Determining which Legendary Hearthstone card to craft can be a tough decision for experienced and new players alike. If you craft a card and find it less useful than initially expected, the best you can get is one-fourth of your Arcane Dust back.

Our Hearthstone Legendary Crafting Guide will help ease the anxiety of burning 1600 dust on a single card. This guide will take you through a logical Crafting Strategy to ease the pain of Standard rotations and focus on those cards that are most likely to get the best value from your dust. For each Hearthstone Set, we provide the Best Cards to Craft and Good Cards to Craft to assist you through your next crafting conundrum.

Please note that this guide is intended for Standard players. In Wild, Legendary cards have different power levels than in Standard due to additional synergies available in the format. We have separate guides for Wild cards! (listed below)

Be sure to check out our other crafting guides:

Hearthstone Legendary Crafting Strategy

When choosing the next Legendary card to craft, you should consider both the strength and set of the cards you’re considering. Typically, Neutral Legendaries fit into more decks and offer the best variety when crafted. As with all class cards, however, class-specific Legendaries tend to be stronger and offer additional synergy and/or class identity options.

Crafting Categories

The Best Cards to Craft are either Legendaries played in a variety of decks or ones that are staple in a strong meta deck. Given their strength, they’re very likely to continue seeing play before their rotation. Good Cards to Craft are Legendaries that are less popular and possibly not as strong, but also playable in the current meta. They are usually necessary (or at least very helpful) in a specific, less common archetype. Some of them are more of a tech cards / Legendaries specific to this meta and might not see that much usage in the future.

In general, cards listed in the Best Cards to Craft for each set should be given priority over those in the Good Cards to Craft. Of course, it all depends on the decks you want to play, your favorite classes and so on – you need to apply your own filter to the list too.

Card Sets

In terms of sets, the best long-term value for your dust is always going to be cards in the Hearthstone Classic Set. Barring retirement into the Hall of Fame, all of these Legendary cards will always be included in Standard. Even if crafted cards are banished to Wild, a full dust refund can be expected.

After the Classic Set, the sets from the current year should be given priority. Sets remain in Standard for two years, so the current year sets have a longer lifespan than the sets from the prior year. And finally, cards from last year’s expansions have the lowest priority – and the closer it is to their rotation, the lower priority they have.

Classic Set

The Hearthstone Classic Set is the core set in the game. Introduced with the game’s release, the set still has many of the game’s strongest Legendary cards. Due to their unrestricted duration in the Standard format, Classic Set Legendary cards are more likely to remain playable than those released with expansions.

Hearthstone Classic Set Best Cards to Craft

Edwin VanCleef – By far the best Classic Class Legendary to craft – Edwin is Rogue’s staple in most of the metas. One of the most powerful Rogue cards in the game. Given that the class is often built around cheap cards (which serve as combo activators), it’s very easy to make it 6/6 or even 8/8 early in the game, often making it a threat your opponent simply can’t answer. When Rogue sees play, most of the time Edwin also sees play, unlike other class Legendaries which often don’t see any play even if their classes are popular. In the current meta, it’s commonly seen in all Rogue Builds (e.g. Aggro, Secret).

– By far the best Classic Class Legendary to craft – Edwin is Rogue’s staple in most of the metas. One of the most powerful Rogue cards in the game. Given that the class is often built around cheap cards (which serve as combo activators), it’s very easy to make it 6/6 or even 8/8 early in the game, often making it a threat your opponent simply can’t answer. When Rogue sees play, most of the time Edwin also sees play, unlike other class Legendaries which often don’t see any play even if their classes are popular. In the current meta, it’s commonly seen in all Rogue Builds (e.g. Aggro, Secret). Alexstrasza – Alexstrasza is THE late game Dragon from Classic set. The best thing about her is that she can be used both defensively and offensively, making her a very flexible late game card. In slower matchup, where you’ll rarely be punching each other, it’s often a 9 mana 8/8 that deals 15 damage to your opponent. You can often set up some two turn lethals thanks to it. And against faster decks, it’s an emergency healing – even gaining 5-10 health while developing a big body at the same time can be absolutely crucial. It’s a great card, which sees play in nearly every meta.

Hearthstone Classic Set Good Cards to Crafts

Bloodmage Thalnos – Thalnos used to be one of the two best Legendaries to craft back in the day (alongside Leeroy, before it rotated out to Hall of Fame), but he didn’t see that much play in the last few sets. The problem is that we don’t have many decks which benefit from a cheap source of Spell Damage. That said, despite being less popular now, it’s still included in some decks, and I’m 100% sure that it will see more play in the future (which means that it’s still a good craft if you want to play a deck that runs it).

– Thalnos used to be one of the two best Legendaries to craft back in the day (alongside Leeroy, before it rotated out to Hall of Fame), but he didn’t see that much play in the last few sets. The problem is that we don’t have many decks which benefit from a cheap source of Spell Damage. That said, despite being less popular now, it’s still included in some decks, and I’m 100% sure that it will see more play in the future (which means that it’s still a good craft if you want to play a deck that runs it). Captain Greenskin – Greenskin is not an essential Legendary, but over the years, it has seen play in multiple meta decks – mostly ones built around weapons (and possibly Pirates). Right now it’s commonly seen in Warrior (Bomb Warrior loves getting extra durability on Wrenchcalibur , and Greenskin can also be drawn with Ancharrr , making it a solid choice). It’s also sometimes played in Aggro Weapon Rogue decks. In both cases, it’s usually alongside Doctor Krastinov , which is actually quite similar to Greenskin.

