Ability

*For the abilities in Mercenaries, see Ability*.

**Abilities** are special effects, powers, or behaviors found on cards. For spell and location cards, the ability describes the total effect of playing that card, while for minion and weapon cards, abilities are special effects or powers additional to the basic functions of the card. Abilities may be described in the card's text, or granted by enchantments.

*Hearthstone* features a large range of abilities. Abilities may trigger in response to certain events, provide ongoing effects to certain minions, or grant special powers or characteristics. Certain often-used abilities are written in memorable shorthand form using bold-faced keywords on the card, such as Battlecry or Deathrattle, while other abilities are written out with their full description in the card text.

Minion abilities granted by card text or enchantments can be removed using the Silence ability. However, abilities granted to minions through aura effects generated by other cards can only be removed by neutralizing the aura-generating card.

## Notes

* When multiple abilities are triggered simultaneously, the order of events is generally determined by the order in which the cards were played or summoned. For example, if two minions with Deathrattle die in the same combat, the minion which was summoned first will activate its Deathrattle first, followed by the minion which was summoned second. All triggered abilities will take place before the current phase of activity concludes.
* Although some abilities are only present on cards playable by a specific hero class, these cards can be played by any hero that manages to acquire them in an ongoing game (e.g. through Thoughtsteal or Mind Vision).

## Keywords

*This section is about keyword abilities. For keywords used to search the collection, see Keywords (collection manager).*
Keywords are specific bold-faced words or terms printed on cards which specify a unique power or behavior without any explicit description. Mousing over a minion card with a keyword ability will generate a text display describing the ability. For a more detailed exploration of each keyword, and a list of related cards, click on the respective section headings.

In almost all cases, when a new keyword and mechanic is added for an expansion set, that keyword is *only* used in that set. There are a handful of exceptions, like expansion keywords that have been made evergreen since their introduction such as Discover, Reborn, and Tradeable; new keywords specifically designed to be evergreen, such as Rush, Outcast, and Overheal; and existing effects being given keywords, such as Lifesteal, Poisonous, and Casts When Drawn.

For a discussion of why keywords do not exist for some often-seen behaviors in cards, see the trivia section.

## Evergreen keywords

These keywords can be found across multiple card sets and are frequently given new variations and synergies.

Battlecry
A triggered effect which activates when the card is played from the hand.

Deathrattle
A triggered effect which activates when the card is destroyed. Deathrattle is identified by a skull and crossbones at the bottom of the card's portrait.

Discover
Choose one card from three random class-appropriate cards to either add to the hand or perform another specified action.

Divine Shield
Absorbs the first source of any damage, removing the shield. Divine Shield is indicated by a yellow barrier around the minion.

Dormant
The minion becomes a Permanent until certain conditions are fulfilled, preventing it from taking any action or being interacted with in any way.

Freeze
The next time a Frozen character would be able to attack, they cannot. Freeze is indicated by blue ice covering the character.

Lifesteal
Damage dealt by the card also restores Health to the controlling hero. Lifesteal is identified by a broken purple heart at the bottom of the card's portrait.

Poisonous
Any minion damaged by a card with Poisonous is destroyed. Poisonous is identified by a green bubbling flask at the bottom of the card's portrait.

Reborn
The first time the minion dies, it returns to life with 1 Health remaining. Reborn is indicated by a cracked blue glow around the minion.

Rush
Enables the minion to attack enemy minions on the same turn that it is summoned.

Secret
A type of spell card that is placed on the Battlefield and takes effect once triggered, with its effect hidden from the opponent. Only one of any given Secret can be in play for a given player at a time.

Silence
Removes all current card text, enchantments, and abilities from the target minion, except for auras provided by external cards in play. Silence is indicated by two pink rings around the minion.

Spell Damage
Increases the damage dealt by the player's spells by {X}. Spell Damage is indicated by blue and purple sparkles rising from the card.

Stealth
Characters with Stealth may not be the target of enemy attacks, spells, or abilities until they attack or deal damage. Stealth is indicated by shadows covering the character.

Taunt
Prevents your opponent from attacking friendly characters that do not have Taunt. Taunt is indicated by a large shield-like border.

Tradeable
Instead of being played, the card can be dragged to the deck and shuffled in for 1 Mana, drawing a new card to replace it. Tradeable is indicated by a recycling icon beneath the card's mana cost.

Windfury
Can attack twice each turn. Windfury is indicated by multiple wind-like lines around the card.

## Evergreen class keywords

These keywords can be found across multiple card sets, but are typically only used in one specific class.

