Area of effect

Area of effect (AoE) is the term for an effect which affects all characters of the specified type. Common targets for AoEs include all enemy minions, all minions, and all characters.

AoE is defined in contrast to 'single-target' and 'multiple target'. While AoEs may affect multiple targets, they have no limit to the number of targets affected, and their targets are determined by the nature of the AoE (e.g., "all minions") rather than by selecting a set number of individual targets. Positional effects function as limited-area AoEs, but in game terms are multiple target effects. AoEs are distinguished from multi-targets spells such as Arcane Missiles and Cleave, which are essentially multiple single-target effects.

The term AoE refers solely to the effect's target and does not describe its actual outcome. The most common types of AoE are healing and damage-dealing spells.

Notes[edit | edit source]

AoEs affect all valid targets simultaneously. However, triggers resulting from each character affected are still applied one at a time, in the order the minions were played.
AoEs affect all targets before any related triggers are activated. For example a Circle of Healing will heal all minions before any Northshire Clerics will begin to activate.

Strategy[edit | edit source]

The effect of an AoE on a given target is not diminished by the presence of more targets. This means that AoEs are generally more valuable the more valid targets are in play, since the AoE takes full effect on all of them. Damage-dealing AoEs can be very effective for tackling large groups of minions. AoEs tend to be most effective against large groups of weak minions, and least effective against small numbers of powerful minions.

AoEs can be very useful for dealing damage to targets with Stealth. Although stealthed minions cannot be targeted directly, AoEs will still affect them. Mage is a class with strong AoE damage abilities, but all classes have some form of AoE available.

Types[edit | edit source]

Below is a breakdown of the many types of AoE.

AoE damage
- Damage all characters
  - Hellfire, Abomination, Baron Geddon*, Dread Infernal*, Ysera Awakens*, Flame Leviathan, Felfire Potion, Abyssal Enforcer*, Missile Launcher*
- Damage all minions
  - Whirlwind, Wild Pyromancer, Unstable Ghoul, Death's Bite, Explosive Sheep, Lightbomb, Revenge, Elemental Destruction, Chillmaw, Dreadscale*, Excavated Evil, Tentacle of N'Zoth, Ravaging Ghoul*, Anomalus, Volcanic Potion, Primordial Drake*, Fatespinner**, Spirit Lash, Defile, Blood Razor, Bladestorm, Dragon's Fury, Duskbreaker, Reckless Flurry, Hagatha the Witch, Lord Godfrey*, Warpath, Beakered Lightning, Dragonmaw Scorcher*, Arcanosaur*, Blast Wave, Shriek, Tunnel Blaster, Hagatha's Scheme
- Damage both heroes
  - Shadowbomber, Spawn of Shadows, Emerald Reaver
- Damage all minions of a specific type
  - Scarlet Purifier, Demonwrath, Corrupted Seer, Dragonfire Potion, Sleep with the Fishes
- Damage all enemies
  - Consecration, Holy Nova**, Explosive Trap, Swipe, Death and Decay, KABOOM!
- Damage all enemy minions
  - Arcane Explosion, Blizzard**, Flamestrike, Lightning Storm, Starfall, Shadowflame, Blade Flurry, Fan of Knives, Twilight Flamecaller, Maelstrom Portal, Sergeant Sally, Invocation of Air, Exploding Bloatbat, Deathstalker Rexxar, Despicable Dreadlord, Impferno**
- Damage all enemy minions of a specific type
  - Dark Iron Skulker, Worgen Abomination
- Damage all friendly minions
  - Sea Reaver, Ticking Abomination
AoE healing
- Heal all characters
  - Tree of Life
- Heal all minions
  - Circle of Healing
- Heal both heroes
  - Refreshment Vendor, Mistress of Mixtures, Nozari
- Heal all friendly characters
  - Darkscale Healer, Holy Nova**, Fungal Enchanter, Divine Hymn, Potion Vendor
- Heal all friendly minions
  - Healing Totem

AoE destroy
- Destroy all minions
  - Doomsayer, Deathwing*, Brawl*, Twisting Nether, Poison Seeds, Enter the Coliseum*, DOOM!, Doom Pact, Cataclysm
- Destroy all minions of a specific type
  - Shadow Word: Horror, King Mosh, Shadowreaper Anduin, Mossy Horror
- Destroy all friendly minions
  - Darkest Hour
- Destroy all friendly minions of a specific type
  - Mimiron's Head, Totem Cruncher
- Destroy all enemy secrets
  - Flare**, Eater of Secrets, Chief Inspector

