Charge

Charge
Can attack immediately.

For the card of the same name, see Charge (card).

Charge is an ability allowing a minion to attack the same turn it is summoned or brought under a new player's control.

Charge is available to all classes, but is most strongly associated with the warrior and hunter classes. Warrior cards involving Charge include Charge, Kor'Kron Elite and Grommash Hellscream. Hunters have access to powerful Charge cards such as Huffer, Unleash the Hounds, Tundra Rhino and King Krush.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Minions with Charge will not suffer the exhausted effect when first put into play. This also applies if the minion is brought into play through means such as a Summon effect or Faceless Manipulator's Transform effect.
- The Charge ability effectively suppresses a newly-summoned minion's exhaustion, but does not remove it. If Charge is removed from a newly-summoned minion, such as through a Silence, the minion will become exhausted.^[1]

If a friendly minion can only attack because it has temporary Charge from Tundra Rhino, the Tundra Rhino does not have to survive until the actual combat happens (for example, if it dies to Explosive Trap, the combat will not be cancelled).^[2]

Charge functionally overrides Rush effects. If a Charge minion is given Rush, it will still be able to attack the enemy hero. This is because Rush doesn't actually prevent a minion from attacking the opponent's hero, it only allows the minion to attack enemy minions while it would normally have summoning sickness.

Strategy[edit | edit source]

Charge is a very useful ability for dealing instant damage, and often features as part of a deck's burst damage potential. Cards like Doomguard can be held until the opportunity arise to quickly defeat the opponent using the cards left in the hand.

Charge minions are often used to finish the opponent, sometimes as part of one turn kill (OTK) combos. Leeroy Jenkins is a good example, often combined with cards such as Shadowstep, Faceless Manipulator, Reincarnate and Power Overwhelming to deal huge damage in a single turn. Unleash the Hounds and Grommash Hellscream are also commonly used as finishers.

Charge can be granted through cards like Tundra Rhino, allowing beasts which do not usually possess the ability to make use of it. This can be key in making powerful plays with strong beasts such as Savannah Highmane. Unleash the Hounds is a strong example of the power of a sudden group of minions, heavily dependent on Charge.

Charge minions frequently feature decent Attack but relatively low Health. This ensures that they will be defeated upon attacking most targets, and otherwise can be easily dispatched by the opponent, serving to balance their ability to immediately attack with a low likelihood of surviving into the next round.

Cards with Charge[edit | edit source]

This section lists all cards which possess or provide a source of Charge.

Collectible[edit | edit source]

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Stonetusk Boar	Free	Minion	Beast	Any	1	1	1	Charge
Bluegill Warrior	Free	Minion	Murloc	Any	2	2	1	Charge
Kor'vas Bloodthorn	Legendary	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	2	2	2	Charge, Lifesteal After you play a card with Outcast, return this to your hand.
Arcane Golem	Rare	Minion	General	Any	3	4	2	Charge. Battlecry: Give your opponent a Mana Crystal.
Wolfrider	Free	Minion	General	Any	3	3	1	Charge
Kayn Sunfury	Legendary	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	4	3	4	Charge All friendly attacks ignore Taunt.
Kor'kron Elite	Free	Minion	General	Warrior	4	4	3	Charge
Stormwind Knight	Free	Minion	General	Any	4	2	5	Charge
Argent Commander	Rare	Minion	General	Any	6	4	2	Charge Divine Shield
Reckless Rocketeer	Free	Minion	General	Any	6	5	2	Charge
Al'Akir the Windlord	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	8	3	5	Windfury, Charge, Divine Shield, Taunt
Grommash Hellscream	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	8	4	9	Charge Has +6 Attack while damaged.
King Krush	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Hunter	9	8	8	Charge
Showing all 13 cards

Forged in the Barrens

The below cards are planned for release with Forged in the Barrens, coming March 30th, 2021.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Al'Akir the Windlord	Legendary	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	8	3	6	Charge, Divine Shield, Taunt, Windfury
Grommash Hellscream	Legendary	Minion	General	Warrior	8	4	9	Charge Has +6 Attack while damaged.
King Krush	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Hunter	9	8	8	Charge
Showing all 3 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Argent Horserider	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	2	1	Charge Divine Shield
Gnomeregan Infantry	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	1	4	Charge Taunt
Chillblade Champion	Common	Minion	General	Paladin	4	3	2	Charge Lifesteal
Old Murk-Eye	Legendary	Minion	Murloc	Any	4	2	4	Charge. Has +1 Attack for each other Murloc on the battlefield.
Doomguard	Rare	Minion	Demon	Warlock	5	5	7	Charge. Battlecry: Discard two random cards.
Leeroy Jenkins	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	5	6	2	Charge. Battlecry: Summon two 1/1 Whelps for your opponent.
Skycap'n Kragg	Legendary	Minion	Pirate	Any	7	4	6	Charrrrrge Costs (1) less for each friendly Pirate.
Charged Devilsaur	Epic	Minion	Beast	Any	8	7	7	Charge Battlecry: Can't attack heroes this turn.
Icehowl	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	9	10	10	Charge Can't attack heroes.
Showing all 9 cards

Uncollectible[edit | edit source]

