Lifesteal

Lifesteal
Damage dealt also heals your hero.

A minion with Lifesteal

Lifesteal icon

Lifesteal is an ability which causes damage dealt by a card to also restore that much Health to the controlling player's hero. Lifesteal minions on the battlefield are marked by a broken heart at the bottom of their portraits.

The Lifesteal mechanic was first introduced in Goblins vs Gnomes on the card Mistress of Pain (later renamed Queen of Pain). It was officially keyworded in Knights of the Frozen Throne. Prior to Patch 9.0.0.20457, Lifesteal was represented by the text "Damage dealt by this minion also heals your hero".

Notes

• Whenever a Lifesteal card or Hero Power deals damage, it will restore the exact same amount of Health to its controlling hero too.
  • This includes minions with Battlecry, Deathrattle, and triggered effects that deal damage.
  • Health restoration from Lifesteal is applied after the Lifesteal source deals damage.
• If a hero deals Lifesteal damage while also taking lethal damage, the Lifesteal heal will save the hero if it would be enough to restore them to 1 health or more (or, put another way, if the damage taken minus the Lifesteal heal is less than the hero's health).
  • For example, if a rogue with 5 health remaining equipped with a Kingsbane which has been granted Lifesteal (by Leeching Poison) attacks Dr. Boom, the rogue will survive if Kingsbane has at least 3 attack.
• If Betrayal is cast upon a minion with Lifesteal, the Lifesteal effect will activate once for each minion hit.
• If a Lifesteal card deals damage to a minion protected by Divine Shield, it will deal 0 damage and thus also restore 0 Health, while also removing the Divine Shield.
• As with all healing effects, if combined with Auchenai Soulpriest, Embrace the Shadow or Auchenai Phantasm, Lifesteal cards will instead deal damage to the controlling hero. Because this damage is not counted as damage dealt by the Lifesteal card itself, however, the effect will not trigger a second time.

Cards with Lifesteal

This section lists cards which have the ability to Lifesteal or can gain the ability to Lifesteal when played.