Choose One
Choose between one of two or more effects stated on the card. Found only on druid cards.

Combo
Triggers an effect when played from the hand if another card was already played this turn. Found only on rogue cards.

Outcast
Gains an effect if it's the right-most or left-most card in the hand. Found only on demon hunter cards.

Overheal
A triggered effect which activates when the minion is healed above its maximum health. Found only on priest cards.

Overload
{X} mana crystals will be locked on the player's next turn, preventing them from being used. Found only on shaman cards.

## Uncommon evergreen keywords

These keywords can be found across multiple card sets, but are not as frequently used as other evergreen keywords.

Casts When Drawn
The spell card is automatically cast for no mana when drawn from the deck, and the next card in the deck is then drawn.

Charge
Enables the minion to attack on the same turn that it is summoned.

Choose Twice
A variation of Choose One that allows the player to combine two options (or pick the same option twice) from a list. Found only on druid cards.

Counter
Prevents a card that was played from taking effect.

Immune
Prevents damage dealt from any source to the target, and prevents all enemy interaction with the target. Immune is indicated by a translucent blue barrier around the character.

Mega-Windfury
Can attack four times each turn. Mega-Windfury is indicated by multiple wind-like lines around the card.

Passive
Cards that continuously provide a global effect to the game via an aura. Passive hero powers are a main source of this ability.

Start of Game
A type of triggered effect that activates at the start of the game.

Summoned When Drawn
The minion is automatically summoned for no mana when drawn from the deck, and the next card in the deck is then drawn.

## Expansion-specific keywords

The following keywords are tied to a specific expansion(s) and only appear in that expansion.

Adapt
Choose from one of three possible upgrades from a list of ten.

Colossal
The minion comes into play with {X} token minions representing its body parts, no matter how it was summoned.

Corrupt
The card gains an additional effect if the player plays a more expensive card while it's in their hand.

Dredge
Look at the bottom three cards of the deck and put one on the top of the deck.

Echo
Adds another copy of the card to the hand after it's played that disappears at the end of the turn, allowing the card to be replayed indefinitely that turn. Echo copies cannot cost less than 1 mana.

Finale
A triggered effect that activates if the player has no unspent Mana crystals remaining when it's played.

Forge
While in the hand, the card can be dragged to the deck for 2 mana, gaining an additional effect and returning to the hand.

Frenzy
A one-time triggered effect that activates the first time the minion takes damage and survives.

Honorable Kill
A triggered effect that activates when dealing exactly enough damage needed to kill the target.

Infuse
The card gains an additional effect if {X} friendly minions died while the card is in the hand.

Inspire
A triggered effect that activates each time the controlling hero uses their Hero Power. Inspire is identified by a blue flag that appears at the bottom of the minion's portrait.

Invoke
If a version of Galakrond was included in the deck, triggers his hero power and contributes to upgrading him.

Magnetic
Playing a Magnetic minion to the left of a Mech merges the two cards together, combining their stats and effects.

Manathirst
A triggered effect that activates when the card is played if the player has {X} or more total Mana crystals.

Overkill
A triggered effect that activates when dealing more damage than needed to kill the target.

Quest
A type of spell card that is placed on the Battlefield and has a requirement to be fulfilled, granting a Reward upon completion. Each Quest is automatically included in the player's mulligan. A player can only have one active Quest or Questline at a time.

Questline
Similar to Quests, except Questlines require three steps to be completed. Each step has a minor Reward and immediately puts the next step into play, with the final step having a major Reward.

Recruit
Summons a random minion from the player's deck. A keyworded version of Put into battlefield, found only on *Kobolds & Catacombs* cards with this effect.

Sidequest
Similar to Quests, except Sidequests are non-Legendary and do not start in the mulligan. Only one of any given Sidequest can be in play for a given player at a time.

Spellburst
A one-time Triggered effect that does something the first time the controller cast a spell.

Titan
Instead of attacking, the minion can activate one of three abilities once per turn. Each ability can only be used once, and the minion can attack normally once all three have been used.

Twinspell
Casting the spell puts another copy into the hand, but without the Twinspell ability.

## Keyworded generation abilities

Some card generation or summoning effects use a bold-faced word to denote their ability.

Corpse
Exclusive to Death Knights, Corpses are gained whenever a friendly minion dies, and are spent alongside mana to power up certain cards.

Jade Golem
Each Jade Golem summoned by a player is +1/+1 larger than the last. Found only on Druid, Rogue, Shaman, and Jade Lotus Tri-class cards.

Lackey
1 mana 1/1 minions with useful Battlecries.

