Random effect

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[edit | edit source]

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 Totemic 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.
- The one exception is the Discover keyword, which does offer a type of weighted random effect, with class cards more likely to be Discovered than neutral cards. While this makes Discover a less than truly random mechanic, the odds and behaviour are consistent across all cards with the keyword. It should also be noted that while semi-random in its behaviour, Discover does not describe itself as 'random'.

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[edit | edit source]

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 Arcane Missiles and Mad 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 Gurubashi Berserker and Frothing 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. Damaged Golem) cannot be hit by the same effect that destroyed their "parents" (e.g. Harvest Golem), and that damage may be "wasted" on targets that would have died anyway from the Deathrattle of another dying minion (e.g. Abomination). 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[edit | edit source]

Some RNG elements within Hearthstone can be minimised by controlling the prevailing situation. For example, Deadly 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 Arcane Missiles and Cleave, 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 Gelbin 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[edit | edit source]

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.

Click Expand to view the card list

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Bewitch	None	Hero Power		Shaman				Passive Hero Power. After you play a minion, add a random Shaman spell to your hand.
Bomb	None	Spell		Any	1			Casts When Drawn You take 5 damage.
Build-A-Beast	None	Hero Power		Hunter	2			Hero Power Craft a custom Zombeast.
Death Grip	None	Spell		Death Knight	2			Steal a minion from your opponent's deck and add it to your hand.
DIE, INSECT!	None	Hero Power		Any	2			Hero Power Deal 8 damage to a random enemy.
Frozen Champion	None	Minion	General	Mage	1	0	1	Deathrattle: Add a random Legendary minion to your hand.
Golden Kobold	None	Minion	General	Any	3	6	6	Taunt Battlecry: Replace your hand with Legendary minions.
Master Chest	None	Minion	General	Any	3	0	8	Deathrattle: Give your opponent a fantastic treasure!
Megafin	None	Minion	Murloc	Shaman	5	8	8	Battlecry: Fill your hand with random Murlocs.
Scroll of Wonder	None	Spell		Mage	5			Casts When Drawn Cast a random spell.
Totemic Call	None	Hero Power		Shaman	2			Hero Power Summon a random Totem.
Transmute Spirit	None	Hero Power		Shaman	2			Hero Power: Transform a friendly minion into a random one that costs (1) more.
Un'Goro Pack	None	Spell		Any	2			Add 5 Journey to Un'Goro cards to your hand.
Animal Companion	Free	Spell		Hunter	3			Summon a random Beast Companion. You could summon Misha, Leokk, or Huffer! Huffer is more trouble than he's worth.
Arcane Missiles	Free	Spell		Mage	1			Deal 3 damage randomly split among all enemies. You'd think you'd be able to control your missiles a little better since you're a powerful mage and all.
Cleave	Free	Spell		Warrior	2			Deal 2 damage to two random enemy minions. Hey you two…could you stand next to each other for a second…
Mind Vision	Free	Spell		Priest	1			Put a copy of a random card in your opponent's hand into your hand. I see what you did there.
Multi-Shot	Free	Spell		Hunter	4			Deal 3 damage to two random enemy minions. You see, it's all about throughput.
Soulfire	Free	Spell		Warlock	1			Deal 4 damage. Discard a random card. Are you lighting a soul on fire? Or burning someone with your OWN soul? This seems like an important distinction.
Succubus	Free	Minion	Demon	Warlock	2	4	3	Battlecry: Discard a random card. Warlocks have it pretty good.
Arcanologist	Common	Minion	General	Mage	2	2	3	Battlecry: Draw a Secret from your deck. What did you draw? Shhhh… it’s a secret.
Blink Fox	Common	Minion	Beast	Rogue	3	3	3	Battlecry: Add a random card to your hand (from your opponent's class). It's like, SUPER bad at staring contests.
Breath of Sindragosa	Common	Spell		Mage	1			Deal 2 damage to a random enemy minion and Freeze it. Is it cold in here or is it just Sindragosa?
