Following Patch 20.2's addition of Diamond Ragnaros the Firelord for those who own all the Legendary cards from the Legacy (formerly Classic) set, the process of adding old Diamond cards into the game that Iksar mentioned a couple of months ago has begun. Since we're really excited about these and so is the community, its time to highlight the best possible targets for Diamond cards for pre-existing cards.

With today's article, we'll be looking at the very first few sets of Hearthstone, which were released before the Hearthstone Zodiac and rotations became a thing. Below, you'll see suggestions from Curse of Naxxramas, Goblin vs Gnomes, Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament and League of Explorers.

Here are the criteria we followed when picking the cards:

  • At least one Neutral Legendary per set/adventure, but Class Legendaries are valid as well;
  • The stronger the better - upgrading a Legendary to Diamond without chances for it to see play would really suck!
  • Meme-potential - a card the community has fond memories of or that is famous because of memes about it.

Curse of Naxxramas

Kel'Thuzad Card Image

The founder of the Cult of the Damned, one of the principal agents of The Lich King, responsible for spreading the plague across Lordaeron, and leader of the floating necropolis of Naxxramas. That's right, we're talking about Kel'Thu-freaking-zad!

This is such an important character in the World of Warcraft universe, but he's also the centerpiece of Hearthstone's first adventure. While the card is not as strong as it used to be back in the day, Kel'Thuzad's voice lines in his adventure are memorable, as well as his Mr. Bigglesworth's Easter egg. We'd be surprised if KT wouldn't be considered for this cosmetic upgrade!


Stalagg Card Image Feugen Card Image Thaddius Card Image

While Kel'Thuzad is a main character of the adventure and Loatheb is one of the most played Legendaries in Wild, the idea of making both Stalagg and Feugen Diamond really tickles my imagination.

In fact, not only they do see some play in fringe decks like Deathrattle Demon Hunter and Deathrattle Hunter, but they’d also spawn a Diamond Thaddius, which has incredible entry line and entry music animation; Seeing him flexing his giant muscles while he enters the field would be such a stunning visual!


Goblins vs Gnomes

Dr. Boom Card Image

If we were to pick just one Legendary card from this set, there is no way that said card wouldn't be Dr. Boom. Back in the day he was such a powerful tool that playing it on turn 7 was one of the most broken moves in the entire game. Notably, he was also one of the very first few memes in Hearthstone, gaining the nickname of “Dr. 7” and becoming a symbol for the game.

Boom is not that important of a character in World of Warcraft, but his impact in Hearthstone, especially in the community, was so big that Team 5 even tributed him an entire expansion (The Boomsday Project) with a new playable hero card, Dr. Boom, Mad Genius. His legacy doesn't stop there though because we would late see him during Year of the Phoenix via Blastmaster Boom, bringing forth the Bomb Warrior mechanic.

All in all, he is definitely one of the Legendaries that deserves this upgrade the most.


Mal'Ganis Card Image

Pretty much the only class Legendary from Goblins vs Gnomes that still sees play today. Even though he has nothing at all to do with the expansion’s theme, which is something that could be said about many GvG cards, Mal'Ganis represents such a unique unit:

  • First of all, Immune is one of the least used keywords in the game, and for a reason;
  • Secondly, he has one of the coolest Golden animations ever, despite being printed over 7 years ago;
  • Finally, his entry line “I am Mal'Ganis, I am eternal!” is often mistaken by him saying that he’s a turtle, which makes no sense but has generated quite the giggles over the time.

So yeah, give us a Diamond card for CubeLock.


Blackrock Mountain

Emperor Thaurissan Card Image

If Kel'Thuzad is Naxxramas' main character, then Emperor Thaurissan has to be the most relevant one from Blackrock Mountain. One of the first (if not the first) combo enablers to be printed in the game, he's been part of many top tier decks since his release in April 2015, providing a key component of decks like Freeze Mage and Patron Warrior.

Even though today's Wild meta is not very kind to Combo and Control decks, Thaurissan still pops up here and there, especially in Linecracker Druid and Renolock.

In the end, we think that his Thor-esque pose would look awesomely good in a Diamond frame!


Honourable Mentions

Nefarian - Deathwing's eldest son has a different entry line based on the class he's played against. His effect is not that great anymore, but his magnificent clash with Ragnaros the Firelord deserves respect and should never be forgotten.

Majordomo Executus - If you're foolish brave to include Domo in your deck, then you deserve doing it with all the swag.


The Grand Tournament

Justicar Trueheart Card Image

Ahhh, what a rough and forgettable set to choose a Legendary from. To be completely fair, we could've just skipped it and almost nobody would've noticed it, but we are perfectionists, so here we are.

Justicar Trueheart was the upgraded Hero Power enabler before Baku the Mooneater was a thing. Mainly good in Control Warrior thanks to Tank Up!, this is one of the very few cards from The Grand Tournament that saw actual competitive play and thus we believe deserves to get the Diamond treatment.


Confessor Paletress Card Image

Not an insane Legendary, currently doesn't see play in any deck, and is restrained by Inspire  - one of the worst keywords ever printed (at least they adjusted the aim with Phase Stalker and Dragonbane); nonetheless, everyone who's ever played Confessor Paletress can guarantee you that she's a lot of fun.

Even though you'll rarely get something useful out of her effect, the suspense her animation creates and the potential memes you can achieve make this card a very interesting deckbuilding choice, especially when combined with Raza the Chained.

For this reason and for the fact that she's one of Dane's favorite Legendaries (together with the meme-tastic Sneed's Old Shredder), we think you should definitely give her more credit.


Honourable Mentions

Bolf Ramshield - Obligatory Bolf Ramshield guy meme. That's it. Thank God no-duplicate protection is a thing.


League of Explorers

Reno Jackson Card Image

The OG Highlander card and one of the most epic effects and entry line in the entire game. Reno Jackson is such an iconic character for Hearthstone that you can think about very few better targets for the Diamond treatment.

Back in the day, this unit was singlehandedly able to keep aggro in check; with the time, Team 5 printed more and more support for Highlander builds (Kazakus, Zephrys the Great and so on), but Reno Jackson doesn't fail to make the cut even in today's meta and he's as impactful as always.

Sure, if you're playing aggro, facing a turn 6 Diamond Reno is going to be even more triggering, but hey: blame the game, not the player!


Honourable Mentions

Explorers - not only Reno Jackson, but Elise Starseeker, Brann Bronzebeard and Sir Finley Mrrgglton all deserve a spot in our collections (and hearts). For real: League of Explorers was such a good adventure.

Arch-Thief Rafaam - Reno is the good guys' boss, but how could you forget about RAFAAAAAAM, THE SUPREME ARCHAEOLOGIIIIIST. Here, take a minute of your life and admire this masterpiece:


What do you think about our nominations for the next Diamond cards? Do you agree with them or do you think there are better candidates? Let us know in the comments below!