Hearthstone's card backs are a wonderful bit of joy and customization available to players. Whether you have a default favourite, YOLO up a randomize, or try to match your card back to your deck, there are well over a hundred of them in the game at this point and some are clearly ahead of the game when it comes to style.
We decided to poll our staff to determine which card backs we thought were the best. If you don't agree with us, you're clearly wrong and we'd love to hear your comments including your own top 10 down below! As always, you can visit our Hearthstone Card Back Gallery to see all the card backs in all their glory.
#10 - Exodar
Lolspaceshipsandgoats. This card back which was originally available as the ranked play reward for September 2015 should surprise almost no one that it would make a top card backs list. It perfectly captures the spirit of the Tempest Keep dimensional ship that the Draenei crashed into Azeroth's Kalimdor and that color scheme is mighty sexy. It isn't too flashy with the animations, which is quite different than if you were to visit the Exodar in World of Warcraft, but honestly, it doesn't really need it.
#9 - Explorer's Map
Just a couple of months after we got the Exodar card back, we went exploring alongside the League of Explorers and that month's November card back served as a token of our adventures. Every world explorer needs a map which the card back comes with and the sneaky snakes which adorn the border provide us with a warning that we were likely to get in lots of trouble - and we did!
#8 - Winter Veil Wreath
This wonderful wintery card back might take the cake, or yule log, for the fanciest animation on the card back. The sparkling lights are sure to light up some holiday cheer no matter which season you equip this good boy in. The theme is so on point it is hard to find something wrong with this card back, which is probably why we're bringing it up for a top 10 list.
Personally, I wish this was up higher on the list because of how unique it is. A lot of the Hearthstone card backs are very symmetrical in design, but the Winter Veil Wreath has such a larger area that forgoes symmetry in favor of flavor. Snowglobes, lights, and a beautiful bow. 11/10. What also makes this card back great is how often it has come back over the years which is nice because it means everyone has the chance to spread some holiday cheer.
#7 - Hallow's End
Trick-or-treat! October 2014 was during Hearthstone's first year of release and ranked gameplay. It was the 7th card back we were able to obtain by hitting up the ranked ladder and unlike some of the other older card backs, this one really holds up! The deep purples which surround the beautiful pumpkin compliment the design so well; There's just something so good about the card backs that feature the color purple... We're screaming Halloween perfectly with this attached to our decks which is great if you want to spook your opponents year-round.
Bonus points because this card back finally came back to availability last year which means more people have been able to have fun with it.
#6 - Azeroth is Burning
The Horde and Alliance have been fighting each other forever and this card back really highlights both sides well. The war in Warcraft is well represented when we look at the sides fighting it out at the side of our board. The lack of an Azerite focus, one of World of Warcraft's Battle for Azeroth infamous systems is a tad concerning but the lack thereof is a welcome sight for everyone who played that expansion because it won't serve as a reminder or the vast problems that were present.
The only unfortunate downside to this card back is it requires a purchase of a game not everyone is willing to play - World of Warcraft. Although deals can sometimes be had, if you don't play other Blizzard titles, paying $30 or more (on sale) for a card back is a steep price, especially when you have to represent both factions and everyone knows the only faction worth representing is the Horde. LOK'TAR OGAR!
#5 - Lightforged
Wait a second, we've already given the Draenei a spotlight! What is this doing here? For those not in the know, the Lightforged are a group of Draenei that were introduced in World of Warcraft's Legion expansion. In gameplay, they are available to the Alliance faction as a playable race through the "allied races" mechanic. Lead by Xe'ra and Turalyon, they spent their time battling the Burning Legion which culminated in the defeat and imprisonment of The Dark Titan, Sargeras.
In Hearthstone, the Lightforged are a big part of the "Pure" Paladin archetype which gives you special effects when your decks contain no neutral cards. All the artwork for the Lightforged cards correctly showcases the spacegoats with their bright yellow eyes, signifying their connections with the light.
For some reason though, Uther is also a member of the Lightforged, though Hearthstone certainly isn't exactly known for being canon when it comes to Warcraft lore, so let's forget that and have some fun.
The card back perfectly represents Paladins and their Pure archetype but it also just looks... perfect. Deep architecture adorns the frame, creating a well for the beautiful center which has some resemblance to the Naaru. It is without a doubt one of the coolest card backs that Blizzard has put out there and we'd love to see more races or archetypes get the same treatment because pairing a card back with your deck is such a great feeling.
#4 - Faerie Tail
Heck yes! The Faerie Tail card back is well-deserving of this spot not only because its design is flawless, but because of the journey that it took to get here. Hearthstone's Luke Mancini designed this card back from his house during a livestreamed event which makes it the first piece of content in Hearthstone to be designed live in front of viewers. The series of streams took place over three days in May 2020 and took the card back from concept to a close-to-final 2d creation.
During the time between the streams and its release in September of the same year, the card was finalized, a 3d model was created for it, and special effects were added to make it really pop. An amazing momento from the community event and all it took was winning 5 games in September, which your host, myself, managed to screw up. I'm hoping this card back comes back to the shop down the line because it's fantastic.
#3 - Random
The staff were really trolling me on this one.
Although the Random card back isn't really a card back in the traditional sense, it does provide a sense of discovery in that you never know what you're going to get and you might see a card back in-game that you forget you had! You won't be making marvellous themes combining your deck idea, hero, and card back, but at least you can add another dose of random into a game that loves RNG.
