Win condition

A win condition is a specific means or strategy by which a deck can achieve victory. Decks may have one or more win conditions, and a win condition may be a specific aim of the deck or simply one of various ways in which it could win the match.

Discussion
The term win condition can be used in various senses, but most often refers to a specific tactic or game state that the deck aims to achieve. This may be using specific cards such as Archmage Antonidas, combinations of cards such as Grommash Hellscream and Cruel Taskmaster, or a more general aim such as to mill the opponent until they die from fatigue. Decks are often built around specific win conditions.

A win condition may be the primary goal of the deck, a secondary or backup strategy, or simply a possible if unlikely sequence of events. For example, combo decks typically spend the entire game cycling their decks, seeking specific combinations of cards. If they can obtain all the cards needed for their combo, and given the right board conditions, they can reliably win the game, often within a single turn. For these decks, their prime win condition is a singular strategic priority, with the rest of the deck dedicated to achieving that condition, and surviving until it can be achieved. As a result, these decks often include strong card draw, in order to bring about that win condition as quickly as possible.

Some decks include powerful win conditions, but do not rely on these to achieve victory. For example many early Mech Mage decks included Archmage Antonidas, which when combined with the numerous Spare Parts produced by the Mech-heavy decks provided a potentially endless source of Fireballs. This provided an excellent win condition for the late game. However, these decks did not aim to draw Antonidas, instead relying on a far faster and more aggressive approach, and with little card draw. Antonidas only served as a backup win condition, for when playing against an opponent which was able to foil the deck's momentum, leaving them starved of cards and lacking other powerful late game options.