Lich King
Uncollectible Death Knight cards primarily generated by The Lich King and Arfus.

Piece of C'Thun
The body parts of C'Thun. Playing all four will shuffle C'Thun, the Shattered into your deck.

Spare Part
1 mana spells with minor benefits.

## Other abilities

Other recurring abilities that do not have an associated keyword.

Can't attack
Prevents a card from attacking.

Can't attack heroes
Prevents a card from attacking a hero.

Card draw effect
Causes the player to draw one or more cards from their deck.

Cast spell
Casts a spell on behalf of the controlling player.

Change Cost to Health
Changes the mana cost of a card to reduce the player hero's health instead.

Copy
Copies an existing card. Usually combined with a Summon effect to summon the copy into the battlefield, or a generate effect to place it into the player's hand.

Corpse (Spend/Gain)
Reduces or adds to the amount of Corpses a death knight has stored.

Deal damage
Deals damage to a character, attempting to reduce its Health by the stated amount.

Destroy
Destroys a minion, weapon, Secret or Hero without dealing damage to it.

Disable Hero Power
Causes both players to be unable to use their Hero Power. This effect *does not* work against Adventure- and Mission-specific Hero Powers.

Discard
Causes the player to discard one or more cards from their hand.

Elusive
The character cannot be targeted by spells or Hero Powers from either player.

Enchant
Modifies the statistics or card text of one or more cards. May be temporary, permanent, or ongoing.

Enrage
While damaged, this minion gains the stated effect. Prior to Patch 11.0.0.23966, Enrage appeared as a keyword, but was replaced with generic text due to its scarcity.

Equip
Equips the hero with the stated weapon.

Force attack
Forces a character to attack.

Forgetful
The card has a 50% chance of attacking the wrong enemy. Forgetful is a type of triggered effect.

Gain Armor
Causes the controlling hero to gain Armor.

Gain Mana / Gain Mana Crystals
Temporarily or permanently increases the amount of mana a player has.

Generate
Generates a new card, and places it into the player's hand.

Hero zone card
Has a non-immediate effect and appears around the player's hero.

Increment attribute
Adds or subtracts a value from something's Attack, Health, Cost, or Durability.

Joust
Reveals a random card from each player's deck. If the player who initiated the Joust produces a card with a higher mana cost, they win the Joust, activating a secondary effect. Both cards are then shuffled back into their respective decks.

Modify cost
Alters the mana cost of another card or Hero Power.

Multiply attribute
Multiplies something's Attack, Health or Cost by some value, which so far has always been 2.

No Durability loss
Causes the possessing hero's weapon to not lose any Durability during their turn.

Permanent
Permanent "minions" lack Mana cost, Attack and Health, are untargetable, are immune to all effects except their own, do not count as minions for effects, and take up a space on the battlefield.

Playerbound
Provides a permanent effect bound to the player. Similar to the aura-generation effect associated with the keyword ability "Passive".

Put into battlefield
Directly places a card from the player's deck or hand into the battlefield, without triggering any Battlecries.

Put into hand
Draws cards of a specific type directly from the player's deck and places them into the player's hand.

Put on deck
Adds cards to the player's deck without shuffling it in the process, or changes the order of cards in the deck.

Recurring
Repeats an effect when certain conditions are met.

Refresh Mana
Refills the player's empty Mana Crystals.

Remove from game
Removes cards directly from the player's hand, deck, or battlefield.

Replace
Replace one card with another, without destroying or discarding any cards in the process.

Restore Health
Heals a character, increasing their Health by the stated amount, up to but not beyond their current maximum Health.

Return
Returns the target minion to its owner's hand.

Set attribute
Via an enchantment, assigns a new value for something's Attack, Health, or Cost.

Shuffle into deck
Places a card into a player's deck with its placement randomly determined, and shuffles the deck.

Spend mana
Spends mana in addition to the normal mana cost to produce an extra effect. Currently, all cards with this ability spend *all* available mana, and the effect is proportional to the amount of mana spent.

Steal
Takes a card from the opposing player's hand or deck and adds it to the player's hand.

Summon
Summons the specified minion/s. Distinct from simply playing a minion card from the hand, this is an ability found on spell or minion cards, sometimes triggered by a Battlecry or Deathrattle.

Take control
Transfers ownership of the targeted minion.

Transform
Changes a minion into something else irreversibly, entirely replacing the previous card.

Transform in hand
Changes a card into something else while it is in the player's hand.

Unlimited attacks
Allows the possessing hero to attack any number of times each turn.

Upgradable
Transforms a card into a more powerful version of itself under specific conditions.

