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Yogg-Saron, Hope's End(33168)

Yogg-Saron, arguably the most random card ever released

Random effects are effects which include some degree of randomness or 'RNG' (random number generation).

Random effects introduce an element of chance into Hearthstone. They can be interesting, fun, frustrating or rewarding, but their outcome is always uncertain. For a discussion of the role of randomness in games, see RNG.

Notes[]

  • Effects which draw randomly from a pool of cards are influenced by game format, with only cards valid in the current format being eligible for selection. All other random effects are unaffected by game format or game mode.
  • Random effects without specific influencing factors are "truly random" and offer balanced chances of all possible outcomes,[1] regardless of circumstantial details such as which minions are currently on the board or which cards are currently in the player's hand. Random outcomes are also not affected by game mode, such as Tavern Brawls (unless specifically stated).[2] However, some effects are limited by clearly relevant factors, such as LegacyTotemic Call, which will only summon a totem that is not already present, or card draw, which can only draw cards that are remaining in the player's deck.
  • Random effects do not always feature the word 'random' in their description. Game Designer Ben Brode explains that the general strategy is to explicitly state 'random' for effects that take place in "visible zones" such as the battlefield or the player's hand; and not to explicitly state 'random' for effects that take in "hidden zones" such as the opposing player's hand, or either player's deck. However, Brode acknowledged that not all cards follow this convention, stating that "the word 'random' just feels better on [some] cards", while in other cases adding the word 'random' would simply complexify card text too much.[3] Players must therefore expect that effects which affect hidden zones will be random, even if this is not specifically stated on the card. In addition, Deathrattles and triggered effects are never targetable, and so are always random, whether or not this is stated.
  • When a card has "a 50% chance to attack the wrong enemy", it is unofficially known as "forgetful". More details on this type of randomness can be found on that page.
  • One of the design reasons behind random effects of all kinds is to add variety, ensuring that each match feels different. This is also one reason for the limit of 2 copies per card in a deck, and the relatively small number of card draw effects in the game, preventing the cards available to players from being too consistent across games.[4]

Random damage[]

Random damage comes in a few forms. Some cards, commonly Shaman cards, deal a random amount of damage (within a certain range) to one creature or each one of multiple creatures. Other cards deal an exact amount of damage to a random target, or multiple random targets.

The most complicated case is cards such as LegacyArcane Missiles and LegacyMad Bomber that deal a total amount of damage distributed or "split" randomly. These effects are best thought of as a set of one-damage "hits" being randomly targeted one at a time: Each point of damage is considered a separate instance of damage dealt, meaning that cards like LegacyGurubashi Berserker and LegacyFrothing Berserker will trigger multiple times even if the points of damage came from the same spell or effect, and Divine Shields will be removed by a single point of damage, allowing the protected minion to be damaged by further "hits" from the same effect. Furthermore, damage will never be distributed to a minion that has already been brought to 0 health by previous hits from the same effect.

This concept has some exceptions. Deathrattles and other death effects from any destroyed minions occur "simultaneously" after all the damage is dealt, which means that minions summoned by Deathrattles (e.g. LegacyDamaged Golem) cannot be hit by the same effect that destroyed their "parents" (e.g. LegacyHarvest Golem), and that damage may be "wasted" on targets that would have died anyway from the Deathrattle of another dying minion (e.g. LegacyAbomination). Also, for spells which distribute damage between multiple targets, each point of Spell Damage adds one additional randomly targeted "hit", thus increasing the total damage dealt by one, rather than increasing the damage of each hit by one.

Strategy[]

Some RNG elements within Hearthstone can be minimised by controlling the prevailing situation. For example, LegacyDeadly Shot destroys one random enemy minion. When faced with several enemies, this can prove extremely random; however, when faced with only a single fearsome enemy its RNG element is removed, and it becomes a simple and effective removal spell.