AoE return
- Return all minions
  - Vanish
- Return all friendly minions
  - Grumble, Worldshaker*, Daring Escape

AoE shuffle into deck
- Psychic Scream

AoE Transform
- Transform all minions
  - Kazakus Potion (10 mana)
- Transform all enemy minions
  - Devolve
- Transform all friendly minions
  - Evolve, Thrall, Deathseer, The Storm Bringer
- Transform all friendly minions of a specific type
  - Treespeaker

AoE Enchantments
- Targets all minions
  - Equality, Confuse, Corrupting Mist, Sunkeeper Tarim*, Fatespinner**, Void Ripper, Shrink Ray
- Targets all enemy minions
  - Eadric the Pure, Pint-Size Potion, Curse of Weakness, Lazul's Scheme
- Targets all friendly characters
  - Savage Roar
- Targets all friendly minions
  - Conceal, Bloodlust, Power of the Wild, Cenarius*, Soul of the Forest, Enhance-o Mechano*, Mukla's Champion*, Competitive Spirit, Everyfin is Awesome, Spawn of N'Zoth, Wisps of the Old Gods, Infest, Mark of the Lotus, Spirit Echo, Evolving Spores, Anti-Magic Shell, Boisterous Bard, Branching Paths, Blessed Maul, Purifier's Maul, Sacred Maul, Primal Talismans, Lost Spirit, Silver Sword, Glitter Moth*, Tending Tauren*, Serrated Tooth, Grim Rally, Blessing of the Ancients, Never Surrender!, Soul of the Murloc
- Targets all friendly minions of a specific type
  - Totemic Might, Coldlight Seer*, Quartermaster, Metaltooth Leaper*, Thunder Bluff Valiant, Bolster, Rallying Blade, Crystalweaver, Lightfused Stegodon, Gentle Megasaur, Strongshell Scavenger, Level Up!, Impferno**

Ongoing effects
- Targets all characters
  - Mayor Noggenfogger
- Targets all minions
  - Mogor the Ogre
- Targets both heroes
  - Jungle Moonkin
- Targets all friendly minions
  - Raid Leader*, Stormwind Champion*, Leokk*, Commanding Shout, Crystal Core, Sneaky Devil*, Cauldron Elemental*, Houndmaster Shaw*
- Targets all friendly minions of a specific type
  - Southsea Captain*, Timber Wolf*, Tundra Rhino, Grimscale Oracle*, Murloc Warleader*, Warsong Commander, Baron Rivendare, Mal'Ganis*, Warhorse Trainer, Frost Lich Jaina, Whirlwind Tempest
- Targets all Hero Powers
  - Mindbreaker

AoE Deathrattle trigger
- Feign Death
AoE remove Stealth
- Targets all minions
  - Flare**
- Targets all enemy minions
  - Streetwise Investigator
AoE remove Divine Shield
- Blood Knight
AoE Silence
- Silence all enemy minions
  - Mass Dispel
- Silence all friendly minions
  - Wailing Soul*
AoE Freeze
- Freeze all enemy minions
  - Frost Nova, Blizzard**
- Freeze all friendly minions
  - Hyldnir Frostrider*
AoE force all minions to attack
- Mass Hysteria

