Top 10 3-Mana 1/4s in Hearthstone - Pi Day Countdown Special

Hello and happy Pi day, everyone! On this very special holiday (that most of the world of the world doesn't celebrate because we write our dates normally), let's take a look at the hearthstone cards that best encapsulate the spirit of good ol' 3.14. The rules for the countdown are simple: The card must collectible, cost 3 Mana, and have 1/4 stats at the time writing. Let's gooo! (yes,that is a 3.14 reference)

3 Uncollectibles, 1 Nerf, and 4 Duds

Before we get into the list proper, there's a few cards we need to talk about. First up, there's 3 cards that are disqualified for being uncollectible. Those are Budding Greenthumb, a Battlegrounds minion (that's currently not in the pool), and Hyperblaster and Worshipper, two treasures used in Duels (soon to be discontinued, R.I.P.). Hyperblaster in particular could help you deal with massive threats from your opponent, and the other two were pretty decent in their game modes.

Next we have EVIL Miscreant, which fit the criteria mentioned above for most of its life. The card started of as a 1/5, but was quickly nerfed to a 1/4 due to it's power level, where it stood for almost 4 years, until it was buffed back up to 5 when Festival of Legends released. If this card were still eligible, it would probably make the number 5 spot, dethroning... well, you'll have to keep reading.

Last, and certainly least, are cards that just didn't make the cut. There are a total of 14 cards in Hearthstone eligible for this list, going by the rule above, so 4 of them are left on the cutting board. Those are, in no particular order: Demolisher, Stoneskin Gargoyle, Flying Machine, and Dalaran Mage. All of them have very underwhelming effects that basically do nothing, and while Flying Machine could see some use due to Magnetic, there's better targets for that.

#10 - Gnomeregan Infantry

Hey, look, a card that's better than Silverback Patriarch. Charge is one of the most powerful keywords out there, so you'd think that putting this on a minion would shot it up in the rankings. Unfortunately, the 1 attack doesn't help the Charge part at all, and the lack of tribes makes this minion hard to buff, even harder than the monkey. Add the fact that the two keywords on it want to do very different things, and you've got a very bad card. The gnomes are gonna need a lot more than you can offer, Gnomeregan Infantry.

#9 - Spectral Trainee

Our most recent entry on the list, this looks like a pretty good card at first. It's a one-sided Wild Pyromancer with double the health for just one more mana, and Mage has had decks that play a ton of cheap spells in a single turn. And yet, I feel like I've never seen this card played, so what gives? Well, it's probably a combination of Mage having access to better board clears and the fact that the "machine-gun" deck hasn't really been a thing since this card was released. Keep up your lessons, Spectral Trainee, you might get there.

#8 - Val'kyr Soulclaimer

The main mechanic Warrior got during Knights of the Frozen Throne, when Val'kyr Soulclaimer was released, was damaging your own minions, and this card fits quite well. Between Animated Berserker, Blood Razor, and Bladestorm (not that one), you had a lot of means of generating 2/2s. Unfortunately, the payoff for the deck wasn't that great, and by the time the archetype got the support needed to be semi-viable, Val'kyr Soulclaimer was just power crept too much. Rest in Peace.

#7 - Acolyte of Pain

Well, well, well, look who managed to sneak onto the list. Acolyte of Pain has been a 1/3 for most of its existence, until it was buffed last year (a few months after EVIL Miscreant... suspicious), and was one of the most played cards in the history of the game. Of course, power creep has left even this buffed version of the card in the dust, sometimes only being able to get you 1 card before being dealt with. Still a decent inclusion if you can damage it, and the only card on the list currently in Standard.

#6 - Lady S'theno

Wow, this card's effect is insane! And Demon Hunter has a lot of cheap spells that can buff it! Surely this card saw a ton of pla-ah, it barely has any attack and DH can't really buff her. Card is still good to clean up some minions that managed to survive your AoEs at 1 or 2 health, but there's better things to do with 3 Mana otherwise. Lady S'theno floats to the middle of the list.

#5 - Speaker Gidra

A great way to get rid of a couple of enemy minions, Speaker Gidra is pretty easy to get online, as all you have to do is play her before a big spell. The best you could hope for at the time of release was an 8/11, which is a beefy minion that can deal with just about anything and sometimes survive. It likely wouldn't make it to your next turn, but if it did, your opponent's life points weren't long for this world. Not the biggest threat either class had access to, but not a bad option.

#4 - Catacomb Guard

This one is a bit underrated in my opinion. On it's own, it's not great, but it's an excellent target for handbuff decks, offering both healing and removal in a single package. It only deals with one minion and is harder to se up, unlike the entry above, but it heals, it ignores Taunt, you don't need to damage it to get rid of the problem minion, and you can run two copies into your deck. The 4 Health (which tends to grow at the same rate as the attack) also makes it sticky, giving you the chance for more damage and more healing on the following turn. Catacomb Guard makes sure he doesn't guard your tomb.

#3 - Self-Sharpening Sword

4 Health on a minions is a decent amount, though quite easy to deal with. For weapons, it's a very high value, with only a small percentage of collectible weapons having more than 4 Durability. And Self-Sharpening Sword makes great use of that high value, getting more Attack with each... uhm, attack. Over the course of 4 turns, you get to deal 10 total base damage, which is a lot at that mana value. The main thing holding it back is the lack of ways to increase Durability in Rogue, but the point is that this weapon is sharp.

#2 - Efficient Octo-Bot

Ah, mana cheat, is there anything more broken than you are? If Acolyte of Pain got on this list after being buffed, this one is here because it was nerfed. Believe it or not, this used to be a 2 Mana card, making it an absolute menace on ladder. The mana increase made the card a lot worse, since delaying it by a turn that early in the game is huge, but this Octo-Bot is still very efficient, and almost the best 3 Mana 1/4. Almost.

Monkey Break!

Ah, this one's a classic. Known in the community as the most power crept card in the game, Silverback Patriarch is a card that just costs too much for what it does. There are 3 cards in the game with the same stat-line, that cost 2 mana and have an additional effect. The card actually some some play, due to Barrel of Monkeys, which actually fits the spirit of Pi Day quite well. 

Silverback Patriarch may not have made the list proper, but, as the original 3 Mana 1/4, we had to acknowledge him somehow. He may have been power crept repeatedly in the game, but never in our hearths.

#1 Bulwark of Azzinoth

As mentioned in the Self-Sharpening Sword section, a weapon benefits from 4 Durability far more than than a minion does from 4 Health, so it's no surprise that a Weapon takes the top spot. Bulwark of Azzinoth is a great survival tool against decks that like to go tall, since it prevents large amounts of damage or forces your opponent to make suboptimal trades. Even against aggro, preventing 4 minions from getting their chip damage in could be a life-saver. The Bulwark was a great survival tool for Warrior that could help you live just long enough to win, so it gets our top spot.

What do you think of our ranking? Any changes you'd make to the list? Let us know in the comments below!