Charge

Charge
Can attack immediately.

For the card of the same name, see Charge (card).

Charge is an ability allowing a minion to attack the same turn it is summoned or brought under a new player's control.

Charge is available to all classes, but is most strongly associated with the warrior and hunter classes. Warrior cards involving Charge include Charge, Kor'Kron Elite and Grommash Hellscream. Hunters have access to powerful Charge cards such as Huffer, Unleash the Hounds, Tundra Rhino and King Krush.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Minions with Charge will not suffer the exhausted effect when first put into play. This also applies if the minion is brought into play through means such as a Summon effect or Faceless Manipulator's Transform effect.
- The Charge ability effectively suppresses a newly-summoned minion's exhaustion, but does not remove it. If Charge is removed from a newly-summoned minion, such as through a Silence, the minion will become exhausted.^[1]

If a friendly minion can only attack because it has temporary Charge from Tundra Rhino, the Tundra Rhino does not have to survive until the actual combat happens (for example, if it dies to Explosive Trap, the combat will not be cancelled).^[2]

Strategy[edit | edit source]

Charge is a very useful ability for dealing instant damage, and often features as part of a deck's burst damage potential. Cards like Doomguard can be held until the opportunity arise to quickly defeat the opponent using the cards left in the hand.

Charge minions are often used to finish the opponent, sometimes as part of one turn kill (OTK) combos. Leeroy Jenkins is a good example, often combined with cards such as Shadowstep, Faceless Manipulator, Reincarnate and Power Overwhelming to deal huge damage in a single turn. Unleash the Hounds and Grommash Hellscream are also commonly used as finishers.

Charge can be granted through cards like Tundra Rhino, allowing minions which do not usually possess the ability to make use of it. This can be key in making powerful plays with vulnerable or precious minions such as Raging Worgen, or simply a flurry of regular minions. Unleash the Hounds is a strong example of the power of a sudden group of minions, heavily dependent on Charge.

Charge minions frequently feature decent Attack but relatively low Health. This ensures that they will be defeated upon attacking most targets, and otherwise can be easily dispatched by the opponent, serving to balance their ability to immediately attack with a low likelihood of surviving into the next round.

Cards with Charge[edit | edit source]

This section lists all cards which possess or provide a source of Charge.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Bluegill Warrior	Free	Minion	Murloc	Any	2	2	1	Charge He just wants a hug. A sloppy... slimy... hug.
Charge	Free	Spell		Warrior	1			Give a friendly minion Charge. It can't attack heroes this turn. "Guys! Guys! Slow down!" - some kind of non-warrior minion
Kor'kron Elite	Free	Minion	General	Warrior	4	4	3	Charge The Kor'kron are the elite forces of Garrosh Hellscream. Let's just say you don't want to run into these guys while wearing a blue tabard.
Reckless Rocketeer	Free	Minion	General	Any	6	5	2	Charge One Insane Rocketeer. One Rocket full of Explosives. Infinite Fun.
Stonetusk Boar	Free	Minion	Beast	Any	1	1	1	Charge This card is boaring.
Stormwind Knight	Free	Minion	General	Any	4	2	5	Charge They're still embarrassed about "The Deathwing Incident".
Tundra Rhino	Free	Minion	Beast	Hunter	5	2	5	Your Beasts have Charge. Tundra rhinos are often mistaken for kodos. Or am I mistaken?
Wolfrider	Free	Minion	General	Any	3	3	1	Charge Orcish raiders ride wolves because they are well adapted to harsh environments, and because they are soft and cuddly.
Chillblade Champion	Common	Minion	General	Paladin	4	3	2	Charge Lifesteal It slices, it dices, it vaporizes! The Chillblade will make a Champion out of even the lowliest gnome.
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	5	4	4	Charge
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	General	Druid	5	4	4	Choose One - Transform into a 4/4 with Charge; or a 4/6 with Taunt. Cat or Bear? Cat or Bear?! I just cannot CHOOSE!
Hound	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	1	1	1	Charge
Huffer	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	3	4	2	Charge
Southsea Deckhand	Common	Minion	Pirate	Any	1	2	1	Has Charge while you have a weapon equipped. Pirates are into this new fad called "Planking".
Unleash the Hounds	Common	Spell		Hunter	3			For each enemy minion, summon a 1/1 Hound with Charge. You must read the name of this card out loud each time you play it.
Argent Commander	Rare	Minion	General	Any	6	4	2	Charge Divine Shield The Argent Dawn stands vigilant against the Scourge, as well as people who cut in line at coffee shops.
Doomguard	Rare	Minion	Demon	Warlock	5	5	7	Charge. Battlecry: Discard two random cards. Summoning a doomguard is risky. Someone* is going to die.*
Shadow Madness	Rare	Spell		Priest	4			Gain control of an enemy minion with 3 or less Attack until end of turn. You can rationalize it all you want, it's still a mean thing to do.
Charged Devilsaur	Epic	Minion	Beast	Any	8	7	7	Charge Battlecry: Can't attack heroes this turn. What happens when a dinosaur mixes soda and pop rocks.
Al'Akir the Windlord	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	8	3	5	Windfury, Charge, Divine Shield, Taunt He is the weakest of the four Elemental Lords. And the other three don't let him forget it.
Grommash Hellscream	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	8	4	9	Charge Has +6 Attack while damaged. Grommash drank the tainted blood of Mannoroth, dooming the orcs to green skin and red eyes! Maybe not his best decision.
King Krush	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Hunter	9	8	8	Charge The best defense against King Krush is to have someone you don’t like standing in front of you.
Leeroy Jenkins	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	5	6	2	Charge. Battlecry: Summon two 1/1 Whelps for your opponent. At least he has Angry Chicken.
Showing all 23 cards

