| Set: |  Goblins vs Gnomes |
|---|---|
| Type: | Minion |
| Class: |  Neutral |
| Rarity: |  Epic |
| Cost: | 2  |
| Attack: | 3  |
| Health: | 2  |
| Artist: | Ben Olson |
For when you didn’t combobulate quite right the first time around.
BATTLECRYCOLLECTIBLERecombobulator is an epic neutral minion card, from the Goblins vs Gnomes set.
Contents
How to get[]
| Type | Source | Premium | Q. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card packs |   | Regular, Golden | 1~2 |
| Crafting | 400  dust | Regular | 1 |
| Crafting | 1600 dust | Golden | 1 |
Notes[]
- The replacement minion is selected randomly from all collectible minions of the same cost, regardless of class.[1][2] This means there is a chance that the affected minion will be replaced by a fresh copy of the same card.[3]
- Example: Minions with a "unique" mana cost (such as the 20-Cost
Molten Giant) will always transform into another copy of the same minion: this can still be useful for restoring the minion to its base condition and full Health, similar to replaying it from the hand.
- The base mana cost of the affected minion is used to determine the selection, not the mana cost paid when summoning it.
- Example: A Summoning Portal might cause a Doomguard to cost only 3 mana, but Recombobulator will still transform it into a random 5 mana minion.[4]
- The target minion will be transformed into a fresh copy of the replacement minion, with base stats including full Health and no enchantments. You can therefore use it to convert a minion who has been damaged, debuffed or silenced, in hope of getting something better.
- Of course, if the replacement minion has Charge, it will be able to attack that turn.
- As with all Transform effects, the minion is not played from the hand, and Battlecries therefore will not trigger.
Strategy[]
The Recombobulator is especially effective when used on targets which have powerful Battlecries or Choose One effects, but weaker than average stats and/or other abilities. Transforming them can allow the player to make the most of the minion's Battlecry before swapping it for a more useful ongoing minion. For example a player might summon a 5/6 
Guardian of Kings, benefit from its healing, then transform it into a 7/5 Ravenholdt Assassin, or even a 5/7 Archmage Antonidas. Other examples of good targets include Cabal Shadow Priest, Antique Healbot, Ancient of Lore and Blingtron 3000.
At a basic level, the transformation becomes more useful the more value the minion has lost. For example, replacing a damaged 2/1 (originally a 2/2) with a fresh 2/2 is a very small improvement; while replacing a damaged 8/1 (originally an 8/8) is a much larger one.
Recombobulator is also very effective for removing silences and undesirable buffs. For example, it can be used to convert a minion affected by Corruption or Power Overwhelming before it is destroyed.
If used on a minion temporarily stolen with Shadow Madness, the player will gain permanent control of the replacement minion. This works due to the buff that makes Shadow Madness work, which is lost when the minion is transformed.
While the recomboulation of minions is generally unpredictable, those with very rare mana costs provide more predictable results. Most notably, since Molten Giant is the only 20 cost minion in the game, the player is guaranteed to recombobulate it into a fresh Molten Giant, effectively serving as a full heal (as well as removing enchantments). Similarly, Clockwork Giant and Mountain Giant are the only 12 cost minions, guaranteeing a fresh 8/8 body. Slightly less predictably, converting a Force-Tank MAX or Ironbark Protector has a very good chance of netting you a late-game legendary minion such as Tirion Fordring or Gruul.
Sounds[]
- Summon
- ▶️You might feel a little tingle.
- Attack
- ▶️Time for a change.
- Death
- ▶️<death sound>
Lore[]
This minion seems to combine magical transformation with the gnomish liability for unpredictable results. The Recombobulator is original to Hearthstone, both in title and in its ability to transform targets into powerful creatures such as Molten Giants, or even unique individuals such as Deathwing, as opposed to the usual Chickens or Sheep.
Trivia[]
- During its development, Recombobulator was known for crashing game servers. At one point it also crashed the live game servers when trying to recombobulate a Molten Giant.[5]
- The artwork for this card comes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game "Twilight of the Dragons" series, for the card Trilik the Light's Spark.
Gallery[]
Recombobulator, full art
Patch changes[]
Patch 2.0.0.7234 (2014-12-04): Added.
References[]
- ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-11-10).
- ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-11-19).
- ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-11-22).
- ↑ Ben Brode on Twitter. (2014-11-10).
- ↑ Ben Brode's Stream Notes (17/April/16). (2016-04-17).
