Giant

Giants are 8/8 epic minion cards. Each giant has an in-hand effect which reduces the card's mana cost depending on a specific game factor. Note that giants, despite their theme and the fact that they are a race in World of Warcraft, are not a minion type in Hearthstone.

Strategy[]

All giants are initially overpriced, and the base cost of most giants exceeds the player's maximum of 10 mana, making it necessary to activate giants' in-hand effects in order to play them. However, under the right conditions giants can reliably become extremely mana efficient, providing a powerful minion for a fraction of the usual price.

Different giants fit with different deck archetypes. Molten Giant is a core card for Handlock decks, while Sea Giant fits well in some Zoolock decks. Frost Giant has strong synergy with Inspire decks. Mountain Giant is clearly designed for use in control decks, where the player has a large number of cards in their hand; while Clockwork Giant works as an anti-control tech card, since it benefits from an opponent who has a large number of cards in their hand. Arcane Giants have synergy with spell-heavy decks like Miracle Rogue and Yogg-Saron decks. Snowfury Giant, the first ever class giant, grows in power when you play Overload cards. Timebound Giant was featured in the Taverns of Time Arena event for a limited time and reduces in cost for each card drawn, making it perfect with accelerated card draw effects like Possibility Seeker. Mana Giant is the second class giant to be added, used in mage decks that like to generate extra cards. Flesh Giant is a dual-class giant which synergizes with both healing and self-damage. Ur'zul Giant is another class giant to be added, and it is best use in Demon Hunter decks which rely on tokens synergy. Naga Giant is a cheaper version of Shirvallah, the Tiger, so you can use it like how you do with Shirvallah.

Several other cards are similar, in that they offer an 8/8 (or close enough) minion with a high mana cost that can be discounted, but are not technically giants:

Mulchmuncher: 8/8 mech with Rush; discount based on number of Treants that have died
Jumbo Imp: 8/8 demon; discount based on number of demons that have died while the card was in the hand
Grave Horror: 7/8 minion with Taunt; discount based on spells played like Arcane Giant

Types[]

Lore[]

This section uses content from Wowpedia.

Giants are a type of creature similar to humanoids, but of the very large sort (above 3 meters or so), and larger than most ogres. The category includes most semi-intelligent and some intelligent large humanoids. Most giants are elite.

Many of the giants on Azeroth were created by the titans as part of their ordering of Azeroth, meant to protect and oversee the land and ocean. According to Brann Bronzebeard, they were affected by the Curse of Flesh, but in less scope. During the Burning Legion's first invasion, nearly all of the giants were destroyed, and now only a handful remain in the most untouched areas of Azeroth, where they are still fulfilling their ancient duties, although some (molten giants and Baron Kazum for example) seem to serve the Old Gods against their will. When Illidan Stormrage threatened the security of the world, archdruid Malfurion Stormrage used his vast powers to call upon the aid of the mountain giants. Kael'thas Sunstrider ordered the dropping of huge crystals onto Outland, which summoned giants and corrupted them. This explains why Draenor's giants seek to harm the lands instead of protecting it.