Alexstrasza

Alexstrasza is a legendary neutral minion card, inducted into the Legacy set, formerly from the Classic set.

Previous availability

 * Regular Alexstrasza could also be obtained as a first-time reward for first time reaching Legend in Ranked mode from April 1, 2020 to March 25, 2021 (or as a reward of Climbing the Ranks (10/10) achievement).

Strategy
As a legendary 8/8 dragon for 9 mana, Alexstrasza is already a big body to deal with in anybody's deck, but her real power lies in her ability to set a hero's remaining Health to 15. Due to the nature of this card, it can be used in a variety of ways as a great utility minion. You can play her if you are in need of a comeback and you are below 15 Health - which can be a very effective way to make your way back into a close game - or you can use it to advance your lead and force your opponent down to half life while playing a devastating minion.

Alexstrasza is a key component in many control decks. After spending the early game stalling, the player can use the dragon's Battlecry to set the opponent's Health to 15, effortlessly compensating for minimal damage-dealing in earlier rounds, then use burst damage to quickly defeat the weakened opponent. Warriors are one of the best examples of this type of play, focusing on removal and Armor generation for the first half of the game.

Lore

 *  the Life-Binder, Leader and Aspect of the One of the five Dragon Aspects and Aspect of Life, is the guardian of all life in the world of Azeroth. She was one of five great dragons chosen by the titans to be empowered with a portion of the 's power and rule over her flight while they watched over Azeroth and its inhabitants. The s also appointed her queen of all s. Alexstrasza loves all living creatures and protects them, and only those who menace the dragonflights or the world face her wrath.


 * With the rise of Deathwing during '', Alexstrasza took a very active role in defending Azeroth against the Aspect of Death, eventually ordering her entire dragonflight to war against the . Alexstrasza, along with her fellow Aspects, gave their all to stop Deathwing once and for all, but lost much of their power in the process.


 * ''"Life is my Aspect, Dark One, and I, like all mothers, know both the pain and wonders that entails!"

Alexstrasza reappears in Descent of Dragons as Dragonqueen Alexstrasza.

Trivia

 * Alexstrasza is very strong against Heroic Mode bosses in the Curse of Naxxramas adventure, because Curse of Naxxramas heroic bosses are harder, in part, because they have a large amount of extra Health, which Alexstrasza can ignore with her ability and set them all the way down to 15. Because of this, she has been prohibited in the Heroic Mode fight with Loatheb, Sapphiron and Kel'Thuzad. Likely for the same reason, Heroic bosses in the subsequent Blackrock Mountain adventure have extra Armor instead of extra Health, and many of them have cards that grant Armor, such as Flameheart.
 * For some reason, Alexstrasza currently works against similar bosses in the Galakrond's Awakening adventure (such as Avalanchan) without being prohibited.

Patch changes

 * Moved from Classic to Legacy set.
 * Alexstrasza’s ability no longer counts as a healing effect when raising the target’s health to 15 and will not affect Armor when lowering health to 15.
 * Unknown alpha patch: Name corrected from "Alexstraza" to "Alexstrasza". Trivia changed from "Alexstraza was enslaved by the orc, Nekros Skullcrusher, during the Second War. When she escaped, she swallowed him whole. Yum!" to "Alexstrasza the Life-Binder brings life and hope to everyone. Except Deathwing. And Malygos. And Nekros."