Illidan Stormrage (removed)

Illidan Stormrage was a legendary neutral minion card, from the Classic set.

Events with Knife Juggler

 * There is a noteworthy interaction that involves both Illidan and Knife Juggler. When Knife Juggler's triggered effect is activated upon Illidan summoning a Flame of Azzinoth, the card used to activate Illidan's effect will be queued between Knife Juggler's trigger and all subsequent events. This is because Knife Juggler's effect triggers between all other summon-based triggered effects (see its Notes for details) and events such as cards being played and Deathrattles. These interactions are easily seen with Explosive Sheep and Anub'ar Ambusher also on the board.
 * If Illidan's ability was triggered by a targeted spell or a minion with a targeted Battlecry, the effect will still retain its original target even if the targeted minion(s) are returned to the hand or shuffled into the deck. The returned minion will have its stats reset, but it will receive damage, enchantments or transformations accordingly, and retain these changes upon being played. The effect's animation will also be positioned towards wherever the returned card is (even in the deck).
 * If the minion was targeted by a field-exclusive effect before being returned to the hand, the effect's equivalent for the hand will occur instead. Take control effects will result in the minion moving to the other player's hand, and instant destroy effects will result in the minion being discarded instead. In the case that both events will happen (in which a minion who has been taken control of will be destroyed if your board has seven minions), its equivalent is the controlled minion being discarded if you have 10 cards in your hand.
 * This means that if you play Clutchmother Zavas, play Power Overwhelming on her to trigger Illidan's ability and return her to your hand via Anub'ar Ambusher, she will have Power Overwhelming's "destroy at start of turn" enchantment, which translates to being discarded. As Clutchmother Zavas' on-discard effect causes her to return to your hand while never being considered discarded, she will retain the Power Overwhelming enchantment every time she is discarded. This continues until Zavas is played, in which she will be destroyed as usual.
 * If the above setup is used and you play a Battlecry minion to activate Illidan when Sylvanas Windrunner is on the opponent's board, killing Sylvanas will cause the controlled minion to activate its Battlecry for the other player instead. (No matter what, Sylvanas will ALWAYS target the activating minion.)
 * Activating this combo with a minion whose Battlecry involves Discover will allow the opponent to Discover instead, but also causes a softlock.
 * If Lord Jaraxxus was used to activate Illidan and he is returned to your hand with Anub'ar Ambusher, your hero's emotes will be replaced with the Lord Jaraxxus card emoting in your hand. However, the game will softlock for a while before you end up disconnecting. When you reconnect, your hero will become Lord Jaraxxus.
 * If Brawl was used to activate Illidan and all minions on the board are killed before the spell can start, Brawl's animation will continue indefinitely, softlocking the game for both players and even preventing them from conceding.
 * If Mind Control was used to activate Illidan and Mind Control's target is returned to your opponent's hand, the targeted minion will move to your hand even if you have the maximum amount of cards in your hand, even before playing Valdris Felgorge.
 * If Valeera the Hollow activates Illidan and you control a Majordomo Executus, should Majordomo Executus be killed by the time the event resolves, the resulting Ragnaros hero will gain Stealth.
 * If a minion with a handbuffing Battlecry (such as Grimestreet Smuggler or Don Han'Cho) is returned to your hand with the Illidan/Anub'ar Ambusher combo, the minion can buff itself upon returning to your hand.

As of Xavius' replacement of Illidan in Ashes of Outland, the above interactions are not possible anymore since Xavius summons his tokens after the card had been fully played, while Illidan summoned his tokens between the card being played and its on-play effect resolving. However, with the release of Classic format, Illidan is playable again, although most of the interactions remain impossible.

Strategy
Illidan Stormrage is a 6 mana, 7/5 minion which summons a 2/1 Flame of Azzinoth whenever you play a card. This can be used with a combination of cheap cards to fill your board with minions. In opposition, Illidan is a priority target, and should be silenced or destroyed as soon as possible to prevent him from becoming a lingering threat. However, these minions will be unable to act until the next turn, leaving them vulnerable to attack from the opponent. Combined with their 1 Health and Illidan's low Health, it makes him and his minions easily defeated by AoE attacks.

Ideally, you should play multiple cards immediately after playing Illidan to make use of his ability before the opponent has a chance to remove him. This becomes easier if Illidan can be summoned into the battlefield for free, such as through Skull of the Man'ari or Possessed Lackey. If possible, use AoE buffs such as Power of the Wild to bolster the survivability of the Flame minions, reducing the likelihood of the opponent removing them before they have time to act.

Lore

 *  was the self-proclaimed Lord of Outland, ruling from the Black Temple. He was born a night elf, and as stated by Maiev Shadowsong, became "neither demon nor night elf, but something more". He was the twin brother of Malfurion Stormrage and was in love with Tyrande Whisperwind. Once an unusually gifted sorcerer, the extent of his powers became difficult to classify due to his powers increasing in large bursts as a demon hunter and having absorbed the powers of the Skull of Gul'dan.


 * His pursuit of power and arcane mastery led him to commit a number of horrific acts against his own people and the races of Azeroth, including defecting to Sargeras during the War of the Ancients and creating the second Well of Eternity. For his actions, he was imprisoned for ten thousand years, until his release during the Third War. He came to be called the Betrayer for his acts against the night elf people and carried the title of Lord of Outland. Seeking to bring down her erstwhile prisoner, Maiev allied with Akama to invade the Black Temple, where she cornered Illidan in his inner sanctum and struck him down, bringing an end to one of the most tragic stories in Azeroth's history... or so it was once thought.


 * "I am free after ten thousand years, yet still my own brother thinks I am a villain! I'll show him my true power! I'll show him that the demons have no hold over me!"

Trivia

 * When played against Malfurion Stormrage, Illidan will give a special emote reflecting that Malfurion is his brother.
 * The artwork for this card comes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game "Timewalkers" series, for the card Illidan the Betrayer.

Patch changes

 * (Undocumented) Removed and replaced with Xavius.
 * (Undocumented) New animation added.
 * No longer has a Battlecry. Instead, whenever you play a card, you summon a 2/1 Flame of Azzinoth. Now costs 6 Mana, down from 7. Now has 6 Health, down from 7.
 * Previously: Battlecry: Both players discard 3 cards and draw 3 cards. [7 mana, 7 attack, 7 health, Legendary]
 * Now has 5 health, down from 6.