Paladin


 * Fearsome holy knights, Paladins make use of emboldened minions, healing spells, and Divine Shields to stand stalwart against their enemies and hold out for victory.

 is one of the ten classes in Hearthstone.

Heroes
is represented by the following heroes.

Background
''This is the call of the paladin: to protect the weak, to bring justice to the unjust, and to vanquish evil from the darkest corners of the world. These holy warriors are equipped with plate armor so they can confront the toughest of foes, and the blessing of the Light allows them to heal wounds and, in some cases, even restore life to the dead. Ready to serve, paladins can defend their allies with sword and shield, or they can wield massive two-handed weapons against their enemies. The Light grants paladins additional power against the undead and demons, ensuring that these profane beings corrupt the world no longer.''

''Paladins are not only zealots, but also guardians of the righteous, and they bestow blessings on those the Light would shine upon. The Light radiates from paladins, and worthy allies who stand near them are emboldened by its power.''

Hero Power

 * To my side, champions of the Light!

The paladin Hero Power is Reinforce, which summons a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit. This provides a cheap and unending supply of weak minions, which can be improved using spells like Blessing of Kings, or simply used to bolster the player's forces.

Replacement Hero Powers

 * The Silver Hand is the upgraded Hero Power.
 * Vilefin Inquisitor Battlecry will replace the current Hero Power with The Tidal Hand.
 * Uther of the Ebon Blade Battlecry will replace the current Hero Power with The Four Horsemen, as well as replacing the hero.
 * Making Mummies will replace the current Hero Power with Emperor Wraps once the Quest is completed.

Divine Shield

 * The Light protects us! Paladins can bestow holy protection on their minions, canceling the next instance of damage against that minion.


 * Featured cards

Silver Hand Recruits

 * Fledgling followers of the holy path, Silver Hand Recruits are minions unique to the Paladin class that can benefit from powerful effects or overwhelm the enemy using sheer perseverance.


 * Featured cards

Buffs

 * Owing to their penchant for protecting the weak and bolstering allies, Paladins have access to an impressive amount of minion-enhancing buff cards.


 * Featured cards

Core cards
Raising up to level 10 awards 16 Core  cards (31 copies), while winning up to 500 games in Ranked, Arena and Duels awards golden copies of existing cards. All Core cards are uncraftable and cannot be crafted or disenchanted. starts with the following cards:
 * Starting cards

Up to level 10, reaching each level will award the player two copies (one at level 10) of a new Core card.
 * Levels 2-10

Expansion cards


's expansion cards can be obtained mostly by obtaining corresponding card packs or class packs. The player can buy them in Shop with gold or real money, or get them through various sources. Some cards may be available through various promotions, like logging in to get them.

Mini-set cards, while can be obtained like expansion cards, can also be obtained by buying its bundle available in Shop for a limited-time. The player can buy the bundle with gold or real money.

Expansions cards are also craftable and can be obtained by crafting them with Arcane Dust.

Adventure cards
Adventure cards can be obtained by completing their Adventure's encounters. They are uncraftable until the player completes the Adventure or their set rotates to Wild format. The player can buy the Adventure with gold for each individual part, or real money for the whole of it.

Cards
Breakdown of cards in both Standard and Wild formats can be seen in the following table.

Strategy and gameplay
The paladin is a well-rounded class which focuses on strong minions and limiting your opponent's ability to use their own. Paladins have access to an array of cards that buff their minions with increased stats. Blessing of Kings, Seal of Champions, Spikeridged Steed, and Dinosize are just one of many cards that can power up their minions, and cards like Grimestreet Pawnbroker, Val'anyr, and Glowstone Technician buffs minions on their hand so that they enter the battlefield powered up. There are even cards that reward buffing your own minions like The Last Kaleidosaur and Lynessa Sunsorrow. Paladins also have cards that overrides a minion's stats, which can be just as effective on enemies. An Aldor Peacekeeper, Shrink Ray, or Sunkeeper Tarim can turn even the mightiest of minions into much more manageable threats.

The paladin's Hero Power, Reinforce, summons a 1/1 minion. This can be used together with cards that work well with more minions on the field like Raid Leader and Frostwolf Warlord, and cards that directly buff Silver Hand Recruits like Quartermaster and Level Up! can turn a mass of puny 1/1s into a swarm of bulky threats.

Many paladin decks contain multiple minions and spells that use the Divine Shield mechanic to summon minions which can't be killed without at least two instances of damage. Their Divine Shields coupled with Taunt can create hard-to-remove minions that protect your hero and other minions, such as Coghammer and Righteous Protector. They also have cards that directly benefit from and to minions with Divine Shield, such as Rallying Blade and Bolvar, Fireblood.

Paladins also have strong burst healing abilities which allow them to survive powerful blows dealt to their hero like Forbidden Healing, Ragnaros, Lightlord, and Nozari. Cards like Lesser Pearl Spellstone, The Glass Knight, Crystalsmith Kangor, and High Priest Thekal can further drive up the value off of their healing.

Consecration is a powerful, board-wide spell which damages all the opponent's minions and their hero. It can be played after an Equality to completely wipe the enemy field. A riskier strategy involves playing Equality while controlling a Wild Pyromancer, which will clear all minions on both sides. Paladins can use their most expensive, potent spells like Lay on Hands, Kangor's Endless Army, and Libram of Hope to gain a second wind and turn the battle around.

Paladins are one of few classes that can use Secrets. Paladin Secrets are fairly weak on their own, but by stacking several of them the Paladin keeps their minions protected through a web of Secrets that are difficult for the opponent to weave through. Cards like Mysterious Challenger, Bellringer Sentry, and Desperate Measures allows them to stack up Secrets quickly, while empowering cards that benefit from them like Mysterious Blade and Commander Rhyssa.

Paladins also have an affinity with murlocs, which goes well with their ability to quickly build a board and buff weak minions. Cards like Vilefin Inquisitor, Murgur Murgurgle and Grimscale Chum gave paladins an explosive early start. On the other hand Anyfin Can Happen contrastingly required finesse of playing a few murlocs, creating an army of Bluegill Warriors and Murloc Warleaders to deliver a lethal push late game.

Paladins received an odd range of synergy cards within their lifespan, such as mech cards that summon a swarm of smaller mechs than can be magnetized with other mechs to combine into an unstoppable killing machine, a range of cards that require Paladins to stay pure to their class, and Libram cards that permanently discount some very high-powered spells.

Clearing the board
Many archetypes of the paladin class are reliant on minions that stay on the board for more than one turn. With spells such as Blessing of Kings or Hand of Protection paladins can take advantage of the board with favourable trades. Silver Hand Recruits can specifically be buffed by minions such as Quartermaster, making them a formidable threat. This can be prevented by keeping the enemy's board clear. Depending on the class you are playing you can use AoE-spells such as Fan of Knives or Holy Nova.

Removing Divine Shields
A common mechanic of the paladin class is Divine Shield. Minions with Divine Shield can be tough to remove since the first damage taken is ignored. Hero powers that can deal 1 damage such as Fireblast or cheap spells such as Arcane Missiles can be used to get rid of enemy Divine Shields without damaging friendly minions. Blood Knight is also a very effective tool against minions with Divine Shield, while also potentially providing a big threat.

Transform / Silence effects
There are many buffing spells like Blessing of Kings in the Paladins arsenal. Removing the enchantment by silencing or transforming the minion can be devastating for the opponent's game plan. Against minions with strong abilities such as Tirion Fordring transforming spells like Hex or Polymorph are very effective by removing the card text and reducing the attack and health.

Tech cards
Depending on the paladin archetype there are cards that can be especially disruptive for the opponent's game plan. Minions such as Acidic Swamp Ooze or Harrison Jones can destroy weapons that are crucial for the paladin's tempo. Several Murlocs such as Murloc Knight or Hydrologist have been added to the paladin card pool. Hungry Crab is a cheap and effective tool against those cards and can provide a big tempo swing.

Trivia

 * During the game's early development, the paladin hero was Tirion Fordring. The hero can be seen in screenshots from that period.

Gallery

 * Card frames