Call of the Void	Common	Spell		Warlock	1			Add a random Demon to your hand. "Marco!" "Polo!" "Marco!" "Who dares summon me?!"
Cavern Shinyfinder	Common	Minion	General	Rogue	2	3	1	Battlecry: Draw a weapon from your deck. They call her the candled vandal.
Cobalt Scalebane	Common	Minion	Dragon	Any	5	5	5	At the end of your turn, give another random friendly minion +3 Attack. You get a sword! And you get a sword! Everybody gets a sword!
Deadly Shot	Common	Spell		Hunter	3			Destroy a random enemy minion. Accuracy is not a highly valued trait among the mok'nathal. Deadliness is near the top, though.
Demonic Project	Common	Spell		Warlock	2			Each player transforms a random minion in their hand into a Demon. Another group project where Jaraxxus doesn't do any work.
Dragon Roar	Common	Spell		Warrior	2			Add 2 random Dragons to your hand. Not to be confused with Dragon Yodel.
Forge of Souls	Common	Spell		Warrior	2			Draw 2 weapons from your deck. Powerful weaponry forged by Bronjahm, the Godfather of Souls.
Forked Lightning	Common	Spell		Shaman	1			Deal 2 damage to 2 random enemy minions. Overload: (2) If you combine it with Spooned Lightning and Knived Lightning, you have the full dining set.
Healing Rain	Common	Spell		Shaman	3			Restore 12 Health divided randomly among all friendly characters. It's filled with electrolytes!
Howlfiend	Common	Minion	Demon	Warlock	3	3	6	Whenever this minion takes damage, discard a random card. The problem is that he carries those cards in his mouth.
Ice Fishing	Common	Spell		Shaman	2			Draw 2 Murlocs from your deck. Glow fish, war fish... blow fish, more fish...
Jeweled Macaw	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	1	1	1	Battlecry: Add a random Beast to your hand. It’s not LITERALLY jeweled. The goblins were terribly disappointed.
Kaboom Bot	Common	Minion	Mech	Any	3	2	2	Deathrattle: Deal 4 damage to a random enemy minion. More Boom for your buck.
Kobold Apprentice	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	2	1	Battlecry: Deal 3 damage randomly split among all enemies. Horrible secret: The Darkness is immune to Arcane Missiles.
Mad Bomber	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	3	2	Battlecry: Deal 3 damage randomly split between all other characters. He's not really all that crazy, he is just not as careful with explosives as he should be.
Menacing Nimbus	Common	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	2	2	2	Battlecry: Add a random Elemental to your hand. Electra stores her elementals in the cloud.
Pilfer	Common	Spell		Rogue	1			Add a random card to your hand (from your opponent's class). The class is always greener on the other side of the board.
Piloted Reaper	Common	Minion	Mech	Any	4	3	2	Deathrattle: Summon a random minion from your hand that costs (2) or less. New facial recognition systems keep out the Lorewalkers and Doomsayers.
Psionic Probe	Common	Spell		Priest	1			Copy a spell in your opponent's deck and add it to your hand. She prefers calling it "Psionic Tickling."
Ravencaller	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	2	1	Battlecry: Add two random 1-Cost minions to your hand. That Friends and Familiars Plan is really paying off!
Reckless Diretroll	Common	Minion	General	Warlock	3	2	6	Taunt Battlecry: Discard your lowest Cost card. "Reck less!? ME WRECK MOAR!"
Sense Demons	Common	Spell		Warlock	3			Draw 2 Demons from your deck. Generally demons are pretty obvious and you don’t need a spell to sense them.
Shadow Ascendant	Common	Minion	General	Priest	2	2	2	At the end of your turn, give another random friendly minion +1/+1. When you're at the bottom, there's nowhere to ascend, but up.
Shifting Scroll	Common	Spell		Mage				Each turn this is in your hand, transform it into a random Mage spell. Next turn, this is going to be AMAZING.
Shimmering Tempest	Common	Minion	Elemental	Mage	2	2	1	Deathrattle: Add a random Mage spell to your hand. HATES being summoned for Kirin Tor party lighting.
