Rush is one of the keywords in Blizzard’s card game Hearthstone. It was first added to the game in The Witchwood expansion, it’s now appearing on multiple cards in each set. Normally, minions that come into play can’t attack on the same turn. Rush lets them do that – immediately after they’re played from hand or summoned, they can attack the opponent’s minions. Unlike Charge, however, minions with Rush can’t attack the opponent’s Hero – they still have to wait a full turn before doing that (but they usually come with better stats than their Charge counterparts).
Rush is an evergreen keyword, a keyword that is not tied to a specific expansion and has been used across multiple sets already. It means that there’s a very high chance that it will appear again in future expansions.
Rush Extra Information
- Like already mentioned, Rush minions can only attack enemy minions when played. Playing Rush minion on an empty board will have no extra effect. That said, any Rush synergies (e.g. Parade Leader) still apply to them.
- Rush minions can still attack opponent’s Hero on the turn they’re summoned when given Charge or forced (e.g. through Mayor Noggenfogger‘s effect).
- Unlike the first “Rush-like” card – Icehowl – Rush minions can attack the opponent’s Hero without any issues the next turn after they’re summoned.
Rush Strategy
- Rush minions are vital part of many deck’s board control. Since they can attack immediately, by playing them you can take over initiative and be proactive instead of dropping minions and relying on your opponent not getting rid of them before you can do anything.
- The main power of Rush minions is the fact that they combine removal with a body. Most of the removal spells only do that – destroy minions, leaving nothing behind. But Rush minions, when trading into something that doesn’t kill them, have an advantage of coming with an extra body that your opponent still has to get rid of. For example, if your 5/5 Rush minions clear your opponent’s 3/5 minion, you end up with a big board swing – not only you removed their minion, but also have a 5/2 now. That’s why, with some exceptions, you should try to clear minions without enough attack to kill your Rush minions – this way you force the opponent to use extra resources.
- Rush minions are great buff targets, including handbuffs. For example – a card like Conditioning (Rank 1) is normally very slow. Not only you have to spend mana on it, but then you need to play a minion AND wait an extra turn to really utilize its effect. But thanks to Rush, you can take advantage of the extra stats immediately. The same goes for regular buffs – it’s always better to buff a target that can attack, and Rush minions can attack immediately.
List of Rush Cards
A full list of Rush cards is so long that copying it here would be pointless. Click here if you want to see it.
Here are some examples of cards with the Rush keyword:
