For many Hearthstone players, particularly newer ones, deciding which legendary cards to craft with your hard-earned dust is a stressful experience.

The setback from crafting a card which ends up being useless can be potentially devastating.

Here are 20 best legendary cards on the hearthstone.

20. Baron Geddon

Baron Geddon is a card that has primarily fallen down the power ranking due to the amount of new legendaries introduced with each expansion.

Early on in Hearthstone, Baron Geddon was seen commonly in control decks as one of the few viable options for a late-game threat.

These days Geddon only appears in the heaviest of control decks that are looking for extra clearing power against aggro decks.

Control Warrior is the deck that Geddon is most commonly found in, but control Paladins can also use it effectively as an extra combo part in conjunction with Equality.

19. Bloodmage Thalnos

Bloodmage Thalnos is a card that can fly under the radar of a lot of new players.

Combine that with the fact that Bloodmage has weaker stats than either of those cards, and it’s easy to see why the skeletal wizard gets ignored.

It’s impossible to replicate the value with a single replacement, and since you can only fit 30 cards in your deck, this 2-in-1 proposition can be hugely useful.

Any deck based around some sort of burn spell finisher tends to features Thalnos. Freeze Mages include it to buff up their game-ending burst combo, or to dig deeper in their deck for crucial cards.

Oil Rogue uses it for powerful tempo plays using Backstab, Fan of Knives, or Blade Flurry, while simultaneously cycling through their deck to hit key cards.

Even some niche builds of Grim Patron Warrior (RIP) include it to get added value out of Inner Rage and Slam. The versatility is key.

18. Al'Akir the Windlord

Once maligned as the worst legendary in the vanilla game, Al’Akir has since found a comfortable home as the finisher of choice in Midrange Shaman decks.

What was overlooked early on was the potential burst damage that Al’Akir can dish out when combined with Rockbiter Weapons or Flametongue Totems, and this extra bite can be crucial in a deck that generally doesn’t play too many powerful minions.

Midrange Shaman is often able to gain board control fairly easily, but lacks the oomph in the late-game to push for the win.

As with most class-specific Legendaries on this list, though, Al’Akir can be skipped if you’re not planning on making a splash with Shaman, and other cheaper cards like Doomhammer or Bloodlust can deliver a similarly potent effect.

17. Edwin van Cleef

Another class legendary sneaks onto the list in the shape of the leader of the Defias Brotherhood.

Edwin van Cleef is a powerful minion used in tempo-focused decks like Oil Rogue.

The amount of low cost spells that Rogues play, combined with the power of Preparation to string together multiple cards early on, means that Edwin can often be a 6/6 for 3-mana, or better.

Since Rogue decks are primarily only built one way—to leverage the advantage that their hero power and incredibly efficient removal spells provide into a tempo advantage—the ability to play such a huge minion for a small mana cost is hard to overlook.

That said, Edwin isn’t found in every Rogue deck, and this stops it from making an impact on the higher reaches of the list.

16. Varian Wrynn

Varian is the first Grand Tournament card to make the list.

When the set was announced, many players reacted to Varian with pre-emptive cries for a nerf—and it’s understandable to see why.

On the surface this card seems absurd, due to its potential to pull three enormous minions from a Control Warrior’s deck and play them on the board, essential cheating out cards worth more than 20 mana in the right situation.

On top of this, you risk exposing yourself to board wipes if your opponent has something like a Lightbomb or Brawl in hand.

Finally, Varian leaves you at a huge disadvantage in a control mirror match since you push yourself towards fatigue faster, which is how these types of games often end.

But with all those negatives out of the way, Varian still represents an extremely powerful threat.

15. Vol’Jin

Vol’jin was hailed as one of the standout cards in the Goblins vs. Gnomes set, and subsequent expansions haven’t hurt the card’s power level. In fact, due to the strength of the current Dragon Priest decks, Vol’jin is better than ever.

It’s easy to spot the value of Vol’jin, but he often works out even better than expected.

The card provides an amazing answer to beefy midrange creatures, as well as a potential solution to the Priest dilemma’s when it comes to dealing with 4-attack minions.

Vol’jin will almost always find value for you at some point in a game.

In the Dragon Priest deck, you tend to play a proactive style based on dropping creatures ‘on curve’, aiming to out-tempo your opponent, rather than the more reactive approach of classic control Priests.

The beauty of Vol’jin in Dragon Priest is that the simultaneous removal of an opposing creature while dropping your own is the very definition of a high-tempo play.

14. Ragnaros the Firelord

In the long gone days of vanilla Hearthstone, Ragnaros was an absolute powerhouse of the game.

Often first on people’s to-craft lists, the destructive power of Ragnaros in the late-game was more or less unmatched by other cards.

The risk that your Ragnaros will only snipe a small minion or hit your opponent’s face at the wrong time and then get taken out by a BGH is too much for some players.

