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For the game conclusion where neither player wins, see Draw

Card draw is a term used to refer the process or mechanic of taking cards from the top of the deck and adding them to the hand.

A card draw effect is an effect which causes the player to draw one or more cards directly from their deck. Cards with card draw effects are sometimes called "cantrips", after similar effects in other games.

Card draw effects are distinguished from generate effects, which place new cards into your hand without removing them from your deck; and from put into hand and put into battlefield effects, which place cards of a specific type into the hand or the battlefield directly from the player's deck, rather than simply drawing the next card in the deck.

Notes[]

The following terms are used in this wiki to carry different meanings related to card drawing:

  • Draw-related cards - These cards have special effects which trigger based on the drawing of other cards.
  • On-draw effect cards - These cards trigger their effect as soon as they are drawn.
    • Casts When Drawn - This ability appears on spell cards. When the spell card is drawn, it is cast without using any mana. Another card is then drawn.

Details[]

Drawing a card places the top card of the player's deck into the player's hand. Since a player's hand can only hold 10 cards at a time (with the exception of the effect of Descent of DragonsValdris Felgorge), attempting to draw cards with a full hand will result in overdraw (see below), which is not considered card draw for game purposes.

Once the player's deck has been exhausted, attempting to draw a card with an empty deck will cause fatigue damage to the player, with the amount increasing each time a draw is attempted.

All decks have a predefined order on the server.[1] If the deck is reordered, such as with LegacySightless Watcher, Scholomance AcademyLorekeeper Polkelt, or shuffle effects, card drawing still draws from the top of the deck.

Hero death is not checked in-between draws, but only after the draw phase has completed.

  • For example, if the player is at 4 health and draws a The Boomsday ProjectBomb dealing 5 damage and then a Scholomance AcademySoul Fragment restoring 2 health, the player will not lose during the draw phase but will be alive at 1 health at the end of the draw phase.
  • For example, if the player is at 1 health and draws 45 fatigue cards, they will not die until the last fatigue card is drawn.

Overdraw[]

Main article: Mill

Attempting to draw a card when you already have the maximum number in your hand (usually 10) will result in the drawn card being removed from play, something referred to as "overdraw". Overdrawn cards are revealed to both players, before the card is visually destroyed.

Overdrawing is similar to discarding, but does not count as a discard for game purposes. While discard effects remove cards from the hand, overdraw removes the card directly from the deck. Overdraw also does not count as card draw for game purposes, since the game never attempts to draw the card into the hand, but rather destroys it since there is no room.

Overdrawing is also referred to as milling.

Types[]

Most cards are drawn automatically without the use of specific effects: Each turn, the current player draws a random card from their deck. This occurs at the start of each round, before the player is able to take any actions, but after effects that state "at the start of your turn". The initial hand and mulligan at the start of the game also draws 3-4 randomly selected cards, although this takes place before regular game mechanics become active and do not trigger effects related to card drawing.

Certain spells cause the caster to draw one or more cards when they are cast. Some minions also have card draw effects as part of their card text, and vary in activation method. Many have a one-time Battlecry or Deathrattle that activates the card draw, but some that use triggered effects can be used repeatedly to draw numerous cards.

Card draw effects draw from the top of the randomly ordered deck, unlike "put into battlefield" or "put into hand" effects, resulting in an even chance of getting any card remaining in the deck. However, it is possible to gain more control over drawing using LegacyTracking, which gives the player a choice among the top three random draws.

Strategy[]

Card advantage is a very important part of card games. Having more cards means having more options, and increases the likelihood of having the card you need. While card value and strategy form a part of this, using cards with card draw can also help you to maintain a good range of options each turn, and even attain a card advantage over your opponent.

An example of the value of card draw effects would be the LegacyLoot Hoarder, who draws the controlling player a card when he is destroyed. If the player uses their Loot Hoarder to attack their opponent's LegacyKnife Juggler, both minions will be destroyed. However, because Loot Hoarder's death draws a new card for its owner, the exchange can be considered to be favourable.

It is very important in gameplay to make profitable trades, such as using a LegacyPatient Assassin to attack a LegacyMolten Giant, destroying both minions. However, in some situations it will be necessary to sacrifice multiple minions to destroy a single enemy, such as using LegacyMurloc Raider to break LegacySunwalker's Divine Shield, before then attacking with Patient Assassin. Having good card draw can make this more viable, with a larger supply of cards to use.

The benefit of card draw has its limits, however, in the form of fatigue. Once a player has exhausted their deck, fatigue deals increasing damage to them each time they try to draw another card. Using too much card draw in a deck can lead to reaching this point prematurely, inadvertently leading to the player's demise.

Another limit to card draw is the player's hand size. Each player can only have a total of 10 cards in their hand at any time (with the exception of the effect of Descent of DragonsValdris Felgorge). If you attempt to draw a new card when your hand is full, that card will be destroyed. Cards destroyed in this way will be revealed face up to both players before being incinerated. This can therefore potentially grant additional strategic value by informing you of your opponent's deck style, or showing that they have lost a critical and possibly unique card, knowledge which can be very useful in anticipating what your opponent may or may not be capable of.

Both of these mechanics can be exploited to the other player's benefit. For example, forcing your opponent to draw cards when their hand is full will cause them to waste valuable cards. Even more powerfully, forcing your opponent to draw cards when they have exhausted their deck will cause them to suffer increasing fatigue damage. In such circumstances cards like LegacyNorthshire Cleric can actually become the direct cause of the controlling player's defeat.