Swamp Dragon Egg	Common	Minion	General	Any	1	0	3	Deathrattle: Add a random Dragon to your hand. Would you eat them in a ditch? Would you eat them with a witch?
Tanglefur Mystic	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	3	4	Battlecry: Add a random 2-Cost minion to each player's hand. Doom! Only doom for you! But pay good tip, maybe less doom.
Thoughtsteal	Common	Spell		Priest	3			Copy 2 cards from your opponent's deck and put them into your hand. "What do you get when you cast Thoughtsteal on an Orc? Nothing!" - Tauren joke
Tome of Intellect	Common	Spell		Mage	1			Add a random Mage spell to your hand. Just a compilation of napkins of intellect.
Tortollan Forager	Common	Minion	General	Druid	2	2	2	Battlecry: Add a random minion with 5 or more Attack to your hand. In the Tortollan tongue, Un’goro is known as the “Land of the Lost and Found.”
Totemic Smash	Common	Spell		Shaman	1			Deal 2 damage. Overkill: Summon a basic Totem. Trolls are the first group to have a totem survive atmospheric re-entry.
Vex Crow	Common	Minion	Beast	Mage	4	3	3	Whenever you cast a spell, summon a random 2-Cost minion. As birds of ill omen, these crows often summon Doomsayers.
Violet Haze	Common	Spell		Rogue	3			Add 2 random Deathrattle cards to your hand. Elite Tauren Chieftain's next hit single.
Volatile Elemental	Common	Minion	Elemental	Any	2	1	1	Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to a random enemy minion. Currently in an anger management class with Raging Worgen, Grommash Hellscream, and The Angry Chicken. It isn't helping.
Witch's Apprentice	Common	Minion	Beast	Shaman	1	0	1	Taunt Battlecry: Add a random Shaman spell to your hand. Is she a frog that became a witch, or a witch that became a frog?
Witchwood Imp	Common	Minion	Demon	Warlock	1	1	1	Stealth Deathrattle: Give a random friendly minion +2 Health. THIS wood imp. Stop asking!
Woodcutter's Axe	Common	Weapon		Warrior	2	2	2	Deathrattle: Give a random friendly minion with Rush +2/+1. It's a lumberjack's axe and that's ok.
Alarm-o-Bot	Rare	Minion	Mech	Any	3	0	3	At the start of your turn, swap this minion with a random one in your hand. WARNING. WARNING. WARNING.
Astral Rift	Rare	Spell		Mage	2			Add 2 random minions to your hand. Let's see what's behind rift number one!
Bellringer Sentry	Rare	Minion	General	Paladin	4	3	4	Battlecry and Deathrattle: Put a Secret from your deck into the battlefield. Who are you? Eh, none of my business.
Bone Drake	Rare	Minion	Dragon	Any	6	6	5	Deathrattle: Add a random Dragon to your hand. The bone drake brings all the dragons to the yard. He would teach you, but you have no cards.
Cinderstorm	Rare	Spell		Mage	3			Deal 5 damage randomly split among all enemies. Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of fireballs.
Coffin Crasher	Rare	Minion	General	Priest	6	6	5	Deathrattle: Summon a Deathrattle minion from your hand. Also does weddings.
Cruel Dinomancer	Rare	Minion	General	Warlock	6	5	5	Deathrattle: Summon a random minion you discarded this game. As that old saying goes: "you don't get into dinomancing to make friends."
Crystalline Oracle	Rare	Minion	Elemental	Priest	1	1	1	Deathrattle: Copy a card from your opponent's deck and add it to your hand. Being made of light has its disadvantages, but at least it's always looking on the bright side.
Cybertech Chip	Rare	Spell		Hunter	2			Give your minions "Deathrattle: Add a random Mech to your hand." Goes great with Cyber-Salsa.
Demolisher	Rare	Minion	Mech	Any	3	1	4	At the start of your turn, deal 2 damage to a random enemy. Laying siege isn't fun for anyone. It's not even all that effective, now that everyone has a flying mount.
