| Set: |  Saviors of Uldum |
|---|---|
| Type: | Hero |
| Class: |  Warrior |
| Health: | 300  |
The fourth plague roots within the heart: Wrath tears friend and foe apart.
Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath is the final boss in Chapter 4 of Tombs of Terror.
Hero Powers
| Difficulty | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal |
 |
 |
 |
| Heroic |
|
 |
|
Special cards
Decks
This boss has 30 cards for each of three phases. During the phase change, Icarax's deck is replaced by a new one and he draws three extra cards before his main deck. But if a fight continues after defeat in the second or third phase, Icarax won't have extra cards in the second or third phase respectively.
Normal
Heroic
Notes
- As a Plague Lord boss:
- If the player loses against a Plague Lord, its current Health will be its new maximum Health should the player encounter it again.
- Plague Lord's Hero Power and deck depend on their current Health.
- If it is between 201-300, it uses Phase 1's Hero Power and deck.
- If it is between 101-200, it uses Phase 2's.
- If it is below 100, it uses Phase 3's.
- During the phase change, the Plague Lord will draw extra cards. Their deck is also completely replaced by a new one.
- If its Health is "set" by
Flex-plosion, its Hero Power and deck stay the same until it is damaged by any means.
- In Normal mode, Akali, the Rhino has only 1 draw (Darius Crowley) during phase 3, so his Overkill will trigger only one time or it may not draw anything at all.
Strategy
Icarax is definitely the easiest final boss of Tombs of Terror adventure. This is due to the fact that all of his decks, hero powers and ways of board spam are much weaker than of other Plague Lords. This makes it much easier for the player to trade, take the board and deprive the opponent of resources in this final battle.
Despite the fact that Icarax almost does not have an ability to significantly strengthen his damaged minions, leaving them on the table is highly undesirable regardless of the player's available resources. Otherwise, almost immortal Rush minions (phase 1) or large ones with permanent high health (phase 3) will not allow to regain the advantage on the board, and the available spells or minions with AoE effect may not be enough to contain them.
Since all three Icarax's hero powers, as well as many cards in his decks, require a certain interaction with minions, the player may well have a favorable situation in which the Icarax has exhausted resources and has cards in his hand that he does not want or can not play (such as 
Devastate, 
Battle Rage, Execute, Plague of Wrath and 
Sudden Genesis). Another interesting feature of combat is the player's constant need to determine the benefit of his damaged minions. On the one hand, minions with full health deprive the boss of the opportunity to play several cards listed above, and have a better chance to make profitable trades, and on the other hand, these unplayable cards can be used by the boss later on the player's stronger minions.
Keep in mind that throughout all three phases, this boss uses the same AoE spells – 
Warpath, Brawl and Plague of Wrath. The problem is that it will be difficult to beat everything at once. Warpath is good against small minions, and the other two are good against big threats. The player can't spend too many resources, but at the same time can't play too slowly, otherwise Icarax will quite easily overwhelm the player. You need to keep your balance, especially before the next phase changes, when the boss will get the cards including AoE. It is best to keep 3-4 creatures on the table and prepare new ones in a hand.
The most useful passives and treasures in this encounter:
1) First Aid Kit. Healing on each turn significantly reduces the usability of boss execute effects. In addition, it can allow to outlast more trades combined with a small twist buff of Chapter 4.
2) Rocket Backpacks. In addition to the fact it immediately protects against damage to the hero and allows to outrun Icarax in the tempo (it's especially important in phases 1 and 3), it also makes it easier to lure the removals of Icarax and save the stronger minions.
3) Band of Bees. If the player's deck has a lot of cheap minions and ability to generate them, this passive will provide the easy trades throughout the game. In favor of this treasure point to such circumstances as the transformation of the first Icarax's hero power into useless, and the small number of enemy minions with Divine Shield. The minions with at least 2 HP are preferred, since this will prevent them from dying instantly from Warpath, 
Ravaging Ghoul or 
Blood Razor.
4) Disks of Legend. As long as the player has at least 2 threats on board that Icarax can kill with Brawl or Plague of Wrath, he'll tend to use it. It's a lot easier to bait out his strong removals with this treasure.
5) Truesilver Lance + Bubble Blower, Addarah. This combo of weapon and hero power provides an ability to simultaneously generate resources and restore health, which is useful throughout the battle, regardless of its duration. Addarah will play best in phases 2 and 3, providing an ability to steal several usually huge minions without the need for complicated trades or spending the other removals.
