Avenging Wrath

Avenging Wrath is an Epic Paladin spell card, inducted into the Legacy set, formerly from the Classic set.

Previous availability

 * Regular Avenging Wrath could also be obtained as a first-time reward for first time reaching Platinum 10 and Diamond 10 in Ranked mode from April 1, 2020 to March 25, 2021 (or as a reward of Climbing the Ranks (6/10) and (8/10) achievements).

Strategy
A card that deals 8 damage for 6 mana is a card that should not be taken lightly. Whether facing an opponent that has a full board of creatures, or a caster that relies on spell damage or their hero alone, having an empowered version of the mage card Arcane Missiles is powerful.

This spell can be very effective for clearing boards of 1 or 2 Health minions, with a good chance of striking each minion at least once. It is less reliable against large minions, although it can still be effective for softening up or finishing off higher Health threats. For a full stacked board against you, Avenging Wrath is best paired with Equality to maximise its effectiveness. Also, with Spell Damage minions Avenging Wrath can shoot additional missiles to hit the enemy even harder.

Be careful when using this spell against a board featuring minions with on-damage triggered effects such as Acolyte of Pain, Frothing Berserker, Grim Patron and Armorsmith. With minions such as these in play, this spell has the potential to grant the opponent far more utility than it deals damage to them, potentially sealing the paladin's fate.

Given the potential for each missile to hit the enemy hero, the spell can be used as an effective burst attack when the board is empty, or close to empty. Remember that since the enemy hero is the one target that is always present, the smaller the number and the weaker the enemy minions on the board, the greater amount of missiles on average that will end up hitting the enemy hero.

Lore
originated in World of Warcraft as a ability. It grants +20% damage and healing for 20 seconds and visually shows golden wings and an ambient glow on the paladin. While this card's name is taken from that ability, the effects themselves do not seem to have any connection.

Trivia

 * The artwork for this card comes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game "Twilight of the Dragons" series, for the card Favor of the Light.

Patch changes

 * Moved from Classic to Legacy set.
 * Text now reads "Deal 8 damage randomly split among all enemies." instead of "Deal 8 damage randomly split among enemy characters." No change to the card's effect.
 * Text now reads "Deal 8 damage randomly split among all enemies." instead of "Deal 8 damage randomly split among enemy characters." No change to the card's effect.