Spell Damage

Spell Damage
Your spells deal extra damage.

A Wrath of Air Totem, with purple sparkles to signal its Spell Damage bonus

Spell Damage is an ability which boosts the overall damage of spells by the listed amount. Spell Damage does not increase healing done by spells, and does not increase damage dealt from non-spell sources such as Hero Powers, Deathrattles or Battlecries. Sources of Spell Damage are indicated by purple sparkles around their portaits.

Notes

A video explaining spell damage in Hearthstone made by the Curse Gamepedia YouTube Channel.

• Spell Damage increases the damage dealt by any spell, with only a few exceptions:
  • Spell Damage increases the cost of minions summoned from Unexpected Results, which is explicitly stated in the card text.
  • Spell Damage has no effect on spells like Betrayal which cause characters to do damage, since the targeted minion is considered the source of the damage, not the spell.
  • In-hand effects like Cursed! that are spells are not affected by either player's Spell Damage.
  • On-draw effects that are spells (such as Ancient Curse and Burrowing Mine) are not affected by either player's Spell Damage.
  • On-discard effects like Fist of Jaraxxus do benefit from Spell Damage bonuses.
  • Spell Damage boosts the damage dealt by healing spells affected by Auchenai Soulpriest and Embrace the Shadow, since they are turned into spells with damaging effects.
  • Spell Damage boosts damaging Secrets (such as Eye for an Eye and Explosive Trap), since they are spells.
  • Spell Damage boosts the damage dealt by spells that deal variable amounts of damage (such as Blade Flurry and Shield Slam, whose base damage is determined by some other source). For example, if a player has Spell Damage +2 and Holy Wrath draws a card that costs 3 mana, Holy Wrath will deal 5 damage to its target.
  • Spell Damage has no effect on healing spells nor on damaging effects that are not spells (like Hero Powers, Deathrattles, Battlecries, Fatigue, Cho'gall's effect, triggered effects and combat damage).
• Multiple instances of Spell Damage stack. In particular, Spell Damage granted by enchantments will stack with any existing Spell Damage on the buffed minions.
• Being an additive bonus, Spell Damage is applied before being multiplied by multiplicative bonuses like Prophet Velen.
• Spell Damage has always the most up-to-date value: its value updates constantly, and not only when Auras are updated.
• For any given spell, Spell Damage boosts either the total damage output or the damage per hit by the given amount, depending on the type of targeting and the way damage is distributed. The general rule is, when numbers printed on the card describe the amount of damage, each point of Spell Damage increases each of those numbers by 1, and the spell acts accordingly. More precisely:
  • Spells that deal a certain amount of damage randomly split among all characters with a given characteristic (Arcane Missiles, Avenging Wrath, Timepiece of Horror,Spreading Madness, Cinderstorm) have their total damage increased by Spell Damage: the spell will thus shoot an increased number of missiles, but each one will still deal 1 damage.
  • Arcane Blast's damage in increased by twice the total Spell Damage bonus of its caster.
  • All other spells that deal damage to one or more characters have the damage dealt to each target increased by their caster's total Spell Damage bonus. This includes single-target spells (for example, with Spell Damage +2 Fireball will deal 8 damage), area of effect spells (for example, with Spell Damage +1 Swipe will do 5 damage to its target and 2 damage to all other enemies) and spells that damage "multiple targets" (such as Cleave and Explosive Shot) or that do a base amount of damage repeated a variable number of times (like Bouncing Blade and Greater Arcane Missiles).
  • Forbidden Flame's damage is increased despite there being no numbers on the card text to indicate it. In particular, at 0 mana, it will do 1 damage.
• Sources of Spell Damage are indicated by purple sparkles. This includes, as long as a Jungle Moonkin is in play, both heroes as well as the Jungle Moonkin itself.
• For additional details, see Damage#Advanced rules.
• Spell Damage dynamically modifies the numbers printed on the text of eligible spell cards in your hand accordingly (for example, with Spell Damage +2 the text of a Fireball card in your hand will read "Deal *8* damage.").