– Greenskin is not an essential Legendary, but over the years, it has seen play in multiple meta decks – mostly ones built around weapons (and possibly Pirates). Right now it’s commonly seen in Warrior (Bomb Warrior loves getting extra durability on , and Greenskin can also be drawn with , making it a solid choice). It’s also sometimes played in Aggro Weapon Rogue decks. In both cases, it’s usually alongside , which is actually quite similar to Greenskin. Malygos – Malygos is the ultimate Combo Legendary from the Classic set and one that has seen a lot of play over the years. Most popular in Druid, Rogue and Priest, the card was a backbone of multiple successful Combo builds. Right now it’s mostly played in Druid (since the class has again got a good way to “cheat” it out), and sometimes in Quest Warlock (but it’s not very popular currently).

Year of the Phoenix (2020) Sets

The Year of the Phoenix consists of Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy and another expansion that is yet to be revealed. All three sets will rotate out of the Standard format with the release of the first expansion of 2022 (most likely in April).

Scholomance Academy Best Cards to Craft

Since Scholomance Academy is the latest set, and we’re still in somewhat of a “testing” phase, this section is most likely to change in the future. Some of the currently popular Legendaries may be overplayed, while some of the less popular ones might turn out to be good. Be cautious about crafting any card from the newest expansion.

Jandice Barov – When the card was first revealed, people have focused too much on the mindgames of making one of the minions 1 health, but that’s not really the most important part of the card. Even in the cases in which it’s really obvious which minion is which, the card just drops so many stats that your opponent will usually have a quite hard time answering it anyway. Random 5-drops are quite good, even if one of them has only 1 health. And if your opponent guesses incorrectly – it’s even better.

– When the card was first revealed, people have focused too much on the mindgames of making one of the minions 1 health, but that’s not really the most important part of the card. Even in the cases in which it’s really obvious which minion is which, the card just drops so many stats that your opponent will usually have a quite hard time answering it anyway. Random 5-drops are quite good, even if one of them has only 1 health. And if your opponent guesses incorrectly – it’s even better. Doctor Krastinov – A “new” version of Captain Greenskin , and frankly a more powerful one. While it can’t be played on the empty board (or rather it can, but it won’t get any value), the fact that it has Rush AND it can possibly buff the weapon more than once makes it superior to the Classic Legendary. Right now it’s commonly played in Bomb Warrior, as well as the weapon-based Aggro Rogue builds, and I suspect that it will see a lot of play in those two classes over the next few expansions.

– A “new” version of , and frankly a more powerful one. While it can’t be played on the empty board (or rather it can, but it won’t get any value), the fact that it has Rush AND it can possibly buff the weapon more than once makes it superior to the Classic Legendary. Right now it’s commonly played in Bomb Warrior, as well as the weapon-based Aggro Rogue builds, and I suspect that it will see a lot of play in those two classes over the next few expansions. High Abbess Alura – One of the most important cards in Pure Paladin – it’s quite easy to activate with a discounted Libram of Wisdom or First Day of School, and she often just seals the game on Turn 4. Rolling a Blessing of Authority or Libram of Hope is game-winning, while spells like Libram of Justice or Consecration can save your skin in many situations. Not knowing what you will get makes it kind of difficult to play correctly at times, but there’s virtually no way in which the card can harm you, so that’s great.

Scholomance Academy Good Cards to Craft

Lord Barov – Barov is a 3 mana Equality with a 3/2 body that deals 1 damage on Deathrattle. Yes, that’s really, really sick. For that reason, it’s commonly seen in Warrior, where it can be combo’d with Risky Skipper for an easy full board clear (akin to the oldschool Wild Pyromancer + Equality , but even better). Doesn’t really see much play in Paladin, however, because 2x Libram of Justice is usually enough of this kind of effect and the class has no easy way to trigger it like Warrior. Still a good craft.

– Barov is a 3 mana with a 3/2 body that deals 1 damage on Deathrattle. Yes, that’s really, really sick. For that reason, it’s commonly seen in Warrior, where it can be combo’d with for an easy full board clear (akin to the oldschool + , but even better). Doesn’t really see much play in Paladin, however, because 2x Libram of Justice is usually enough of this kind of effect and the class has no easy way to trigger it like Warrior. Still a good craft. Lorekeeper Polkelt – It’s a quite unique effect, but it has proven itself to be strong and useful in the right deck. Sorting it from the highest cost card to lowest cost card not only lets you “tutor” some specific, late game card, but it also means that your topdecks are quite good. In the mid-late game, you want to be drawing your expensive, impactful cards and not 1-3 mana cards. Interestingly enough, so far the card is most common in quite low curve / aggressive decks, since it lets them filter out all the small cards and get straight to their ways to close out the game. Very cool card, and I suspect that we will see it a lot over its time in Standard.