Collectible

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Felscream Blast	Common	Spell	Fel	Demon Hunter	1			Lifesteal. Deal 1 damage to a minion and its neighbors.
Reliquary of Souls	Legendary	Minion	General	Priest	1	1	3	Lifesteal Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Reliquary Prime' into your deck.
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.
Aldrachi Warblades	Free	Weapon		Demon Hunter	3	2	2	Lifesteal
Soul Cleave	Free	Spell		Demon Hunter	3			Lifesteal Deal 2 damage to two random enemy minions.
Ashtongue Battlelord	Common	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	4	3	5	Taunt Lifesteal
Il'gynoth	Legendary	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	4	2	6	Lifesteal Your Lifesteal damages the enemy hero instead of healing you.
Judicious Junior	Common	Minion	General	Paladin	6	4	9	Lifesteal
Tidal Wave	Common	Spell		Shaman	8			Lifesteal Deal 3 damage to all minions.
Showing all 9 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
Drain Soul	Common	Spell	Shadow	Warlock	2			Lifesteal Deal 3 damage to a minion.
Aldrachi Warblades	Common	Weapon		Demon Hunter	3	2	2	Lifesteal
Blood Shard Bristleback	Rare	Minion	General	Warlock	3	3	3	Lifesteal. Battlecry: If your deck contains 10 or fewer cards, deal 6 damage to a minion.
Devouring Plague	Common	Spell	Shadow	Priest	3			Lifesteal. Deal 4 damage randomly split among all enemy minions.
Eye Beam	Epic	Spell	Fel	Demon Hunter	3			Lifesteal. Deal 3 damage to a minion. Outcast: This costs (1).
Ashtongue Battlelord	Common	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	4	3	5	Taunt Lifesteal
Tidal Surge	Common	Spell	Nature	Shaman	4			Lifesteal Deal 4 damage to a minion.
Showing all 7 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Deadscale Knight	Common	Minion	Murloc	Any	1	1	1	Lifesteal
Swamp Leech	Common	Minion	Beast	Any	1	2	1	Lifesteal
Cheaty Anklebiter	Common	Minion	General	Any	2	2	1	Lifesteal Battlecry: Deal 1 damage.
Crystalsmith Kangor	Legendary	Minion	General	Paladin	2	1	2	Divine Shield, Lifesteal Your healing is doubled.
Drain Soul	Common	Spell		Warlock	2			Lifesteal Deal 2 damage to a minion.
Penance	Common	Spell	Holy	Priest	2			Lifesteal Deal 3 damage to a minion.
Queen of Pain	Rare	Minion	Demon	Warlock	2	1	4	Lifesteal
Spirit Lash	Common	Spell		Priest	2			Lifesteal Deal 1 damage to all minions.
Vicious Scalehide	Common	Minion	Beast	Any	2	1	3	Lifesteal Rush
Vilefiend	Common	Minion	Demon	Any	2	2	2	Lifesteal
Acolyte of Agony	Common	Minion	General	Priest	3	3	3	Lifesteal
Bronze Explorer	Common	Minion	Dragon	Paladin	3	2	3	Lifesteal Battlecry: Discover a Dragon.
Eye Beam	Epic	Spell	Fel	Demon Hunter	3			Lifesteal. Deal 3 damage to a minion. Outcast: This costs (1).
Pumpkin Peasant	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	2	4	Lifesteal Each turn this is in your hand, swap its Attack and Health.
Wickerflame Burnbristle	Legendary	Minion	General	Paladin	3	2	2	Divine Shield, Taunt, Lifesteal
Ancestral Guardian	Common	Minion	General	Paladin	4	4	2	Lifesteal Reborn
Chillblade Champion	Common	Minion	General	Paladin	4	3	2	Charge Lifesteal
Felsoul Inquisitor	Common	Minion	Demon	Any	4	1	6	Lifesteal Taunt
High Priestess Jeklik	Legendary	Minion	General	Warlock	4	3	4	Taunt, Lifesteal When you discard this, add 2 copies of it to your hand.
Lesser Amethyst Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Warlock	4			Lifesteal. Deal 3 damage to a minion. (Take damage from your cards to upgrade.)
Prince Valanar	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	4	4	4	Battlecry: If your deck has no 4-Cost cards, gain Lifesteal and Taunt.
Spectral Cutlass	Epic	Weapon		Rogue	4	2	2	Lifesteal Whenever you play a card from another class, gain +1 Durability.
Blood-Queen Lana'thel	Legendary	Minion	General	Warlock	5	1	6	Lifesteal Has +1 Attack for each card you've discarded this game.
Bloodworm	Common	Minion	Beast	Any	5	4	4	Lifesteal
Rusty Recycler	Common	Minion	Mech	Any	5	2	6	Taunt Lifesteal
Zilliax	Legendary	Minion	Mech	Any	5	3	2	Magnetic Divine Shield, Taunt, Lifesteal, Rush
Walking Fountain	Common	Minion	Elemental	Shaman	8	4	8	Lifesteal, Rush, Windfury
Obsidian Statue	Epic	Minion	General	Priest	9	4	8	Taunt, Lifesteal Deathrattle: Destroy a random enemy minion.
Shirvallah, the Tiger	Legendary	Minion	Beast	Paladin	25	7	5	Divine Shield, Rush, Lifesteal Costs (1) less for each Mana you've spent on spells.
Showing all 29 cards

Uncollectible

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Ravenous Vilefiend	None	Minion	Demon	Demon Hunter	2	2	2	Lifesteal
Insatiable Felhound	Common	Minion	Demon	Demon Hunter	3	3	6	Corrupted Taunt, Lifesteal
Desperate Dreadlord	None	Minion	Demon	Warlock	5	5	5	Lifesteal
Libram of Judgment	Common	Weapon		Paladin	7	5	3	Corrupted Lifesteal
Reliquary Prime	None	Minion	General	Priest	7	6	8	Taunt, Lifesteal Only you can target this with spells and Hero Powers.
Showing all 5 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
Battlefield Medic	None	Minion	General	Paladin	2	2	2	Lifesteal
Showing the only card

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Crystal Dryad	None	Minion	General	Druid	1	1	2	Lifesteal
Siphon Life	None	Hero Power		Warlock	2			Hero Power Lifesteal Deal 3 damage.
Pumpkin Peasant	Common	Minion	General	Any	3	4	2	Lifesteal Each turn this is in your hand, swap its Attack and Health.
Amethyst Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Warlock	4			Lifesteal. Deal 5 damage to a minion. (Take damage from your cards to upgrade.)
Greater Amethyst Spellstone	Rare	Spell		Warlock	4			Lifesteal. Deal 7 damage to a minion.
Grave Vengeance	None	Weapon		Paladin	8	5	3	Lifesteal
Showing all 6 cards