Strategy

Mousing over a friendly source of Spell Damage will highlight any cards affected by Spell Damage, indicated by purple sparkles

Spell Damage is a valuable quality for classes which use damaging spells. The mage, rogue and shaman classes are good examples, but every class has damaging spells and can therefore benefit from it. Spell Damage is especially important to control decks such as Freeze Mage and Miracle Rogue, as well as spell-related aggro decks such as Aggro Shaman.

Like most card text effects, Spell Damage takes effect as soon as the related minion comes into play. This makes order of play very important, and allows you to quickly unload a flurry of buffed attacks in one turn, if you have the mana to spare. This is particularly possible with low mana cost minions such as Kobold Geomancer. Even if your opponent removes your minion the next turn, you will still have gotten some use from them.

Note that while many varieties of Spell Damage minion exist, almost all of them offer the same bonus: Spell Damage +1. This means the difference between a Dalaran Mage and an Archmage (and the justification for the extra mana cost) lies only in Attack and Health values, not in their actual ability to boost spell damage. This can make low-cost Spell Damage minions an appealing choice, allowing you to rapidly and cheaply put them into play, ideally in immediate combination with some damaging spells.

Players will generally want to protect their Spell Damage minions, and may not wish to summon them until they have a sturdy Taunt in place, although this does not of course protect them from spells and other effects. Conversely, attacking players will often want to dispose of Spell Damage minions as quickly as possible, before their owner can put their bonus damage to good use.

This can make Spell Damage minions good lures for removal, as well as neutralisation through Silences and transform effects. Spell Damage minions often function as soft taunts, drawing the priority fire of your opponent while other targets are ignored. In less than ideal circumstances, this is as good a use of a Spell Damage minion as any, especially if you have other Spell Damage minions on the way, have no spells in your hand, or have already used most of those in your deck.

Trivia

• Sources of Spell Damage are usually minions, but Jungle Moonkin makes both heroes sources of Spell Damage - although they depend on the minion's ongoing effect to retain this ability.
• Most sources of Spell Damage have "Spell Damage +1": exceptions are Jungle Moonkin, Evolved Kobold, Spellweaver, Darkmire Moonkin, Cosmic Anomaly, Celestial Emissary and Spellzerker with "Spell Damage +2", Kirin Tor Tricaster with "Spell Damage +3", and Malygos with "Spell Damage +5".
• The developers have tried having cards that decreased the opponent's Spell Damage, but found that it was too confusing in practice.
• Most minions with Spell Damage themselves have explanatory tooltips that state "Your spell cards deal 1 extra damage". This is true even for those with Spell Damage +2.
  • Malygos correctly states "Your spell cards deal 5 extra damage."
  • Other cards which grant or mention Spell Damage, such as Ancient Mage and Velen's Chosen, simply say "Your spells deal extra damage" instead.

Cards with Spell Damage

Collectible

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Kobold Geomancer	Free	Minion	General	Any	2	2	2	Spell Damage +1 In the old days, Kobolds were the finest candle merchants in the land. Then they got pushed too far...
Dalaran Mage	Free	Minion	General	Any	3	1	4	Spell Damage +1 You don't see a lot of Dalaran warriors.
Ogre Magi	Free	Minion	General	Any	4	4	4	Spell Damage +1 Training Ogres in the art of spellcasting is a questionable decision.
Archmage	Free	Minion	General	Any	6	4	7	Spell Damage +1 You earn the title of Archmage when you can destroy anyone who calls you on it.
Lab Partner	Common	Minion	General	Mage	1	1	3	Spell Damage +1 "Professor, a gnome burned my homework!"
Mana Reservoir	Common	Minion	Elemental	Any	2	0	6	Spell Damage +1 If it soaks too long, it becomes a reservoir hog.
Azure Explorer	Common	Minion	Dragon	Mage	4	2	3	Spell Damage +2 Battlecry: Discover a Dragon. Has an appetite for knowledge!
Squallhunter	Common	Minion	Dragon	Shaman	4	5	7	Spell Damage +2 Overload: (2) "Oh, the weather outside is frightful… But Squallhunter's so delightful! And since we've gone down this road--overload, overload, overload!"
Steward of Scrolls	Common	Minion	Elemental	Any	5	4	4	Spell Damage +1 Battlecry: Discover a spell. Oh dang it, I spilled ink elemental all over my essay!
Violet Warden	Common	Minion	General	Any	6	4	7	Taunt Spell Damage +1 He's got magic, a shield, and an unwavering obsession with the color purple.
Kirin Tor Tricaster	Rare	Minion	General	Mage	4	3	3	Spell Damage +3 Your spells cost (1) more. The math checks out!
Astromancer Solarian	Legendary	Minion	General	Mage	2	3	2	Spell Damage +1 Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Solarian Prime' into your deck. Loyal to Kael'thas Sunstrider, this blood elf mage sought arcane power in the Void. Did she find it... or did IT find her?
Bloodmage Thalnos	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	2	1	1	Spell Damage +1. Deathrattle: Draw a card. He's in charge of the Annual Scarlet Monastery Blood Drive!
Lady Vashj	Legendary	Minion	General	Shaman	3	4	3	Spell Damage +1 Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Vashj Prime' into your deck. Personal handmaiden to Queen Azshara turned lieutenant to Illidan Stormrage. Also quite the hair sssstylist.
Malygos	Legendary	Minion	Dragon	Any	9	4	12	Spell Damage +5 Malygos hates it when mortals use magic. He gets so mad!
Showing all 15 cards