– It’s a quite unique effect, but it has proven itself to be strong and useful in the right deck. Sorting it from the highest cost card to lowest cost card not only lets you “tutor” some specific, late game card, but it also means that your topdecks are quite good. In the mid-late game, you want to be drawing your expensive, impactful cards and not 1-3 mana cards. Interestingly enough, so far the card is most common in quite low curve / aggressive decks, since it lets them filter out all the small cards and get straight to their ways to close out the game. Very cool card, and I suspect that we will see it a lot over its time in Standard. Mindrender Illucia – Talking about unique effects – Mindrender Illucia is so crazy that it was already nerfed from 2 to 3 mana, and yet it’s still pretty popular. Her main use is disruption – in perfect case scenario you want to play her when your opponent might be holding some key cards, then you swap and play those cards yourself, ruining their game plan. You can also play her earlier with nothing playable in your own hand to “force” your opponent to more or less skip the turn. One thing that people aren’t really talking about much is that you also force your opponent to skip his own draw and draw a card to “your” hand instead, making even mediocre steals more powerful than they seem. It’s an interesting and quite powerful card, definitely a good craft for Priest players.

– Talking about unique effects – Mindrender Illucia is so crazy that it was already nerfed from 2 to 3 mana, and yet it’s still pretty popular. Her main use is disruption – in perfect case scenario you want to play her when your opponent might be holding some key cards, then you swap and play those cards yourself, ruining their game plan. You can also play her earlier with nothing playable in your own hand to “force” your opponent to more or less skip the turn. One thing that people aren’t really talking about much is that you also force your opponent to skip his own draw and draw a card to “your” hand instead, making even mediocre steals more powerful than they seem. It’s an interesting and quite powerful card, definitely a good craft for Priest players. Speaker Gidra – Gidra is useful in any Druid spell running more expensive spells – while the base 3 mana for 1/4 with Rush and Windfury is quite mediocre (although even that can be useful at times), it’s quite easy to turn her into a massive threat. With how much of the early/mid game Druid spends on ramping up and making slow plays, Gidra lets the player come back into the game with a massive swing. For example, normally an Overflow turn is really slow, but with Gidra you can play Overflow and still put an 8/11 minion that can clear two bodies on the board. She’s also a massive late game threat that absolutely needs to be killed.

– Gidra is useful in any Druid spell running more expensive spells – while the base 3 mana for 1/4 with Rush and Windfury is quite mediocre (although even that can be useful at times), it’s quite easy to turn her into a massive threat. With how much of the early/mid game Druid spends on ramping up and making slow plays, Gidra lets the player come back into the game with a massive swing. For example, normally an turn is really slow, but with Gidra you can play Overflow and still put an 8/11 minion that can clear two bodies on the board. She’s also a massive late game threat that absolutely needs to be killed. Infiltrator Lilian – Commonly seen in Stealth-based Aggro Rogue builds, Lilian is just a good, aggressive minion. Stealthed minions aren’t easiest to clear. In many cases, she can deal 8 damage thanks to the 4/2 from Deathrattle attacking immediately – so if you play against a slower deck and your boards gets AoE’d, it’s very likely to hit face. Now if you add some Stealth synergies – it makes her a real threat. Good card if you like to play aggressive Rogue decks, especially Stealth builds.

– Commonly seen in Stealth-based Aggro Rogue builds, Lilian is just a good, aggressive minion. Stealthed minions aren’t easiest to clear. In many cases, she can deal 8 damage thanks to the 4/2 from Deathrattle attacking immediately – so if you play against a slower deck and your boards gets AoE’d, it’s very likely to hit face. Now if you add some Stealth synergies – it makes her a real threat. Good card if you like to play aggressive Rogue decks, especially Stealth builds. Soulciologist Malicia – Soul Fragment synergies have turned out to be quite good in Demon Hunter – they add a lot of control, but also burst damage options to the class, making the last expansion’s “Control” Demon Hunters even better now (although I never liked calling them CONTROL decks). Malicia usually tops the curve – with how many Soul Fragments you shuffle, it’s quite common to summon 3-5 minions, which both help with board control and create a pretty big board. Warlock decks running Soul Fragments are usually faster (like Zoo) and don’t play Malicia, but we have some slower builds using her, although she’s not that popular in that class.

– Soul Fragment synergies have turned out to be quite good in Demon Hunter – they add a lot of control, but also burst damage options to the class, making the last expansion’s “Control” Demon Hunters even better now (although I never liked calling them CONTROL decks). Malicia usually tops the curve – with how many Soul Fragments you shuffle, it’s quite common to summon 3-5 minions, which both help with board control and create a pretty big board. Warlock decks running Soul Fragments are usually faster (like Zoo) and don’t play Malicia, but we have some slower builds using her, although she’s not that popular in that class. Ras Frostwhisper – As it turns out, a better version of Despicable Dreadlord is quite good. It doesn’t really see play in Shaman… because Shaman doesn’t really see play. But in Mage the card is sick. It’s basically an auto-include in Highlander, because it’s solid even without any synergies (and if you can sometimes get it to deal 2 damage it’s even better). Then it’s also quite common in Tempo Mage, which runs a Spell Damage package. All in all, it’s a really solid card and will definitely see play in Mage and possibly in Shaman too assuming the class gets more support.

– As it turns out, a better version of is quite good. It doesn’t really see play in Shaman… because Shaman doesn’t really see play. But in Mage the card is sick. It’s basically an auto-include in Highlander, because it’s solid even without any synergies (and if you can sometimes get it to deal 2 damage it’s even better). Then it’s also quite common in Tempo Mage, which runs a Spell Damage package. All in all, it’s a really solid card and will definitely see play in Mage and possibly in Shaman too assuming the class gets more support. Forest Warden Omu – Omu is the base of a new Malygos Druid build – the card lets you drop Malygos while still having full 10 mana to play spells. It goes like this – Omu into Germination , which triggers the first Omu, but the second one has Spellburst intact. So now you drop Malygos (or any other card you want to open your combo with, but right now there aren’t any other good candidates), play a cheap spell and second Omu triggers. Voilà – 10 more mana to work with. Now Druid can drop Swipe , another Moonfire or whatever he needs to kill the opponent. It’s hard to say whether Malygos builds are better than other Guardian Animals builds, but a way to consistently get out Malygos on the board is definitely useful in Druid and should see play in the future.