Forcing card draw and controlling the player's ability to empty their hand are key components in milling, a technique that attempts to hasten the opponent's progress toward fatigue damage, and/or cause them to overdraw, destroying and revealing cards. This is usually achieved through using card draw effects such as LegacyNaturalize and LegacyColdlight Oracle to cause the opponent to draw a significant amount of additional cards. Unlike with Northshire Cleric, milling generally does not rely on the opponent's cards to initiate card draw, but aggressively pursues the goal through its own means.

Forced overdraw can be an effective way of causing the opponent to reveal cards, which can illustrate their deck type or general strategy. Destroying key cards such as LegacyGrommash Hellscream or a second LegacyIce Block can serve to inform the player that their opponent no longer has a chance to draw these cards, providing substantial strategic advantage. However, since card draw is randomised, unless the game reaches fatigue, overdraw will not actually affect which cards the player draws.

Some cards interact with the number of cards in the player's hand, and can offer advantages for having either a full or an empty hand. LegacyMountain Giant and LegacyTwilight Drake are cards which reward having a large hand, and players with these cards will often try to make their hand as full as possible before playing them. Cards with discard effects such as LegacySoulfire and LegacyDoomguard offer a powerful incentive to empty the hand before playing them, or at least to play any valuable cards first.

The warlock has a particularly interesting relationship with card draw, due to their hero power LegacyLife Tap as well as the card Descent of DragonsValdris Felgorge. Warlocks can use Life Tap to quickly fill their hand, doubling the usual rate of card draw each turn. This can be useful for quickly growing a full hand for use with cards like LegacyTwilight Drake, or to refill the hand after emptying it with cheap minion cards or discard effects like LegacyDoomguard. Warlocks trying to play around discard effects may deliberately empty their hand before then refilling using Life Tap, or even Life Tap before discarding in order to reduce the likelihood of losing specific cards in their hand.

Cards[]

Collectible[]

For Wild format listings, see Card draw/Wild format

Swipe left or right to see the cards.
CORE CS3 014
CORE BT 480
CORE BT 427
TTN 922
RLK 573
TSC 916
CORE EX1 302
CORE EX1 391
CORE AT 053
CORE EX1 012
CORE BT 035
RLK 804
REV 931
REV 016
RLK 101
MAW 024
REV 825
CORE EX1 129
CORE TRL 307
TTN 830
TSC 939
TTN 744
TSC 948
CORE BT 292
REV 245
CORE EX1 096
RLK 206
MAW 016
CORE BRM 013
ETC 372
CORE EX1 606
CORE BT 491
RLK 051
CORE EX1 154
RLK 121
CORE EX1 007
CORE CS2 023
REV 290
RLK 708
CORE CS2 053
TTN 930
CORE CS2 094
TSC 212
NX2 028
REV 509
ETC 075
TID 098
RLK 533
CORE BOT 103
TTN 469
TTN 835
TSC 938
MAW 029
TTN 865
TTN 907
ETC 405
RLK 829
JAM 035
ETC 324
REV 510
RLK 603
RLK 709
TTN 711
TSC 935
MAW 008
ETC 384
TTN 475
CORE EX1 284
REV 019
JAM 036
CORE EX1 164
ETC 071
ETC 541
TTN 085
TTN 092
CORE EX1 095
NX2 011
RLK 224
REV 508
TTN 721
CORE NEW1 008
TSC 656
TTN 903

Uncollectible[]

For Wild format listings, see Card draw/Wild format

The following minions are generated by other cards or effects, and are uncollectible.


Swipe left or right to see the cards.
TTN 721t1
TTN 092t1
TTN 903t
CS2 013t
NX2 011t
TSC 641td
HERO 07bp
EX1 154b
TTN 930t
RLK 570t5
RLK 570tt3
RLK 570tt4
RLK 570tt5
RLK 570tt1
RLK 570tt2
ETC 085t7
TSC 030t2
TTN 865t
JAM 018t
EX1 164b
REV 019t
NEW1 008a

Related cards[]

For Wild format listings, see Card draw/Wild format

These cards have a specific interaction with the drawing of any card.


Swipe left or right to see the cards.
TTN 840
RLK 206
TTN 844
REV 960
TTN 731
TTN 843
TTN 850
TTN 715
CS3 001
TTN 842
JAM 036
TTN 841

Casts When Drawn[]

Main article: Casts When Drawn

Casts When Drawn are card effects which activate when that card is drawn from the deck. For notes and other information, see Casts When Drawn.


Swipe left or right to see the cards.
MAW 005t
SCH 307t
SW 439t
ONY 034t
SW 311t
TTN 450t
TRL 541t
TTN 450t3
SW 097t
RLK 039t
TTN 450t2
DAL 582t
AV 316t4
AT 035t
BAR 721t
DMF 514t
LOE 110t
LOOT 526t
ULD 286t
LOOT 026e
BOT 511t
LOOT 106t
TSC 912t
DRG 036t
GVG 056t
ONY 028t
DRG 320t

Trivia[]

  • Card draw effects have traditionally "been a little bit dangerous" for the designers, particularly due to the possibility of achieving too much consistency in the cards drawn.[2] This can allow players to count on drawing most cards at some point during each match, making powerful but otherwise hard to achieve set piece combos predictable and reliable. Aside from the overall power of card draw, the developers also try to restrict its availability due to the potential for too much card draw to make every game feel "sort of the same".[2][3] This is because increased card draw allows players to draw more of their deck each game, removing much of the variation normally seen between matches.[2] For these reasons, the designers restrict the number of card draw effects available, especially in Standard format.[3]

References[]

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