Frost Lich Jaina


 * ''For other appearances of Jaina Proudmoore, see Jaina Proudmoore (disambiguation).

Frost Lich Jaina is a legendary mage hero card, from the Knights of the Frozen Throne set.

How to get
Like all other death knight hero cards, she is a possible reward for completing the prologue of the Icecrown singleplayer adventure.

Strategy
While Frost Lich Jaina has very little immediate effect for her high 9 Mana cost, only summoning a 4 Mana Water Elemental, her true power comes in time. Upon activation, Frost Lich Jaina provides all Elementals you control Lifesteal for the rest of the game, including the Water Elemental you just summoned. In addition Jaina's hero power Icy Touch is a straight upgrade to Fireblast, summoning a Water Elemental each time it kills a minion. Thanks to these two factors, within a few turns you will not only be overrunning the board with Water Elementals, but their Lifesteal will bring you back to high health.

Frost Lich Jaina works best in slow, control-focused decks. These include decks that use Ice Block in an attempt to stall out the opponent, either to finish them off with a powerful combo such as Alexstrasza and Pyroblast or to use Open the Waygate and perform an OTK.

While it's not necessary to run Frost Lich Jaina alongside other Elementals, they certainly don't hurt. Pyros can provide a consistent minion on the board, and its 10/10 form can provide you with devastating Lifesteal, assuming you can keep it alive. In addition, Baron Geddon's damaging effect has Lifesteal as well, meaning for each character it damages for 2 health, you'll be restored by the total amount of damage dealt. Tar Creeper is also a great stalling tactic, as it will not only block attacks but also heal you 3 health each time an opponent attacks it on their turn.

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
Frost Lich Jaina is the version of Jaina Proudmoore.

In the web comic Undeath Conquers All, a Pompous Thespian - at the behest of a Bloodsail Raider-like pirate and several other tavern patrons - begins telling a tale about the, and of how Prince Arthas Menethil and his former love interest Lady Jaina Proudmoore rushed to face the threat of the. The pirate complains that the audience already knows the story, but the thespian replies that she shouldn't spoil it for those unfamiliar with the tale. The thespian contiues by describing the terrible dilemma faced by Arthas, Jaina, and Uther Lightbringer at the city of, whose citizens had not yet turned into undead. Arthas wanted to cleanse the city with fire, while Uther believed that its inhabitants could be saved. The pirate interrupts the story again, again saying that she already knows the tale of Arthas' fall, but in response, the thespian changes the story by stating that Jaina decided that Arthas couldn't succeed without her and that the plague needed to be eradicated. Thus, Jaina joined Arthas in, and the two of them vowed never to leave one another's side. The thespian continues by telling of how the whispered to Jaina and promised her the power to battle and ultimately control evil, and of how Arthas and Jaina knelt before the Frozen Throne together, offering fealty to the dark force that had drawn them together again. Together, the death knights Arthas and Jaina waged war against the living, causing the world to cry out for heroes to stand against them. Thrall answered the elements' call and began the long journey to, while across the sea, Uther the Lightbringer tracked down his former pupil. Arthas and Jaina easily defeated Uther and continued to destroy in the Frozen Throne's name, with not even the might of being able to stop them. However, they were not destined to remain together forever, for the throne called for them to return to, stating that it would choose only one of them to inherit its power. When the two death knights arrived, they were ambushed by Uther, who had also been transformed into a death knight by the Frozen Throne. Suddenly, Thrall appeared and urged Arthas and Jaina to return to being the heroes they once were, but he was swiftly silenced by a blast of magic which transformed him into a death knight as well. The Pompous Thespian's story ends with a massive battle between the undead Jaina, Uther, and Thrall, with the moral of the story being that the Frozen Throne does not bring people together, but rather pits them against one another until only the strongest remains. However, the pirate replies by asking who won the fight. The thespian protests that that is not the point of the story, but after being offered more gold coins he concedes that Jaina won.

Jaina's association with ice magic and water elementals, in death as well as life, strongly suggest an association with the death knight specialization.


 * "Combining martial prowess with supernatural cold, frost death knights leave their enemies chilled to the bone—and broken of the will to fight. Unlike mages who learn to harness frost magic to great effect, these death knights are born of it, rime gripping their decaying hearts. These frozen undead warriors wield dual blades to strike with ferocity and inflict deathly cold upon anyone who would stand against them."

For more information, see Knights of the Frozen Throne.

Trivia

 * Frost Lich Jaina underwent many design changes during the development of Knights of the Frozen Throne. Originally, Frost Lich Jaina gave your Elementals in-deck, on the field, and in your hand +2/+2. but it was "It was a bit weird, because sometimes you would summon elementals later and they wouldn't get the +2/+2". Another version of Frost Lich Jaina saw her summoning 2 Water Elemental and an early hero power saw scaling based on killing minions, where each time it killed a minion, it would gain an extra damage. It did not summon the Water Elemental. Another early design saw her "Summon Sindragosa", although it's unknown what this entailed.

Patch changes

 * Added.