– Omu is the base of a new Druid build – the card lets you drop Malygos while still having full 10 mana to play spells. It goes like this – Omu into , which triggers the first Omu, but the second one has Spellburst intact. So now you drop Malygos (or any other card you want to open your combo with, but right now there aren’t any other good candidates), play a cheap spell and second Omu triggers. Voilà – 10 more mana to work with. Now Druid can drop , another or whatever he needs to kill the opponent. It’s hard to say whether Malygos builds are better than other builds, but a way to consistently get out Malygos on the board is definitely useful in Druid and should see play in the future. Headmaster Kel'Thuzad – The new version of Kel’Thuzad doesn’t fit into many decks, but it’s quite powerful in the ones that play it. The goal is to drop it alongside a cheap removal – either a single target like Shadow Word: Death / Vendetta or AoE like Breath of the Infinite. It’s a great tempo swing – not only you clear a minion on your opponent’s side, but you also get it yourself on top of a 4/6 body of Kel’Thuzad. However, you generally want to play it only in decks with cheap, consistent removals – I’m quite sure that we will have at least a few decks like that over the next few sets.

Ashes of Outland Best Cards to Craft

Soul Mirror – A new Priest staple, kind of a mix of board fill + AoE removal. Depending on how much attack/health your opponent’s minions have, it might either clear the board completely or partially and leave a few minions on your side of the board. One of its advantages is how well it works with Deathrattles / Reborn effects – a regular board clear would just trigger the effects for your opponent, while this one triggers them for both sides. All in all, it’s a great Priest card, basically a staple in every slower build.

– A new Priest staple, kind of a mix of board fill + AoE removal. Depending on how much attack/health your opponent’s minions have, it might either clear the board completely or partially and leave a few minions on your side of the board. One of its advantages is how well it works with Deathrattles / Reborn effects – a regular board clear would just trigger the effects for your opponent, while this one triggers them for both sides. All in all, it’s a great Priest card, basically a staple in every slower build. Lady Liadrin – Pure / Libram Paladin has reached the critical mass of good cards, and Lady Liadrin just makes it even better. The deck runs a lot of great spells that target own characters – Libram of Hope, Hand of A'dal, Blessing of Authority… and most importantly – Libram of Wisdom. The last one is the main reason why Liadrin is so strong in Paladin. After a few turns of playing Libram of Wisdom for 0, your pool will be full of them, and Liadrin will give a bunch of its copies. With let’s say 6x Libram of Wisdom in hand, any minion you play automatically becomes a big threat, making Liadin an amazing late game refill / win condition in one of the best meta decks.

Ashes of Outland Good Cards to Craft

Astromancer Solarian – Highlander & Tempo Mage staple. The first body is okay – 2 mana 3/2 + 1 Spell Damage is not bad by itself (especially if you consider all the Spell Damage synergies like Cram Session or Ras). But its main power lies in the card it shuffles – Solarian Prime . Some player think of it as of another “casino” card, casting random spells and all, but to be honest, it’s much more consistent than other similar cards. Since targeted spells (usually removals, freezes etc.) always hit opponents, you won’t end up killing your own stuff with them. AoE spells are always beneficial, and drawing/generating cards is usually good too. The only problem is when it casts Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron … yeah. Then it becomes true casino. Still, it’s a very good Mage card.

– Highlander & Tempo Mage staple. The first body is okay – 2 mana 3/2 + 1 Spell Damage is not bad by itself (especially if you consider all the Spell Damage synergies like or Ras). But its main power lies in the card it shuffles – . Some player think of it as of another “casino” card, casting random spells and all, but to be honest, it’s much more consistent than other similar cards. Since targeted spells (usually removals, freezes etc.) always hit opponents, you won’t end up killing your own stuff with them. AoE spells are always beneficial, and drawing/generating cards is usually good too. The only problem is when it casts … yeah. Then it becomes true casino. Still, it’s a very good Mage card. Evocation – Mage does like to generate random spells, that’s for sure. Evocation is an AMAZING refill. Even though it’s random, Mage spells are quite good on average, and since it usually offers you 5+ cards, the consistency is there. If you’re looking to do something specific with it – you will most likely find it. Want to deal with a board? You should get some AoE or freeze. Need more value? Card generation & draw should be there. Burn? Same thing – it’s very likely that you will find some. All in all, the card is really consistent despite being random. And it becomes even better when you have Sorcerer's Apprentice on the board, that’s why it’s one of the most important cards in Tempo Mage.