Sources of Lifesteal

Lifesteal-generating cards

This section lists cards which generate cards that have the ability to Lifesteal.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Reliquary of Souls	Legendary	Minion	General	Priest	1	1	3	Lifesteal Deathrattle: Shuffle 'Reliquary Prime' into your deck.
Insatiable Felhound	Common	Minion	Demon	Demon Hunter	3	2	5	Taunt Corrupt: Gain +1/+1 and Lifesteal.
Vile Call	Common	Spell		Demon Hunter	3			Summon two 2/2 Demons with Lifesteal.
Envoy Rustwix	Legendary	Minion	Demon	Warlock	5	5	4	Deathrattle: Shuffle 3 random Prime Legendary minions into your deck.
Libram of Judgment	Common	Weapon		Paladin	7	5	3	Corrupt: Gain Lifesteal.
Enhanced Dreadlord	Rare	Minion	Demon	Warlock	8	5	7	Taunt Deathrattle: Summon a 5/5 Dreadlord with Lifesteal.
Showing all 6 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
Veteran Warmedic	Epic	Minion	General	Paladin	4	3	5	After you cast a Holy spell, summon a 2/2 Medic with Lifesteal.
Showing the only card

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Dreamway Guardians	Rare	Spell		Druid	2			Summon two 1/2 Dryads with Lifesteal.
Uther of the Ebon Blade	Legendary	Hero card		Paladin	9			Battlecry: Equip a 5/3 Lifesteal weapon.
Showing all 2 cards

Lifesteal-granting cards

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

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Dragonmaw Sentinel	Rare	Minion	General	Priest	2	1	4	Battlecry: If you're holding a Dragon, gain +1 Attack and Lifesteal.
Apotheosis	Common	Spell	Holy	Priest	3			Give a minion +2/+3 and Lifesteal.
Man'ari Mosher	Common	Minion	Demon	Warlock	3	3	4	Battlecry: Give a friendly Demon +3 Attack and Lifesteal this turn.
High Exarch Yrel	Legendary	Minion	General	Paladin	8	7	5	Battlecry: If your deck has no Neutral cards, gain Rush, Lifesteal, Taunt, and Divine Shield.
Showing all 4 cards

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Leeching Poison	Common	Spell		Rogue	1			Give your weapon Lifesteal this turn.
Lightforged Blessing	Common	Spell	Holy	Paladin	2			Twinspell Give a friendly minion Lifesteal.
Lightforged Blessing	Common	Spell	Holy	Paladin	2			Give a friendly minion Lifesteal.
Nether Breath	Rare	Spell	Fel	Warlock	2			Deal 2 damage. If you're holding a Dragon, deal 4 damage with Lifesteal instead.
Omega Mind	Epic	Minion	General	Shaman	2	2	3	Battlecry: If you have 10 Mana Crystals, your spells have Lifesteal this turn.
Elixir of Life	Common	Spell	Holy	Priest	3			Give a minion +2/+2 and Lifesteal.
Paragon of Light	Rare	Minion	General	Paladin	3	2	5	While this minion has 3 or more Attack, it has Taunt and Lifesteal.
Corpsetaker	Epic	Minion	General	Any	4	3	3	Battlecry: Gain Taunt if your deck has a Taunt minion. Repeat for Divine Shield, Lifesteal, Windfury.
Prince Valanar	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	4	4	4	Battlecry: If your deck has no 4-Cost cards, gain Lifesteal and Taunt.
Deathweb Spider	Epic	Minion	Beast	Warlock	5	4	6	Battlecry: If your hero took damage this turn, gain Lifesteal.
Zilliax	Legendary	Minion	Mech	Any	5	3	2	Magnetic Divine Shield, Taunt, Lifesteal, Rush
Frost Lich Jaina	Legendary	Hero card		Mage	9			Battlecry: Summon a 3/6 Water Elemental. Your Elementals have Lifesteal for the rest of the game.
Showing all 12 cards

Related cards

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Il'gynoth	Legendary	Minion	General	Demon Hunter	4	2	6	Lifesteal Your Lifesteal damages the enemy hero instead of healing you.
Showing the only card

Wild format

This section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Deathaxe Punisher	Epic	Minion	General	Any	4	3	3	Battlecry: Give a random Lifesteal minion in your hand +2/+2.
Countess Ashmore	Legendary	Minion	General	Any	7	6	6	Battlecry: Draw a Rush, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle card from your deck.
Showing all 2 cards

