Taunt cards are the most important cards to have in your Hearthstone deck. Without them, the game is practically unplayable! Taunt cards help you tank the damage of your lineup so you can rush in and deal damage to the enemy hero without risking your own.
But it doesn’t just stop at shuffling in a few, the best Hearthstone players know that Taunt cards are only as strong as they are balanced in terms of Mana Cost, Attack and Health. Some Taunt cards also pack a little extra, giving you an edge over the enemy with features like Lifesteal or Spell Damage. Here are the 10 strongest Taunt cards, ranked.
11 Drum Soloist
This five-cost common warrior minion dragon card from the Festival of Legends set is a great starter to the world of enemy taunting! The card gives as much as it takes, dealing and tanking five damage each and has a significantly affordable crafting cost of 40/400.
Drum Soloist is a generous attacker, packing Battlecry, Buff Minion, and Rush in addition to its already pretty useful Taunt mechanic. If you have no other cards on deck, you can deal it to send out a +2/+2 minion and gain Rush, an ability that gives you an edge over other attackers by letting you attack the minute the card is dealt rather than wait a turn.
10 Avian Watcher
This five-cost rare minion card from the One Night in Karazhan set is wisely weighted, dealing three damage and tanking six at a crafting cost of 100/800. This setup allows you to take some damage before going out, roughly two or three hits from low-cost minions, which are commonly dealt out at the first few turns of the game.
The Battlecry ability of Avian Watcher also gives you the element of surprise. If you control a secret in your hand, you gain +1/+1 Health and Attack and earn Taunt. This can make it really handy later on in the game as well to buff your lineup and break consistent attacks on your minions or hero.
9 Beetlemancy
This five-cost rare Druid spell card from the March of the Lich King set is an astounding addition to your deck, giving you the choice between gaining 12 armor on your hero or summoning two 3/3 beetles with Taunt.
Both choices are good in different situations. If you’re still early on in the game, summoning Taunt beetles might be a wiser choice to tank damage taken by your minions and letting you hold out your lineup for one more turn. When played later on in the game, the hefty 12 armor can save your life from an onslaught of attacks that may or may not have already depleted your health and resources.
8 Backstage Bouncer
This four-cost rare shaman-warrior beast card from the Audiopocalypse set is well weighted with four attack and five health, letting you transform a minion into a copy of itself as a Battlecry ability, which is great if you want to buff up a weak, low-cost minion early stages as well as enhance the defense of your lineup with two Taunts instead of one.
Backstage Bouncer is also great mid-game to buff up your lineup and make it last a few more turns than it can on its own.
7 Ancient Of Growth
This seven-cost epic Druid card from the Titans set packs a nice punch, tanking and dealing five damage each as well as giving you the choice between summoning three 2/2 Treants or transforming your existing Treants into 5/5 Ancients with Taunt.
Both choices are great gifts of the Ancient of Growth, although the second choice far outweighs the first if you’re playing Druid and already have a nice Treant lineup armed and ready on deck.
6 Ancient Of War
This seven-cost epic Druid card from the Legacy set is similarly weighted to the Ancient of Growth, tanking and dealing five damage and giving you the choice between gaining +5 Attack or +5 Health and Taunt.
This choice puts you in the crafting seat, making you choose how you want to develop your Ancient of War in line with your need and strategy at different points in the game. For instance, if you already have minions ready for attack, a Health buff might be the wiser choice, whereas if you mean to attack with your Taunt card, then the first option should be your pick.
5 Abomination
This five-cost rare minions card from the Legacy set is an interesting 4/4 Taunt card that deals two damage to all characters, friendly and hostile when destroyed. This Deathrattle ability is a nice reminder and threat to your foe, who will definitely think twice before deciding to eliminate it.
This means that when your enemy decides to finally go for Abomination, they may be at a point where they will have to choose whether their lineup is disposable, and whether or not it’s worth disposing of in exchange for dealing two damage to your lineup.
4 Abyssal Bassist
This seven-cost demon-hunter warrior-demon card from the Audiopocalypse set deals four damage and tanks seven, making it a punishing Taunt card that depletes at least half of the enemy’s stats when hit. It also packs Lifesteal, an ability marked with a broken heart sigil that restores as much Health to your hero as the damage it deals to the enemy.
You may think that Abyssal Bassist is highly-priced for a four-attack card, but it can cost two less for each weapon you have equipped, so be sure to play it when you need to and not when you have to!
3 Annoy-O-Troupe
This nine-cost epic Paladin Mech card from the Festival of Legends set deals three damage and tanks six, with a significantly harder crafting cost of 400 / 1600 and is enhanced with a Divine Shield as well as Taunt, tanking one more hit before taking actual damage from the enemy lineup.
Annoy-O-Troupe also lets you summon three 1/2 Mechs with Taunt and Divine Shield as a Deathrattle ability, which means that when the enemy finally goes for it, it will still not leave you hanging, making it an extremely useful damage card as well as a defense card.
2 Al’Akir The Windlord
This eight-cost legendary Shaman Elemental card from the Core Set 2023 set deals three damage and tanks six, with a flavor text that reads: “He is the weakest of the four Elemental Lords. And the other three don't let him forget it.”
This could not be more misleading. Packing Charge, Divine Shield, and Windfury as well as Taunt, Al’Akir The Windlord hits first, keeps hitting, and cancels damage before finally taking it instead of your heroes and minions, making him a powerful foe to be reckoned with.
1 Arch-Villain Rafaam
This seven-cost Legendary Warlock card from the Rise of Shadows set deals seven damage and tanks eight.
As a Taunt card, Arch-Villain Rafaam more than makes up for its cost with its incredible Battlecry ability to replace all of your hand and deck cards with Legendary minions, making your lineup as unpredictable as ever and giving you a higher chance of winning with the element of surprise, if you know how to deal the hand you’re dealt.