– Mage does like to generate random spells, that’s for sure. Evocation is an AMAZING refill. Even though it’s random, Mage spells are quite good on average, and since it usually offers you 5+ cards, the consistency is there. If you’re looking to do something specific with it – you will most likely find it. Want to deal with a board? You should get some AoE or freeze. Need more value? Card generation & draw should be there. Burn? Same thing – it’s very likely that you will find some. All in all, the card is really consistent despite being random. And it becomes even better when you have on the board, that’s why it’s one of the most important cards in Tempo Mage. Kayn Sunfury – Maybe not as auto include as it used to be be fore the nerf, but it’s still a very strong card. It being a 3/4 with Charge already makes it sort of playable – guaranteed 3 damage with an okay body, comparable to Kor'kron Elite , but with flipped stats (which can be better or worse depending on the situation). But its effect is what pushes it over the edge. Taunts are one of the biggest Demon Hunter counters – they need to be smacking you all the time, especially with weapons, which obviously don’t go through the Taunts. But Kayn lets you ignore them at least for a turn. You will win many games against opponents that were sure that they’ve stabilized with a wall of Taunts just to get Kayn’d. If you like playing Demon Hunter (Aggro or Soul Fragment version alike), craft it!

– Maybe not as auto include as it used to be be fore the nerf, but it’s still a very strong card. It being a 3/4 with Charge already makes it sort of playable – guaranteed 3 damage with an okay body, comparable to , but with flipped stats (which can be better or worse depending on the situation). But its effect is what pushes it over the edge. Taunts are one of the biggest Demon Hunter counters – they need to be smacking you all the time, especially with weapons, which obviously don’t go through the Taunts. But Kayn lets you ignore them at least for a turn. You will win many games against opponents that were sure that they’ve stabilized with a wall of Taunts just to get Kayn’d. If you like playing Demon Hunter (Aggro or Soul Fragment version alike), craft it! Murgur Murgurgle – Interestingly enough, Murgur Murgurgle is not a good craft because of the deck you would think about – Murloc Paladin. Yes, it’s a great Murloc Paladin card, but Murloc Paladin sees nearly no play. But it’s also a quite solid Pure Paladin card. If you’re building a deck with no Neutrals, Paladin doesn’t have access to that many good class 2-drops. Shotbot (for which you need to buy Galakrond’s Awakening anyway, making it quite expensive too) is the only great one, so players end up using Murgur quite often. 2/1 with DS for 2 is okay-ish, and then the Murgurgle Prime is an amazing board refill which can close out some games. Thanks to Divine Shield, the Murlocs it summons live through multiple AoE spells, potentially giving you the final push against slower decks. At the same time, it’s not a must-have card – some builds don’t run it, so I would craft it only if you really like to play Paladin.

– Interestingly enough, Murgur Murgurgle is not a good craft because of the deck you would think about – Murloc Paladin. Yes, it’s a great Murloc Paladin card, but Murloc Paladin sees nearly no play. But it’s also a quite solid Pure Paladin card. If you’re building a deck with no Neutrals, Paladin doesn’t have access to that many good class 2-drops. (for which you need to buy Galakrond’s Awakening anyway, making it quite expensive too) is the only great one, so players end up using Murgur quite often. 2/1 with DS for 2 is okay-ish, and then the is an amazing board refill which can close out some games. Thanks to Divine Shield, the Murlocs it summons live through multiple AoE spells, potentially giving you the final push against slower decks. At the same time, it’s not a must-have card – some builds don’t run it, so I would craft it only if you really like to play Paladin. Magtheridon – Maghtheridon is a staple card in a class that no one would probably expect it when it was first announced – Demon Hunter. In Scholomance Academy, DH got a Soul Fragment synergy package including Shardshatter Mystic , which is an amazing Magtheridon activator. It’s a 2 cards combo that clears an entire board for 7 mana AND leaves a 12/12 body behind. If your opponent doesn’t have a way to deal with it – too bad, you probably just win the game. And even if he does, you at least cleared the entire board and drew a removal from them. While the card has some other synergies (like with Warlock’s Hellfire ), so far it doesn’t really see play outside of DH, but if you want to run Soul Demon Hunter build yourself – it’s a solid craft.

– Maghtheridon is a staple card in a class that no one would probably expect it when it was first announced – Demon Hunter. In Scholomance Academy, DH got a synergy package including , which is an amazing Magtheridon activator. It’s a 2 cards combo that clears an entire board for 7 mana AND leaves a 12/12 body behind. If your opponent doesn’t have a way to deal with it – too bad, you probably just win the game. And even if he does, you at least cleared the entire board and drew a removal from them. While the card has some other synergies (like with Warlock’s ), so far it doesn’t really see play outside of DH, but if you want to run Soul Demon Hunter build yourself – it’s a solid craft. Kargath Bladefist – 4/4 with Rush for 4 is okay, but just like with all Primes, you’re mostly playing them for the cards they shuffle. In this case, Kargath Prime is not only a huge minion with Rush, so you can clear basically anything outside of the biggest minions, but you also gain 10 Armor whenever you kill something. The card is great in Big Warrior – not specifically for the first body, but pulling the second one from your deck (especially with Dimensional Ripper ) can be game-winning. It has also started gaining some popularity in Bomb Warrior as a defensive option. Overall it’s a solid Warrior card.

– 4/4 with Rush for 4 is okay, but just like with all Primes, you’re mostly playing them for the cards they shuffle. In this case, is not only a huge minion with Rush, so you can clear basically anything outside of the biggest minions, but you also gain 10 Armor whenever you kill something. The card is great in Big Warrior – not specifically for the first body, but pulling the second one from your deck (especially with ) can be game-winning. It has also started gaining some popularity in Bomb Warrior as a defensive option. Overall it’s a solid Warrior card. Shadowjeweler Hanar – Hanar was a Rogue staple last expansion, when Secret-based Galakrond Rogue build dominated. Right now it’s not AS good, because Galakrond doesn’t see much play and a non-Galakrond Secret Rogue build isn’t THAT popular either, it’s still quite good. The deck can generate a lot of resources throughout the game, and Hanar is one of the cards that helps with that – dropped early can even with the game quickly if unattended (since you’re just gaining more and more value / tempo from Secrets), while later in the game it comes with one huge swing turn, where you most likely play 4-5 Secrets from different classes (them being semi-random makes it really difficult for the opponent to identify which ones are there). Good Rogue card.

