Info
A player with 1 mana Overloaded this turn, and 2 mana Overloaded for next turn.
Overload is an ability A selection of minions, each with its own ability. From left to right: Divine Shield, Deathrattle, a triggered effect, and Spell Damage. Abilities are special effects, powers, or behaviors found on cards. For spell cards, 
which reduces the amount of mana Mana is the resource used in Hearthstone to play cards and use Hero Powers, each of which has a mana cost that must be paid to use it. The supply of mana is represented by 
available the next turn Hearthstone takes place in turns. Each turn gives a player the opportunity to act. At the end of each turn, play is passed back to the other player. A round describes one turn for each by the stated amount, indicated in the user interface by padlock icons.
Cards with this ability are limited to the shaman The Shaman is one of the nine classes in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, represented by Thrall and Morgl the Oracle. Contents 1 Heroes 2 Background 3 Hero Power 4 Strategy and gameplay 4.1 Counters 5 
class.
Strategy
Overload allows shamans to deal very effective burst Burst damage or burst potential refers to a player s ability to deal a large amount of damage in one or two turns, allowing a player to finish off a previously damaged opponent, or deal an damage, and to summon some powerful minions in the early game. Overload adds an additional strategic element to the game, with the shaman gaining tempo Tempo is an unofficial term that describes which way the "momentum" of a match is going, as well as a label for decks which aim to keep tempo on their side. It is one of and presence in the current round in exchange for restricted activity in the next.
Used unwisely, Overload can leave the shaman starved of mana the next turn, causing them to lose pace and potentially drop behind in the game. Be wary of using Overload in early rounds to summon powerful minions which can be easily removed by the opponent next turn, since the additional Overload cost can cause the shaman to pay twice over. Used wisely, Overload can allow the shaman to respond to demanding situations with surprising momentum.
An additional strategic element is added through certain Overload-related cards. Cards like Lava Shock Lava Shock Set: Blackrock Mountain Type: Spell Class: Shaman Rarity: Rare Cost: 2 Abilities: Deal damage Tags: Mana-related, Overload-related Deal 2 damage.Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Chocolate lava cake is shockingly delicious.See this card on Hearthpwn 
and Eternal Sentinel Eternal Sentinel Set: Whispers of the Old Gods Type: Minion Class: Shaman Rarity: Epic Cost: 2 Attack: 3 Health: 2 Abilities: Battlecry Tags: Mana-related, Overload-related Battlecry: Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Just try to avoid eye 
remove all Overload for the current and coming turn, allowing the shaman to free up mana and drastically reduce the overall cost of their Overload cards, especially if played after incurring a large amount of Overload. Other cards such as Tunnel Trogg Tunnel Trogg Set: The League of Explorers Type: Minion Class: Shaman Rarity: Common Cost: 1 Attack: 1 Health: 3 Tags: Overload-related, Triggered effect Whenever you Overload, gain +1 Attack per locked Mana Crystal.Sure, they re ugly, 
and Unbound Elemental Unbound Elemental Set: Classic Type: Minion Subtype: Elemental Class: Shaman Rarity: Common Cost: 3 Attack: 2 Health: 4 Tags: Overload-related, Triggered effect Whenever you play a card with Overload, gain +1/+1.Unlike bound elementals, Unbound ones 
offer a simpler synergy, with triggered effects The lightning bolt icon, explicitly indicating a triggered effect Triggered effects are effects that activate in response to specific events. Triggered effects may belong to minions, weapons or spells (in the form of Secrets), as 
activating in response to Overload. Overload decks combine cards such as these with a large amount of Overload cards, using cards like Lava Shock to reduce their cost, while using the Overload-triggered cards for additional threats.
Videos
Notes
- Playing a card with Overload causes the stated amount of Mana Crystals Mana is the resource used in Hearthstone to play cards and use Hero Powers, each of which has a mana cost that must be paid to use it. The supply of mana is represented by
to become pending Overloaded (a padlock icon appears beneath a permanent Mana Crystal for each point of Overload) and, at the start of the player`s next turn Hearthstone takes place in turns. Each turn gives a player the opportunity to act. At the end of each turn, play is passed back to the other player. A round describes one turn for each , that number of Mana Crystals will become Overloaded: the padlocks will move up and block out the player`s Mana Crystals, effectively preventing them from being refilled and used for that turn.