*Cards like Baron Geddon and Brawl exclude one minion from the effect, but hit all other targets as described. Ysera Awakens and Dread Infernal are two other examples of this type of targeting. Minions such as Stormwind Champion that provide ongoing AoE buffs similarly exclude themselves from the effect.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
KABOOM!	None	Hero Power		Warrior	2			Hero Power Deal 1 damage to all enemies. Swaps each turn.
Ysera Awakens	None	Spell		Any	2			Deal 5 damage to all characters except Ysera.
Grimscale Oracle	Free	Minion	Murloc	Any	1	1	1	Your other Murlocs have +1 Attack. These are the brainy murlocs. It turns out that doesn’t mean much.
Healing Totem	Free	Minion	Totem	Shaman	1	0	2	At the end of your turn, restore 1 Health to all friendly minions.
Timber Wolf	Free	Minion	Beast	Hunter	1	1	1	Your other Beasts have +1 Attack. Other beasts totally dig hanging out with timber wolves.
Whirlwind	Free	Spell		Warrior	1			Deal 1 damage to ALL minions. The way to tell seasoned warriors from novice ones: the novices yell "wheeeee" while whirlwinding.
Arcane Explosion	Free	Spell		Mage	2			Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions. This spell is much better than Arcane Implosion.
Fan of Knives	Free	Spell		Rogue	3			Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions. Draw a card. I wouldn't say I LOVE knives, but I'm definitely a fan.
Frost Nova	Free	Spell		Mage	3			Freeze all enemy minions. Hey man, that's cold. Literally and metaphorically.
Raid Leader	Free	Minion	General	Any	3	2	2	Your other minions have +1 Attack. "That's a 50 DKP minus!"
Savage Roar	Free	Spell		Druid	3			Give your characters +2 Attack this turn. What do they roar? Nobody can quite tell, but it sounds like "Elephant Macho Breeze". It's probably not that, though.
Warsong Commander	Free	Minion	General	Warrior	3	2	3	Your Charge minions have +1 Attack. The Warsong clan is such drama. It's really not worth it to become a commander.
Consecration	Free	Spell		Paladin	4			Deal 2 damage to all enemies. Consecrated ground glows with Holy energy. But it smells a little, too.
Hellfire	Free	Spell		Warlock	4			Deal 3 damage to ALL characters. It's spells like these that make it hard for Warlocks to get decent help.
Swipe	Free	Spell		Druid	4			Deal 4 damage to an enemy and 1 damage to all other enemies. When a bear rears back and extends his arms, he's about to Swipe! ... or hug.
Bloodlust	Free	Spell		Shaman	5			Give your minions +3 Attack this turn. blaarghghLLGHRHARAAHAHHH!!
Darkscale Healer	Free	Minion	General	Any	5	4	5	Battlecry: Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters. Healing is just something she does in her free time. It's more of a hobby really.
Holy Nova	Free	Spell		Priest	5			Deal 2 damage to all enemies. Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters. If the Holy Light forsakes you, good luck casting this spell. Also, you're probably a jerk.
Tundra Rhino	Free	Minion	Beast	Hunter	5	2	5	Your Beasts have Charge. Tundra rhinos are often mistaken for kodos. Or am I mistaken?
Dread Infernal	Free	Minion	Demon	Warlock	6	6	6	Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to ALL other characters. "INFERNOOOOOOOOOO!" - Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion
Vanish	Free	Spell		Rogue	6			Return all minions to their owner's hand.
Flamestrike	Free	Spell		Mage	7			Deal 4 damage to all enemy minions. When the ground is on fire, you should not* stop, drop, and roll.*
Stormwind Champion	Free	Minion	General	Any	7	6	6	Your other minions have +1/+1. When Deathwing assaulted the capital, this soldier was the only member of his squad to survive. Now he's all bitter and stuff.
Beakered Lightning	Common	Spell		Shaman	0			Deal 1 damage to all minions. Overload: (2) Working in a shaman's lab, it's important to be well-grounded.
Circle of Healing	Common	Spell		Priest	0			Restore 4 Health to ALL minions. It isn't really a circle.
Blessing of the Ancients	Common	Spell		Druid	1			Twinspell Give your minions +1/+1. Arguably the cutest blessing.
Daring Escape	Common	Spell		Rogue	1			Return all friendly minions to your hand. Impossible to cast without cackling evilly.
Never Surrender!	Common	Spell		Paladin	1			Secret: When your opponent casts a spell, give your minions +2 Health. But sometimes concede.
Potion Vendor	Common	Minion	General	Any	1	1	1	Battlecry: Restore 2 Health to all friendly characters. Everyone gets two because that's all she can hold.
Serrated Tooth	Common	Weapon		Rogue	1	1	3	Deathrattle: Give your minions Rush. The tooth hurts, don’t it?
Divine Hymn	Common	Spell		Priest	2			Restore 6 Health to all friendly characters. Taken up an octave, it's highly effective against stained glass golems.