– Hanar was a Rogue staple last expansion, when Secret-based Galakrond Rogue build dominated. Right now it’s not AS good, because Galakrond doesn’t see much play and a non-Galakrond Secret Rogue build isn’t THAT popular either, it’s still quite good. The deck can generate a lot of resources throughout the game, and Hanar is one of the cards that helps with that – dropped early can even with the game quickly if unattended (since you’re just gaining more and more value / tempo from Secrets), while later in the game it comes with one huge swing turn, where you most likely play 4-5 Secrets from different classes (them being semi-random makes it really difficult for the opponent to identify which ones are there). Good Rogue card. Zixor, Apex Predator – Zixor is a pretty interesting Hunter card. While the first part isn’t amazing, a simple 2/4 with Rush for 3 mana, the second one is just nuts. 4x 4/4 minion with Rush is very, very powerful, but it gets even better if you combo it with Scavenger's Ingenuity – now you get 4x 6/6 minion, basically winning the game if your opponent can’t answer those. It sees play in a bunch of Highlander Hunter builds, but also some Dragon versions.

Year of the Dragon (2019) Sets

The Year of the Dragon consists of Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum and Descent of Dragons. All three sets will rotate out of the Standard format with the release of the first expansion of 2021 (most likely in April).

Descent of Dragons Best Cards to Craft

Since Descent of Dragons is the latest set, and we’re still in somewhat of a “testing” phase, I was pretty cautious about picking the best Legendaries to craft, since the meta can still change considerably.

Kronx Dragonhoof – Despite losing some popularity, Galakrond decks are still a huge part of the meta (around 15% at the time I’m writing this), and Kronx is basically an auto-include in them. In majority of builds, there’s no reason to not run it. If you haven’t drawn your Galakrond yet, it lets you tutor it while dropping a solid 6 mana 6/6 on the board. Who wouldn’t want to draw the card you’ve built your deck around? And if you’ve already turned into Galakrond, it has some really powerful effects like 5 AoE damage, +2/+2 AoE buff or summoning an 8/8. No matter which Galakrond deck you play, those will be useful. He’s only bad if you already drew Galakrond, but haven’t played it yet, but those periods are usually short. As long as Galakrond decks will be played, so will be Kronx, and I don’t think that they will disappear from the meta any time soon.

– Despite losing some popularity, Galakrond decks are still a huge part of the meta (around 15% at the time I’m writing this), and Kronx is basically an auto-include in them. In majority of builds, there’s no reason to not run it. If you haven’t drawn your Galakrond yet, it lets you tutor it while dropping a solid 6 mana 6/6 on the board. Who wouldn’t want to draw the card you’ve built your deck around? And if you’ve already turned into Galakrond, it has some really powerful effects like 5 AoE damage, +2/+2 AoE buff or summoning an 8/8. No matter which Galakrond deck you play, those will be useful. He’s only bad if you already drew Galakrond, but haven’t played it yet, but those periods are usually short. As long as Galakrond decks will be played, so will be Kronx, and I don’t think that they will disappear from the meta any time soon. Dragonqueen Alexstrasza – After Zephrys the Great in Saviors of Uldum, we’ve got another Highlander card in Descent of Dragons. And, as you can imagine, it’s nearly an auto-include in those builds. There’s one exception now, which are very aggressive, low curve Highlander Hunter builds, but they aren’t very popular. In most cases, if you play Highlander deck, you play Alexstrasza, and Highlander decks have been pretty good ever since Saviors of Uldum. What’s interesting is that not only “dedicated” Highlander classes run those (so even classes that have no class Highlander Legendary do play those decks). Even after it got nerfed (the Dragons now cost 1 mana and not 0 like they used to), with how amazing the pool of random Dragons is, it’s still a massive tempo play and really worth it.

Descent of Dragons Good Cards to Craft

Ysera, Unleashed – The oldschool Ysera used to be one of the best value tools back in the day, but the new version (available only to Druid) is more of a tempo tool. Not immediate tempo, but delayed tempo. Once you play it, you shuffle a bunch of Dream Portal s into your deck, which then summon random Dragons when drawn. Given that random Dragons are pretty big on average, you’re going to have a couple of really powerful tools where you summon 2-3+ extra minions on top of whatever you wanted to do that turn anyway. While quite slow initially, it’s a huge win condition in Druid and commonly seen in every slower Druid deck.

– The oldschool used to be one of the best value tools back in the day, but the new version (available only to Druid) is more of a tempo tool. Not immediate tempo, but delayed tempo. Once you play it, you shuffle a bunch of s into your deck, which then summon random Dragons when drawn. Given that random Dragons are pretty big on average, you’re going to have a couple of really powerful tools where you summon 2-3+ extra minions on top of whatever you wanted to do that turn anyway. While quite slow initially, it’s a huge win condition in Druid and commonly seen in every slower Druid deck. Deathwing, Mad Aspect – An 8 mana 12/12 are great stats, but to be honest, if it’s all it was, the card probably wouldn’t be played. “Bunch of stats” cards usually aren’t good. But luckily for Warrior, the card is so much more – it’s like a perfect late game card, combining a big threat with immediate board impact. Most of the time, you’re going to clear a bunch of minions (or one big minion) and still have a let’s say 12/3 body left. Deathwing is a staple in Tempo, Midrange and Control Warrior builds – basically the only decks that don’t run it are Aggro. It’s a really good craft if you’re playing Warrior.