- Overload is only charged when the card with Overload is successfully played from the hand. In particular:
- If a minion with Overload is summoned through a summon For information on summoning minions, see Minion#Summoning. Summon is an ability which summons one or more minions. Distinct from regular summoning, a minion generated by the summon ability does not consume or come from an effect (such as Mounted Raptor Mounted Raptor Set: The League of Explorers Type: Minion Subtype: Beast Class: Druid Rarity: Common Cost: 3 Attack: 3 Health: 2 Abilities: Deathrattle, Summon Tags: Cost-related, Random Deathrattle: Summon a random 1-Cost minion.Clever girl!See this or Hungry Dragon Hungry Dragon Set: Blackrock Mountain Type: Minion Subtype: Dragon Rarity: Common Cost: 4 Attack: 5 Health: 6 Abilities: Battlecry, Summon Tags: Cost-related, Random Battlecry: Summon a random 1-Cost minion for your opponent.Hungry Hungry Dragon is ) the player will not gain any Overload.
- If a spell with Overload is countered by Counterspell Counterspell Set: Classic Type: Spell Class: Mage Rarity: Rare Cost: 3 Abilities: Counter, Secret Tags: Spell-related, Triggered effect Secret: When your opponent casts a spell, Counter it.What s the difference between a mage playing with Counterspell the player will not gain any Overload, and thus their Tunnel Troggs will not trigger (be that as it may, their Unbound Elementals will still trigger since they actually played a card with Overload).
- If a minion with Overload is summoned through a summon For information on summoning minions, see Minion#Summoning. Summon is an ability which summons one or more minions. Distinct from regular summoning, a minion generated by the summon ability does not consume or come from an effect (such as Mounted Raptor Mounted Raptor Set: The League of Explorers Type: Minion Subtype: Beast Class: Druid Rarity: Common Cost: 3 Attack: 3 Health: 2 Abilities: Deathrattle, Summon Tags: Cost-related, Random Deathrattle: Summon a random 1-Cost minion.Clever girl!See this
- A player`s current and/or pending Overloaded Mana Crystals has no upper limit.
- In particular, a player can Overload more mana than they will have the next turn: even if the user interface will only display Overload equal to the player`s maximum mana, the excess will still be registered and will affect mana-generating effects like The Coin The Coin Set: Basic Type: Spell Cost: 0 Tags: Mana-related Gain 1 Mana Crystal this turn only.See this card on Hearthpwn data page] The Coin is a special uncollectible spell card granted at the start and Innervate Innervate Set: Basic Type: Spell Class: Druid Cost: 0 Tags: Mana-related Gain 2 Mana Crystals this turn only.Some druids still have flashbacks from strangers yelling "Innervate me!!" at them.See this card on Hearthpwn data page] . Once the Overload has been matched, any further mana generated will be usable by the player, and will be reflected in the mana counter.
- Example: If a player plays two Dust Devils on turn 2, the result will be an Overload of 4 mana on turn 3: despite only 3 Overload will show in the interface (since the player has only 3 maximum mana), if The Coin The Coin Set: Basic Type: Spell Cost: 0 Tags: Mana-related Gain 1 Mana Crystal this turn only.See this card on Hearthpwn data page] The Coin is a special uncollectible spell card granted at the start is used the player will still have 0 available mana, and will be unable to play 1-Cost cards.
- Example: Overloading for 10 mana on turn 9 will only display 9 pending Overloaded Mana Crystals, but at the start of turn 10 a 10th padlock icon will appear to correctly indicate that all 10 mana are Overloaded.
- Be that as it may, no amount of Overload will prevent the player from playing 0-Cost cards: since these cards cost no mana, the player`s current mana total is irrelevant.
- In particular, a player can Overload more mana than they will have the next turn: even if the user interface will only display Overload equal to the player`s maximum mana, the excess will still be registered and will affect mana-generating effects like The Coin The Coin Set: Basic Type: Spell Cost: 0 Tags: Mana-related Gain 1 Mana Crystal this turn only.See this card on Hearthpwn data page] The Coin is a special uncollectible spell card granted at the start
- Overload affects available mana only for the next turn: current Overload will disappear (regardless of its amount) at the beginning of the player`s next turn, when it will be substituted by previous turn`s pending Overload.
