.^note 5 mana Quest Reward: Take an extra turn. Roaring Rampage of Revenge doesn't even describe the beatdown that ensues.
  Chromie: Feel the full power of a bronze dragon, you big bully!
  • On the E.V.I.L. route, Eudora has two; first when she manages to hold off every single Dragonflight for a large amount of time, and second when she defies Rafaam and flees Northrend while she still can, avoiding the fate that met Tekhan back in Uldum.
  • George and Karl are finally reunited. It's a bittersweet reunion since either Karl is forced to subdue George or Rakanishu burns down the city and the paladins with it.
    • However, in the E.V.I.L. campaign, you fight a George/Karl tag team at same point (Chapter IV Mission 1), so it's plausible that Karl saved George after subduing him and brought him back into the Light.
  • The final battle of the Explorer's Side: The League and ALL of the allies gathered through the campaign aid in the final fight. Even the Wisdomball gets in on it!]]
    • Just as Rafaam is able to resurrect Galakrond and all seems lost... Reno is given a unique sidequest to complete. Once done, he transforms into a full-fledged DRAGON and with a brand new overpowered Hero Power proceeds to stop both Galakrond and Rafaam's plans of conquest in their tracks, defeating the mad Ethereal and his undead dragon and saving the world from E.V.I.L.
  Reno: I always knew there was something different about me... Ever since I showed up at the orphanage. Inside that egg.
  • The E.V.I.L. campaign's final battles are no slouch either. With Galakrond resurrected, Rafaam defeats Reno and with Galakrond in tow proceeds to lay waste to the Alliance AND Horde in that order.
    • He then takes it up a notch and kills Galakrond himself after the Ur-Dragon tries to pull a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on the ethereal. Yes, Rafaam did by himself the same feat that took the young Nozdormu, Ysera, Alextrasza, Malygos and Neltharion (read: Deathwing) working together to do, and he makes quite the speech while doing so.
  Galakrond: I am the beginning. I am the ur-dragon. You are nothing.
  Rafaam: I am RAFAAM!

Tavern Brawl

• The first Tavern Brawl: Nefarian vs. Ragnaros, you get to be either Nefarian or Ragnaros (with your opponent as the other) the best part? You start with twice the health of a normal hero and with decks consisting out of awesome cards regardless of who you get to play as.
• Unite Against Mechazod, a co-op Tavern Brawl where Anduin and Uther work together to defeat a boss minion who, as follows: switches sides at the end of each turn, deals damage to both heroes, increases his own attack, can instantly destroy minions, launch rockets at random characters ala Mad Bomber, and can specifically kill Lorewalker Cho. Both decks are creatively designed so that both players can help each other as much as possible, like using Lorewalker Cho to give the other player more spells, Millhouse Manastorm to give your ally free spells, and even Arcane Golem to give their friend a mana crystal. At mid-January, said Mechazod is back, and it's up to Malfurion and Medivh to beat him.
  • The above Brawl returns two more times. One battle is against Nefarian in all his overpowered glory, but you and your partner have powerful decks capable of taking him down. The second is against Mechazod again, back to Anduin and Uther. The decks have changed though.
• The Boss Tavern Brawl returns this time with: RAFAAM THE SUPREME ARCHEOLOGIST vs Kel'thu-freaking-zad and the two bosses are equally awesome to play as Nefarian and Ragnaros were before them.
• The "Top 2" Tavern Brawl requires player to choose two cards then play a deck filled with only those two cards. Such decks end up embodying Simple, yet Awesome by necessity.
• "Cloneball" gives each player a deck filled with several random legendaries and a free spell card that reduces the cost of the next legendary you play (and all it's copies) by 3. This effect stacks so with luck, players can get say Ragnaros The Firelord on the field for only two mana on their first turn.
• "The Dark Wanderer" brawl pits you against the eponymous Dark Wanderer, AKA the Player Character of the first Diablo in a celebration of the 20th anniversary of that franchise. With the Wanderer using one of the best multi-class boss decks Blizzard has ever made, an amazing Hero Power, and 3 out of 10 unique secrets being played at the beginning of the game, you'll need a great deck, some quick thinking, and some luck if you want to beat him and claim the amazing looking Secret Level Card Back. Plus, if you trigger all 3 secrets, you go to the famous Secret Cow Level for a fight against the Cow King and his army of Hell Bovines!
• "Hall of Champions" lets you have fun using the decks of previous hearthstone hall of famers, letting you tear it up as champions like Firebat. After introducing the decks, the game even changes the players' usernames to those of the original players, letting you imagine yourself in the middle of a pro match.
• "Road to Northrend", the prequel to Galakrond's Awakening has a Game-Over Man upon losing who helps you by giving you a second chance instead of having to redo the run along with various buffs to make the immediate rematch easier. The person? Aviator Bob. Talk about moving up in the world.

