While the Book of Mercenaries started to tell its story, Team 5 still has a couple of origin characters to cover with the four remaining Book of Heroes solo-player campaigns. This week, Thrall’s story has won the hearts of lore nerds and casual players alike, showcasing one of the most epic character arcs in the Azeroth’s history.
In this extensive gameplay guide, we will navigate you through the eight different encounters of “Book of Heroes: Thrall”!
Aedalas Blackmoore
In the first fight of Thrall’s Book of Heroes, the young orc has to endure against his human master and lord of Durnholde Keep, Aedalas Blackmoore.In this encounter, players have to defeat three different mini-bosses.
- Captured Crokolisk: At the end of each turn, the first mini-boss gains +1 Attack. This effect puts you on a clock – so try and defeat the beast as quickly as possible. To even out the odds, Blackmoore heals his minions and continuously summons 3/2 and 2/1 soldiers.
- Mountain Cat: The second mini-boss encounter consists of two 2/8 Mountain Cat minions. They feature no special effects, so just try to keep your board clear to advance to the last stage.
- Ogre Brute: The last mini-boss is an average ogre, which means that it misses its targeted attacks 50% of the time. It’s a 4/15, so try and have a good board ready for it once you’ve defeated the second encounter.
Both Conditioning and Athletic Studies work wonders against Aedalas. Early minions combined with hand buffs should help you enough against the first two bosses, and a bit of board clear combined with Stonemaul Anchorman and Outrider’s Axe should net you a win on your first try.
Drek’Thar
After escaping the orc internment camp, Thrall reconnects with his people and learns the ways of a Shaman thanks to Drek’Thar, leader of the Frostwolf clan.
Just like in Thrall’s first encounter, the novice shaman needs to advance against several mini-bosses to defeat his master.
- Spirit of Earth: Not a very special elemental mini-boss. It even heals you for 15 when you defeat it!
- Spirit of Air: Yet again, this elemental heals for 15 when slain.
- Spirit of Fire: No heals this time! Spirit of Fire deals 1 damage to all enemy minions at the end of Drek’s turn. Aside from that, it’s immune to Fire spells.
- Spirit of Water: Heals itself for 1 after the end of its turn, and is immune to Frost spells
- Spirit of the Wilds: Buffs another for +1/+1, and is immune to Nature spells.
Long story short: Arid Stormer is a game-changer in this fight. It often trades 3 or even 4 for 1 and helps with early threats like Dust Devil.
Watch out for Drek’Thars removal options – based on the current active elemental! Care for Avalanche and position minions accordingly, and always keep Lava Burst in mind. Don’t rush this fight because your deck offers tons of healing as well as heavy board removal through Volcano or Earthquake. Last but not least, use Snowfury Giant wisely, as it is your only real mid- to late-game minion.
Mysterious Stranger aka Orgrim Doomhammer
In an attempt to ally with Grommash Hellscream, another mysterious orc tries to intervene …
The fight against Orgrim Doomhammer plays out as a pretty average Shaman versus Warrior match. Surging Tempest is your early-game powerhouse against all the enrage-based Warrior options. Orgrim’s only real threat is – who could’ve guessed it – Doomhammer. There’s really no way to play around it, so try your best to abuse the mid-game lead gained by him investing 4 mana for it.
Mannoroth
From there on, Thrall tried to free the orcs not only from their own chains but also from the demonic corruption they carried in their blood.
Mannoroth in this encounter has 50 health, so playing around the ability to free Grommash Hellscream from his corruption is vital. Cards like Fire Spirit Wolf are completely nuts early-game, and Spirit of the Frog will definitely help with card draw in the long run. Use Thrall’s 4-mana hero power only when you’re ahead on board; Mannoroth’s deck features lots of 5-health minions, and we don’t want to trade against those with Orgrim’s mighty weapon.
It’s also important to remember that Mannoroth’s hero power reduces minion health by 2 – and that includes reduction below 0, so don’t get caught off-guard by its board-clearing capabilities. Play minions on curve, keep your low-damage spells to activate Garrosh, and you’re good to go!
Archimonde
Mannoroth has been slain, and Thrall, together with humans and night elves, seeks to defeat Archimonde, right hand of Sargeras, leader of the Burning Legion and their demonic invasion.
