Can someone give me a hand? The character of Harth Stonebrew, the owner of the Tavern where Hearthstone is set, has finally made his way into the game after 10 years, and with a very unique effect to boot. When you play it, you get one of 13 hands from Hearthstone's iconic past, 1 for each class. The order of the cards seems to be the same, and that's how we'll present them, from left to right. In this guide, we're gonna take a look at what these hands are and how best to play them. Let's get into it!

Table of Contents

Death Knight - New Kid on the Block

If you've read the intro paragraph, you'd know that there aren't 13 classes in Hearthstone. Well, that number comes from the fact that Death Knight gets 3 hand, one for each Rune. Now, Arthas and his posse were only added to the game some time ago, so they haven't had time to develop super iconic hands, so their selection is kinda generic compared to what's to come.

Blood - Remnants of Life

This hand is focused on board control and staying alive by gaining health until the effect of Alexandros kills your enemy.

Frost - Mark of the Bitter

A hand that focuses on freezing the board and dealing a ton of damage. Also, there's a random School Teacher.

Unholy - Symbol of Death

A hand that's all about swarming he board with undead and using the corpses they generate.

Demon Hunter - Strong First Impression

Being the first class to be added to the game since its inception, Demon Hunter needed to be strong in order for people to play it. Unfortunately, Blizzard may have overcorrected. This hand is from the very first expansion of the class, and while the cards have been heavily nerfed since then, it's still a very aggressive hand that can close out games in a few turns. And if that fails, Skull of Gul'dan will get you some value. The one thing weird about the hand is the position of Outcast cards, in the middle of your hand. At least you can go into Altruis into Twin Slice + Second Slice for an improvised [Hearthstone Card (Consecrate) Not Found].

Druid - Nice Deck You Have There

This is a classic and very annoying combo. The idea is that you play King Togwaggle to take your opponent's, break your equipped Twig by attacking, then play Azalina to make sure your opponent can't play the King's Ransom without you being able to play it back. Everything else is there to help you survive. If you're a Rogue and don't play Malfurion, you can actually do the combo on the third turn after playing Harth.

Hunter - This Hand is Secret

Talk about a nutty hand! The turn after playing Harth, your board will have 5 pretty strong secrets, a 3/4 and either 4 3/3s or a 2-damage AoE that gives you a strong, albeit slow, Hero Power. Mysterious Challenger has nothing on this. Just make sure you play Cloaked Huntress before any of the Secrets, and the Lesser Emerald Spellstone after at least two of them.

Mage - I'm Hot, Then I'm Cold, I'm AHA, Then I'm NO!

The Mage hand isa variation of Freeze Mage, which would stall the game by freezing the enemy board, then play Alexstrasza to reduce the enemy's health down to 15, and on the following chuck Fireballs, Frostbolts and Ice Lances at them for lethal. The hand you're given here lets clear the enemy board with Frost Nova and Doomsayer, while Ice Block will let you survive for a while longer as Archmage Antonidas gives you a bunch more  to hit your opponent in the face with.

Paladin - And They Say Reading Doesn't Hurt

Libram Paladin took a while to take off, but it eventually became a very good deck. The idea is that you play Truthseeker and Attendant in order to reduce the cost of all the Librams, then play Liadrin to get all copies of Wisdom and Hope that you played throughout the game back to hand. The problem is that took pretty much the entire game, where you could get a dozen or so Wisdoms on minions and get them all back later. The combo also relied on Lynessa to cast those Librams on herself and Pen Flinger to keep hitting the opponent before it got nerfed to only targeting minions. As is, this combo is still decent, but it's slow and nowhere near as strong as the original, and might be the weakest hand from Harth.

Priest - Big Bad Eldrich Dragon

Galakrond was a big deal during the last big Hearthstone Anniversary (good Yogg, it's been almost 10 years), and it looks like Priest was chosen to represent that archetype as a whole. The idea is that you play your cards that Invoke Galakrond, until he's fully upgraded (or until you feel it's time to play him), overwhelming your opponent with the value generated. Just make sure you play Kronx after the big dragon, since he doesn't do anything on his own. Soul Mirror is there as a way keep the board in check.

Rogue - Here, Have Another Card

Ah, yes, mill, the strategy where you force your opponent to draw cards until they die. Not that popular in Hearthstone, since running out of cards isn't the end of the game, but it has popped up from time to time, with Mill Rogue being one example. The gameplan is pretty simple: Play Brann, play Coldlight, return it to your hand or shuffle it into your deck, play it again until your opponent dies to fatigue. Or you do, since both players draw at the same time.

Shaman - My Jaws That Bite

Yep, it's Shudderwock Shaman! It's the Infinite combo, too, so you can be sure your opponent tears their hair out. Basically, play every Battlecry you have before the Wock himself, and then keep doing it until your opponent is dead. The biggest downside to this is having your own Battlecries that are anti-synergistic with this game plan. And no, you can't get another hand from this, since Harth is once per game.

Warlock - Ironically, No Hand of Gul'dan Here

Warlock's plan here is simple, but slow. Play the Skull, have it summon the demons in your hand, copy them with Cube and Manipulator, and play Gul'daniel to swarm your opponent with big stuff. Defile and Dark Pact are here to help you survive, and you don't want to play the Doomguard ever, let the Skull summon it.

Warrior - Everyone! Get In Here!

Finally, we have one of the most broken combos of all time. Basically, after you play Thaurissan, your cards will be cheap enough to play Warsong, Frothing, Patron, Inner Rage and Whirlwind in one turn, in that order, assuming you have 9 mana. Ideally, you'd also use your second swing of Death's Bite for a free Whirlwind for even more damage. After all that, you can OTK your opponent.

What do you think of these hands? Which one is your favourite, and which one do you think is the most iconic? Let us know in the comments below!