Wild format

 This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Spellshifter	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	1	4	Spell Damage +1 Each turn this is in your hand, swap its Attack and Health. He also goes by "worg-lock."
Tainted Zealot	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	1	1	Divine Shield Spell Damage +1 The love she shares seems to go nowhere. Now she's lost her Light, tosses and turns, she can't sleep at night...
Black Cat	Common	Minion	Beast	Mage	3	3	3	Spell Damage +1 Battlecry: If your deck has only odd-Cost cards, draw a card. She's so odd, you can't even.
Street Trickster	Common	Minion	Demon	Any	3	0	7	Spell Damage +1 His first trick: making your wallet disappear!
Cosmic Anomaly	Common	Minion	Elemental	Mage	4	4	3	Spell Damage +2 INGREDIENTS: STAR-STUFF, BLUE #1, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS.
Evolved Kobold	Common	Minion	General	Any	4	2	2	Spell Damage +2 You no take tentacle!
Frigid Snobold	Common	Minion	General	Any	4	2	6	Spell Damage +1 Ironically, the natural enemy of the snobold is THE CANDLE.
Spellweaver	Common	Minion	General	Any	6	4	4	Spell Damage +2 Spells offer twice the moisture wicking of cotton.
Darkmire Moonkin	Common	Minion	General	Any	7	2	8	Spell Damage +2 Birds of a feather Moonfire together.
Celestial Emissary	Rare	Minion	Elemental	Mage	2	2	1	Battlecry: Your next spell this turn has Spell Damage +2. Casting with the stars.
Cult Sorcerer	Rare	Minion	General	Mage	2	3	2	Spell Damage +1 After you cast a spell, give your C'Thun +1/+1 (wherever it is). No matter how many times we tell her not to, she keeps feeding C'Thun scraps under the table.
Soot Spewer	Rare	Minion	Mech	Mage	3	3	3	Spell Damage +1 The inventor of the goblin shredder is involved in several patent disputes with the inventor of the soot spewer.
Jungle Moonkin	Rare	Minion	General	Druid	4	4	4	Both players have Spell Damage +2. The REAL angry chicken!
Azure Drake	Rare	Minion	Dragon	Any	5	4	4	Spell Damage +1. Battlecry: Draw a card. They initially planned to be the Beryl or Cerulean drakes, but those felt a tad too pretentious.
Mini-Mage	Epic	Minion	General	Any	4	4	1	Stealth Spell Damage +1 He is sometimes found hiding in the treasure chest in the Gurubashi Arena.
Showing all 15 cards

Uncollectible

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Impcaster	None	Minion	Demon	Any	1	1	1	Spell Damage +1
Solarian Prime	None	Minion	Demon	Mage	7	7	7	Spell Damage +1 Battlecry: Cast 5 random Mage spells (targets enemies if possible).
Vashj Prime	None	Minion	General	Shaman	7	5	4	Spell Damage +1 Battlecry: Draw 3 spells. Reduce their Cost by (3).
Wrath of Air Totem	Free	Minion	Totem	Shaman	1	0	2	Spell Damage +1
Showing all 4 cards