Achievements

Name	Requirements	Rewards
I Vant to Suck Your Blood (1/5)	Play 5 cards with Lifesteal.	10
I Vant to Suck Your Blood (2/5)	Play 15 cards with Lifesteal.	10
I Vant to Suck Your Blood (3/5)	Play 50 cards with Lifesteal.	10
I Vant to Suck Your Blood (4/5)	Play 150 cards with Lifesteal.	10
I Vant to Suck Your Blood (5/5)	Play 500 cards with Lifesteal.	20
So Judgey... (1/2)	Restore 60 Health with Lifesteal weapons.	100 , 10
So Judgey... (2/2)	Restore 180 Health with Lifesteal weapons.	200 , 20

Trivia

• Prior to the introduction of the Lifesteal keyword in Patch 9.0.0.20457, if a Lifesteal card dealt damage while combined with Auchenai Soulpriest or Embrace the Shadow, the converted Lifesteal healing would count as damage dealt by the Lifesteal card itself. This would cause the Lifesteal card's effect to trigger again and again, resulting in an infinite loop of damage until the controlling player's hero was killed. More precisely, the infinite loop was believed to stop once the hero had been in negative Health following three consecutive triggers or after 61 triggers, whichever happened first. In Knights of the Frozen Throne, this interaction was changed to deal damage only once.
• When a Lifesteal effect restores health to the controlling player's hero, the healing is accompanied by a unified visual style.
• Holy Fire, Drain Life, and Tidal Surge were not changed into Lifesteal spells with the release of Knights of the Frozen Throne, as they always restore the same amount of Health to the controlling hero and changing them to Lifesteal would cause the healing to scale with Spell Damage. In the case of Drain Life, Game Director Ben Brode has also expressed a reluctance to add a new keyword to the Basic set.
• Lifesteal is the second non-launch keyword to continue to appear on cards outside of the set it was introduced in, the first being Discover. It's also the first non-launch mechanic to later be given an official keyword.

Patch changes

• Patch 9.0.0.20457 (2017-08-08): This effect is now named as Lifesteal. Lifesteal minions on the battlefield now have a unique icon at the bottom of their portraits.

References

	Cards
By type	Hero card Minion (Permanent) Spell Weapon
By class	Demon Hunter Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior Death Knight Neutral Multi-class
By minion type	All Beast Demon Dragon Elemental Mech Murloc Pirate Totem General
By spell school	Arcane Fel Fire Frost Holy Nature Shadow General
By ability	Evergreen keywords	Battlecry Choose One Combo Deathrattle Discover Divine Shield Freeze Lifesteal Outcast Overload Poisonous Rush Secret Silence Spell Damage Stealth Taunt Windfury
	Other keywords	Adapt Casts When Drawn Charge Choose Twice Corrupt Dormant Echo Frenzy Immune Inspire Invoke Jade Golem Lackey Magnetic Mega-Windfury Overkill Passive Quest Reborn Recruit Sidequest Spare Part Spellburst Start of Game Twinspell
	Other abilities	Can't attack Cast spell Copy Deal damage Destroy Discard Draw cards Elusive Enrage Equip Force attack Forgetful Gain Armor Generate Highlander Joust Modify cost Put into battlefield Put into hand Recurring Refresh Mana Remove from deck Replace Restore Health Return to hand Shuffle into deck Spend mana Steal Summon Take control Transform Unlimited attacks Upgradable
	Non-Constructed	Auto-Attack Auto-cast Shrine Start of Combat
By effect type	Area of effect In-deck effect In-hand effect On-discard effect On-draw effect Ongoing effect Positional effect Random effect Resurrection effect Triggered effect
By card set	Standard	Basic Classic Rise of Shadows Saviors of Uldum Descent of Dragons Galakrond's Awakening Demon Hunter Initiate Ashes of Outland Scholomance Academy Madness at the Darkmoon Faire
	Wild	Hall of Fame Curse of Naxxramas Goblins vs Gnomes Blackrock Mountain Grand Tournament The League of Explorers Whispers of the Old Gods One Night in Karazhan Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Journey to Un'Goro Knights of the Frozen Throne Kobolds & Catacombs The Witchwood The Boomsday Project Rastakhan's Rumble
By rarity	Free Common Rare Epic Legendary