6) Staff of Ammunae will keep the minions from getting damaged and make it easier to kill off bigger enemies. Alternatively, it's may be used to dealing a massive damage to Icarax.[1]
7) Blade of the Burning Sun. Since most if Icarax minions will have large stats in the late game, this weapon will be able to compensate for their stats with a large attack by the player's minions.[2]
The first phase of Icarax is the most difficult. This is due not only because a hero power interacts well with the deck, mainly consisting of Rush minions, but also to boss' advantage in starting mana, which is not so noticeable in phases 2 and 3, if the battle started with them. Therefore, despite the fact that Icarax is the weakest of the Plague Lords, such a tempo will easily allow him to capture the board and defeat the player in the first few turns, if the player's minions are without Rocket Backpacks, do not have a reduced manacost/increased stats, or the player lacks of support (spells, weapons) at this time.
In this phase, Icarax can make any trades to benefit himself, as well as freely use any mass damage. It is worth noting that minions do not receive Immune, i.e. they are affected by any Destroy effects.
The main strategy is simple – to remove all enemy minions from the board. It's relatively safe to skip some turns only if AoE is planned on the next turn. Any minion that the enemy has left on the table can attack one of the player's minions for free. In most cases, it is worth to trading to the maximum, so that Icarax not only does not use the hero power, but also other cards that synergize with the damaged minions like Bloodsworn Mercenary or Plague of Wrath.
Icarax has a fairly large number of Rush minions, which means that he will be able to benefit from the hero power in any case by playing them in one turn. The most dangerous of these minions is 
Batterhead. If there are a lot of small minions on the player's board, it can easily kill all of them in one turn, simultaneously increasing the attack, and thus clean up the entire table. If Icarax will get Batterhead by Akali, the Rhino, it can clean almost any kind of board so it's advisable to kill Akali as fast as possible and have a removal for any minion drawn by Akali.
All of this is further supported by 
Woecleaver (weapon removals are welcome) and 
The Boomship. The last one is especially dangerous, because together with the hero power it can clean up most of the table and leave a couple of unpleasant creatures. Due to that any small AoE is very useful in this phase. Even Whirlwind, Sandstorm Elemental and other small AoE will often destroy 3-4 enemy minions.[3]
In the second phase, Icarax is Taunt Warrior and has two cards to strengthen Taunt minions (Into the Fray, Armagedillo). Though the character of the deck forces the player to trade with the boss' minions and often die from his hero power, it is much easier to play at this phase than at the previous one. This is due to the fact that the available buffs of Icarax and his AI are not enough to make an impenetrable wall of Taunt minions, as well as the fact that most of these minions do not have a high attack, making it easier for profitable trades, which just forces Icarax to spend the hero power on the player's minions with a small amount of remaining health. And since Wrath Smash is not AoE, this killing process does not bring Ikarax an advantage in tempo, but only slightly reduces the damage received.
In Normal difficulty, given the base cost of a hero power of 2 mana, it will be difficult for Icarax to use this ability, and he will often miss it. However, in Heroic mode, it costs 0, which will greatly increase the frequency of its use. But regardless of the difficulty a strategy is the same - keeping the full health of most important minions and don't give a boss the opportunity to do a little damage. In addition, the passive First Aid Kit will help to maintain a health perfectly. If possible, do not trade the largest minions, or at least try to heal them after the trade. Alternatively, they're may be saved until the next phase and aren't played at all.
Another way to play around this hero power would be to keep all of the minions damaged (so that its cost is too high or takes up the entire opponent's turn). However, this may lead to Plague of Wrath and in most situations, this risk will not be justified. In general, it is advisable to go through this phase as quickly as possible, so that Wrath Smash would not draw out too many resources. If the fast game isn't possible it's better to play the minions with average stats, then the losses wouldn't be significant.
The hero power in this phase is again the same for both difficulties and works the same way as Topsy Turvy spell. It is important to note that the "damaged" minion will not be damaged after using and therefore such cards as Battle Rage or Plague of Wrath will stop working, which can be either plus and minus.
In this phase, Icarax buffs his minions with fater speed and tempo, since this buffing occurs primarily by the minions (for example, Darius Crowley or Emeriss). In addition, there are much fewer low-value minions in the third phase decks, so The Boomship brings a lot of threat in comparison with phases 1 and 2, as it will have a much smaller chance of summoning 3 underwhelming minions. In addition to the fact that many boss minions will have increased stats, he can repeatedly "replenish" their health with the hero power. This can be especially frustrating with Frothing Berserker, Grommash Hellscream, and 
Gahz'rilla. And therefore this is the phase where such passive as Band of Bees or AoE like Addarah, Scales of Justice or Plague of Death will bring the biggest value.
