"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 and Saviors of Uldum. All Highlander cards are Legendary.
The moniker comes from the famous tagline of the film Highlander: "There can be only one". This deck type became Wild-only at the start of Year of the Raven, when the relevant cards rotated out of Standard. However, several new Highlander cards were added with the Saviors of Uldum and Descent of Dragons expansions, which caused Highlander decks to make a comeback in Standard. The deck type has since returned to being wild only with the Year of the Gryphon.
While no official keyword is used to denote the highlander effect on minion cards, precisely the same text is found on all associated cards: If your deck has no duplicates.
Notes
- 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 Basic set.[1]
- For example, the highlander effect will be active if two copies of
Strategy
- All Highlander cards have extremely powerful effects for their mana cost, which is balanced by the reduced consistency of the rest of your deck.
- 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.
Cards
This section lists cards with the Highlander effect.
Collectible
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Decks
Some Highlander deck types include:
- Reno Mage (Mean Streets of Gadgetzan)
- Reno Warlock (Mean Streets of Gadgetzan)
- Raza Priest (Knights of the Frozen Throne)
- Highlander Hunter (Saviors of Uldum)
In parentheses are Standard (at that time) card sets in which they were first introduced.
Trivia
The nickname "Highlander" is inspired by the Highlander franchise, which had the tagline "In the end, there can be only one."
References
- ↑ Water Elemental isn't (a duplicate of) Water Elemental, but it is (a copy of) Water Elemental. (2020-08-04). Reddit. Retrieved on 2020-08-07.
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