Order of play is often important when dealing with RNG in target selection. Players may wish to first remove non-desirable targets for abilities such as LegacyArcane Missiles and LegacyCleave, to ensure that only the ideal targets remain available. More often though, players will generally want to use RNG abilities early in the round, in order to plan the rest of their actions around the resulting situation.

The uncertainty of RNG elements causes many players to avoid them whenever possible, preferring guaranteed effects which can be relied upon to achieve their intended goals, and RNG options are often considered to be slightly poorer than their average effect, due to the undesirability of their randomness, which also makes planning for their use much harder. However, the satisfaction of a successful roll of the dice can be very gratifying, and to some degree form a reward in itself for attempting a risky play. The seeming unfairness of being defeated by an opponent due almost entirely to luck or chance can be particularly exasperating for the loser, and particularly entertaining for the victor. Some players also choose to use cards with strong RNG elements (such as LegacyGelbin Mekkatorque) in order to add variety, unpredictability and fun to the game.

Card draw itself is inherently a randomised process, and cards granting card draw can also be considered to provide players with random effects.

Cards[]

For Wild format listings, see Random effect/Wild format

This section lists Hearthstone cards and Hero Powers with random effects. Note that card draw, shuffle into deck and Discover effects are not listed here, but can be found on the linked pages.


Swipe left or right to see the cards.
TTN 721t
ETC 367
TTN 858t1
TTN 800t3
TSC 934t2
TSC 934t3
TSC 934t
TTN 415t
TTN 075t3
TTN 429t3
ULD 209t
RLK 812
CORE KAR 009
RLK 957
GVG 110t
NX2 025
MAW 027
TSC 632
RLK 568
REV 920
REV 920t
JAM 001
ETC 104
REV 938
REV 938t
TTN 860
TTN 951
TTN 951t
ETC 375a
CORE UNG 912
RLK 601
REV 923
ETC 375
RLK 039
REV 834
RLK 818
RLK 715
TSC 631
TTN 736
CS2 058
TSC 772t
CORE KAR 069
ETC 535
TSC 641td
NX2 014
TSC 211
REV 332
CORE UNG 020
ETC 833
ETC 536
JAM 015t4
TSC 216t
REV 917
JAM 015t3
RLK 083
CORE CFM 790
ETC 077
TTN 833
TTN 450
TTN 454
TTN 719
RLK 511
JAM 003
ETC 098t
ETC 418
TID 931
TTN 955A
TTN 955
CORE EX1 082
RLK 206
REV 308
CORE BOT 533
RLK 845
TTN 852
TTN 735
ETC 350
RLK 572
JAM 015t2
JAM 015
RLK 907t
REV 337
RLK 821
JAM 015t
TTN 803
REV 360
ETC 105
TID 707
TTN 456
HERO 02bp
RLK 914
RLK 711
REV 845
CORE LOOT 079
TTN 039
TTN 039t
CORE GIL 653
RLK 210
TSC 219t2
TSC 219t
TSC 219t3
TSC 219t4
TSC 608
CORE NEW1 031
RLK 087
ETC 072
TTN 753t
JAM 012t3
JAM 012t2
ETC 318
JAM 033t
JAM 000t
ETC 364
TID 715
TSC 072
TSC 826
RLK 221
TSC 085
CORE EX1 617
REV 020
ETC 317
ETC 427t
RLK 570t2
RLK 545
JAM 032
MAW 005
ETC 427
RLK 822
RLK 570t4
ETC 339
TSC 641tb
JAM 012t4
TSC 218
ETC 528
JAM 012t
RLK 120
TTN 734
JAM 000t2
ETC 422
TTN 920
RLK 570t2t1
RLK 570t4t2
RLK 570t1t3
RLK 570t2t2
RLK 570tt4
RLK 570tt3
RLK 570tt1
RLK 570t4t1
RLK 570t1t2
RLK 570t1t1
RLK 570t1t4
RLK 570t4t3
TTN 477
TTN 477t1
JAM 000t3
TTN 460
ETC 085t4
ETC 085t2
REV 022
JAM 000t4
JAM 033t4
REV 935t
REV 935