## Types of ability

These are rough categories of abilities that describe certain common behaviours.

Area of effect
Affects all characters of the stated type.

Deckbuilding effect
While included in a deck, alters the way the deck is constructed.

Highlander
Has an effect when your deck has no duplicates.

In-deck effect
Effects which activate while the card is in the player's deck.

In-hand effect
Effects which activate while the card is in the player's hand.

One-time effect
Effects which activate upon in response to a certain event, only once.

On-discard effect
Effects which activate upon being discarded from the hand.

On-draw effect
Effects which activate upon being drawn from the deck.

Ongoing effect
An ability which provides a specific effect on an ongoing basis.

Positional effect
Takes effect depending on the specific order and position of minions on the battlefield.

Random effect
Chooses a target or effect at random.

Removal
Used to remove minions from the board. Generally refers to destroy, transform or high-damage effects.

Resurrection effect
Summons a copy of a minion that died during a game.

Triggered effect
An effect or behaviour which only activates in response to a certain event. On minions, these are denoted by a lightning bolt icon at the bottom of the portrait.

## Boss and Tavern Brawl abilities

The following abilities so far only appear on cards featured in boss encounters and Tavern Brawls.

Auto-cast
Causes the Hero Power to be used automatically at the start of each turn, provided the hero has enough mana to spare.

Auto-Attack
Causes the minion to attack automatically at the end of the turn, targeting the minion or minions directly across from it. The minion cannot be commanded to attack, or prevented from attacking.

Revive
When a minion with **Revive: (X)** dies, it goes Dormant and is resurrected after X turns.

Shrine
Whenever the minion would be destroyed or removed from the field in any way or get Silenced, it instead becomes Dormant for 3 turns.

## Battlegrounds abilities

Keyworded abilities that only appear on Battlegrounds minions and hero powers.

Avenge
A type of Triggered effect that activates after {X} friendly minions die during the same combat.

Spellcraft
Adds a temporary spell with the stated effect to your hand when the minion is played and at the start of each recruit phase.

Start of Combat
A type of Triggered effect that activates at the start of each combat round.

Venomous
The first minion that a Venomous minion damages each combat phase is destroyed.

## Duels abilities

Keyworded abilities that only appear on Duels minions and hero powers.

Allied
Including an Allied card in a Duels deck makes a Neutral Duels hero be able to use cards from that class, as well as changing their class to it.

Revive
When a minion with **Revive: (X)** dies, it goes Dormant and is resurrected after X turns.

## Trivia

* According to Ben Brode, the game's alpha featured 4 or 5 keywords which were removed from the game prior to the beginning of the beta.

### Keyword creation

Keywords were specifically designed by the developers to help players to quickly recognise when a large number of minions have exactly the same ability, such as minions with Taunt, saving time spent reading each individual card's text. However, while keywords make it easier in cases where they are frequently encountered, when such examples are rare, keywords can actually serve to make understanding cards harder, requiring players to mouse over cards in understand to examine their abilities. The case of the "Destroy any minion damaged by this minion" effect was cited by Ben Brode in 2014 as an example where the developers could have added a keyword, but chose instead to simply describe the ability in full, since it is was originally only found on 2 cards. Senior Producer Yong Woo explained:

*"You know, keywords are double-edged swords. On the one hand, it really condenses information. I tell you Deathrattle and you know what it is right away. I tell somebody off the street Deathrattle and he is going to be like "What are you... selling me a snake?". They will not know what I am talking about, so it is a balance we have to reach between condensing the information and making too hard a set of vocabulary for new players to understand. It is something we continue to work on."*
Ben Brode has also stated that when a keyword conveys more than one behaviour rule, it can be hard for players to remember these from just the keyword. For example, Taunt and Charge immediately convey that the minion possesses a single, specific ability. In contrast, the "elusive" ability is tricky because it has more than one effect, protecting the minion from both spells and hero powers, but not Battlecries or attacks. Ben Brode has stated that the elusive ability was "right on the razor's edge" regarding whether or not to create a keyword for it.

Yong Woo has stated that it is possible in the future that keywords may be added for currently existing abilities such as the "elusive" ability of the Faerie Dragon, Laughing Sister and Spectral Knight - should there come to be a sufficient number of minions with that behaviour in the game. Other card text for which keywords were considered, and for which keywords may be added in the future, include on-draw effects and Joust.

