The 12 weirdest cards in Hearthstone’s United in Stormwind expansion

If there’s one Blizzard game that’s unafraid to have fun, that game is Hearthstone. Each new set impresses us more with how wacky and out there the new cards are — in a good way, most of the time! But the newest expansion, United in Stormwind, in particular, seems to dial up the craziness to very high levels. So many cards that are being released with this expansion seem so odd, so unique, so… weird!

Which is why we decided to showcase all of that good weirdness here, so that you can have a taste of what to expect with this expansion. United in Stormwind will probably shake up Hearthstone in new, unexpected ways — so you might as well be prepared for what’s to come, and rejoice in the absolute zaniness!

Rats of Extraordinary Size

We open with a card that introduces a whole new concept to Hearthstone: that of “leftover minions,” you could say. You try to summon a bunch of minions, but any that don’t fit on your board aren’t wasted: instead, they go into your hand. But that’s not all — they go there in a majorly buffed form, as 5/5 Rats rather than measly 1/1s! So you actually want to “waste” those rats (as long as you have room in your hand) and play them in their new, buffed, extraordinary size.

We’ve never seen a card that does something like this before. Rats of Extraordinary Size already teases us with what United in Stormwind is all about: breaking the mold of what cards can do with concepts such as your board, your hand, and more.

Devouring Swarm

Speaking of taking advantage of minions that would be otherwise wasted, Hunter gets a second card that does just that in Devouring Swarm. When you cast this spell, you’ll command your minions to act like a swarm and devour an enemy minion. But just like with the previous card, you actually want your minions to die in the attack — cause if they do, they get to, somehow, survive, and go back into your hand so that you can play them again!

Hunter isn’t usually a class that gets ways to bounce back minions — that kind of effect is usually within the Rogue’s domain. But Hunter has many cards that could benefit from being played over and over again, such as the fearsome Trampling Rhino. It’s very easy to imagine that Devouring Swarm will find some use in a few Hunter decks with its very unique effect, unlike anything we’d seen for the class before.

Darkbishop Benedictus

We move on to Priest — more specifically, to Shadow Priest. Yes, that might become a thing again! (Hopefully.) Darkbishop Benedictus rewards you for building a true Shadow Priest deck — that is, adding only Shadow spells, no Holy spells at all, which is unlike how Priest has played for most of its existence, save for a brief moment — Razakus Priest, from the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan era. That was, in my opinion, one of the most fun decks Priest has ever had, and I can only hope that Benedictus will allow us to relive those days.

Starting the game in Shadowform is crazy. You have a powerful Hero Power, like a Mage “ping” that deals 2 damage rather than 1, right from the start! You could use it to go face, like a Hunter does with their Steady Shot, applying constant pressure to your opponent — or you could use it to control the board, dealing two damage to anything that your opponent dares to place down. Combine that with the assortment of new Shadow spells Priest is getting, and the ones they already had, and we can imagine that this type of Priest deck — if it works — will play very differently from what we’re used to with the class — the long, control-oriented games full of heals, taunts, and board clears.

I, for one, dearly hope it works, and that Benedictus enables a brand-new archetype for the class moving forward!

Purified Shard

This is the final reward from the Priest Questline, Seek Guidance. It’s a 10-mana spell that reads… “Destroy the enemy hero.” Simple as that. Pay the 10 mana to cast this spell, immediately win the game; no ifs or buts.

Sure, it’s pretty costly for you to get there. You need to invest all of your game plan into it, and execute everything perfectly, with no disruption from your opponent. It’s a worthwhile quest, with a proper reward for the huge effort that goes into it. But no matter how hard it is to obtain this spell… I’ll never get over how weird it is that Hearthstone has a literal “win the game” card now. I’m sorry, that’s just weird.

Maestra of the Masquerade

This card is fantastic. It might be my favorite Hearthstone card in a while, and I can’t wait to play with it. You’ll start the game… disguised as a different class! Your opponent will surely react differently to you — and, more importantly, play their first few turns differently, depending on what class they think you’re playing. And then, just like in Sombra’s “hacking” highlight intro in Overwatch, you’ll eventually reveal the truth, much to their astonishment!

Maestra of the Masquerade is a pretty strange card by itself, and it already carries a pretty unique story as well: it’s the first card in Hearthstone history to be banned from competitive play before it’s even released. Talk about weird!

Loan Shark

It’s a loan shark who’s an actual shark! That’s it; that’s the card.

…okay, we can talk about it some more, because the design of this card is so clever. It fits the Rogue class, and its effect is also completely appropriate: it lends your opponent some money (a coin), engages in combat to demand payment (we assume), and goes down fighting — but not without actually getting its money back at a 100% interest rate (you get two coins)! It delivers what it promised, we can say that much about this Loan Shark… shark.

