Elusive

"Elusive" is an unofficial term used to refer to minions that cannot be targeted by spells or hero powers.

While no official keyword is used to denote the ability, precisely the same text is found on several cards: Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers.

Notes[edit]

• Elusive minions cannot be targeted by spells or hero powers, from either player
• Elusive minions can be targeted by Battlecries
• Elusive minions can be affected by area of effect and randomly targeted effects

Keyword[edit]

While many consistent abilities such as Taunt, Stealth and Divine Shield are denoted by a specific keyword, the "elusive" ability is not. This is due to the developers' desire to balance the pros and cons of keyword use; while keywords make it easier in cases where they are frequently encountered, when such examples are rare, keywords can actually serve to make understanding cards harder, requiring players to mouse over cards in understand to examine their abilities.^[1] Elusive is particularly tricky because it has more than one effect,^[2] protecting the minion from both spells and hero powers, but not Battlecries or attacks.

Ben Brode has stated that the elusive ability was "right on the razor's edge" regarding whether or not to create a keyword for it.^[2] Yong Woo has also stated that it is possible in the future that a keyword will be added for the "elusive" ability - should there come to be a sufficient number of minions with that behaviour in the game.^[3] The team have considered names including "Shroud", "Untargetable" and "Ethereal".^[2]

For more information on why some abilities have keywords and others don't, see Abilities#Keyword creation.

Strategy[edit]

Elusive is generally considered a valuable ability, which substantially increases the survivability of a minion. As a result, elusive minions are usually mana-inefficient for their stats and other effects.

Elusive prevents the opponent from removing or affecting the minion using spells or hero powers. The opponent is forced to tackle them using combat, or untargeted effects. This can prevent the opponent from being able to counter the minion, either forcing them into disadvantageous trades, or leaving them powerless to stop your attacks. It can also catch them by surprise, rendering otherwise effective strategies ineffective.

Elusive minions are therefore most effective against spell-heavy decks and those which rely on targeted hero power usage (primarily mage). Decks such as Zoo which rely on filling the board with minions and contain few spells, are minimally impacted by elusive minions, and these are generally less than optimal choices against such decks.

While elusive is mostly advantageous to the controlling player, by preventing the player from buffing or otherwise targeting the minion it can end up a hindrance. This is most significant for decks which focus on useful spell buffs, such as Blessing of Kings and Mark of Nature, and those with friendly hero power usage (almost exclusively priest), preventing elusive minions from being granted useful effects, or being healed using Lesser Heal. However, note that Battlecries can still be targeted on the elusive minion.

Cards[edit]

Name	Name / Desc	Rarity	Type	Subtype	Class	Cost	Atk	HP	Description
Faerie Dragon	Faerie Dragon	{2Common	Minion	Dragon	Any	2	3	2	Can't be targeted by Spells or Hero Powers. Adorable. Immune to Magic. Doesn't pee on the rug. The perfect pet!
Can't be targeted by Spells or Hero Powers. Adorable. Immune to Magic. Doesn't pee on the rug. The perfect pet!
Laughing Sister	Laughing Sister	{2Common	Minion	General	Any	3	3	5	Can't be targeted by Spells or Hero Powers.
Can't be targeted by Spells or Hero Powers.
Spectral Knight	Spectral Knight	{2Common	Minion	General	Any	5	4	6	Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. What do Faerie Dragons and Spectral Knights have in common? They both love pasta!
Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. What do Faerie Dragons and Spectral Knights have in common? They both love pasta!
Arcane Nullifier X-21	Arcane Nullifier X-21	{3Rare	Minion	Mech	Any	4	2	5	Taunt Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. There was some hard talk between gnome magi and engineers about inventing this mech.
Taunt Can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. There was some hard talk between gnome magi and engineers about inventing this mech.
Wee Spellstopper	Wee Spellstopper	{4Epic	Minion	General	Mage	4	2	5	Adjacent minions can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. Bane of spellcasters and spelling bees everywhere.
Adjacent minions can't be targeted by spells or Hero Powers. Bane of spellcasters and spelling bees everywhere.
Showing all 5 cards

References[edit]

1. ↑ ChanManV (2014-04-24). Value Town #27 w/ ChanManV, Trump, Gnimsh, and Ben Brode Pt. 1.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Blizzard Hearthstone Developer AMA - Ben Brode, Yong Woo and Christina Sims!. (2014-12-15).
3. ↑ GamesCom Interview: Hearthstone Observer Mode Coming Soon. (2014-08-25).

	Cards
By type	Minion cards Spell cards Weapon cards
By class	Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior
By minion type	Beast Demon Dragon Mech Murloc Pirate Totem General
By ability	Battlecry Charge Choose One Clumsy Combo Copy Deal damage Deathrattle Destroy Discard Divine Shield Draw cards Elusive Enrage Equip Freeze Generate Immune Overload Put into battlefield Put into hand Restore Health Return Secret Silence Stealth Spell Damage Shuffle into deck Summon Taunt Take control Transform Windfury
By effect type	Area of effect Ongoing effect Positional effect Random effect Triggered effect
By card set	Basic Classic Goblins vs Gnomes Naxxramas Reward Promo
By rarity	Free Common Rare Epic Legendary