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Hound	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	1	1	1	Charge
Reffuh	None	Minion	Demon		1	2	1	Charge
Huffer	Common	Minion	Beast	Hunter	3	4	2	Charge
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	5	4	4	Charge
Showing all 4 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Sabertooth Lion	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	2	2	1	Charge
Tiger Form	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	2	3	2	Charge, Stealth
Boar	None	Minion	Beast	Mage	3	4	2	Charge
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	Beast	Druid	5	4	6	Charge Taunt
V-07-TR-0N	None	Minion	Mech	Any	8	4	8	Charge Mega-Windfury
King Krush	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Hunter	9	8	8	Charge
Showing all 6 cards

Sources of Charge[edit | edit source]

Charge-generating cards[edit | edit source]

This section lists cards which generate Charge minions.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Demon Companion	Rare	Spell	General		1			Summon a random Demon Companion.
Open the Cages	Common	Spell	General	Hunter	2			Secret: When your turn starts, if you control two minions, summon an Animal Companion.
Animal Companion	Free	Spell	General	Hunter	3			Summon a random Beast Companion.
Unleash the Hounds	Common	Spell	General	Hunter	3			For each enemy minion, summon a 1/1 Hound with Charge.
Druid of the Claw	Common	Minion	General	Druid	5	4	4	Choose One - Transform into a 4/4 with Charge; or a 4/6 with Taunt.
Showing all 5 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Druid of the Saber	Common	Minion	General	Druid	2	2	1	Choose One - Transform into a 2/1 with Charge; or a 3/2 with Stealth.
Polymorph: Boar	Rare	Spell	Arcane	Mage	3			Transform a minion into a 4/2 Boar with Charge.
Mimiron's Head	Legendary	Minion	Mech	Any	5	4	5	At the start of your turn, if you have at least 3 Mechs, destroy them all and form V-07-TR-0N.
To My Side!	Epic	Spell	General	Hunter	6			Summon an Animal Companion, or 2 if your deck has no minions.
Dinotamer Brann	Legendary	Minion	General	Hunter	7	2	4	Battlecry: If your deck has no duplicates, summon King Krush.
Call of the Wild	Epic	Spell	General	Hunter	8			Summon all 3 Animal Companions.
Showing all 6 cards

Charge-granting cards[edit | edit source]

This section lists cards which grant the Charge ability to other minions or to itself.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Southsea Deckhand	Common	Minion	Pirate	Any	1	2	1	Has Charge while you have a weapon equipped.
Charge	Free	Spell	General	Warrior	3			Give a friendly minion +2 Attack and Charge.
Shadow Madness	Rare	Spell	General	Priest	3			Gain control of an enemy minion with 3 or less Attack until end of turn.
Tundra Rhino	Free	Minion	Beast	Hunter	5	2	5	Your Beasts have Charge.
Showing all 4 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Potion of Madness	Common	Spell	General	Priest	1			Gain control of an enemy minion with 2 or less Attack until the end of the turn.
Alexstrasza's Champion	Rare	Minion	General	Warrior	2	2	3	Battlecry: If you're holding a Dragon, gain +1 Attack and Charge.
Armored Warhorse	Rare	Minion	Beast	Any	4	5	3	Battlecry: Reveal a minion in each deck. If yours costs more, gain Charge.
Tanaris Hogchopper	Common	Minion	General	Any	4	4	4	Battlecry: If your opponent's hand is empty, gain Charge.
Spiked Hogrider	Rare	Minion	General	Any	5	5	5	Battlecry: If an enemy minion has Taunt, gain Charge.
Leatherclad Hogleader	Epic	Minion	General	Any	6	6	6	Battlecry: If your opponent has 6 or more cards in hand, gain Charge.
Showing all 6 cards

Related cards[edit | edit source]

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Warsong Commander	Free	Minion	General	Warrior	3	2	3	After you summon another minion, give it Rush.
Showing the only card

Achievements[edit | edit source]

Name	Requirements	Rewards
I Wanna Play NOW! (1/5)	Play 50 minions with Rush or Charge.	10
I Wanna Play NOW! (2/5)	Play 150 minions with Rush or Charge.	10
I Wanna Play NOW! (3/5)	Play 500 minions with Rush or Charge.	10
I Wanna Play NOW! (4/5)	Play 1500 minions with Rush or Charge.	10
I Wanna Play NOW! (5/5)	Play 5000 minions with Rush or Charge.	20

Design[edit | edit source]

Charge is historically one of the most problematic abilities in Hearthstone. This is due to the potential for Charge minions to be combined with Attack-increasing buffs and copy effects, producing excessively powerful burst combos, in the worst cases resulting in one turn kills.^[3] This lack of interactivity makes Charge a concern for the developers, who have consequently become increasingly reluctant to print new minions with unqualified Charge, as well as nerfing numerous cards critical to Charge-based combos.

Designer Max McCall clarifies that the ability itself can be positive, such as for allowing players to catch up when behind on the board, helping to counter the strength of consistently developing the board.^[3] However, when a Charge card is cheap enough to combo with other effects, or it is otherwise viable to achieve a one turn kill using it, the ability "becomes a problem".^[3] One solution to this could be to restrict the availability of buffs and other key combo pieces, but these types of effect offer a larger design space, with the result that restricting them would detract from the game far more significantly than simply restricting the availability of Charge.^[3]

More recently the designers have experimented with conditional Charge effects, and are considering adding more expensive Charge minions in the future, as they "figure out what's safe".^[3]

With The Witchwood, Hearthstone introduced the related Rush effect, which is similar to Charge except that the minion cannot attack heroes on the turn it is summoned. It is possible for a minion to have both Rush and Charge (for example, if you play a Rush Beast while Tundra Rhino is on the board); in that case the minion can attack the enemy hero on its first turn.