Majordomo Executus


 * ''For the boss of the same name, see Majordomo Executus (boss). For his appearance as a minion in Battlegrounds, see Majordomo Executus (Battlegrounds).

Majordomo Executus is a legendary neutral minion card, from the Blackrock Mountain set.

This card's Deathrattle replaces the controlling hero with Ragnaros the Firelord, and changes their Hero Power to DIE, INSECT!. The Ragnaros hero has a maximum and starting Health of 8, although this can be raised to 15 through Alexstrasza, and 40 with Amara, Warden of Hope.

Known bugs

 * If Majordomo Executus and the controlling hero are destroyed simultaneously, Blizzard intended that the player would not be saved by Executus' Deathrattle, and the game would end. However, as of 2016-08-13, when this situation occurs, the game crashes.

Strategy
Following its release, Majordomo Executus has been credited with being the worst legendary in the game. While its stats are poor for its cost, the card is primarily criticized for its Deathrattle, which has a significant chance of directly leading to the player's defeat. This is due to the 8 Health of Ragnaros, which allows him to be easily destroyed following his arrival. The card is especially dangerous when played in the early game since Ragnaros will replace the hero regardless of their current Health. Although the replacement Hero Power is potentially extremely powerful, the chances of the card backfiring have led to widespread rejection of the card. It is meant for very late game when your opponent has exhausted all of their options, if played too early the player runs the risk of losing due to low Health and an inaccurate Hero Power.

However, if used in a properly constructed deck, it can be very powerful. It is critical that the Deathrattle be advantageous to the player, either by having Majordomo die when the hero is below 8 Health and Armor (thus acting as a heal), or because the board allows time for the player to make use of their new Hero Power. Armor-granting effects like Shield Block and Ice Barrier and Immune effects like Ice Block can be very effective in stabilizing after transforming into Ragnaros. Alexstrasza's Battlecry, if targeting yourself, increases your maximum Health to 15, allowing for more recovery via heals. A popular combo involves discounted Maiden of the Lake and Coldarra Drake to repeatedly use the hero power for low cost. With the introduction of Forged in the Barrens, playing Reckless Apprentice after transforming into Ragnaros provides an alternative strategy in Wild, with the potential to trigger the hero power 9 times in succession if your opponent has a full board; and this effect can exaggerated by playing two on the same turn, or by also using a card like Brann Bronzebeard to trigger the battlecry twice. The result can be quite devastating to the opponent, with the potential to fully clear a large board and deal a potentially lethal amount of damage to their hero.

If your opponent has Sylvanas Windrunner or another card that can mind control or copy and they steal Majordomo Executus, you can punish them by triggering his Deathrattle and finishing off the fragile Ragnaros hero. This card has very good synergy with the Awaken the Makers Priest quest. Not only does the Majordomo count towards quest progression, Amara, Warden of Hope will quintuple Ragnaros's maximum health, removing its crippling weakness. In addition, it's possible to combine this with Raza the Chained to make your Hero Power more efficient. Since the introduction of Treachery, Warlocks are able to take advantage of Majordomo Executus in Wild by using Treachery on Executus before swiftly destroying him, causing the opposing hero to become Ragnaros instead, leaving them vulnerable to your attacks.

Quotes

 * Summon
 * ''None may challenge the living flame!


 * Attack
 * ''Hunt them down!


 * Summoning Ragnaros
 * ''TOO SOON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!

Emotes
The Ragnaros hero uses the following audio and written emotes in response to specific events. For more information, see Emote.

Lore

 * ''At the top of the elemental hierarchy, just beneath Ragnaros himself, resides . This flamewaker gained his exalted status by proving to be nearly invincible in the battles that raged within the . Rumor has it that Executus supplanted Baron Geddon, and the two have been rivals ever since. Although this rumor has yet to be confirmed, there is certainly no doubt that Ragnaros does not tolerate failure. Thus, the lesser flamewakers (and, of course, Baron Geddon) eagerly await a misstep by Executus, anticipating their chance to vie for the coveted attention of the Firelord.


 * ''Executus will only be spawned after you have deactivated the runes of warding. This means you'll have to defeat every other boss (except for Ragnaros, who is summoned after Executus's defeat, and, who actually doesn't have to be killed) in the before you can fight him. Pre-3.0.8, you also had to douse the runes using . You obtained the Aqual Quintessence by gaining Honored status with the , and completing the quest chain ending with Hands of the Enemy.


 * ''Executus comes with four s and four guards making this a total of a nine enemy encounter. Executus will "submit" and the fight is won when all the adds are dead. He then appears in Ragnaros' chamber and will summon the Firelord to begin the encounter. Ragnaros will then, before he engages the players, kill Executus as punishment for not being able to stop them.


 * In Cataclysm'' it is revealed that Fandral Staghelm, after becoming the leader of the Druids of the Flame, replaced Executus as Ragnaros' majordomo.

Trivia

 * The artwork for this card comes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game "Molten Core Tokens 1" series, for the card Flamewaker.

Patch changes

 * Wow emote added. Sorry emote no longer available.
 * Winter Veil and Lunar New Year emotes added.
 * Added.