Devour Mind	Rare	Spell		Priest	5			Copy 3 cards in your opponent's deck and add them to your hand. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Seconds, anyone?
Diamond Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Priest	7			Resurrect 3 different friendly minions. (Cast 4 spells to upgrade.)
Doomguard	Rare	Minion	Demon	Warlock	5	5	7	Charge. Battlecry: Discard two random cards. Summoning a doomguard is risky. Someone* is going to die.*
Dyn-o-matic	Rare	Minion	Mech	Warrior	5	3	4	Battlecry: Deal 5 damage randomly split among all minions except Mechs. Star player on the inter-office Boomball team.
Earthen Might	Rare	Spell		Shaman	2			Give a minion +2/+2. If it's an Elemental, add a random Elemental to your hand. Or it might not.
Elven Minstrel	Rare	Minion	General	Rogue	4	3	2	Combo: Draw 2 minions from your deck. "After that gig in Hamlin went south, I swore off rats."
Eureka!	Rare	Spell		Shaman	6			Summon a copy of a random minion in your hand. Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% drawing your Deathwing.
Farraki Battleaxe	Rare	Weapon		Paladin	5	3	3	Overkill: Give a minion in your hand +2/+2. Only two things in life are certain: death and axes.
Gather Your Party	Rare	Spell		Warrior	6			Recruit a minion. Thrilling adventure! Danger guaranteed! Loot uncertain! Death optional! Who's with me?
Gravelsnout Knight	Rare	Minion	General	Any	1	2	3	Battlecry: Summon a random 1-Cost minion for your opponent. The mole of La Mancha rides again!
Greater Diamond Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Priest	7			Resurrect 4 different friendly minions.
Greater Onyx Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Rogue	5			Destroy up to 3 random enemy minions.
Greater Ruby Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Mage	2			Add 3 random Mage spells to your hand. (Play two Elementals to upgrade.)
Heavy Metal!	Rare	Spell		Warrior	6			Summon a random minion with Cost equal to your Armor (up to 10). This metal is so heavy it will satisfy your iron requirements for the next year.
Hungry Ettin	Rare	Minion	General	Any	6	4	10	Taunt Battlecry: Summon a random 2-Cost minion for your opponent. How can he be hungry… if he's Ettin!?
Knife Juggler	Rare	Minion	General	Any	2	2	2	After you summon a minion, deal 1 damage to a random enemy. Ambitious Knife Jugglers sometimes graduate to Bomb Jugglers. They never last long enough to make it onto a card though.
Kobold Barbarian	Rare	Minion	General	Warrior	3	4	4	At the start of your turn, attack a random enemy. What is best in life? To make candle. To keep candle. To hear lamentation of candle-takers.
Kobold Illusionist	Rare	Minion	General	Rogue	4	3	3	Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 copy of a minion from your hand. He can make ANYTHING look like a candle.
Lesser Diamond Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Priest	7			Resurrect 2 different friendly minions. (Cast 4 spells to upgrade.) A diamond, white, this stone the eighth A precious jewel for those of faith A whispered prayer restores the lost But none among them know the cost.
Lesser Onyx Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Rogue	5			Destroy 1 random enemy minion. (Play 3 Deathrattle* cards to upgrade.)* The trolls of old embraced the gift A jewel of black for daggers swift No party lasts who finds the stone Those wielding it soon stand alone.
Lesser Ruby Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Mage	2			Add a random Mage spell to your hand. (Play two Elementals to upgrade.) The final stone undid its master Spun into wards by nameless caster Azari wailed a savage roar Now sealed in nether, evermore.
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.
Lightwell	Rare	Minion	General	Priest	2	0	5	At the start of your turn, restore 3 Health to a damaged friendly character. It isn't clear if people ignore the Lightwell, or if it is just invisible.
Mad Hatter	Rare	Minion	General	Any	4	3	2	Battlecry: Randomly toss 3 hats to other minions. Each hat gives +1/+1. He's entirely bonkers. All the best goblins are.