#2 - Mark of Hakkar
The Mark of Hakkar card back feels like it is one of those card backs where more people own it than the Classic card back you receive by creating an account. It is hard to go a day without seeing this card back on the ladder, and maybe that's the point. The entire goal of the Mark of Hakkar card back was to recreate the World of Warcraft Corrupted Blood Incident within Hearthstone, and it has certainly done a great job lingering around!
Personally, it is the card back I use the majority of the time just in case I happen to come across another player who doesn't have it. Giving someone the joy of unlocking a cosmetic for free, which seems to be more and more of a rarity these days, is a decent enough sacrifice to keep this card back going.
#1 - Secret Level
There is no cow level.
The Secret Level card back is without a doubt one of the best-looking card backs in all of Hearthstone. It has a very unique animation with the Diablo health globe in the center which constantly refills itself and that fantastic dark border with orange interior gives it appealing contrast.
Unfortunately, like most card backs in the game, this one isn't available anymore. Secret Level was originally available for a short time during the Dark Wanderer Tavern Brawl which celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Blizzard's Diablo franchise back in early 2017.
We haven't seen the card back return yet, but there is definitely an opportunity to do so in a couple of years with the 25th Anniversary of Diablo if Blizzard wants to keep it a more special type of card back reward - we certainly can't bring back the Dark Wanderer brawl every single year.
What are your favourite card backs? Let us know in the comments below and also be sure to check out our full Hearthstone Card Back Gallery where you can rate all of the card backs.
Comments
I agree with top #1 and #2. Would add the Pizza one as well.
The pizza card back is... special. Needs pineapple.
Also, olives don't belong on a pie!
My personal top 15. There is no order, and I don't have all of them.
(Maybe, the first four is a bit more closer to me. I don't know, just feel it.)
But one thing for sure. Still, after 6 years, the card backs always amazes me. My praise to the artwork team.
Lemonade!
I always get thirsty, when I look at it. :)
Awesome post!! We should have a poll and let the community choose and see what we got.
It's sooooo hard to choose! I'd say your list is perfect and would also disagree and pick 10 different CB and still I couldn't get my mind set. My personal fav is 1st season!
About the Random cardback, isn't the cardback itself supposed to be one of the random options? I never saw it, but that's what I remember from when it was released.
Yeah, that was the first thing that came to my mind, I totally agree there should be a poll to vote for community´s best 10 or 5 cardbacks, would be interesting, how it would differ :)
For me it´s hard to choose one, tho I have some favourite cardbacks for each hero and deck, I like matching themes (like pirates, murlocks, jade back in the day..), but then I´m too predictable. My all time favourite combination is Sir Annoy-o along with Rainbow! cardback. Don´t ask :D
Haha! I used to do the same and eventually had the same thought (even in that I was predictable). I used the random one for a long time but then I noticed I got some I cared little about.
Now I'm forced to ask about Annoy-o and Rainbow!! That Rainbow one is awesome, I should start using it to go with the summer vibes.
Card back images does not load on mobile. Noticed it previously in other articles as well.
iOS and Safari
Ah, damn it Apple. You know, you'd assume that in 2021 they'd actually support webm in their browser. What a damn joke. For all the time they spent on enabling privacy across their hardware, would it really kill them to get up to date with web standards?
I thought once every other browser supported webm, we had won the format war.
It might work on Safari 14/14.3. It appears there is partial support for the codecs so if you aren't up to date, give that a shot!
Ah, I see, so that’s why.
On the latest version but still no luck. Same for Chrome so I guess the issue is with browsers on iOS in general and not just Safari.
Chrome on iOS isn't actually any different than Safari when it comes to the rendering engine. Apple doesn't allow other browsers to bring their own engines, I believe due to security concerns. Though there aren't too many differences between the base of Chrome and Safari, Firefox is also forced to use the Safari engine on iOS which is quite a bit different than the Gecko engine that runs under Firefox.
Silly Apple =(
Apparently, we can just put the normal image in with the video tags though and iOS should display the static version instead of the animated that it should. I'll make sure we get that out in the near future. This is also an issue with our golden cards so they'll need that love too.
I disagree.
My favorites are the ones you get from completing the adventures on heroic.
Cupcake cardback or GTFO
Cupcake was my top as well, unfortunately, a lot of people on the staff just don't have good taste in cardbacks :/.
:( !
Aye, I was sad that Frostmourne got zero love. I would have ninja'd it onto the list if I wanted to go full bias :D
The trio of Death Knight card backs are all actually really good. I wish it was possible to showcase multiple card backs in a match somehow. Like, maybe piles of cards at the side of the board just so I can really flex on my opponent. Blizzard, I'll pay $5 a slot to unlock said piles.
#10 Exodar card back is so beautiful, almost makes me regret not picking up Hearthstone sooner (est. 2018).
And it is still mystery how i even skipped that Lightforged while it's still on sale :(
Since I've long past the point of finding card backs being interesting in their own right (I currently have a full expansion of them at 135!), I think the 'best' one is simply the one that best suits the deck I'm attaching it to. That can even make icky ones that nobody really likes the best (I'm looking at you Unholy Knight).
More generally, 2 really stand out: the Random one and Pandaria, which is the HS equivalent of me carving "AngryShuckie was 'ere 2014" into a tree stump.