Highlander

"We're gonna be rich!"

"Highlander" (also known as "Reno" or "Singleton") is an unofficial term used to refer to a deck-defining minion ability that activates if the deck contains no duplicate cards. The ability debuted in The League of Explorers with Reno Jackson and has made subsequent appearances as headline mechanics in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, Saviors of Uldum, and Showdown in the Badlands. All Highlander cards are Legendary.

While no official keyword is used to denote the highlander effect on minion cards, a similar text is found on all associated cards: If your deck has no duplicates or If your deck started with no duplicates.

Notes[edit | edit source]

For "If your deck has no duplicates" conditions:
- Highlander Battlecries check for your current deck state when played. It does not matter if you included duplicate cards when the deck was created, only that you've drawn the extra copy before playing the Highlander card.
  - Likewise, if duplicate cards have been shuffled into your deck during the game, the Highlander effect will be disabled until they are drawn.
  - Cards in your hand don't block Highlander battlecries, the duplicates need to be in your (undrawn) deck.
- Highlander effects work when your deck is empty.
- Highlander cards in your hand have a yellow border if their condition has been met.
- The highlander effect checks for duplicate card IDs in your deck.
  - For example, the highlander effect will be active if two copies of Water Elemental are in the deck: one summoned by Frost Lich Jaina, and one from the Legacy set.^[1]
For "If your deck started with no duplicates" conditions:
- These Battlecries only check if the deck contained no duplicates at the start of the game. That is to say, during the deck-building phase.
- These conditions function similarly to Start of Game effects: Any cards being shuffled into the deck due to other Start of Game effects don't mitigate their condition.
- As the player's deck needs to start with no duplicates, drawing through your entire deck or shuffling duplicates into it (e.g. Bad Luck Albatross) won't activate/deactivate the Highlander cards.

Strategy[edit | edit source]

All Highlander cards have extremely powerful effects for their mana cost, which is balanced by the reduced consistency of the rest of your deck.
For "If your deck has no duplicates" conditions:
- Although you can include duplicate cards for this effect, it's usually not recommended since it greatly reduces the consistency of your power play. However, you can counteract this by including draw cards that target the duplicates. For example, a deck with duplicate Secrets can drain those duplicates with cards like Subject 9.
- Decks that can draw all of their cards fairly quickly (or decks that plan to go into fatigue) can include Highlander cards and play them once their deck is drained.
- Highlander decks are vulnerable to effects that shuffle duplicate cards into the opponent's deck, such as Bad Luck Albatross and Beneath the Grounds. This disables the key cards' effects until these duplicates are drawn or destroyed. Steamcleaner can be used to clear unwanted cards out of your deck.