Mass Hysteria	Rare	Spell		Priest	5			Force each minion to attack another random minion. Black Friday gets worse every year.
Master Swordsmith	Rare	Minion	General	Any	2	1	3	At the end of your turn, give another random friendly minion +1 Attack. He's currently trying to craft a "flail-axe", but all the other swordsmiths say it can't be done.
Meteorologist	Rare	Minion	General	Mage	6	3	3	Battlecry: For each card in your hand, deal 1 damage to a random enemy. Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. Why not BOTH?
Mind Control Tech	Rare	Minion	General	Any	3	3	3	Battlecry: If your opponent has 4 or more minions, take control of one at random. Mind Control technology is getting better, but that's not saying much.
Molten Blade	Rare	Weapon		Warrior	1	1	1	Each turn this is in your hand, transform it into a new weapon. It’s a sword! It’s a knife! It’s a swizzle-stick!
Necrium Blade	Rare	Weapon		Rogue	3	3	2	Deathrattle: Trigger the Deathrattle of a random friendly minion. Grab death by the handle.
Onyx Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Rogue	5			Destroy up to 2 random enemy minions. (Play 3 Deathrattle* cards to upgrade.)*
Pick Pocket	Rare	Spell		Rogue	2			Echo Add a random card to your hand (from your opponent's class). He'll pick anyone's pocket, except a gnome's. He'd never stoop so low.
Predatory Instincts	Rare	Spell		Druid	4			Draw a Beast from your deck and double its Health. Somebody’s been eating their funnel cakes.
Primal Talismans	Rare	Spell		Shaman	3			Give your minions "Deathrattle: Summon a random basic Totem." All that remained from the first kobold colony: a single talisman and the word "Flamestrike."
Raiding Party	Rare	Spell		Rogue	3			Draw two Pirates from your deck. Combo: Draw a Weapon. And a bowl of chips. And some of those little cocktail weenies!
Ruby Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Mage	2			Add 2 random Mage spells to your hand. (Play two Elementals to upgrade.)
Seeping Oozeling	Rare	Minion	General	Hunter	6	5	4	Battlecry: Gain the Deathrattle of a random minion in your deck. Uh, you might want to get that looked at.
Shadow Essence	Rare	Spell		Priest	6			Summon a 5/5 copy of a random minion in your deck. Difficult to bottle up and sell. But it packs a punch.
Shallow Gravedigger	Rare	Minion	General	Any	3	3	1	Deathrattle: Add a random Deathrattle minion to your hand. It's hard to put them six feet under when you're three feet tall.
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.
Spider Bomb	Rare	Minion	Mech	Hunter	3	2	2	Magnetic Deathrattle: Destroy a random enemy minion. Wrecks a dude, any size. Catches thieves, eats those guys. Look out! Here comes a Spider Bomb!
Spirit of the Bat	Rare	Minion	General	Warlock	2	0	3	Stealth for 1 turn. After a friendly minion dies, give a minion in your hand +1/+1. Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah
Stampeding Kodo	Rare	Minion	Beast	Any	5	3	5	Battlecry: Destroy a random enemy minion with 2 or less Attack. This Kodo is so big that he can stampede by himself.
Twilight's Call	Rare	Spell		Priest	3			Summon 1/1 copies of 2 friendly Deathrattle minions that died this game. If you're experiencing resurrection sickness, press 1.
Unwilling Sacrifice	Rare	Spell		Warlock	3			Choose a friendly minion. Destroy it and a random enemy minion. Stand right... there. Perfect, perfect! Now don't move.
Volcano	Rare	Spell		Shaman	5			Deal 15 Damage randomly split across all minions. Overload: (2) Many young shaman summon a volcano as their first school project.
Wandering Monster	Rare	Spell		Hunter	2			Secret: When an enemy attacks your hero, summon a 3-Cost minion as the new target. Not all who wander are lost. This one is lost though, for sure.
Young Priestess	Rare	Minion	General	Any	1	2	1	At the end of your turn, give another random friendly minion +1 Health. She can't wait to learn Power Word: Fortitude Rank 2.
