During the very height of late-nineties Pokémania, I had just started at high school. This was when the TCG♏ bug took a firm grip on my hi♎ndquarters and never let go.

As with most schools, mine tried the age-old tactic of banning Pokémon cards. The only real effect this had was to bring about a roaring trade in black market booster packs. Pupils would♉ surreptitiously reach into their pockets and show off their holo Hitmonchan cards, like they were shady tradespeople who were smuggling whole turkeys around Britain during the dark days of rationing.

I had absolutely zero clue how to play the game itself, you understand, but that ☂wasn’t important. What mattered was that I become totally enamoured with these cards, and gradually built up quite a ꦏcollection.

Since those days, my friends and I have dabbled in just about every major TCG going. Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic, the fancy new Final Fantasy TCG… I’ve dabbled in all of it. To varying degrees of🍃 success, s🌳ure, but there it is.

For some, of course, the best TCG of all doesn’t involve physical cards at all. Warcraft offshoot Hearthstone has become a fully-fledged standalone game in its own right. It’s hugely popular and has even gained𒅌 a great deal of momentum as an eSport.

Like all collectible card games, it’s had its ups and downs. It’s had great cards and awful ones, and sometimes it’s tough to tell the difference. Let’s check out some of the best and worst Hearthstone cards ever.

30 Worst: Acidmaw (Please, No Maw)

Now, granted, there’s no promise that all legendary cards are going to be… well, legend𓃲ary. That’s just not how things work around here. You expect a little something’ somethin’ out oꦿf them, though, and Acidmaw disappoints in just about every possible way.

Sure, you can combo it💫 with Whirlwind for a bit of a fun time, and there are other quirky things you can do with this guy. In terms of actual competitive play, though? You’re usually going to harm yourself more than your opponent trying to make this work.

29 Weakest: The Mistcaller (Nope, Sorry, Can’t Hear You)

Like a lot of cards on this list, The Mistcaller is going to be quite a controversial pick. In some areas, sure, it has its us🔥es. Against control decks and that sort of build, there’s some real value here. It’s quite niche, though, and that is its problem.

Back when this guy was a thing, it just couldn’t compete in a very fast meta. You need to find the time to make use of that powerful buff, which so many decks 💎s🌊truggle to do.

28 BEST: Countess Ashmor (Couldn’t Ash For More)

Inevitably with TCGs, new sets will arise, and 💞the cards therein will be compared with others that have already been released. It’s a convenient way to look at new c🅰ards, to get an idea of how they work. A new card may be a better such-and-such, or a worse such-and-such.

As for Countess Ashmore, she’s like a more versatile 𝓡Curator. With her neutrality and utility, the Countess is a great pick for a variety of decks, and she’s no offensive slouch either.

27 Worst: Dark Pact (Wait? What? Warlock?)

So. Here’s the big question: what makes a card ‘bad’? The answer to that isn’t as simple as you may think. Being just plain weak or useless is one thing,⛦ but you’ve also got to consider whether a card is bad for the game generally. Unhealthy. Unbalanced. Just plain w💝rong.

For many players, Dark Pact is one of these.

Warlock is not a class that should be healing. They work in the opposite way.

Dark Pact was nerfed, but in the wrong way: you get the HP, plusಞ a ‘free’ deathrattle from a minion.

26 Worst: Jade Idol 

In a similar fashion to Dark Pact, Jade Idol is a card that’♚s seen non-stop debate since its release. On the surface, I suppose it might not look like much, but veteran players can see the danger immediately. Infinite value should never really be a thing, and Jade Idol just mak⛦es that far too easy.

Control Druid decks are just super frightening with even a single Jade Idol. Fatigue damage? I don’t think so, buddy boy.𒁃 Ain’t nobody got time fo ꦏdat, as the classic meme goes.

25 BEST: Lord Godfrey (Oh, Lordy)

Now we’re talking. Of the Witchwood series, Lord Godfreꦐy is probably one of🎶 the best cards. Healthy? That’s another matter. If you look at it that way, a lot of the cards in this rundown could be deemed either best or worst, in terms of the game. It’s all down to player perspective.

As for me? I’m not sure that Warlock needed any more board-wiping effects, but 🐭here we are. There’s no doubt that♛ this guy can be incredibly devastating for an opponent. It’s not that serious, Godfrey, it really isn’t.

24 Worst: Deck Of Wonders (Less Than Wonderful)

Is it just me? I don’t think so. I guess it𓄧 could be.

Genera✅lly, competitive TCG play tends to revolve around limiting the amoun🔥t of chance involved in games. Reliably getting out your best resources and reducing your opponent to sad, salty slice of shattered spam.

Relying on luck🐼? That’s a last resort. Heart of the cards? Nope. Deck of Wonders is so much fun to use, but it’s a huge chunk of RNG that I just do not want to be dealing with. And, no, it doesn’t𝐆 count towards quest.

23 Worst: Confuse (Very Confusing)

Through the history of Hearthstone, Priest really hasn’t had an easy run. It’s probably the class that’s come under the most scrutiny, the most d🔜ifficult to find consistent success with.

Why? Because a lot of Priest cards have been all kinds of questionable.

Confuse can be great, true enough, but it’s totall🐭y 💞situational. It depends on your opponent’s board as well as your own, and that’s not easy to control at all. It’s a card that will usually sit in your hand, but when it works… your opponent will be crying to their grandmas.

22 BEST: Shudderwock (Shudder Indeed)

I know, f🐎riends. I’m sorry. I went there. I didn’t really want to, but here we are.

Shud🦂derwꦉock is a card that needs no introduction. It’s a relatively recent addition to the game, and it made one heck of an impression immediately.

You can see the problem. Repeat all other battlecries from car🔯ds yoꦡu played this game? What is several of these things are being played? It’s like a fireworks display of RNG madness, and everyone’s invited. Stop that, Shudderwock. Nobody likes you.

21 Worst: Kabal Lackey (You Really CAN Get The Staff)

Right. I see where this is going, and I have mixed feelings about the sitℱuation. Mostly, rage and sadness.

Again, here’s a card that looks quite unassuming on the surface. A 1/1 minion? A one-legged kitten with a limp could take that out. That batﷺtlecry, however? That’s not even funny.

If you’re experienced with the game, you’ll understand how pꦕeople were feeling when this abomination was released. Kabal Lackey and Counterspell, you say? You can flush that straight down Beelzebub’s underworld u-bend from whence it came.