Wild format

 This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Spellshifter	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	4	1	Spell Damage +1 Each turn this is in your hand, swap its Attack and Health.
Wardruid Loti	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Druid	3	4	6	Taunt, Rush, Poisonous, Stealth, Spell Damage +1
Wardruid Loti	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Druid	3	1	4	Spell Damage +1
Showing all 3 cards

Sources of Spell Damage

Spell Damage-generating cards

This section lists cards which generate Spell Damage cards.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Totemic Call	None	Hero Power		Shaman	2			Hero Power Summon a random Totem.
Totemic Slam	None	Hero Power		Shaman	2			Hero Power Summon a Totem of your choice.
Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury	None	Weapon		Hunter	3	2	3	After your hero attacks, gain Spell Damage +2 this turn.
Primordial Studies	Common	Spell			1			Discover a Spell Damage minion. Your next one costs (1) less. A long forgotten tome whose very essence seeps of magic. 40 dust, used.
Rustsworn Initiate	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	2	2	Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Impcaster with Spell Damage +1. The Rusted Legion's training leaves a little to be desired. He hasn't even had a tetanus shot yet!
Totem Goliath	Epic	Minion	Totem	Shaman	5	4	5	Deathrattle: Summon all four basic Totems. Overload: (2)  It was an art project, and nobody knew when to stop.
Astromancer Solarian	Legendary	Minion	General	Mage	2	3	2	Spell Damage +1 Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Solarian Prime' into your deck. Loyal to Kael'thas Sunstrider, this blood elf mage sought arcane power in the Void. Did she find it... or did IT find her?
Lady Vashj	Legendary	Minion	General	Shaman	3	4	3	Spell Damage +1 Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Vashj Prime' into your deck. Personal handmaiden to Queen Azshara turned lieutenant to Illidan Stormrage. Also quite the hair sssstylist.
Vereesa Windrunner	Legendary	Minion	General	Hunter	7	5	6	Battlecry: Equip Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury. Good things come in threes: Windrunner sisters and arrows of Thori'dal.
Showing all 9 cards

Wild format

 This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Kobold Hermit	Common	Minion	General	Shaman	2	1	1	Battlecry: Choose a basic Totem. Summon it. To truly understand candles, it takes YEARS of quiet contemplation.
Wardruid Loti	Legendary	Minion	General	Druid	3	1	2	Choose One - Transform into one of Loti's four dinosaur forms. “Ravasaur!” “Pretty scary” “…Blammodax!” “Is that a thing?” “SMAXODON!” “….now you’re just making those up.”
Showing all 2 cards

Spell Damage-granting cards

This section lists cards which grant the Spell Damage ability to other characters or to itself.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Ethereal Augmerchant	Common	Minion	General	Any	1	2	1	Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to a minion and give it Spell Damage +1. According to him, undamaged minions just spell problems.
Rune Dagger	Common	Weapon		Shaman	2	1	3	After your hero attacks, gain Spell Damage +1 this turn. Turns out being stabbed makes you more vulnerable to magic.
Ancient Mage	Rare	Minion	General	Any	4	2	5	Battlecry: Give adjacent minions Spell Damage +1. Sometimes he forgets and just wanders into someone else's game.
Azerite Elemental	Epic	Minion	Elemental	Any	5	2	7	At the start of your turn, gain Spell Damage +2. This is some bad blood.
Mozaki, Master Duelist	Legendary	Minion	General	Mage	5	3	8	After you cast a spell, gain Spell damage +1. Treats her students like her peers, which means defeating them in one-sided duels all day long.
Showing all 5 cards

Wild format

 This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Spellzerker	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	2	3	Has Spell Damage +2 while damaged. But don’t ask her to use it in a sentence.
Tuskarr Fisherman	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	2	3	Battlecry: Give a friendly minion Spell Damage +1. If you bring him 500 fish, he'll give you this sweet Kalu'ak Fishing Pole.
Velen's Chosen	Common	Spell		Priest	3			Give a minion +2/+4 and Spell Damage +1. Velen wrote a "Lovely Card" for Tyrande with a picture of the Deeprun Tram that said "I Choo-Choo-Choose you!"
Dalaran Aspirant	Common	Minion	General	Mage	4	3	5	Inspire: Gain Spell Damage +1. Is he aspiring or inspiring? Make up your mind!
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Related cards

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Primordial Studies	Common	Spell			1			Discover a Spell Damage minion. Your next one costs (1) less. A long forgotten tome whose very essence seeps of magic. 40 dust, used.
Spellbook Binder	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	3	2	Battlecry: If you have Spell Damage, draw a card. You're bound to love his work!
Sorcerous Substitute	Common	Minion	General	Any	6	6	6	Battlecry: If you have Spell Damage, summon a copy of this. This substitute's substitution is a dangerous institution.
Cram Session	Rare	Spell		Mage	2			Draw 1 card (improved by Spell Damage). The font of the arcane gives nearly limitless access to power and energy! But it can't keep you awake, for that we still use coffee.
Arcane Watcher	Rare	Minion	General	Any	3	5	6	Can't attack unless you have Spell Damage. Now his watch has ended... until you have Spell Damage.
Ras Frostwhisper	Legendary	Minion	General		5	3	6	At the end of your turn, deal 1 damage to all enemies (improved by Spell Damage). Always the favorite of Headmaster Kel'Thuzad, Ras nonetheless received a chilly reception from the other faculty.
Showing all 6 cards

Wild format

 This section contains information exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Spirit Claws	Common	Weapon		Shaman	2	1	3	Has +2 Attack while you have Spell Damage. They'll be MUCH easier to use once they add the spirit thumb.
Arcane Blast	Epic	Spell		Mage	1			Deal 2 damage to a minion. This spell gets double bonus from Spell Damage. Now with 100% more blast!
Master of Ceremonies	Epic	Minion	General	Any	3	4	2	Battlecry: If you have a minion with Spell Damage, gain +2/+2. Goes by "MC ElfyElf".
Unexpected Results	Epic	Spell		Mage	3			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.
Showing all 4 cards

Patch changes

• Unknown patch: Mousing over a source of Spell Damage will no longer highlight the cards in the player's hand that benefit from Spell Damage; previously, it did.
• Patch 3.0.0.9786 (2015-08-18): The first Spell Damage synergy is added, with Master of Ceremonies, as well as the first card to multiply Spell Damage: Arcane Blast.
• Patch 1.0.0.3890 (2013-10-02): “Spell Power +1” has been renamed “Spell Damage +1”.

References

	Cards
By type	Hero card Minion (Permanent) Spell Weapon
By class	Demon Hunter Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior
By minion type	All Beast Demon Dragon Elemental Mech Murloc Pirate Totem General
By ability	Evergreen keywords	Battlecry Choose One Combo Deathrattle Discover Divine Shield Freeze Lifesteal Outcast Overload Poisonous Rush Secret Silence Spell Damage Stealth Taunt Windfury
	Other keywords	Adapt Casts When Drawn Charge Choose Twice Dormant Echo Immune Inspire Invoke Jade Golem Lackey Magnetic Mega-Windfury Overkill Passive Quest Reborn Recruit Sidequest Spare Part Spellburst Start of Game Twinspell
	Other abilities	Can't attack Cast spell Copy Deal damage Destroy Discard Draw cards Elusive Enrage Equip Force attack Forgetful Gain Armor Generate Highlander Joust Modify cost Put into battlefield Put into hand Recurring Refresh Mana Remove from deck Replace Restore Health Return to hand Shuffle into deck Spend mana Summon Take control Transform Unlimited attacks Upgradable
	Non-Constructed	Auto-Attack Auto-cast Shrine Start of Combat
By effect type	Area of effect In-deck effect In-hand effect On-discard effect On-draw effect Ongoing effect Positional effect Random effect Resurrection effect Triggered effect
By card set	Standard	Basic Classic Rise of Shadows Saviors of Uldum Descent of Dragons Galakrond's Awakening Demon Hunter Initiate Ashes of Outland Scholomance Academy
	Wild	Hall of Fame Curse of Naxxramas Goblins vs Gnomes Blackrock Mountain Grand Tournament The League of Explorers Whispers of the Old Gods One Night in Karazhan Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Journey to Un'Goro Knights of the Frozen Throne Kobolds & Catacombs The Witchwood The Boomsday Project Rastakhan's Rumble
By rarity	Free Common Rare Epic Legendary