Hearthstone’s Knights of the Frozen Throne: Lower Citadel guide

With Knights of the Frozen Throne officially released, a new single-player adventure mode sends us get up the icy steps of Icecrown Citadel to take the fight to the Lich King. If you’ve been out of Hearthstone for a while, remember that you can get to these adventures by selecting “Solo Adventures” from the Hearthstone menu, then selecting “The Frozen Throne.” After battling through the prologue (which is hilarious in its own right), you’ll get a complimentary Death Knight hero and can start battling through the Lower Citadel. Tirion has his heart in the right place but his timing really sucks.

The Lower Citadel wing has three bosses to defeat after the prologue: Lord Marrowgar, Saurfang, and Lady Deathwhisper. You’ll want to build a specific deck to tackle each, so if you haven’t yet had an opportunity, check out our list of all expansion cards. (And for added fun, consider putting in The Lich King in your decks to watch their interactions.) And remember, when building your deck, remember to toggle your deck type to Wild. You do not have to use exclusively standard cards to beat these encounters.

Try the wing out on your own, but if you need extra help, come back here for a walkthrough of each encounter.

Lord Marrowgar

Lord Marrowgar’s Skeletal Reconstruction ability heals her back up to full every turn, which mean you need to do 30 damage in a single round to take him out. He’ll occasionally summon Bone Spikes, 0/8 minions that deal 15 damage to your hero every turn. And, of course, there’s Bone Storm.

The strategy

Mulligan away any secrets you draw. Marrowgar plays many early, cheap minions. If you can survive that opening onslaught you’ll be able to set yourself up and take him down in the late game. This might not be the best or easiest deck to play as I’m fairly certain I just got lucky with secrets landing on the right minions. Marrowgar went right to fatigue and he just ran out of threats to play. Equality and Crazed Alchemist are in the deck to help provide you with options in removing any Bone Spikes that pop up. Be careful when using Equality though as it’ll put your minions in range of a Bone Storm.

### Marrowgar
# Class: Paladin
# Format: Wild
#
# 2x (1) Avenge
# 2x (1) Getaway Kodo
# 2x (1) Redemption
# 2x (2) Annoy-o-Tron
# 1x (2) Crazed Alchemist
# 2x (2) Equality
# 2x (2) Shielded Minibot
# 2x (3) Stonehill Defender
# 1x (3) Wickerflame Burnbristle
# 1x (4) Barnes
# 2x (4) Blessing of Kings
# 2x (4) Consecration
# 2x (5) Sludge Belcher
# 2x (6) Mysterious Challenger
# 1x (6) Sunkeeper Tarim
# 1x (6) Sylvanas Windrunner
# 1x (8) Ragnaros, Lightlord
# 1x (8) The Lich King
# 1x (8) Tirion Fordring
#
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# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

Other Options

Alternative deck options include using Priest or Shaman. Really, you need to be able to put together a deck that can deal 30 damage in one turn or Skeletal Reconstruction will undo anything you’ve done.

Saurfang

Saurfang is protected by Blood Rune which means he can only take damage from weapons, so it’s time for a weapon-heavy deck. Luckily, he starts off at a much more manageable 20 health.

The strategy

As you can tell from the deck list below, I went with Warrior and just loaded up with as many weapons as I could. There’s a mix of pirates in there to help put presence on the board and clear out any minions Saurfang might play. Heroic Strike gives you added burst, but make sure you have a weapon equipped. Playing Heroic Strike without a weapon means Saurfang still can’t get targeted by you. Saronite Chain Gangs are annoying and can slow you down. Use Executes to clear the path of any taunt minions that are up so you can finish Saurfang off with your weapons. Blood Beast, like their counterparts in World of Warcraft, can heal Saurfang. Use those pirates of yours (or other minions) to get Blood Beasts and Skeletal Knights off the board.

###Saurfang
# Class: Warrior
# Format: Wild
#
# 2x (1) N’Zoth’s First Mate
# 1x (1) Patches the Pirate
# 2x (1) Upgrade!
# 2x (2) Bloodsail Raider
# 2x (2) Execute
# 2x (2) Fiery War Axe
# 2x (2) Forge of Souls
# 2x (2) Heroic Strike
# 1x (2) Hobart Grapplehammer
# 2x (3) Bloodsail Cultist
# 2x (4) Blood Razor
# 2x (4) Death’s Bite
# 2x (4) Dread Corsair
# 2x (4) Naga Corsair
# 2x (5) Arcanite Reaper
# 1x (7) Gorehowl
# 1x (7) Malkorok
#
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#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

Other Options

If you’re missing many of the cards above but still want to play Warrior, check out this budget Warrior list instead. The same principle applies as you’re using your big, beefy taunt minions to keep Saurfang’s side of the board at bay (and empty). Save your weapons and Heroic Strikes exclusively for Saurfang. The list only features a pair of Fiery War Axes and Arcanite Reapers. Do not attack face with weapons until there are no Blood Beasts up.

The Rogue list here features Runeforge Haunter which doesn’t remove durability whenever you use your weapon. If you can protect it and keep it alive, your weapon will have limitless use allowing you to whittle Saurfang down. Still, Rogues have more than enough weapons to get through.

Another option here is to play Shaman. This list runs Doomhammers, Rockbiter Weapons, and Hammer of Twilights for ample damage. The spells provide you with board clearing support to pave the way.

Lady Deathwhisper

Her Whisper of Death ability (inspired by Final Fantasy 6’s villain Kefka) damages the health of your minions down to 1 every turn. However, you will not fight alone. Valithria Dreamwalker is by your side and starts on the board wounded. If you can heal her, you can bring her full power to bear against Deathwhisper. It’ll be much needed, especially since she has a whopping 90 armor.

The strategy

For this encounter, going with the Priest is a smart plan. The list below provides you with multiple spells and minions to bring Valithria to full health backed by a suite of removal spells. Your dream opener is something like Circle of Healing, Binding Heal, Flash Heal — and then you just hope you draw into another healing spell.

### Deathwhisper
# Class: Priest
# Format: Wild
#
# 2x (0) Circle of Healing
# 2x (1) Binding Heal
# 2x (1) Flash Heal
# 2x (1) Northshire Cleric
# 2x (1) Potion of Madness
# 2x (1) Power Word: Shield
# 2x (2) Radiant Elemental
# 2x (2) Shadow Word: Pain
# 2x (2) Stubborn Gastropod
# 2x (3) Shadow Word: Death
# 2x (4) Greater Healing Potion
# 2x (4) Hozen Healer
# 2x (5) Darkshire Alchemist
# 2x (5) Onyx Bishop
# 2x (6) Dragonfire Potion
#
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#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

Other Options

Quest Mage is another solid way of defeating Deathwhisper. Your overall game plan is to survive into the late game. Keep you Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Molten Reflections. Use Antonidas to can keep generating you unlimited Fireballs that you can just throw at her until you eventually win.

Alternatively, consider using this Hunter list. Funnily enough, playing Hunter’s Mark on Valithria sets her health at 1 rendering the green dragon immune to Whisper of Death and thereby allowing her to attack every turn without having to heal her up. Get as much burst damage as you can in before overwhelming Deathwhisper with your beasts.

Previous Adventures

If you haven’t yet, we’ve also released guides and walkthroughs for the previous two adventures. Check them out and polish off the rest of the bosses!

• One Night in Karazhan
• League of Explorers
• Blackrock Mountain