General

• Going twelve wins in the Arena means you managed to take a bunch of random cards and still managed to attain at least a 6:1 win/loss ratio - all the while fighting against others who had made close to the same progress as you.
• What's even more awesome than a legendary minion? The Big Game Hunter, the one card specifically designed to turn most legendaries (or any being with more than 7 attack points) into his bitch the moment he enters the game! Hell, even his flavor text says that he got tired of hunting Devilsaurs and now wants to kill Onyxia with nothing but a rusty hunting knife! Just imagine — your opponent has just played one of the biggest creatures the game has to offer, likely using up their entire pool of mana in the process, then along comes a dwarf with his shotgun. Suddenly, it doesn't matter what minion it is - if it is above 7 attack, it's dead in a single shot, no questions asked. And you still have mana left over!^note As of Whispers of the Old Gods, he costs 2 mana more than he previously did. Probably still worth it, though.

  "I've got the beast in mah sights."

• Behold. A single Annoy-o-Tron holding off TWO Deathwings!
• Getting 500 Ranked Wins with your favorite class. The animation as your hero turns golden is a sight to behold.
• Pulling off a One-Turn Kill (OTK) combo is always awesome, no matter what class you are. Though Miracle Rogue is perhaps the most common form.
• Some cards have awesome animations. Highlights are Twisting Nether, opening up a massive void and sucking everything into it; Lock and Load, which covers the screen in a crosshair and replaces the background noise with breathing; the rarely seen Anomalus, who lifts the entire board into the air, surrounds everything with arcane runes, then literally disintegrates all minions; and King Mosh, who runs in and rapidly bites and tears everything on the board to shreds.
• Whenever two players ^note  usually both players are friends can work together to make a spell do insane amounts of damage, to make a minion deal insane amounts of damage, or some kind of combo.
• Blizzard announcing at Gamescom 2017 that like with Overwatch, Hearthstone will be receiving its own series of high quality animated shorts.
• Hearthstone's first animated short, "Hearth and Home", which is a genuine throwback to classic Disney musical numbers.
• Ever since the reveal of Kobolds and Catacombs, To My Side^*Summon an Animal Companion, or 2 if your deck has no minions. has been slammed for essentially being a conditional Animal Companion, and that the exact same effect can be done by casting it twice. But Kibler made a deck out of it, fittingly called the 'Hunting Alone' deck, and went onto a 100% winrate streak.
  Kibler: Suck it, Reddit.
• The flavor text for the Spellstone cards are all short 4-line poems. If you put all nine of them together they actually form a complete story detailing the history of the spellstones.
• Pavel vs AhqRoger in 2017 All-Star Invitational. Both playing Priest. Pavel played a Loot Hoarder followed by Psychic Scream to clear Roger's board. Roger didn't realize that now he's got 2 Loot Hoarders and his Raza is going to whiff if he plays it now. Cue Roger's misplay, followed by Pavel's Sarcastic Clapping... But it's a well-deserved clapping indeed. Well played, Pavel.
• No matter how dark expansions such as Whispers of the Old Gods or Knights Of The Frozen Throne get, the Paladin cards released always suggest that Paladins are continuing to fight against evil even in the darkest times, with cards such as Stand Against Darkness, Selfless Hero and A Light in the Darkness in Whispers of the Old Gods (special mention goes to Ragnaros himself, who's managed to break free of the Old Gods' corruption in this timeline, leading the charge against the Old Gods!), and Righteous Protector and Bolvar, Fireblood in Knights of the Frozen Throne. Even the Death Knight version of Uther, Uther of the Ebon Blade, decides to use his power as the Lich King to punish the wicked in the afterlife instead of conquering Azeroth after defeating the Lich King.
• One for the developers: The trailer song for The Witchwood is an awesome duet that would give Disney composers a run for their money.
  • Also, the Badass Boast the Worgen villagers have at the end when they shapeshift:
  "We'll make our stand right here, our choice is crystal clear..."
  "We are the beasts the monsters fear!"