New keywords
Following its launch, the game did not see the addition of any new keywords until *The Grand Tournament*, when Inspire was introduced. Inspire was initially represented by the text "Whenever you use your Hero Power do X", but the developers felt that replacing it with a new keyword would both save space on cards and also highlight the new mechanic as a key feature of the new expansion. They also felt that the game had been around long enough that it was acceptable to introduce a new keyword. However, the developers did not choose to make the same expansion's new Jousting mechanic into a keyword, partly because of a lack of synergy with established keywords, and partly because it is "more in depth" than other keywords. Inspire also featured on a larger number of cards than Joust.

*The League of Explorers*, the next major addition of cards, saw the debut of Discover. Originally intended to debut in a Tavern Brawl, the second added keyword was postponed due to technical difficulties.

A new keyword would not be added until *Journey to Un'Goro*, with Adapt. A few months earlier, the long-standing "Poison" ability ("Destroy any minion damaged by this minion") was formalised, with the addition of the Poisonous keyword. The change was purely cosmetic, but appears to have been due to the introduction of a number of new Poisonous cards with *Un'Goro*, therefore justifying the creation of a keyword for the long-standing effect.

As the game grows, the developers feel increasingly open to adding new keywords. When the game was new, Ben Brode says, the developers "really wanted to keep ourselves in check as far as the number of keywords we added and how quickly we added them", but since *The Grand Tournament* have begun adding keywords quite regularly. In 2018, Dean Ayala explained that the team tends to create keywords that are unique to specific expansions, to ensure that players don't have to learn "a hundred new mechanics" when they log into *Hearthstone*. As a result, new keywords tend to be introduced at around the same pace that old keywords rotate out of the Standard format. While all old keywords continue to exist in the Wild format, Wild generally has more experienced players that are able to "learn new things a little bit more over time". However, Ayala emphasizes that player feedback plays a big part in deciding which keywords to continue using in future sets and which ones should remain expansion-specific.

A handful of justified exceptions exist. Mega-Windfury was added with *Goblins vs Gnomes* for just one minion: the uncollectible V-07-TR-0N, summoned by Mimiron's Head's triggered effect. However, this keyword is followed on the card by the italicized text, "(Can attack four times a turn.)", essentially negating the use of the Mega-Windfury keyword. The redundancy can be explained by the obvious similarity between Windfury and Mega-Windfury, with the use of the keyword aiding players in immediately understanding the card's ability. Choose Twice was also added for one specific card, but is obviously based on Choose One. Likewise, the Start of Game keyword only appeared on three cards at the time it was added, but is justified by its self-explanatory name. The humorous keyword "Charrrrrge" was similarly added exclusively to the card Skycap'n Kragg with *The Grand Tournament*, but served only as a cosmetic variant on Charge.

## Patch changes

* **Patch 25.0.0.158725 (2022-11-29):** Death Knight generation ability on The Lich King, Arfus, and Transfer Student renamed to Lich King.
* **Patch 12.2.0.26996 (2018-10-02):** Casts When Drawn added, replacing the previous card text "Cast this when drawn".
* **Patch 11.0.0.23966 (2018-04-10):** Enrage removed and replaced with "while damaged".
* **Patch 9.0.0.20457 (2017-08-08):** Lifesteal added, replacing the previous card text "Damage dealt by this minion also heals your hero."
* **Patch 7.1.0.17720 (2017-02-28):** Poisonous added, replacing the previous card text "Destroy any minion damaged by this minion."
* **Patch 1.0.0.3890 (Closed beta, 2013-10-02):** Poisonous visual effect added.

## References

1. ↑ Peter Whalen (March 20, 2018). Designer Insights with Peter Whalen: Enrage Changes. Retrieved on 2019-08-01.
2. ↑ How a Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Card is Made. (2015-04-30).
3. ↑ ChanManV (2014-04-24). Value Town #27 w/ ChanManV, Trump, Gnimsh, and Ben Brode Pt. 1.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 GamesCom Interview: Hearthstone Observer Mode Coming Soon. (2014-08-25).
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Blizzard Hearthstone Developer AMA - Ben Brode, Yong Woo and Christina Sims!. (2014-12-15).
6. ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2016-11-14).
7. ↑ #100 - The Angry Chicken: “May the Chicken be with You” - Ben Brode (2015-09-01)
8. ↑ Zeriyah on Twitter. (2015-08-11).
9. ↑ Zeriyah on Twitter. (2015-08-05).
10. ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2016-03-15).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 IGN.com - HEARTHSTONE: CREATING THE DISCOVER MECHANIC. (2016-01-17).
12. ↑ HSReplay.net (2018-11-07). HSReplay.net Interview - Chris Sigaty and Dean Ayala. Retrieved on 2018-11-12.