Explosive Trap	Common	Spell		Hunter	2			Secret: When your hero is attacked, deal 2 damage to all enemies. It traps your food AND cooks it for you!
Lost Spirit	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	1	1	Deathrattle: Give your minions +1 Attack She simply refuses to ask for directions.
Power of the Wild	Common	Spell		Druid	2			Choose One - Give your minions +1/+1; or Summon a 3/2 Panther. Never look a panther in the eye. Or is it 'Always look a panther in the eye'? Well, it's one of those.
Soul of the Murloc	Common	Spell		Shaman	2			Give your minions "Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Murloc." Previously thought nonexistent.
Warpath	Common	Spell		Warrior	2			Echo Deal 1 damage to all minions. "Left, right, left, right, there's none of the enemy left… Right?"
Leokk	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	3	2	4	Your other minions have +1 Attack.
Soul of the Forest	Common	Spell		Druid	4			Give your minions "Deathrattle: Summon a 2/2 Treant." "Reforestation" is suddenly a terrifying word.
Dragonmaw Scorcher	Common	Minion	Dragon	Any	5	3	6	Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to all other minions. Caution: Contains Flammable Material
Arcanosaur	Common	Minion	Elemental	Mage	6	3	3	Battlecry: If you played an Elemental last turn, deal 3 damage to all other minions. Arcane energy… finds a way.
Cauldron Elemental	Common	Minion	Elemental	Any	8	7	7	Your other Elementals have +2 Attack. Decorating tip: Unused cauldrons can make a lovely elemental display.
Grim Rally	Rare	Spell		Warlock	1			Destroy a friendly minion. Give your minions +1/+1. There’s no “Aiiiieeee” in “Team.”
Shriek	Rare	Spell		Warlock	1			Discard your lowest Cost card. Deal 2 damage to all minions. The first warning sign of an oncoming warlock temper tantrum.
Commanding Shout	Rare	Spell		Warrior	2			Your minions can't be reduced below 1 Health this turn. Draw a card. "Shout! Shout! Let it all out!" - Advice to warriors-in-training
Curse of Weakness	Rare	Spell		Warlock	2			Echo Give all enemy minions -2 Attack until your next turn. Warlocks refer to this as a "balance change."
Flare	Rare	Spell		Hunter	2			All minions lose Stealth. Destroy all enemy Secrets. Draw a card. Not only does it reveal your enemies, but it's also great for parties!
Wild Pyromancer	Rare	Minion	General	Any	2	3	2	After you cast a spell, deal 1 damage to ALL minions. BOOM BABY BOOM! BAD IS GOOD! DOWN WITH GOVERNMENT!
Coldlight Seer	Rare	Minion	Murloc	Any	3	2	3	Battlecry: Give your other Murlocs +2 Health. The Coldlight murlocs reside in the darkest pits of the Abyssal Depths. So no, there's no getting away from murlocs.
Impferno	Rare	Spell		Warlock	3			Give your Demons +1 Attack. Deal 1 damage to all enemy minions. Imps don't get mad when you set them on fire. They think it's cozy.
Lightning Storm	Rare	Spell		Shaman	3			Deal 2-3 damage to all enemy minions. Overload: (2) An umbrella won't be effective, I'm afraid.
Blade Flurry	Rare	Spell		Rogue	4			Destroy your weapon and deal its damage to all enemy minions. "Look, it's not just about waving daggers around really fast. It's a lot more complicated than that." - Shan, Rogue Trainer
Equality	Rare	Spell		Paladin	4			Change the Health of ALL minions to 1. We are all special unique snowflakes... with 1 Health.
Mass Dispel	Rare	Spell		Priest	4			Silence all enemy minions. Draw a card. It dispels buffs, powers, hopes, and dreams.
Shadowflame	Rare	Spell		Warlock	4			Destroy a friendly minion and deal its Attack damage to all enemy minions. Start with a powerful minion and stir in Shadowflame and you have a good time!
Abomination	Rare	Minion	General	Any	5	4	4	Taunt. Deathrattle: Deal 2 damage to ALL characters. Abominations enjoy Fresh Meat and long walks on the beach.
Chief Inspector	Rare	Minion	General	Any	5	4	6	Battlecry: Destroy all enemy Secrets. Empty your pockets, I know you’ve got a Wandering Monster in there!
Hagatha's Scheme	Rare	Spell		Shaman	5			Deal 1 damage to all minion. (Upgrades each turn!) "All shall suffer!" "But Hagatha, those are your minions..." "I said ALL!!!"
Mass Hysteria	Rare	Spell		Priest	5			Force each minion to attack another random minion. Black Friday gets worse every year.
Shrink Ray	Rare	Spell		Paladin	5			Set the Attack and Health of all minions to 1. Actually works by enlarging the rest of the world.
Starfall	Rare	Spell		Druid	5			Choose One - Deal 5 damage to a minion; or 2 damage to all enemy minions. Is the sky falling? Yes. Yes it is.
Blizzard	Rare	Spell		Mage	6			Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions and Freeze them. This spell can be very Entertaining.