Wild format

This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Boar	None	Minion	Beast	Mage	3	4	2	Charge
V-07-TR-0N	None	Minion	Mech	Any	8	4	8	Charge Mega-Windfury (Can attack four times a turn.)
Argent Horserider	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	2	1	Charge Divine Shield His horse's name is Betsy.
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	5	4	6	Charge, Taunt
Druid of the Saber	Common	Minion	General	Druid	2	2	1	Choose One - Transform into a 2/1 with Charge; or a 3/2 with Stealth. That's saberTEETH, not like curved pirate blades. That's a different kind of druid. Druid of the Curved Pirate Blades.
Gnomeregan Infantry	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	1	4	Charge Taunt The gnomes are valiant and ready to return to their irradiated, poorly ventilated homeland!
Potion of Madness	Common	Spell		Priest	1			Gain control of an enemy minion with 2 or less Attack until the end of the turn. You'd be insane NOT to drink it!
Sabertooth Lion	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	2	2	1	Charge
Tanaris Hogchopper	Common	Minion	General	Any	4	4	4	Battlecry: If your opponent's hand is empty, gain Charge. The Hogchoppers are well-known throughout Kalimdor for being a real, actual group.
Tiger Form	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	2	3	2	Charge, Stealth
Alexstrasza's Champion	Rare	Minion	General	Warrior	2	2	3	Battlecry: If you're holding a Dragon, gain +1 Attack and Charge. "Put more spikes on her. No, more spikes. What part of 'more spikes' do you not understand? MORE SPIKES!" - Alexstrasza
Armored Warhorse	Rare	Minion	Beast	Any	4	5	3	Battlecry: Reveal a minion in each deck. If yours costs more, gain Charge. Yep. It's a horse... wearing armor... going to war.
Spiked Hogrider	Rare	Minion	General	Any	5	5	5	Battlecry: If an enemy minion has Taunt, gain Charge. Did you know the Hogchoppers compete every year at the Mirage Raceway? They do. It's a real group.
Leatherclad Hogleader	Epic	Minion	General	Any	6	6	6	Battlecry: If your opponent has 6 or more cards in hand, gain Charge. The Hogchoppers, the terrors of Tanaris, can always be found at one tavern or another in Gadgetzan, refueling for totally real and legit adventures that they go on.
Icehowl	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	9	10	10	Charge Can't attack heroes. This massive yeti just closes his eyes and charges at the nearest target. The nearest Target is a couple blocks away and has sick deals on skateboards.
Old Murk-Eye	Legendary	Minion	Murloc	Any	4	2	4	Charge. Has +1 Attack for each other Murloc on the battlefield. He's a legend among murlocs. "Mrghllghghllghg!", they say.
Skycap'n Kragg	Legendary	Minion	Pirate	Any	7	4	6	Charrrrrge Costs (1) less for each friendly Pirate. What's more boss than riding a parrot with a jawbone for a shoulderpad while wielding a giant hook-lance-thing and wearing a pirate hat? NOTHING.
Showing all 17 cards

Related cards[edit | edit source]

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
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.
Showing the only card

Design[edit | edit source]

Charge is historically one of the most problematic abilities in Hearthstone. This is due to the potential for Charge minions to be combined with Attack-increasing buffs and copy effects, producing excessively powerful burst combos, in the worst cases resulting in one turn kills.^[3] This lack of interactivity makes Charge a concern for the developers, who have consequently become increasingly reluctant to print new minions with unqualified Charge, as well as nerfing numerous cards critical to Charge-based combos.

Designer Max McCall clarifies that the ability itself can be positive, such as for allowing players to catch up when behind on the board, helping to counter the strength of consistently developing the board.^[3] However, when a Charge card is cheap enough to combo with other effects, or it is otherwise viable to achieve a one turn kill using it, the ability "becomes a problem".^[3] One solution to this could be to restrict the availability of buffs and other key combo pieces, but these types of effect offer a larger design space, with the result that restricting them would detract from the game far more significantly than simply restricting the availability of Charge.^[3]

More recently the designers have experimented with conditional Charge effects, and are considering adding more expensive Charge minions in the future, as they "figure out what's safe".^[3]

With The Witchwood, Hearthstone introduced the related Rush effect, which is like Charge except that the minion cannot attack heroes on the turn it is played. It is possible for a minion to have both Rush and Charge (for example, if you play a Rush Beast while Tundra Rhino is on the board); in that case the minion can attack the enemy hero on its first turn.