TSC 633
REV 924
TSC 640
JAM 000
JAM 033
JAM 012
RLK 710
NX2 035
ETC 121
JAM 033t3
ETC 200
TSC 055
RLK 910
TTN 712
TID 075
RLK 570t1
REV 364
TTN 718
ETC 089
TTN 468
TTN 482
TSC 776t
TSC 702
TTN 485
JAM 033t2
RLK 571
REV 361
CORE BT 355
TSC 067
JAM 024
RLK 813
TID 744
TTN 490
TTN 490t
CORE DRG 256
CORE LOOT 211
RLK 215
JAM 035
ETC 334
MAW 022
ETC 400
ETC 832
CORE UNG 833
ETC 111
RLK 740
REV 515
RLK 831
RLK 553
ETC 540
RLK 217
RLK 214
RLK 600
TSC 057t
TSC 945t
NX2 001
TTN 725
RLK 223
TTN 715
RLK 537
CORE FP1 022
ETC 205
REV 318
TTN 463
MAW 012
MAW 012t
RLK 540
JAM 018t
ETC 838
ETC 428
CORE EX1 407
TTN 741
RLK 607
CORE BOT 104
REV 961
JAM 018t3
TSC 034
ETC 026
RLK 832
RLK 531
RLK 653
TTN 842
ETC 329
JAM 018
JAM 018t2
ETC 071
RLK 535
REV 251
RLK 534
MAW 004
JAM 002
ETC 376
TTN 723
RLK 950
TTN 855t
TTN 855
JAM 018t4
TTN 458t
TTN 458
CORE ULD 258
TSC 020
REV 310
REV 934
NX2 026
TTN 716
TTN 800
REV 835
REV 835t
TTN 415
ETC 328
RLK 505
TSC 645
TTN 075
TTN 481
RLK 029
NX2 023
RLK 652
ETC 349
TTN 721
TTN 429
TTN 858
CORE DAL 721
TTN 700
REV 950
TTN 480
CORE KAR 076
TSC 658
REV 353t
REV 353
ETC 370
RLK 071
TTN 090
CORE GIL 598
ETC 409
TTN 857
TSC 630
REV 937t
RLK 222t2
RLK 551
REV 369
RLK 592
ETC 419
TID 711
REV 370
TSC 934
CORE EX1 298
REV 319
TTN 441
ETC 208
MAW 030
RLK 830
TID 949
RLK 803
CS3 034
RLK 122
RLK 590
TSC 659
ETC 840
ETC 210
REV 365
CS3 036
RLK 911
REV 906
REV 906t

History[]

In the build-up to Curse of Naxxramas, the adventure's class cards were revealed to players one by one, many of which featured Deathrattle effects, with text that did not specify that the effects were randomly targeted. This led to widespread confusion over the function of the effects. In a special forum post, Ben Brode explained that by omitting the word 'random', card text could be shortened. By establishing the rule that Deathrattles were never targetable, the developers would not have to explicitly state this on each card, which could eventually allow for the development of more "strategically deep" card effects, due to having more card space in which to describe them, potentially otherwise a limiting factor. Brode stated that "setting expectations now that triggers never allow choices allows us to make cards that otherwise would have too much text",[5] explaining that the omission of explicit statements to this effect "lays the groundwork for shortening the text."[6]

However, in the face of player confusion and preference for random effects to be explicitly described as such, the policy was altered, and the word 'random' added to several Naxxramas cards.

Trivia[]

  • Gnomes are known for the unpredictability of their inventions, and many gnome cards in Hearthstone feature random effects.

References[]

  1. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-05-23). 
  2. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2016-06-11). 
  3. Ben Brode (2014-06-05). The word "random" in card text. (official forums)
  4. Ben Brode on the official forums. (2017-02-02). 
  5. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-05-14). 
  6. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-05-14). 
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