User:Taohinton/Sandbox

Mana is the resource used in Hearthstone to play cards and use Hero Powers, each of which has a mana cost that must be paid to use it. The supply of mana is represented by Mana Crystals, displayed at the bottom right of the screen. This supply automatically increases each turn, although certain cards can also affect it. Mana is the only resource used in Hearthstone, and is the prime limiting factor on the play of cards.

A player's mana is displayed with two numbers: the first is the number ofavailable mana (also referred to as current mana or simply mana); the second is the number of Mana Crystals (sometimes referred to as maximum mana). On the right of these numbers Mana Crystals are displayed with their current status (filled / empty / overloaded / pending overloaded).

A player with 8 Mana Crystals, 0 available mana, 1 mana overloaded this turn, and 2 mana pending overloaded for next turn.

Acquiring mana

Mana is contained in Mana Crystals, and the amount of mana available to a player at any time is determined by the number of their filled Mana Crystals.

Each player begins a game with no Mana Crystals. At the beginning of each turn (including the first turn) the current player gains a new Mana Crystal, up to a maximum of 10, and all their Mana Crystals are refilled (with the exception of those locked due to Overload), allowing the player to expend the mana from them once again.

Certain effects (for a list see Related cards below) grant extra Mana Crystals, either for one turn or permanently, that can be empty or (if not stated otherwise) filled. Although these effects cannot increase either the available mana or the number of Mana Crystals beyond the maximum of 10, cards such as Innervate that grant filled Mana Crystals can be played after some mana is expended to refill existing, empty Mana Crystals, thus allowing a total expenditure of more than 10 mana in the turn. Visually, temporary Mana Crystals are added to the right of your permanent Mana Crystals (regardless if they are filled or empty); if there is not enough room, they will be displayed as refilling existing, empty Mana Crystals; if there is not enough room nor enough empty Mana Crystals, the mana exceeding the maximum of 10 will be wasted.

Spending mana

Mana is usually spent to play cards and use Hero Powers: thus available mana goes up and down over the course of the game as it is spent and refilled (while maximum mana generally only goes up).

Each card and Hero Power has a specific mana cost, displayed as a number inside a blue crystal in the upper left corner of each card and at the top of each Hero Power, which reflects the amount of mana that must be expended in order to play that card or use that Hero Power. Certain effects can decrease (or increase) mana costs. For a list of such effects and how they interact with each other, see Mana cost.

Cards can be played and Hero Powers can be used only if their final mana cost can be met, and the mana cost must be paid before any card effects are taken into account, so spells like Lava Shock or Nourish cannot be cast if the player has less than the stated mana cost, even if the card itself would free up enough mana. When you spend mana to play cards or use Hero Powers, that number of Mana Crystals become empty (starting from temporary ones, which disappear) and your available mana is reduced accordingly.

Cards with Overload allow players to spread a card's true cost over two turns, but there is no restriction based on whether Overload costs can be met: for example, a player can play two Dust Devils on turn two for a total Overload of four despite having only three Mana Crystals on the next turn; moreover, this mana deficit is not carried over to subsequent turns, thereby allowing the player to avoid paying that part of the Overload cost at all.

Mana cannot be "banked" for the next turn: mana left unspent by the end of the turn will be wasted, since the next turn the player will still only have mana available according to the normal progression of Mana Crystals (e.g. from 3/3 mana to 4/4 mana, or from 10/10 to 10/10 again). In fact, with Overload it is even possible to have less mana available at the start of a turn than at the end of the previous turn, such as by playing two Forked Lightnings on turn 3, leaving one Mana Crystal full, and then seeing that Mana Crystal locked the next turn along with all the others.

Losing access to mana

Some types of effects can interfere with players' mana supplies. They are all generated by their own cards - it is impossible to disrupt the opponent's access to mana.

Destroying Mana Crystals

Some cards (Felguard, Darnassus Aspirant) permanently destroy Mana Crystals themselves. These effects destroy empty Mana Crystals first (in which case the amount of mana available on the current turn is not reduced, only on subsequent turns), but if there are no empty Mana Crystals, will destroy filled Mana Crystals instead (thus reducing the mana available for the current turn too).

A player can never have less than 0 Mana Crystals: thus, in the unlikely situation where there is no Mana Crystal at all (e.g., it is possible for players to repeatedly play Felguard to destroy all of their Mana Crystals), nothing happens.

Since Mana Crystal gains continue normally each turn afterward, and the maximum of 10 mana is not affected, the net effect of destroying a Mana Crystal is that the player will reach 10 Mana Crystals one turn later than normal, and will have one less mana each turn up to that point (or, if the player was already at 10 Mana Crystals, they will lose a Mana Crystal but simply regain it at the beginning of their next turn).