– An 8 mana 12/12 are great stats, but to be honest, if it’s all it was, the card probably wouldn’t be played. “Bunch of stats” cards usually aren’t good. But luckily for Warrior, the card is so much more – it’s like a perfect late game card, combining a big threat with immediate board impact. Most of the time, you’re going to clear a bunch of minions (or one big minion) and still have a let’s say 12/3 body left. Deathwing is a staple in Tempo, Midrange and Control Warrior builds – basically the only decks that don’t run it are Aggro. It’s a really good craft if you’re playing Warrior. Murozond the Infinite – Murozond, just like most of the Priest recent Legendaries, comes with a quite interesting effect. The card has became a staple in slower Priest builds – both Galakrond and Highlander. After your opponent makes a big turn, you can just drop Murozond and do the same thing yourself. He played a big minion? You get it too. He drew cards? You also draw. He played a few Secrets? Same thing. It obviously skips any Battlecries and such, but it’s still a great late game swing card. Craft it if you play slow Priest decks.

– Murozond, just like most of the Priest recent Legendaries, comes with a quite interesting effect. The card has became a staple in slower Priest builds – both Galakrond and Highlander. After your opponent makes a big turn, you can just drop Murozond and do the same thing yourself. He played a big minion? You get it too. He drew cards? You also draw. He played a few Secrets? Same thing. It obviously skips any Battlecries and such, but it’s still a great late game swing card. Craft it if you play slow Priest decks. Mindflayer Kaahrj – Similarly to Murozond, it’s a Priest staple, and actually for quite similar reasons – to steal what your opponent played and to get some extra tempo. While Kaahrj is slower immediately, taking anything bigger with its Battlecry means that once it dies (and it eventually will), unless silenced/transformed etc. In faster matchups, even “stealing” a smaller minion can be enough of a tempo gain to make it worth playing. It’s a good Priest card, so consider getting it if you play Priest class.

– Similarly to Murozond, it’s a Priest staple, and actually for quite similar reasons – to steal what your opponent played and to get some extra tempo. While Kaahrj is slower immediately, taking anything bigger with its Battlecry means that once it dies (and it eventually will), unless silenced/transformed etc. In faster matchups, even “stealing” a smaller minion can be enough of a tempo gain to make it worth playing. It’s a good Priest card, so consider getting it if you play Priest class. Dragonbane – A very common Hunter card with a very powerful effect. While the stats aren’t amazing (they aren’t terrible either, but 3 attack on a 4-drop is not optimal), if you drop him and press Hero Power, it immediately deals 5 extra damage. To a random target, yes, but still – lots of the time no matter what it hits, it’s good. Hitting a minion often just clears it, while hitting face is 5 extra damage, and Hunters love extra face damage. And the best thing about it if it sticks to the board, it will just snowball the game.

– A very common Hunter card with a very powerful effect. While the stats aren’t amazing (they aren’t terrible either, but 3 attack on a 4-drop is not optimal), if you drop him and press Hero Power, it immediately deals 5 extra damage. To a random target, yes, but still – lots of the time no matter what it hits, it’s good. Hitting a minion often just clears it, while hitting face is 5 extra damage, and Hunters love extra face damage. And the best thing about it if it sticks to the board, it will just snowball the game. Ancharrr – The card was nerfed from 3 to 2 durability. Before the nerf, it was one of the most broken Warrior cards ever printed (and I’m not exaggerating). Even after the nerf, it’s still great in any deck running Pirates. Drawing 2 cards for 3 mana is the norm, so it adds a 2/2 weapon to the mix for free. Right now it’s a staple in – obviously – Pirate Warrior, but also slower builds that run Pirates like Risky Skipper , Hoard Pillager or Captain Greenskin .

– The card was nerfed from 3 to 2 durability. Before the nerf, it was one of the most broken Warrior cards ever printed (and I’m not exaggerating). Even after the nerf, it’s still great in any deck running Pirates. Drawing 2 cards for 3 mana is the norm, so it adds a 2/2 weapon to the mix for free. Right now it’s a staple in – obviously – Pirate Warrior, but also slower builds that run Pirates like , or . Malygos, Aspect of Magic – It’s mostly a Highlander Mage card, because basically every build runs Dragons, although it would fit into any Mage deck using Dragon synergies. If you play a deck like that, Malygos is amazing – the cards it gives you are very flexible. It has single target removal, board clears, value, burn, stall… you always get something useful. A great craft for Mage players.

– It’s mostly a Highlander Mage card, because basically every build runs Dragons, although it would fit into any Mage deck using Dragon synergies. If you play a deck like that, Malygos is amazing – the cards it gives you are very flexible. It has single target removal, board clears, value, burn, stall… you always get something useful. A great craft for Mage players. Chenvaala – Chenvaala was experimented with even since its release in Descent of Dragons, but it only started seeing competitive play in Scholomance Academy. The current Tempo Mage builds are great at playing a lot of cheap spells in the same turn – that’s a big part of the game’s deck plan. It makes Mana Giant s cheaper, generates many cards with Mana Cyclone , summons 5/5’s with Chenvaala and so on. It’s one of the deck’s win conditions, and if combined with a big Sorcerer's Apprentice turn full of board freezes etc. it can absolutely seal it for the Mage player. If you’re a fan of Tempo Mage, it’s a really solid craft.