- Example: If a player plays two Dust Devils on turn two, on the next turn they will have 4 Overloaded mana despite having only 3 Mana Crystals: this mana deficit will not carry over to subsequent turns, thereby allowing the player to avoid paying that part of the Overload cost at all.
- Overload sort of "splits" the "true" cost of a card over two turns: be that as it may, you cannot avoid it even if you have sufficient mana this turn to pay the "full" cost.
- Lava Shock Lava Shock Set: Blackrock Mountain Type: Spell Class: Shaman Rarity: Rare Cost: 2 Abilities: Deal damage Tags: Mana-related, Overload-related Deal 2 damage.Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Chocolate lava cake is shockingly delicious.See this card on Hearthpwn and Eternal Sentinel Eternal Sentinel Set: Whispers of the Old Gods Type: Minion Class: Shaman Rarity: Epic Cost: 2 Attack: 3 Health: 2 Abilities: Battlecry Tags: Mana-related, Overload-related Battlecry: Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Just try to avoid eye unlock and refill all currently Overloaded Mana Crystals, increasing available mana accordingly, and clear any pending Overloaded mana.
- Effects that destroy Mana Crystals have no effect on current and/or pending Overload, despite the visual appearance of destroying a pending Overloaded Mana Crystal.
- Overloaded and pending Overloaded mana are not displayed for the opponent: players trying to estimate the opponent`s available mana next turn can use the history The history (sometimes referred to as the combat log) is located on the left side of the battlefield. It comprises a series of small images representing the most recent actions taken by players during the to check the cards played that turn.
Cards with Overload
Wild format
- This section contains information exclusive to Wild format Wild format or Wild is one of Hearthstone s two game formats, the other being Standard format. Wild format appears in game modes in which players are allowed to play decks without the deck restrictions of .
| Name / Desc | Rarity | Type | Subtype | Class | Cost | Atk | HP | Description | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tunnel Trogg Tunnel Trogg Set: The League of Explorers Type: Minion Class: Shaman Rarity: Common Cost: 1 Attack: 1 Health: 3 Tags: Overload-related, Triggered effect Whenever you Overload, gain +1 Attack per locked Mana Crystal.Sure, they re ugly, | Common | Minion | Shaman | 1 | 1 | 3 | Whenever you Overload, gain +1 Attack per locked Mana Crystal.Sure, they`re ugly, but they live in tunnels. You try your beauty routine without natural light. | ||||||||||||
| Lava Shock Lava Shock Set: Blackrock Mountain Type: Spell Class: Shaman Rarity: Rare Cost: 2 Abilities: Deal damage Tags: Mana-related, Overload-related Deal 2 damage.Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Chocolate lava cake is shockingly delicious.See this card on Hearthpwn | Rare | Spell | Shaman | 2 | Deal 2 damage. Unlock your Overloaded Mana Crystals.Chocolate lava cake is shockingly delicious. | ||||||||||||||
| Showing all 2 cards | |||||||||||||||||||
Related cards
Fixed bugs
- For a few weeks during Patch 4.0.0.10833 (LoE patch), playing a minion or spell with Overload caused you to become Overloaded the moment the card was paid for. For instance, if Counterspell Counterspell Set: Classic Type: Spell Class: Mage Rarity: Rare Cost: 3 Abilities: Counter, Secret Tags: Spell-related, Triggered effect Secret: When your opponent casts a spell, Counter it.What s the difference between a mage playing with Counterspell countered your Lightning Bolt Lightning Bolt Set: Classic Type: Spell Class: Shaman Rarity: Common Cost: 1 Abilities: Deal damage, Overload Deal 3 damage. Overload: (1)Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!See this card on Hearthpwn data page] Lightning bolt is , you were still Overloaded (normally Counterspell triggers before Overload, preventing the effect entirely).
Trivia
- During the game`s alpha, Overload was known as "Recall". The name was changed in an unknown alpha patch prior to May 2013, but the keyword in the game`s strings was not changed until Patch 4.0.0.10833. The change is not known to have otherwise altered any card text or the mechanics involved, but may have reflected a different concept behind the ability.