Academic Espionage	Epic	Spell		Rogue	4			Shuffle 10 cards from your opponent's class into your deck. They cost (1). The tenth Pyroblast really felt like overkill.
Astromancer	Epic	Minion	General	Mage	7	5	5	Battlecry: Summon a random minion with a cost equal to the number of cards in your hand. All signs point to Antonidas.
Avenging Wrath	Epic	Spell		Paladin	6			Deal 8 damage randomly split among all enemies. Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!
Bane of Doom	Epic	Spell		Warlock	5			Deal 2 damage to a character. If that kills it, summon a random Demon. My advice to you is to avoid Doom, if possible.
Big Bad Voodoo	Epic	Spell		Shaman	2			Give a friendly minion "Deathrattle: Summon a random minion that costs (1) more." Murlocs practice Small Nice Voodoo.
Blackguard	Epic	Minion	General	Paladin	6	3	9	Whenever your hero is healed, deal that much damage to a random enemy minion. "Did I ever tell you the story of when I single-handedly took down a 29/29 C'thun?" - Reno Jackson
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!
Bogshaper	Epic	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	7	4	8	Whenever you cast a spell, draw a minion from your deck. The tricky part is getting them to HOLD their shape.
Brawl	Epic	Spell		Warrior	5			Destroy all minions except one. (chosen randomly) Do you know the first rule of Brawl Club?
Cannon Barrage	Epic	Spell		Rogue	6			Deal 3 damage to a random enemy. Repeat for each of your Pirates. Why fire your cannons strategically when you can fire them all at once?
Curious Glimmerroot	Epic	Minion	General	Priest	3	3	3	Battlecry: Look at 3 cards. Guess which one started in your opponent's deck to get a copy of it. George promised to be good. But it's easy for little Glimmerroots to forget.
Deathaxe Punisher	Epic	Minion	General	Any	4	3	3	Battlecry: Give a random Lifesteal minion in your hand +2/+2. Don't fear the Arcanite Reaper.
Drakkari Trickster	Epic	Minion	General	Any	3	3	4	Battlecry: Give each player a copy of a random card from their opponent's deck. “It’s an illusion, Malacrass!”
Giant Anaconda	Epic	Minion	Beast	Druid	7	5	3	Deathrattle: Summon a minion from your hand with 5 or more Attack. Must be something it ate.
Grand Archivist	Epic	Minion	General	Any	8	4	7	At the end of your turn, cast a spell from your deck (targets chosen randomly). Qualifications: Found pointy hat.
Mindgames	Epic	Spell		Priest	4			Put a copy of a random minion from your opponent's deck into the battlefield. Sometimes it feels like this is all a game.
Mosh'Ogg Announcer	Epic	Minion	General	Any	5	6	6	Enemies attacking this have a 50% chance to attack someone else. One's play-by-play. The other is off-color.
Obsidian Statue	Epic	Minion	General	Priest	9	4	8	Taunt. Lifesteal. Deathrattle: Destroy a random enemy minion. The original artist spent many hours with a fine chisel perfecting the facial expression for maximum tauntiness.
Sandbinder	Epic	Minion	General	Any	4	2	4	Battlecry: Draw an Elemental from your deck. The secret is glue.
Soulwarden	Epic	Minion	General	Warlock	6	6	6	Battlecry: Add 3 random cards you discarded this game to your hand. Reduce, reuse, resoul.
Spiteful Summoner	Epic	Minion	General	Any	7	4	4	Battlecry: Reveal a spell from your deck. Summon a random minion with the same Cost. Sometimes she'll summon a Doomsayer. Out of spite.
Stampede	Epic	Spell		Hunter	1			Each time you play a Beast this turn, add a random Beast to your hand. Many hunters long for the pitter-patter of enormous feet.
Stampeding Roar	Epic	Spell		Druid	6			Summon a random Beast from your hand and give it Rush. The Gurubashi Arena has an extremely permissive policy on pets in the workplace.