As you might have already imagined, Archimonde’s deck is full of demons, and it almost feels like you’re playing against Zoolock – but don’t be scared of the otherworldly eredar! Thus, early board presence is vital! Jaina will help you develop your board through smaller minions and Call of the Warchief, the mode-exclusive spell in Thrall’s deck for this encounter.
Thrall’s hero power is also discounted, and 3 mana for Doomhammer without the Overload drawback is pure insanity.
Oh, one last thing: Archimonde’s hero power on turn 6 can cause lots of problems. As already said, team up with Jaina and friends to dry out Archimonde’s demon army!
Deathwing
The attack of the Burning Legion was thwarted for now – but the next global threat awaits. Deathwing, the crazed leader of the black dragonflight, made a cataclysmic return to the world and terrorizes the citizens of Azeroth.
In a way, this fight against Deathwing is a summary of WoW’s famous Dragonsoul raid. During the encounter, the four Dragon Aspects will assist you.
- Alexstrasza will revive you three times during the fight – but only if she’s not dormant.
- Nozdormu sets all players to 10 mana. While it’s not a great play for the first time, the fact that he returns after one turn makes it a great play on curve.
- Kalecgos does what he does best – discovering great spells for 0 mana.
- Ysera adds a Dream card to your hand every turn.
In addition, the following mini-bosses and thresholds are present:
- Ultraxion as the first boss is basically no match – just burn it down.
- Warmaster Blackthorn is just the same – he’s the last mini-boss before you face Deathwing himself.
- Once Deathwing reaches 100 Health, Deathwing goes completely mad and changes his hero power.Not only does it destroy the left-most minion now – it destroy a card in your hand as well!
- Once Deathwing reaches 50 Health, his last phase is activated, and his hero power additionally burns a card off your draw pile – preposterous!
Your general game plan in this encounter is crystal-clear: Build up a big, BIG board. Thrall’s hero power rewards big minion plays, and windfury’d dragon aspects are just a cool thing in general! Big Shaman spells like Eye of the Storm also help building up an unstoppable army, and you should focus on big spell discovery as well because Nozdormu provides insane amounts of mana early in the game. This way, Deathwing’s hero power can’t pick up too much value and you can basically just kill him within one or two turns. Again, early game cards are basically irrelevant – that is why you should focus your mulligan efforts on big mana spells or discover cards like the single-player exclusive Wild Spirit Wolf.
Jaina Proudmoore
The world has been cleansed off Deathwing, and Thrall retires as Warchief to focus on his work as a Shaman. In the meantime, Garrosh Hellscream has commited several war crimes, and suddenly Jaina turns against her old friend Thrall.
Jaina knows how to put up a good fight, and we know how hard the Shaman/Mage matchup can really become. Her hero power is a true board-clear monster, and those pesky Kirin Tor Elementals can turn even the cheapest spells into deadly burners.
Try to throw everything into the fight as early as possible. Your late-game featuring Elemental synergy isn’t too shabby, and removal like Earthquake together with healing through spells like Healing Rain will definitely keep you in the game to build up a big elemental board.
In fact, forcing Jaina into fatigue might be a reliable strategy on average. The only thing that’s going to be a problem is Jaina’s alternating hero power. Once reaching 40 Health, Focusing Iris keeps building up Jaina’s Water Elemental army, so try and burn through her deck before it snowballs out of control.
Garrosh Hellscream
Over time, Jaina’s wounds have healed – and together they confront the crazed Warchief Garrosh Hellscream.
Similar to his encounter in the Siege of Orgrimmar raid, Garrosh’s corruption rises over time. During the first few turns, he’ll be able to summon his trusty weapon Gorehowl – but once the Heart of Y’Shaarj fully consumes him, he’s able to put a minion from his deck into his hand and play it for 0 mana next turn!
It is yet again Doomhammer, Thrall’s hero power, that plays a key role in winning this very last encounter. Its ability to give all minions Windfury as a deathrattle effect makes it a perfect addition to your elemental-heavy deck.
Don’t hesitate to mulligan for early minions like Frostwolf Grunt and Diligent Notetaker. Copying early spells like Feral Spirit is great for absorbing Gorehowl hits early. Unlike the other encounters, you most likely won’t need too much healing or board-clear during this last fight because, to be honest, Garrosh’s minion pool is quite underwhelming. Keep lining up your elementals, and the current chapter of Book of Heroes should be yours to complete!