A
- All
- Every possible target on the board for the spell or Ability.
- Attack
- To be on the offensive either by attacking an opponents card or your opponent himself/herself
- Ability
- There are a group of common keywords that are used on multiple cards that are collectively called abilities. They can for example specify when the action will happen, or how. These keywords are written in bold on the cards.
- Aggro Deck
- AoE
- See Area of Effect
- Arcane Dust
- The ingredient used to craft new Hearthstone cards. Can only be obtained in two ways: as a reward for doing Arena or through Disenchanting an existing card in your possession. Crafting costs depend on the rarity of a card and whether it is Golden or not.
- Common - 40 Dust
- Golden Common - 400 Dust
- Rare - 100 Dust
- Golden Rare - 800 Dust
- Epic - 400 Dust
- Golden Epic - 1600 Dust
- Legendary - 1600 Dust
- Golden Legendary - 3200 Dust
- Arena
- A Hearthstone game mode. In this mode, players can choose to either pay 150 Gold or real money ($1.99/⅁1.49/⃢₂ⅹ1.79) to enter. In Arena, you are given a random draft of three classes to pick then must pick cards individually out of a choice of three cards until you have completed your deck. Unlike Constructed, there is no limit to how many copies of the same card you may possess in your deck.
- In an Arena run, you compete against other players to win as many games as possible. An Arena run will end when you either win twelve times, retire, or lose three times. Winning Arena games will upgrade the key in your possession, which will improve the spoils (You will receive five boxes of rewards, each having a chance to contain Gold, Arcane Dust or a Pack). You are always guaranteed to get a pack of cards, but if you do well enough it is possible to get two. Generally speaking, a Diamond Key (7 wins or above) is usually required to earn back the Arena entry fee in Gold while a Lightforge Key (12 wins) will earn you the greatest possible reward.
- Area of Effect
- Spells or attacks that affect more than a single target and either specifies a certain general area or an area emanating from a source point.
- Armor
- A resource similar to Health, that can be gained through the hero powers Armor Up! and Shapeshift, or spells like Shield Block, Ice Barrier and Bite. Armor gets removed before Health when taking damage, but you lose the game if your Health drops to 0 even if you manage to gain some Armor after taking the damage.
- Attack Power
- The attack power of a minion is the amount of damage it can do on each attack.
B
- Battlecry
- An ability that is triggered immediately, when a minion is summoned.
- Burn
- Powers and cards played with the purpose of lowering the health of the enemy hero, disregarding board control.
C
- Character
- A character is either your hero₠or any minion on the battlefield.
- Charge
- This Ability lets a minion attack during the turn it is summoned.
- Choose One
- This Ability gives you the option to choose between two spell effects when playing a spell, or between two minion Battlecry effects when playing a minion. This ability is associated with the Druid class.
- Combo
- A card with the ability Combo gets the ability triggered it if is not the first card that is played that turn, i.e. it is played in a combo with another card. Playing The Coin does trigger the Combo ability. Hero Power does not enable Combo. This ability is associated with the Rogue class.
- Constructed
- Refers to any Hearthstone game mode in which the player is allowed to use decks they have built from their own card collection. In any constructed deck, the player is allowed a maximum of two of each common/rare/epic card and a maximum of one of each legendary card.
- Control Deck
- A deck that aims to win through board control. Usually these type of decks have high emphasis on removal spells and lack burn damage. Most notable archetypes are Handlock Control Warrior and Control Priest.
- Coin
- A card that is given to the player who is going second at the start of the match. It grants the player 1 extra Mana Crystal for one turn only when they use it.
- Crafting
D
- Deathrattle
- Ability that is triggered when the minion dies.
- Deck
- The set of 30 cards that player uses in a game of Hearthstone. Player draws one card from the deck each turn until there are no cards left, after which the player will be Fatigued
- Destroy
- Remove a minion from the board. There is no damage dealt so Divine Shield is ignored.
- Discover
- When a Discover ability is activated player is presented with three random cards to choose from and to take into one`s hand.