• The very idea behind the Metaplot of the Witchwood. The forests of Gilneas have been twisted and corrupted, producing horrendous monsters and twisting people to it's will. The response of the Gilneans? START HUNTING THE SAME MONSTERS and take the fight to the witch responsible.
• In Rastakhan's Rumble: Ticket to Greatness Part 5, Thrall gets chosen from the audience to fight Bwomsamdi, the Loa of Death, one-on-one. If he wins, everyone in the coliseum gets a prize. However, if he loses, he'll lose his soul. Just when Thrall thinks he's screwed, guess who joins his side? King Rastakhan himself! They proceed to lay a beatdown on Bwomsamdi (which sadly isn't shown onscreen) and win free card packs for the entire audience. Including you.
• The Onyxia's Lair Mini-Set is introduced with a stunning, Disney-esque Villain Song worthy of one of the codifiers of a Raid Boss in World of Warcraft and the MMO genre in general. Onyxia is back, and she is playing around.
  They call me Lady Prestor and I have no regrets
  See, I'm the Broodmother, oh, you'll never forget!
  Step in my lair, I'll change that mindset!
  'Cause you ain't see nothing…
  (You ain't seen nothing...)
  I mean totally nothing...
  No, you ain't! Seen! NOOOOTHING YEEEEEEEET!
• Refaaam has taken Dalaran and now sets his sights on Uldum - and who pulls a Big Damn Heroes to defend it? None other than the Fan-favourite League of Explorers, the first expansion centered mostly around Original Generation characters of Hearthstone, and whose original cards were much beloved - they're back, and they're better than ever.
  • Brann was the only non-Original Generation of the League Of Explorers, being quite the high profile Adventurer Archaeologist. He rides into battle on a dinosaur.
  • Elise has shed the cartographic aspects of her character and become a Badass Bookworm/Magic Knight, utilizing ancient magical tomes and artifacts in battle - and she looks like she belongs in something like the Prince of Persia games, with quite the Badass Cape to boot.
  • Finley Murrglton is no longer a Distressed Dude - he's slapping mummies with a golden fish and having the time of his life.
  • Reno was always somewhat of a Memetic Badass by more or less singlehandedly stopping the aggro rampage that was the meta at the time of his release. How does he take it up a notch? Well, he now has a crystal-firing minigun, and tops even that. How? He explodes a Carridor Creeper, by flexing, with his back turned!
• The Year of the Phoenix kicks off with a bang: Illidan Stormrage stepping up to become hero for the Demon Hunter class.
  There's a darkness in the garden of the heroes that you know
  Casting shadows even blacker than the night
  There's a prisoner walking free who still envisions what could be
  Though long ago he sacrificed his sight
  There's a villain who's been hated and a savior who's been shunned
  Who's tasted of a love that cannot be
  They're all one and the same and the worlds all fear my name
  The hero that you never thought you'd see!
• You wouldn't think a weak 1/1 Elwynn Boar would be of much note, but anyone familiar with that time Blizzard helped the staff of South Park parody their own game and read what the Boar's Deathrattle does would be aware of the kind of awesome power it can give. For those unfamiliar, in the episode, the boys opt to XP grind the boars in Elwynn Forest- 65,340,285 of them, to be exact- in an attempt to beat a griefer. Blizzard catches wind of their efforts, and realizes that Stan in particular might be capable of wielding the legendary Sword of a Thousand Truths, an item so powerful it had to be Dummied Out and stuck on a flash drive. Now, you too can wield the mighty blade's power by "grinding"- that is, having friendly copies of Elwynn Boar die- although the requirement was mercifully reduced to a mere 7 kills. The task isn't easy, given that there aren't too many ways of shuffling or creating extra copies outside of some class-specific strategies (especially if you were playing in Standard at the time), not to mention the boars specifically have to die, you can't use cards to trigger the Deathrattle, but if you do manage to complete the "grind"? You get to swing a 10-mana 15/3 weapon at your opponent's face. That's not even the kicker, either- each swing of the Sword also destroys your opponent's mana crystals, akin to how the sword drained the griefer's magical defenses in the episode, just to make extra-sure there's practically nothing they can do to halt your near-inevitible victory. All that, thanks to a simple 1/1. Who would've thunk it?