Supercollider	Epic	Weapon		Warrior	5	1	3	After you attack a minion, force it to attack one of its neighbors. Boom's Second Law of Motion: HIT IT VERY HARD!
The Beast Within	Epic	Spell		Hunter	1			Give a friendly Beast +1/+1, then it attacks a random enemy minion. Undoes years of obedience school training.
To My Side!	Epic	Spell		Hunter	6			Summon an Animal Companion, or 2 if your deck has no minions. I hunt alone. Well, me and Misha. And Huffer. And Leokk.
Tomb Lurker	Epic	Minion	General	Any	5	5	3	Battlecry: Add a random Deathrattle minion that died this game to your hand. She hangs out in all the tombs, but she rarely posts.
Tortollan Primalist	Epic	Minion	General	Any	8	5	4	Battlecry: Discover a spell and cast it with random targets. I see pizza in my future.
Town Crier	Epic	Minion	General	Warrior	1	1	2	Battlecry: Draw a Rush minion from your deck. When he was younger, he was the town crybaby.
Unexpected Results	Epic	Spell		Mage	4			Summon two random 2-Cost minions (improved by Spell Damage). Sometimes science is more art than science. A lot of people don't get that.
Unstable Evolution	Epic	Spell		Shaman	1			Transform a friendly minion into one that costs (1) more. Repeatable this turn. They grow up so fast.
Weaponized Piñata	Epic	Minion	Mech	Any	4	4	3	Deathrattle: Add a random Legendary minion to your hand. It'll be fine. It's not like they have any reason to hate us.
Witch's Cauldron	Epic	Minion	General	Any	3	0	4	Whenever a friendly minion dies, add a random Shaman spell to your hand. Eye of murloc, ear of bat, foot of Fordring, fur of cat…
Arfus	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Any	4	2	2	Deathrattle: Add a random Death Knight card to your hand. There must always be a Lick King.
Blackhowl Gunspire	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	7	3	8	Can't Attack. Whenever this minion takes damage, deal 3 damage to a random enemy. The upper windows used to be for aiming. Then we thought: "Hey! MORE cannons!"
Captain Hooktusk	Legendary	Minion	Pirate	Rogue	8	6	3	Battlecry: Summon 3 Pirates from your deck. Give them Rush. "You three! Get in the cannon!"
Chameleos	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Priest	1	1	1	Each turn this is in your hand, transform it into a card your opponent is holding. He's everyone you want to be.
Countess Ashmore	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	7	6	6	Battlecry: Draw a Rush, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle card from your deck. "1 minion… ah, ah, ah! 2 minions… ah, ah, ah! 3 minions… ah, ah, ah!"
Dr. Morrigan	Legendary	Minion	General	Warlock	8	5	5	Deathrattle: Swap this with a minion from your deck. She will NOT STOP until she gets tenure.
Face Collector	Legendary	Minion	General	Rogue	3	2	2	Echo Battlecry: Add a random Legendary minion to your hand. “I'll trade you a Malfurion for an Anduin.”
Flark's Boom-Zooka	Legendary	Spell		Hunter	8			Summon 3 minions from your deck. They attack enemy minions, then die. It used to be a Ba-zooka but we ran out of sheep.
Geosculptor Yip	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	8	4	8	At the end of your turn, summon a random minion with Cost equal to your Armor (up to 10). Once crafted a gauntlet out of earwax and pure ambition.
Gral, the Shark	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Rogue	5	2	2	Battlecry: Eat a minion in your deck and gain its stats. Deathrattle: Add it to your hand. “… We’re gonna need a bigger board.”
Griftah	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	4	4	5	Battlecry: Discover two cards. Give one to your opponent at random. With Griftah in your deck, sometimes you start the game with The Coin!
Kangor's Endless Army	Legendary	Spell		Paladin	7			Resurrect 3 friendly Mechs. They keep any Magnetic upgrades. "That's three, Kangor. Three isn't endless." - Countess Ashmore
Lilian Voss	Legendary	Minion	General	Rogue	4	4	5	Battlecry: Replace spells in your hand with random spells (from your opponent's class). She doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And she absolutely will not stop... ever, until all necromancers are dead.