Consequently, the card has faded from being an ever-present to generally only being played in slow decks that run multiple high-cost creatures in order to exhaust the opponent’s removal options.

Which isn’t to say that Ragnaros is no longer deadly. It’s still a wrecking ball when left unchecked and is capable of winning games single-handed if your opponent can’t kill him.

13. Justicar Trueheart

The effect of Justicar is hard to sum up quickly, as it varies uniquely between classes.

Paladins have made great use of Justicar to flood the board with Silver Hand Recruits which threaten to destroy dreams with a follow-up Quartermaster combo.

Priests have started including Justicar to make their minions even harder to remove, and further increasing their advantage over pesky Aggro decks.

Now, the dizzying heights of 40, 50, even 60 armour are achievable, giving birth to a new form of Control Warrior that is no longer interested in killing the other player at all, they simply armour up, remove every threat you play, and then sit bellowing with laughter as you die to fatigue.

While this might not be the most fun experience, there is no denying its efficacy.

12. Harrison Jones

Harrison Jones is an interesting card to see so high on the list. Usually tech cards like this wouldn’t be recommended as high crafting priorities since they’re only effective in the right meta.

However, Hearthstone has been so heavily dominated by Paladin, Hunter and Warrior decks for a while now that Harrison almost always finds a target.

The particular strength of Harrison is that even in matchups like Druid where he won’t get to add a new weapon to his ever-growing museum, he still isn’t terrible.

He still represents a threat in an aggressive deck, and he can still ‘trade up’ with a better minion in a Control deck. This lack of downside is what makes Harrison such an attractive option.

11. Lord Jaraxxus

Although only featured in one common deck currently, namely Handlock, Jarraxus’ raw power is easily enough to warrant a place this high.

Considered in a vacuum, the card is overpowered. You gain access to a ludicrous new hero power, an incredible weapon, and the best emotes in the game.

In the matchups where your life total is not a concern, such as against Priest, Jarraxus is game winning.

It’s not uncommon in a high level match to see a Handlock player slam Jarraxus on turn nine against a Priest, lowering their own Health by 10 or more points, and rendering their Molten Giants unplayable, simply because Priests have no way to cope with Jarraxus’ hero power over a long series of turns.

It’s a Warlock-only card, and only really useful in one archetype. But if you ever plan to play Handlock, then you need Jarraxus.

10. Alexstrasza

One of the holdouts from the early days of Hearthstone, Alexstrasza is in a fairly unique position of being a powerful card from day one that has stayed strong through to the current expansion.

Its versatility is the secret to its longevity, as it can be included in any late-game focused control deck, or one aiming to kill opponents with a burst combo.

In these decks Alex serves the double purpose of activating a win condition by instantly lowering your opponent’s health, or crushing the dreams of aggro decks by healing your own hero when near death.

The power and immediacy of Alex’s effect also makes the card relatively resistant to Big Game Hunter, which has forced many other 8/8 creatures out of the meta.

Once a Freeze Mage has dropped Alex and brought you down to 15 life, Alex’s 8/8 body is barely relevant.

Even if you remove her, you still die to Fireball, Fireball, Frostbolt just the same.

9. Grommash Hellscream

Like Lord Jarraxus, this is another class-specific card that features high not because of its versatility, but because it’s very good at doing one important thing.

Grommash is not a card that you’re going to find in a wide variety of Warrior decks.

It was cut from all but the slowest builds of Patron Warrior (RIP), and now appears exclusively in Control Warrior variants. However, in that archetype it’s indispensable.

Played the turn after Alexstraza, Grom’s enraged charge will steal games out of nowhere.

Anyone who has faced a Control Warrior will be familiar with the terrifying feeling of having your life total dip into Grom range.

You’re forced to play inefficiently in order to protect what remains of your life, or shut your eyes and hope they don’t have it—at which point they inevitably do.

Without Grom in your Control Warrior deck, you find yourself lacking the final punch, and while plenty of the late-game legendaries in the deck can be interchanged with other big hitters, Grom’s finishing power is irreplaceable.

8. Mal'Ganis

Introduced in Goblins vs. Gnomes and initially overlooked as a gimmick card, this giant demon fast found a home in all manner of Warlock decks.

The synergy between Mal’Ganis and Voidcaller makes for one of the most overpowered combos in the game.

Imagine if your Piloted Shredder dropped a 9/7 that buffed the demons on your board and made your Hero immune—that’s the outcome when Voidcaller’s deathrattle effect summons Mal’Ganis.

The main reason that this card places higher than Jarraxus is versatility.

While Jarraxus is only seen in Handlock, Mal’Ganis can be played in Zoo, Demonlock and Handlock decks.Whatever the rest of the deck does, the Voidcaller-Mal’Ganis synergy is just too good to ignore.

7. Ysera

Ysera is perhaps the card that has received the biggest boost in power from The Grand Tournament expansion.