Missile Launcher	Rare	Minion	Mech	Any	6	4	4	Magnetic At the end of your turn, deal 1 damage to all other characters. We asked, "Where do the missiles go?" and he answered, "Yes."
Tending Tauren	Rare	Minion	General	Druid	6	3	4	Choose One - Give your other minions +1/+1; or Summon two 2/2 Treants. That racial bonus to Herbalism finally paid off.
Tunnel Blaster	Rare	Minion	General	Any	7	3	7	Taunt Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to all minions. And you always thought they wore the candles just for fun.
Silver Sword	Rare	Weapon		Paladin	8	3	4	After your hero attacks, give your minions +1/+1. Silver’s malleability limits its utility as an edged weapon. On the other hand... SHINY!
Doomsayer	Epic	Minion	General	Any	2	0	7	At the start of your turn, destroy ALL minions. He's almost been right so many times. He was sure* it was coming during the Cataclysm.*
Murloc Warleader	Epic	Minion	Murloc	Any	3	3	3	Your other Murlocs have +2 Attack. Do Murlocs ever get tired of making the same old sound? Nope! Mrglglrglglglglglglgl!
Southsea Captain	Epic	Minion	Pirate	Any	3	3	3	Your other Pirates have +1/+1. When he saves enough plunder, he's going to commission an enormous captain's hat. He has hat envy.
Totem Cruncher	Epic	Minion	Beast	Shaman	4	2	3	Taunt Battlecry: Destroy your Totems. Gain +2/+2 for each destroyed. When regular totem hours won't cut it.
Blast Wave	Epic	Spell		Mage	5			Deal 2 damage to all minions. Overkill: Add a random Mage spell to your hand. If you’re burning and you know it, wave your hands!
Brawl	Epic	Spell		Warrior	5			Destroy all minions except one. (chosen randomly) Do you know the first rule of Brawl Club?
Loose Specimen	Epic	Minion	Beast	Any	5	6	6	Battlecry: Deal 6 damage randomly split among other friendly minions. You leave Deathstalker Rexxar alone in the lab for TWO minutes…
Treespeaker	Epic	Minion	General	Druid	5	4	4	Battlecry: Transform your Treans into 5/5 Ancients. Honestly, his delivery is a little wooden.
Darkest Hour	Epic	Spell		Warlock	6			Destroy all friendly minions. For each one, summon a random minion from your deck. It's always darkest just before you find the light switch.
Deadly Arsenal	Epic	Spell		Warrior	6			Reveal a weapon from your deck. Deal its Attack to all minions. Oh look. A Gorehowl.
Mossy Horror	Epic	Minion	General	Any	6	2	7	Battlecry: Destroy all other minions with 2 or less Attack. The hills have eyes. And teeth. Pretty bad breath, too.
Star Aligner	Epic	Minion	General	Any	7	7	7	Battlecry: If you control 3 minions with 7 Health, deal 7 damage to all enemies. "You're a Sagittarius? Me too! Just gimme a sec."
Worgen Abomination	Epic	Minion	General	Any	7	6	6	At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to all other damaged minions. Does anyone want to play dead!??!?
Twisting Nether	Epic	Spell		Warlock	8			Destroy all minions. The Twisting Nether is a formless place of magic and illusion and destroyed minions.
Whirlwind Tempest	Epic	Minion	Elemental	Any	8	6	6	Your minions with Windfury have Mega-Windfury. And your minions with mega-windfury get... dizzy.
Houndmaster Shaw	Legendary	Minion	General	Hunter	4	3	6	Your other minions have Rush. They’re good dogs, Tess.
Lady in White	Legendary	Minion	General	Priest	6	5	5	Battlecry: Cast 'Inner Fire' on all minions in your deck. (set Attack equal to Health) She was a lady in polka dots until the gnomish laundromat incident.
Baron Geddon	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Any	7	7	5	At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to ALL other characters. Baron Geddon was Ragnaros's foremost lieutenant, until he got FIRED.
Lord Godfrey	Legendary	Minion	General	Warlock	7	4	4	Battlecry: Deal 2 damage to all other minions. If any die, repeat this Battlecry. Betrayed the Alliance. Betrayed the Horde. All for 200 achievement points and a sweet, sweet hat.
The Storm Bringer	Legendary	Spell		Shaman	7			Transform your minions into random Legendary minions. Finally, Electra can work from home.
Hagatha the Witch	Legendary	Hero card		Shaman	8			Battlecry: Deal 3 damage to all minions. Curse-bringer, tree-twister, mother of wretched things…Hanzo main.
Cenarius	Legendary	Minion	General	Druid	9	5	8	Choose One - Give your other minions +2/+2; or Summon two 2/2 Treants with Taunt. Yes, he's a demigod. No, he doesn't need to wear a shirt.
Deathwing	Legendary	Minion	Dragon	Any	10	12	12	Battlecry: Destroy all other minions and discard your hand. Once a noble dragon known as Neltharion, Deathwing lost his mind and shattered Azeroth before finally being defeated. Daddy issues?
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