– Chenvaala was experimented with even since its release in Descent of Dragons, but it only started seeing competitive play in Scholomance Academy. The current Tempo Mage builds are great at playing a lot of cheap spells in the same turn – that’s a big part of the game’s deck plan. It makes s cheaper, generates many cards with , summons 5/5’s with and so on. It’s one of the deck’s win conditions, and if combined with a big turn full of board freezes etc. it can absolutely seal it for the Mage player. If you’re a fan of Tempo Mage, it’s a really solid craft. Flik Skyshiv – Flik used to be on the top back when Galakrond Rogue was on the top last expansion. Right now it fell off – not because the card is worse, but because Rogue changed game plan to a much faster one. Aggro Rogue doesn’t really want to run Flik, as it focuses on killing the opponent around Turn 6-7 – so you prefer to find more face damage and kill them faster instead of dropping what is mostly a board control card. Still, a bit slower builds (like Secret or Galakrond) still exist, making Flik useful. And I would be baffled if the card didn’t see a bunch more play over the next few sets, since it’s really powerful.

Saviors of Uldum Best Cards to Craft

Zephrys the Great – Zephrys is THE reason why people play Highlander decks. Some are more obvious, like Mage and Hunter, because they got extra synergies. But between Zephrys and the new Alexstrasza, players are now running singleton builds with no class synergies (thanks to those two strong Neutrals), such as Highlander Priest. When active, it’s probably the best card in the entire game, because it can be anything you need at the time – single target removal, AoE, a big threat, burn damage, weapon destruction, secret destruction, buff etc. It also sees play as a finisher in some non-Highlander decks that cycle a lot – it’s just a 3/2 until the late game where they draw all their duplicates. By far the best Legendary from Saviors of Uldum, which should see play all the way until it rotates out of Standard (unless it gets nerfed).

– Zephrys is THE reason why people play Highlander decks. Some are more obvious, like Mage and Hunter, because they got extra synergies. But between Zephrys and the new Alexstrasza, players are now running singleton builds with no class synergies (thanks to those two strong Neutrals), such as Highlander Priest. When active, it’s probably the best card in the entire game, because it can be anything you need at the time – single target removal, AoE, a big threat, burn damage, weapon destruction, secret destruction, buff etc. It also sees play as a finisher in some non-Highlander decks that cycle a lot – it’s just a 3/2 until the late game where they draw all their duplicates. By far the best Legendary from Saviors of Uldum, which should see play all the way until it rotates out of Standard (unless it gets nerfed). Siamat – Just like many have suspected, Siamat turned out to be a very solid Neutral Legendary. While not as ubiquitous as Zilliax was, it has founds its place in many Midrange and some Control builds. Its strong suit is obviously flexibility – you can use it as a single target removal and a 6/6 body (Rush + Divine Shield), to remove 2 minions (Rush + Windfury), to make a big threat that’s hard to clear (Windfury + Divine Shield) or to put a wall between Aggro player and you (Taunt + Divine Shield). Sees most play in Highlander decks, since they have more “flex slots” in which Siamat fits into perfectly. It’s a good craft that has seen a lot of play ever since release and will most likely see play all the way until it rotates out.

Saviors of Uldum Good Cards to Craft

Reno the Relicologist – Obviously, it’s a 100% necessary card if you want to play Highlander Mage. 4/6 are not great stats for 6 mana, but it’s an okay body given its effect. You can use him as a single target removal for a big minion, as a way to get rid of 2-3 mid sized minions or a board full of small stuff. Its flexibility is great and makes the card really strong. While Highlander Mage is not the BEST deck around, it’s not bad either. If you’re a Wild player, another advantage is that Reno will always be a great Highlander Mage card in there, and the deck is good at times (including now).

– Obviously, it’s a 100% necessary card if you want to play Highlander Mage. 4/6 are not great stats for 6 mana, but it’s an okay body given its effect. You can use him as a single target removal for a big minion, as a way to get rid of 2-3 mid sized minions or a board full of small stuff. Its flexibility is great and makes the card really strong. While Highlander Mage is not the BEST deck around, it’s not bad either. If you’re a Wild player, another advantage is that Reno will always be a great Highlander Mage card in there, and the deck is good at times (including now). Dinotamer Brann – Highlander Hunter, even though it had some better times, is still a strong Hunter build and Dinotamer is one of the main reasons why (who wouldn’t want a 2 mana discount on a 9-drop and a 2/4 body on top of that?) Lots of players also find the deck fun, because it changes every expansion (and sometimes even during the expansion), so you can experiment with whatever style you want. We had a regular build, Secret build, Dragon build and Beast build already viable (plus the Aggro commonly played now). It’s a good craft for Hunter players, but keep in mind that in order to play the deck you also NEED Zephrys – you can’t play a Highlander deck without Zephrys. Previously Dragonqueen Alexstrasza was also a requirement, but more recent builds are very aggressive and have dropped the 9 mana Dragon.

Rise of Shadows Best Cards to Craft

There are currently no Rise of Shadows Legendaries that I would consider “best” crafts.

Rise of Shadows Good Cards to Craft