What is Forge in Hearthstone?

Hearthstone has many card effects that are common enough that they get their own keyword - a word or two that immediately tells you how the card works. Let's take a look at the Forge keyword.

Drag this to your deck to spend (2) Mana for an upgrade.

Forge is a mechanic in which you drag a card with Forge from your hand to your deck to spend 2 mana and give the card an upgrade as written on the text. Forge cards have an anvil banner on them while not forged as an extra visual indicator that the card can be Forged. When a card is Forged, it loses this banner. Cards with Forge were added in Titans.

Keywords That Work Great With Forge

There aren't any keywords that work directly with Forge since Forge occurs while the card is in your hand which is a trait shared by few other keywords in the game and is only interacted with under specific circumstances.

However, any keywords that are control-oriented will work with Forge since Forge requires you to spend mana without doing anything to get the best out of cards with the ability. Keeping yourself healthy with things like Taunt and Lifesteal will be key to lasting long enough to play these keywords.

Playing Against Forge in Hearthstone

When your opponent activates Forge, you'll see your opponent upgrade the card. If they don't play the card on the same turn, you'll be aware of it in their hand and thus, will have the knowledge to play around the card as best as you can. If you know that your opponent is playing Forge cards in their deck, you may be able to force them into a situation where they won't be able to make good use of the Forge card on the same turn that it's upgraded.

Example Forge Cards in Hearthstone

Embrace of Nature is a Druid spell draws a Choose card. If played in base form, it simply just draw the card as normal. If upgraded with Forge, it will combine both effects. A deck that runs this can be designed in a way to only draw Choose One cards with huge effects (therefore getting high value out of the 2 mana Forge cost).

Cyclopian Crusher is a 3 mana 3/3 minion with Rush that gains +3/+2 when Forged. Thus, it can be thought of as either a 3 mana 3/3 with Rush or a 5 mana 6/5 with Rush. The upside of the latter is that you can pay the 5 mana Cost in two payments instead of one by Forging it when you have nothing better to spend your remaining mana on that turn anyway.