Tiny Toys

This is a very interesting effect. It reminds us of Barnes from the One Night in Karazhan set, which summoned a 1/1 version of a minion from your deck — the fantasy there was that it was an actor playing the part of that minion in a play, and Barnes had just summoned that character to the stage. Here, the fantasy is that someone built four 2/2 toy version of random 5-cost minions. The fact that the minions are random is the crucial difference that makes this card much less likely to be as exploitable as Barnes was, which is a very good thing.

The possibilities with this card are fascinating — just take a look at the Deathrattle effects of some 5-cost minions that are currently in Standard. Inheriting the Deathrattle effects of Aegwynn, or Rustwix, or Taelan is sure to be powerful — but you can’t guarantee that it’ll happen, so there’s always some risk associated. Intriguing card!

Anetheron

People absolutely lost their minds a few years ago, when Shaman got a “four mana seven seven” card in Flamewreathed Faceless. I have to wonder how those people would react to Anetheron, Warlock’s brand-new “one mana eight six!”

…okay, I’m being silly. Just like Flamewreathed Faceless wasn’t actually a 4 mana 7/7, since it overloaded you for two, Anetheron only costs one mana if your hand is full — a requirement that is not exactly trivial to fulfill. Sure, Handlock has historically been a successful archetype for the class, hinging on drawing as many cards as you can, and playing cards that benefit from having a full hand. It looks like that archetype is returning, and Anetheron is likely one of several possible payoffs to the style.

Still, it’s a pretty particular effect. A six mana card that costs one if your hand is full is interesting. Having the ability to play an 8/6 demon for a single mana is also unique. All in all, Anetheron passes the test, and qualifies as a weird card.

Dreaded Mount

Summon an endless Dreadsteed. That’s a pretty interesting word choice for this card text! Many of us will remember Dreadsteed as one of the most fun cards in the history of Hearthstone. It was, in fact, endless: whenever it died, it would return itself to life at the end of your turn. Play it once, and it’s almost guaranteed to stick to your board until the end of the game. It’s very curious to see Team 5 revisit that concept with this new Mount card.

Lady Prestor

Much like with Tiny Toys above, Lady Prestor has a very strange effect that is hard to predict, but that could amount to wild possibilities. What if some random 1-cost, 1/1 minion from your deck turns into a mini-Alexstrasza? There are plenty of very powerful Dragons out there, and you could be getting multiple copies of them, at discounted costs! …and possibly smaller stats as well. But the opposite could also happen; you might find yourself with a gigantic Brightwing, or something.

Regardless of the gameplay implications, the idea of Lady Prestor — one of the most interesting characters in Warcraft lore, in my opinion — having a full court of “secret dragons” working for her, and you being able to witness that power in your own deck, is very compelling. And the very notion of transforming a bunch of minions into Dragons is pretty unique as well: you could, perhaps, build a deck full of very cheap minions with the sole purpose of turning them into the Discounted Dragonflight of Doom™.

Elwynn Boar

This is a two-in-one combo: both the main card, Elwynn Boar, and its “reward,” Sword of a Thousand Truths, are weird. Did you ever watch that famous South Park episode about World of Warcraft? If you did, you might remember the Sword of a Thousand Truths from there.

But the reference to a cartoon episode isn’t the only weird thing about this card. It asks you to build a deck that is centered around it, since you’ll need to play seven copies of Elwynn Boar, and have all seven of them die, in order to reap the real reward from it. So you’ll want to build a deck that gives you the tools to copy the boar, or to resurrect it, or what-have-you. Your opponent will obviously know what you’re trying to do, and try to stop you. But if you do manage to pull this off… you’ll get to equip what is, undoubtedly, one of the weirdest weapons ever seen in Hearthstone.

I mean, it’s a 15/3 weapon. 15 attack! And it also has the power to destroy your opponent’s Mana Crystals — essentially making them lose the game, unless they were in such a favorable position that they could already win without playing any more cards. Chances are good, however, that as soon as you equip this weapon and attack with it, you’ll win — in the weirdest way possible.

Enthusiastic Banker

The combination of the name and artwork of this card are pretty hilarious by themselves — I have to wonder if that Draenei regrets every decision in her life that led to this particular moment. But regardless of that, the effect of this card is also something pretty unique: it “stores” cards from your deck, and then adds those cards to your hand. “Store” isn’t even a real keyword!

But as long as the Banker stays in the game, it’s like you’re “drawing” cards, and sending them to the Shadow Realm, or something. You’ll only get to actually use those cards you “drew” once the Banker dies. That’s a pretty unique effect, and I’d say it qualifies as weird!

What do you think is the wackiest card to come out so far — and how are you going to use it?

Originally posted 8/2/2021. Updated 8/9/2021.