Lyra the Sunshard	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Priest	5	3	5	Whenever you cast a spell, add a random Priest spell to your hand. Arise, fair sun, and kill my envious foes. They don't have a legendary as beautiful as you.
Nat Pagle	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	2	0	4	At the start of your turn, you have a 50% chance to draw an extra card. Nat Pagle, Azeroth's premier fisherman! He invented the Auto-Angler 3000, the Extendo-Pole 3000, and the Lure-o-matic 2099 (still in testing).
Oondasta	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Any	9	7	7	Rush. Overkill: Summon a Beast from your hand. Adorning devilsaurs with armor and feathers is a respected job in troll culture, although it has a high turnover rate.
Professor Putricide	Legendary	Minion	General	Hunter	4	5	4	After you play a Secret, put another random Hunter Secret into the battlefield. Among his more notable inventions: A tentacle-groomer, a plague that would wipe out all life on Azeroth, and a fidget spinner.
Ragnaros the Firelord	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Any	8	8	8	Can't attack. At the end of your turn, deal 8 damage to a random enemy.
Rhok'delar	Legendary	Weapon		Hunter	7	4	2	Battlecry: If your deck has no minions, fill your hand with Hunter spells. Rhok'delar is ready to Rhok'de'casbah!
Rotface	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	8	4	6	Whenever this minion survives damage, summon a random Legendary minion. Daddy! I think I made a Legendary!
Shudderwock	Legendary	Minion	General	Shaman	9	6	6	Battlecry: Repeat all other Battlecries from cards you played this game (targets chosen randomly). Beware the Shudderwock, my son. We're fresh out of vorpal daggers.
Skull of the Man'ari	Legendary	Weapon		Warlock	5	0	3	At the start of your turn, summon a Demon from your hand. Don't trust the skull.
Subject 9	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Any	5	4	4	Battlecry: Draw 5 different Secrets from your deck. The original clever girl.
Tess Greymane	Legendary	Minion	General	Rogue	8	6	6	Battlecry: Replay every card from another class you've played this game (targets chosen randomly). Those who cannot remember their card history are doomed to repeat it.
The Boomship	Legendary	Spell		Warrior	9			Summon 3 random minions from your hand. Give them Rush. Dr. Boom ends his motivational speeches by dropping the mechs.
The Lich King	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	8	8	8	Taunt At the end of your turn, add a random Death Knight card to your hand. "All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance, 8 attack - I bestow upon you, my chosen knight."
The Runespear	Legendary	Weapon		Shaman	8	3	3	After your hero attacks, Discover a spell and cast it with random targets. When asked what the runes do, the tauren smith smiled: "A little of this, a little of that..."
The Storm Bringer	Legendary	Spell		Shaman	7			Transform your minions into random Legendary minions. Finally, Electra can work from home.
Thrall, Deathseer	Legendary	Hero card		Shaman	5			Battlecry: Transform your minions into random ones that cost (2) more. "Do not be afraid. Approach. The dead will sleep… for now."
Tinkmaster Overspark	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	3	3	3	Battlecry: Transform another random minion into a 5/5 Devilsaur or a 1/1 Squirrel. Tinkmaster Overspark nearly lost his Tinker's license after the Great Ironforge Squirrel Stampede of '09.
Toki, Time-Tinker	Legendary	Minion	General	Mage	6	5	5	Battlecry: Add a random Legendary minion from the past to your hand. Just a twist to the left, one quarter turn to the right and … oops! Well, we didn’t need that timeline anyway.
Ysera	Legendary	Minion	Dragon	Any	9	4	12	At the end of your turn, add a Dream Card to your hand. Ysera rules the Emerald Dream. Which is some kind of green-mirror-version of the real world, or something?
Zul'jin	Legendary	Hero card		Hunter	10			Battlecry: Cast all spells you've played this game (targets chosen randomly). If you can dodge an axe, you can dodge a ball.
Showing all 184 cards

History[edit | edit source]

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.