- Disenchant
- Disenchanting cards will give you Arcane Dust. It`s good to use when you have many duplicates. Rarer cards provide more Arcane Dust. Basic cards cannot be disenchanted.
- Common - 5 Dust
- Golden Common - 50 Dust
- Rare - 20 Dust
- Golden Rare - 100 Dust
- Epic - 100 Dust
- Golden Epic - 400 Dust
- Legendary - 400 Dust
- Golden Legendary - 1600 Dust
- Divine Shield
- Absorbs one attack or spell/effect that deals damage before the minion itself takes any damage.
- Dream Cards
- Cards that a player draws at the end of each turn while having Ysera on the board.
- Durability
- Number of times a hero can attack with a weapon before it is destroyed.
E
- Enrage
- This Ability is triggered when a minion takes damage.
F
- Fast decks
- Typically all-out decks that play many small aggressive minions, trying to close out the game as early as possible, leading to fast victories or defeats.
- Fatigue
- When you are out of remaining cards in your deck and the start of your turn or a card effect makes you draw a card, you take fatigue damage. The first time you`re out of cards, it`s 1 damage, the second time, it`s 2 damage, and so on until you or your opponent is dead.
- Freeze
- Cannot attack for one turn, Hero abilities can still be used (although Rogues and Druids would be unable to attack with said Hero abilities.
G
- Gold
- Gold is the in-game currency. It cannot be directly purchased, but is instead won through arena matches and/or playing in matchmade constructed games.
H
- Health
- The amount of life a card or hero has left before it is discarded or, in the case of a hero, loses the game.
- Hit Points (HP)
- See Health
I
- Immune
- Everything is ineffective and damage cannot be inflicted to you.
- Inspire
- An effect that activates when the owner of the minion uses a Hero Power.
M
- Mana
- Mana is used to play cards. Your current mana is displayed in the bottom right of the screen. Each card requires a certain amount of mana to be summoned. You start with one Mana; at the start of each player`s turn mana is fully restored and the mana pool gets increased by one until both players have 10 Mana. Certain cards can increase a player`s mana pool.
- Medal
- Medals were an early ranking system in Hearthstone. Players started at Apprentice and based on their ladder performance in ranked games could work their way up to a higher medal. You did not lose Medals for losing games. This system was replaced with the current ladder system before launch.
- Mill Deck
- Milling is the act of flooding your opponent`s hand, making him discard cards due to drawing over the 10 card limit.
- Minion
- Minion is a character with health and attack values that players summon to the board by playing minion cards or certain spells such as Feral Spirit
- Mulligan
- To mulligan a card is to discard it from your initial hand and draw a replacement from the remaining deck. You are allowed to mulligan as many cards as you want from your initial draw, but this can only be done before turn 1.
- Murloc Deck
- Deck that focuses on Murlocs. One of the most aggressive decks in the game. Most commonly used by warlocks, since they can use Life Tap to draw a lot of cards to keep the aggression going. Very susceptible to Area of Effect.
O
- One Turn Kill
- A combination of cards that leads to killing an opponent in one turn.
- OTK
- See One Turn Kill
- Overload
- Reduces the amount of mana a player can use the next turn.
P
- Pack
- Hearthstone cards are purchased in packs. Each pack has five cards in them, at least one of them being Rare or of higher rarity. Packs may also contain Golden cards or multiples of same card. Packs are earned as rewards or can be bought from the in-game store.
- Plain Card
- A plain card is a minion which has no text on it, ie. it only has Mana Cost, Attack Power, and Hit Points.
- Power
- See Attack Power
R
- Ramp
- The act of playing cards that add mana crystals to your mana pool in order to play high mana creatures faster than your opponent. This includes cards that increase your mana pool temporarily (The Coin and Innervate) or permanently (Wild Growth, Nourish).
- Rarity
- In order from least rare to most rare: Common(White), Rare(Blue), Epic(Purple), Legendary(Orange). Although it mainly determines how uncommon certain cards would appear in a Pack, it also determines the crafting cost (in Arcane Dust) of a card. Rarity does not necessarily correlate to power.
- Removal
- A term applied to cards that deal damage or Destroy one or more minions on the turn they are played.
