Dr. Boom, Mad Genius

Dr. Boom, Mad Genius is a legendary warrior hero card, from The Boomsday Project set.

Hero Powers
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius' Hero Power changes into one of the following at the end of the player's turn.

Bugs

 * If your hero changes to Dr. Boom via Tess Greymane, you will gain Big Red Button as your Hero Power. Using it does nothing and it does not switch to a new Hero Power at the end of turn.

Strategy
Dr. Boom, Mad Genius is a powerful key card for Control Warrior. On top of providing a strong hero power and passive effect, it grants 7 armor, letting you bulk up even on the turn its played. The passive Rush effect vastly improves all Mechs you play or summon throughout the game. Even a deck using minimal Mechs can reap benefits through Omega Assembly as well as Delivery Drone and Micro-Squad. However, the Battlecry has no large immediate impact, slowing you down slightly on turn Dr. Boom is played.

Because the Hero Power changes at the end of your turn, both players are aware of what the next one will be and can plan their turns accordingly.

Although Dr Boom's Hero Powers are unpredictable, each of them are incredibly powerful and worth using almost every turn.
 * Blast Shield provides a monstrous amount of armor, greatly surpassing Tank Up! and Shield Block. The randomness balances this out, since it can't be gained every turn. Because of the potential to lose out on health gain for long periods, using Blast Shield should be prioritized if it comes up.
 * Delivery Drone is a strong fuel source, comparable to Build-A-Beast. The influx of new Mechs lets you out-value other lategame matchups, especially by giving large Mechs Rush. This is one of the weaker Hero Powers against Aggro however. The one key exception would be if you happen to hit Zilliax, which could Magnetize onto an existing Mech or simply come on the board by itself and use its Lifesteal to heal you. Against a stubborn Fatigue deck, Discovering Mecha'thun could provide an answer to win the game once you run out of resources.
 * KABOOM! is a solid AoE, similar to Bladestorm but trading the ability to damage friendly minions for 1 damage to the opponent. It is arguably the weakest Hero Power, since high-value use of that kind of effect is rare in the late game when Dr. Boom becomes playable. It is still a free ping on the opponent's board, though. It also sets up Plague of Wrath and Sleep with the Fishes. This damage can be improved with Clockwork Automaton.
 * Micro-Squad is a solid, flexible ability that's a distinct upgrade over The Silver Hand. The Microbots are Mechs, allowing them to be used for Mech synergy. They also are given Rush, making them a good source for value attacks. Lastly, they can simply be left on the board as three 1/1s.
 * Zap Cannon is a simple but solid Hero Power, giving you three damage to any target. This damage can be improved with Clockwork Automaton.

Dr. Boom, Mad Genius also works spectacularly well with the original Dr. Boom as well as Blastmaster Boom, turning their Boom Bots into instant damage and board control.

Emotes
Each hero has their own selection of audio and written emotes that are produced in response to specific events. For more information, see Emote.

Lore
For the lore of this card, see Dr. Boom (Lore).

Trivia

 * Dr. Boom is an example of a character who, despite his humble roots as a minor side character in World of Warcraft, received a far more significant role in Hearthstone due to his popularity with fans. The widespread usage of the original Dr. Boom in competitive play after the release of Goblins vs Gnomes led to many players becoming attached to the character, which in turn inspired Blizzard to bring him back in a major way as the central character of The Boomsday Project. Senior Game Designer Peter Whalen summarizes:
 * "Dr. Boom is cool in that he's one of those characters that the Hearthstone community really created. More than Hearthstone as a game or World of Warcraft, the Hearthstone community got so invested in Dr. Boom that it's fun bringing him back!"


 * Dr. Boom, Mad Genius went through numerous iterations during the development of The Bomsday Project. Some earlier versions had him simply summon his signature Boom Bots, and in some iterations Dr. Boom became cheaper based on how many Mechs the player controlled, with one version being called "The Infamous Dr. Boom" with the card text: "Costs (1) less for each Mana you spent on Mechs this game". There was also another version where playing Mechs increased the amount of Armor that the hero card granted the player. The team decided that this new Dr. Boom would be cooler than the Goblins vs Gnomes version, so he would instead summon Kaboom Bots, and upgraded version of the classic Boom Bots (and which later ended up being implemented as a standalone neutral card in the set). While these early versions of the hero card were cool, they weren't really fun enough, nor did they capture the fantasy of Dr. Boom. The team eventually decided that Boom had to be "the leader of the mech army in his giant mech suit" and resolved to have him buff all of the player's Mechs by giving them Rush and have a Hero Power that changed every turn. Both of these ideas came about simultaneously and ended up working together fairly well. The exact Hero Powers were slightly changed throughout development, but the card didn't change too much after that point.
 * Dr. Boom, Mad Genius is the first hero card to feature an Armor value different from 5. His original 7-mana Cost and 7 Armor are references to the original Dr. Boom, a 7-mana 7/7 minion.
 * The idea behind Dr. Boom, Mad Genius' ever-changing Hero Power is that the doctor is seated in a giant mech suit he's recently invented, but he doesn't quite understand how it works and didn't hook up the controls all that well, and so simply mashes the suit's single big red button every turn, creating a different effect every time.
 * Dr. Boom, Mad Genius' flavor text is a reference to a line by Russ Cargill in the 2007 film , in response to being asked if he's gone mad with power: "Of course I have, you ever try going mad without power? It's boring, no one listens to you."
 * Dr. Boom, Mad Genius was the first Hero card to have been nerfed, going from 7 to 9 mana. It is also the first Hero card to have his nerf reversed.

Patch changes

 * Now costs 7 mana. (Down from 9).
 * Now costs 9 mana. (Up from 7).
 * Added.