Overload

Main article: Overload

Overload causes the stated number of Mana Crystals to be locked on the player's next turn, preventing them from being refilled. This does not prevent the regular gain of a new Mana Crystal (although it may be locked), nor does it interfere with the refilling of non-Overloaded Mana Crystals. Current Overload will disappear on the following turn (even if it was greater than available Mana Crystals), when it will be substituted by previous turn's pending Overload.

You can Overload more mana than you will have the next turn: this situation is very unlikely, since most Overload costs are at most one greater than the card's own mana cost, but can still be achieved for example by playing Elemental Destruction on turn 3. In this scenario, your "actual" available mana is negative, although the game interface simply displays your available mana as 0 and in fact gives no sign at all that excess Overload remains: even if not displayed, the excess will still be registered, and will counter mana generation through effects such as The Coin.

For example, if the player plays two Dust Devils on turn 2, the result will be an Overload of 4 mana on turn 3: only 3 Overload will show in the interface (since the player has only 3 Mana Crystals), but if The Coin is used, the player will still have 0 mana, and will be unable to play any 1 mana cards.; once the Overload has been matched, any further mana generated will be usable by the player, and will be reflected in the mana counter.

No amount of Overload will prevent the player from playing 0 mana cards: since these cards cost no mana, the player's current mana total is irrelevant.

Proportional effects

Proportional effects consume all the player's remaining mana as part of the card's effect and have their effects increased in proportion. Proportional effect cards can be played even when there is no mana left to consume.

Strategy

The limited but slowly-increasing supply of mana serves to delay and add pace to the game, preventing players from simply playing their most powerful cards on round one. It also crafts the game into distinct phases, with higher-value cards only becoming playable in later rounds.

As one of the key limiting resources in the game, effective mana management is essential for achieving victory in Hearthstone. While generally it is ideal to make use of all available mana each turn to maintain tempo, in practice it is sometimes wiser to hold back cards until the right time, especially if planning a combo. While this may lead to mana being 'wasted', taking a more cautious approach to card playing can win games. Hero powers, while intentionally mana-inefficient, may be helpful for making use of mana every turn without consuming cards.

The mana cost of a card determines which round it will become available to play, as well as which cards it can be used in combination with. The mana curve of a deck describes how many cards are present at each mana cost, and is an important factor determining options available to a player based on the amount of mana available on each turn. Expert players can also use this knowledge to predict which cards may be played on certain rounds, such as Mind Control generally only becoming playable from round 10 onwards, or a Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo only being available once the druid has 9 mana.

On curve

Good early game minions are typically most powerful when played on the earliest turn possible for their mana cost - or even a turn earlier using The Coin. Playing e.g. a 3 mana minion on turn 3 is known as playing it "on curve". Playing on curve each round typically produces a very strong presence on the board, and is a key strategy for many aggro and tempo decks.

This relates to the larger early game ideal of using all available mana each turn, maximising the player's output. However, it is not always possible to find desirable options that precisely fit the player's mana pool each turn, especially in decks including many higher cost cards. Hero Powers can be used to spend any spare mana, but typically provide a lower-value alternative to a card of the same cost. Decks which revolve around early game board domination usually falter if they are unable to play their minions on curve, or at least spend all of their mana each turn.

Many warlock Demon minions come with drawbacks that serve as a tradeoff for their lower mana cost, such as Succubus or Flame Imp. This makes them especially effective when played on curve, since they can allow the player to put powerful minions on the board earlier than would normally be possible. However, when played in the late game the mana cost is usually of little significance, meaning these cards' drawbacks can make them more trouble than they're worth. As such these cards often best fit aggressive deck, with an emphasis on playing minions on curve for the first few turns of the game.

Related cards

The following sections do not list cards related to the Overload ability, or cards that modify mana costs rather than Mana Crystals themselves. See the Overload and Mana cost pages for those listings.

Mana Crystals-related cards

Below is a list of cards which directly affect a player's Mana Crystals - those of the player who plays the card, or their opponent. These effects are most commonly found in druid cards.

Proportional effects

Proportional effects consume all the player's remaining mana as part of the card's effect and have their effects increased in proportion. Proportional effect cards can be played even there is no mana left to consume.

Trivia

• Unlike in many other games, including World of Warcraft, in Hearthstone mana is apparently not an arcane or purely magical power, and can be wielded by heroes of all classes. Notably, warriors, rogues and hunters normally use resources other than mana.

See also

• Mana curve