Last week Blizzard added the ability to recruit friends to play Hearthstone, which I immediately jumped on.

So far I’ve managed to convince three friends to join up and I’m hoping to lure invite a few more this week. Having explained to my friends that they could buy card packs, I then had to explain the ins and outs of crafting to them.

Gold might buy you packs but crafting lets you cut out the random nature of opening packs and craft the cards you really want.

The payoff with this is that dust is really hard to come by and can only be earned by destroying cards you don’t want or need. The rarer the card, the more dust they cost to craft and Legendary cards cost the most at 1 600 dust.

So, rather than waste your hard earned dust on Millhouse Manastorm, I’ve compiled a guide to help you decide which of these expensive minions you should craft.

Sylvanas Windrunner

This 6 mana 5/5 card sounds like garbage but Sylvanas’ deathrattle makes including her in a deck a no-brainer. The ability to “Take control of a random enemy minion” on the back of the card’s removal by death makes this a nasty presence to deal with.

Yes, the card can be silenced or entombed by a Priest but the sound of a Sylvanas entering the board is guaranteed to spike your opponent’s plans immediately.

Ragnaros, the Firelord

This is a nasty, dirty card that everybody should craft as soon as they have 1 600 dust. While is inability to attack leaves him stuck in the mud, Rag does deal his attack damage to a random enemy at the end of his turn. This means that his survivability is only determined by the enemy attacking him and as long as Rag is on the board you will deal eight damage to a minion, including the hero himself.
Also, it really never gets old hearing Rag say, “DIE INSECT!”

Ysera

The first of the dragons to enter our list is Ysera. At the end of every turn Ysera puts a random card in your hand. This ranges from Emerald Drake (4-mana 7/6), Laughing Sister (3-mana 3/5 Can’t be targeted by spells ro hero powers), Nightmare (0-mana spell: Give a minion +5/+5. At the start of your next turn, destroy it) and Ysera Awakens (2-mana spell, Deal 5 damage to all characters except Ysera).

The 4/12 body is also something that an opponent has to deal immediately.

Alexstrasza

One turn kill mage anybody? The Life-Binder immediately sets a hero’s health to 15 which can be great for you if you’re down to one HP or bad news for a Warlock that just played Reno Jackson.

Alexstrasza is quite a nasty card to have and we won’t see it fall out of rotation ever because its part of the Classic set.

Tirion Fordring

“If you haven’t heard the Tirion Fordring theme song, it’s because it doesn’t exist” reads the flavour text of this “evil card”. This is our first class-specific card and it gets a nod because flopping this down on a board has led to numerous concedes.

Nevermind the fact that the card has Divine Shield and Taunt, on his death, Tirion gives you his 5/3 Ashbringer. The potential exists then for Tirion to remove 2 enemies plus three more once Ashbringer is in your Paladin’s hands. Pretty good value for 8-mana.

Archmage Antonidas

Speaking of class specific cards, let’s talk about the Archmage. At 7-mana for a 5/7 card Archmage is better than Yogg-Saron and his ability to give you a Fireball spell for every spell you cast makes him particularly effective.

Just off the top of my head if you play a Sorcerer’s Apprentice and then play two Arcane Missiles and two Mirror Images you have four fireballs. As I said, effective.

Cairne Bloodhoof

This 6-mana, 4/5 is actually a 6-mana, 8/10 card split across two bodies. The card has seen a rise in popularity since the release of N’zoth, the Corruptor in Whispers of the Old Gods probably thanks to its deathrattle effect.

It isn’t the best 6 drop-out there but the dual-body part of the card means it can survive a brawl and makes for a bit of a pants-wetter when your N’zoth is played.

Grommash Hellscream

At first glance the 8-mana 4/9 card that is Grommash Hellscream seems like awful value, until you see that the card has the effect: Enrage: +6 Attack. Play a Whirlwind after you’ve dropped Grommash and you have a 10/8 minion that your opponent has to deal with.

Well, that is to say they’ll have to deal with it after he’s slammed 10 damage in their direction.

Justicar Trueheart

Replace your starting Hero Power with a better one. Do I need to say more? Four armour for a Warrior, four health for a Priest and a choice of totems for the Shaman.

Truthfully Justicar is a bit weak in the stats department falling prey to pretty much any 3-mana card but your opponent will have a hard time keeping up with you and your new hero power.

Bloodmage Thalnos

You’ll probably only ever start realising the real value of Thalnos once you start ploughing a ton time into Hearthstone. This card is a no-brainer for mage decks. The value of 1 spell damage and card draw is immense.

There is very little in the way of 2-mana cards that can give you that much value, at least not one I can name instantly.

N’Zoth, the Corruptor

I could list all the Old Gods here but I could only pick one. The sheer weight N’Zoth throws on to the board is probably the best thing about this card. At turn 10 you will have likely played all the Deathrattle minions you wanted to get out and you can use your N’Zoth to repopulate the board, in one turn.

Be wary though, put too many deathrattle cards in your hand and your board gets flooded Loot Hoarders and Leper Gnomes.

Brann Bronzebeard

Elise Starseeker’s Golden Monkey is cool and Finley’s new hero power can turn games but Brann, Brann is the best explorer of the lot. The card’s effect causes all Battlecry effects to trigger twice which could be the difference between a win and a loss.

The card’s low cost also means that you have the chance to play other cards, like Azure Drake, Mukla, Tyrant of the Vale and that nasty Dr. Boom, you know, if you’re lucky enough to Discover him in Standard.

[UPDATE 19/07: You will have to complete the second tier of the League of Explorers adventure to unlock Brann, after which the card can be crafted though why you would craft a legendary you already have is beyond me.]

Honourable mentions

Reno Jackson
Ragnaros, Lightlord
The Mistcaller
Hallazeal the Ascended
Leeroy Jenkins
Fandral Staghelm
Edwin VanCleef
Sir Finley Mrrgglton

What legendaries did I miss that you think newbies should be crafting? Pop your thoughts below or head over to twitter and tell us why you think I smell like a Leper Gnome.