Just continue the general strategy of playing around AoEs, counting them, and clearing an enemy board so he won't get extra value from Twist and damage synergies.
Dialogue
Introduction
- Reno Jackson
- Okay you look really, REALLY mad! You must be wrath.
- Sir Finley
- Wrath? You have not felt wrath until you've earned the ire of… SIR FINLEY!
- Elise Starseeker
- History proves that pointless wrath leads to a swift downfall.
- Brann Bronzebeard
- Back under the ground with ye, Plague Lord.
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Anger can feed you... or destroy you!
- Give in to your rage!
- vs. Reno Jackson
- Always so impulsive, Reno...
- ...and easily angered.
- vs. Sir Finley
- You think you can control your anger?
- We shall see...
- vs. Elise Starseeker
- I have lain waste to the land of Uldum... and soon, all of Azeroth.
- Good. Give in to your anger.
- vs. Brann Bronzebeard
- You cannot tame rage, dwarf.
- You are already full of rage. Very good.
Player's returning after defeat
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Phase 1
- Anger is a poison without cure.
- Revel in bitterness and rage!
- Phase 2
- Are you ready to get really angry?
- There is still more hatred to spread.
- Phase 3
- Your fury radiates around you...
- Now you are angry enough to face me!
- Yes! You are truly incensed now.
Battle
Emote Response
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- The longer you stay, the more you fall under my influence.
Hero Power
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Commanding Scream
- So FALLIBLE!
- So PATHETIC!
- So PITIFUL!
- So WORTHLESS!
- Wrath Smash (Heroic)
- So FOOLISH!
- So PALTRY!
- So TERRIBLE!
- So WEAK!
- Hand of Defiance
- So AWFUL!
- So HORRID!
- So INFURIATING!
- So SHAMEFUL!
- So... INSULTING!
Idle
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Hatred is a fire that burns but never warms.
- I am not always mad, but calming down makes me angry.
- I do not just hate your face. I hate all of you equally.
- I have the best insults. Competitors are mindless dolts.
- Mortals take insults so personally.
- The other Plague Lords are strong, but none so fierce as I.
Phase changing
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Transition to Phase 2
- I am REALLY annoyed now!
- Transition to Phase 3
- You are worthy of even greater ire!
Twist - Plague of Wrath triggers
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- I will lay waste to all you possess!
- It was made to be broken!
- Nothing withstands my rage!
Boss cards
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Into the Fray
- Cruelty is a strength.
- Battle Rage
- Ahh, the power!
- Temple Berserker
- Anger is an advantage!
- Restless Mummy
- Hate can even outlast death.
- Plague of Wrath
- Suffer my wrath!
- Armagedillo
- This beast has a very bad temper!
- Sul'thraze
- This is even sharper than my tongue! Hah!
- Octosari
- Chaos in its purest form!
- Woecleaver
- Meet your end in shame!
Player's cards
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Inner Rage
- I knew you had it in you.
- Beaming Sidekick
- Ugh! Is that thing... cheerful?
- Injured Tol'vir
- That one can hardly stand!
- Desert Hare
- Are you provoking me?
- Plague of Wrath
- Hah! A feeble attempt.
Death
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Enraging...
Defeat
- Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath
- Even those who fall to me feel my power!
- I knew it. There is too much softness and kindness inside you...
- Your blood must be boiling!
Lore
Icarax is unique to Hearthstone. It is one of the five sources of plagues that Rafaam has unleashed into Uldum. Icarax is the embodiment of the Plague of Wrath.
Gallery
  Icarax, Plague Lord of Wrath, full art |
Patch changes
- Hotfix (2019-09-21): Fixed the issue causing Plague Lord presistent health fail to save.[4]
- Patch 15.2.0.33717 (2019-09-10): Added.
References
- ↑ https://youtu.be/aFQWtqwaIYY?t=8299
- ↑ https://www.hearthpwn.com/news/7004-tombs-of-terror-heroic-guide-icarax-plague-lord-of
- ↑ https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/guides/tombs-of-terror-strategy-guide-chapter-4-halls-of-origination-icarax-plague-lord-of-wrath/
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment (2019-09-21). Small Client Update: 15.2.2. Retrieved on 2019-09-01.
| Tombs of Terror | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heroes | |||||||||||||||||
| Chapter 1: The Lost City |
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| Chapter 2: Scorching Dunes |
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| Chapter 3: Khartut's Tomb |
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| Chapter 4: Halls of Origination |
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| Chapter 5: The Inner Sanctum |
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| Tavern | |||||||||||||||||