She was sat on the sidelines for huge periods of the Goblins vs Gnomes meta as players opted for tempo, midrange, and aggro decks that were too fast to include a 9-mana creature, however powerful.

For that purpose there is no better option than Ysera.

Simply put, Ysera is the ultimate late-game play. In a battle of resources, when both players have used most of their heavy hitters, Ysera lands on the board and creates an overwhelming advantage.

Generating overpowered cards for her owner each turn creates both card and tempo advantage, an effect that is almost unique in the game—and even against aggro decks Ysera can lock your opponent out of the board after you manage to stabilise.

6. Loatheb

Loatheb is a card that was originally introduced as a counter to the once dominant Miracle Rogue deck.

Since then it has evolved into just being an amazingly powerful card that can be deployed against any deck that relies heavily on spells.

As with many of the cards high on the list, the key is versatility. In aggro decks, Loatheb can lock your opponent out of a key removal turn, protecting your board and threatening a ton of damage as a result.

In control decks, Loatheb can be crucial in helping a minion stick on the board and thereby building a platform for your late-game.

Beyond his board preservation role, Loatheb is simply one of the most effective tech cards in the game.

Against decks like Oil Rogue and Freeze Mage, Loatheb can be a complete blowout—wrecking their entire hand for a turn and sealing the advantage you need for a win.

The joy of Loatheb, though, is that you don’t have to consider it a tech card. With stats of 5/5 for 5 mana, its power is perfectly acceptable, meaning you can just run it in your deck and treat those moments when it does ruin an opponent’s day as a wonderful bonus.

5. Tirion Fordring

In Arena, where a sterile evaluation of a card’s overall worth is generally the starting point for any rating system, Tirion is widely considered the best card. And with good reason.

Theoretically, Tirion is capable of trading 5-for-1 with your opponent’s cards because his body can be expected to slay two minions, and the resulting Ashbringer weapon can chop down another three.

The card can be used as a defensive move in midrange and control Paladin decks, but it also has a place in more aggressive builds.

What’s often overlooked is how much brute force Tirion represents, with the main body dealing 6 damage per turn and the Ashbringer representing 15 more.

4. Archmage Antonidas

The recurring theme with the class Legendaries that have made in into this list is that they need to be versatile enough to feature in multiple deck archetypes.

Archmage Antonidas places so highly because it does exactly that.

The card has such a powerful effect that it can be deployed in everything from aggressive board-focused decks like Mech Mage, all the way through to extremely heavy control decks.

In between are things like Tempo Mage and Freeze Mage, which also use Antonidas as additional win conditions.

There’s no need for any great insight as to why the card is powerful. Fireballs are good, and free Fireballs are even better.

3. Sylvanas Windrunner

The arrival of Sylvanas can change a comfortable feeling of being ahead on board to one of despair as you quickly realise you have no efficient way of dealing with her menacing presence.

That feeling is pretty common because, beyond silence or transform effects, there isn’t an efficient way of dealing with her.

Often you’ll be forced to trade your entire board just to prevent something being stolen.

This feeling of dread is deepened when playing against a Warrior or Priest, where they can use things like Brawl, Shield Slam, Lightbomb, or Shadow Word.

The versatility of Sylvanas is nearly unmatched, with it being an effective play when ahead, behind, or (as is often the case) on a board that’s closely contested.

2. Emperor Thaurissan

It’s easy to understand why so many pros placed it in the #1 spot. Emperor enables things that break the laws of Hearthstone.

You shouldn’t be able to activate a double Savage Roar combo without extra cards like Innervate, you shouldn’t be able to play Archmage Antonidas and generate three Fireballs on turn seven, and you shouldn’t be able to discount a nine-card hand allowing you to play multiple huge threats and taunt them up in the same turn.

These are the kind of degenerate combos that Emperor makes possible.

When you lose or win a game due to a play that only Emperor can make possible, which happens often, you can’t help but feel that it’s the best card in the game.

However, it is not a card that you can just slam into any deck and assume will generate value.

The decks in which Thaurissan works best are ones that are likely to still be holding large hands when he’s played.

Nonetheless, Emperor Thaurissan is a must have for all players, because so many decks are outright impossible to play without it.

1. Dr. Boom

Furthermore, when it comes to the minor detail of actually playing the game, you’re going to want to the card to be consistently super strong.

Dr. Boom ticks both boxes. It fits in just about every deck imaginable—as a finisher in an aggro deck, as a board control tool in a super late-game deck, and everything inbetween.

The doc is almost never a bad play. It adds huge pressure to the board when you’re ahead, it swings the balance in your favour on a board that’s even, and it can catch you up when you’re behind.

You can conceivably use Big Game Hunter on a Dr. Boom and then watch in horrified awe as the Boom Bots trade back into your Big Game Hunter, killing it off and potentially taking out a couple more minions with their deathrattle explosions.

BOOM BABE!

(source:pcgamer)