S
- Secret
- A Spell that is triggered when a certain action occurs (ex. attacking an enemy minion). The identity of a secret is hidden from the opponent until it is triggered, portrayed only as question mark graphic above the casting hero`s portrait.
- Silence
- This Ability removes any effects (ex. +1/+1, taunt) from the chosen target(s). This does not remove spells like Hex or Polymorph that turn the creature into something else, although it would remove the taunt from the Hexed creature. Casting silence on a creature that is silenced already does not remove the first silence. You can use silence on your own creatures however to remove enemy spells such as Humility that negatively affect your minions.
- Slow decks
- Decks that try to stall out the game until high mana turns where they can bring out impactful minions like Ancient of War, Ysera and Ragnaros.
- Soulbound
- Cards that belong to the Basic set. They cannot be disenchanted and are available for all players. Also Reward cards belong to this category.
- Spell Damage
- Each point of Spell Damage makes spells deal one additional damage. It also applies to some spells like Shadowflame and healing spells with Auchenai Soulpriest.
- Standard Format
- A type of game mode where only the recent 2 years of Hearthstone cards can be used. Classic and Basic cards are always usable in Standard.
After coming out of Standard rotation, cards are classed as Wild
- Stealth
- This Ability makes a minion untargetable by attacks or targeted spells/effects. They still take damage from Area of Effect spells/effects, and can still be hit from spells that hit a random target. They can also be hit by spells that target adjacent minions. An Explosive Shot that targets a minion will still do 2 damage to the stealthed minion next to it. Stealth is removed after the minion attacks.
- Subtype
- A Minion category that generally has synergies within its type and with some spells (example Timber Wolf and Kill Command). Currently, there are seven subtypes: Beast, Dragon, Demon, Mech, Murloc, Pirate and Totem.
T
- Taunt
- This Ability forces enemy characters to attack this minion before any other minion without taunt or your hero. If there are multiple minions with taunt you can choose which of them to attack.
- TBD
- To be determined - Something yet to be determined such as tournament participants, or release date. In terms of release dates, TBA (To be announced) can also be used.
- Tempo
- A general concept used not only in TCGs but also in other strategy games such as Chess and Starcraft that refers to who has the initiative in a game. If, for example, both players play some minions but yours can attack first, you are said to have tempo.
- Tempo Deck
- A deck designed to gain the initiative in a game, often through a lower Mana Curve, cards holding significant Value relative to their Mana cost, and a healthy dose of Control options. Not to be confused with a Rush Deck which will often aim to win the game outright in a short number of turns with a tiny Mana Curve.
- Token
- A card that is summoned by another card, such as Violet Apprentice, Gnoll, Silver Hand Recruit and Wicked Knife.
- Token Deck
- A deck that floods the board with small, weak minions using cards like Violet Teacher, Haunted Creeper or Muster for Battle to get high value from buffs such as Power of the Wild, Bloodlust, Hobgoblin and Savage Roar.
- Top-Decking
- Drawing a powerful card that turns the game around in your favor while faced with a major card disadvantage (i.e. either having no or very few cards on your hand or in play) compared to your opponent. A term often used in other card games (particularly YuGiOh where some deck archetypes were notorious for top-decking.)
- Tribe
- See Subtype
V
- Value
- Value can be defined in two different ways:
- 1. By the effects and stats of a card relative to its Mana and Card cost (if applicable.) For example, Novice Engineer is deemed to be a valuable card due to its "Draw a card" Battlecry, Knife Juggler can potentially provide great value each time you play a minion and the Dark Iron Dwarf is deemed very valuable for a 4 Mana 4/4 due to its Battlecry which grants an additional 2 Attack to a minion.
- 2. A metric used to describe the efficiency of a certain play. For example, the act of eliminating a Bluegill Warrior with an Elven Archer`s Battlecry can be deemed valuable both in terms of card advantage and Mana cost due to a 1 Mana 1/1 minion eliminating a 2 Mana 2/1 Charge minion with only its Battlecry (meaning the attacker who played the Archer did not lose the minion in the process.)
W
- Windfury
- This Ability allows a minion to attack twice in one turn.
- Wild Format (game type)
- A game type that allows any card in Hearthstone to be used in a deck. Standard decks are allowed, but not the other way round. See Standard Format above for information.
