Hearthstone Guide: How to Beat Lord Marrowgar

Having trouble getting past the gatekeeper of Icecrown Citadel? No problem! Our guide will tell you everything you need to know to put together a winning deck.
Having trouble getting past the gatekeeper of Icecrown Citadel? No problem! Our guide will tell you everything you need to know to put together a winning deck.

With the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion to Hearthstone, Blizzard has introduced more challenging single player content than ever before. The new missions are based on the World of Warcraft raid Icecrown Citadel, with the Lower Citadel containing the first set of bosses players can face. Lord Marrowgar sets a high bar for player skill, which is why we decided to give you all the information you will need to beat him.

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Lord Marrowgar, like all Hearthstone bosses, has a unique hero power as well as a selection of unique cards. This creates a specific set of mechanics for players to deal with during the match. Of all the abilities available to Lord Marrowgar, two stick out as being particularly shocking when players first encounter them — Skeletal Reconstruction and Bone Spike.

Skeletal Reconstruction Bone Spike

Skeletal Reconstruction is Lord Marrowgar’s unique hero power and primary defensive mechanic. The ability allows him to restore his health to a full 30 points for free every turn. As a result, players need to be able to deal 30 damage in a single turn to win. There are multiple ways to do this, with one of the easiest being Lord Marrowgar’s own Bone Spike card.

Players with access to Priest cards like Mind Control can take a Bone Spike as their own, effectively cutting Lord Marrowgar’s health in half. This makes the match more manageable. Of course, Bone Spike can also be dealt with through standard removal like Shadow Word: Pain. Minion damage is also an option for removing Bone Spike, as it has 0 attack and will not destroy your minions.

Mind Control  Shadow Word: Pain

Lord Marrowgar has two other unique offensive cards, as well — Bone Storm and Bry’roll, the Bone Arbiter. Bone Storm is a relatively minor threat as it only deals 1 damage to all enemies. However, it allows Lord Marrowgar to draw an additional card. This means his more dangerous cards are never far away.

Bryn’troll is a strong weapon card that Lord Marrowgar can equip. It allows him to deal 3 damage twice per turn for 3 turns. When the boss uses both Bone Storm and Bryn’troll on the same turn, he can clear out key minions from your side of the board. Weapon removal is highly recommended because of this possibility.

Bone Storm  Bryn'troll

The final two boss-only cards found in this match are minions that benefit the player. Deathcharger and Skeletal Knight reward the player for defeating them by either dealing damage to Lord Marrowgar or giving the player a random card from Knights of the Frozen Throne. While Deathcharger can help get you to the 30 damage total in a single turn, it is likely to die before you want it to.

Skeletal Knight might give you a great card, or it might give you a card that you can’t take advantage of. Planning around either of these minions is not advisable, but neither should be considered a significant threat.

Deathcharger  Skeletal Knight

So how do you beat Lord Marrowgar with the knowledge of these cards? You have to deal 30 damage in a single turn, while also having a way to deal with Bone Spikes before they can damage you. The best classes for this are the Priest, Mage, and Druid.

Lord Marrowgar vs. Priest

As mentioned earlier in the guide, cards like Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Control will be vital for this class. Turning a single Bone Spike effectively cuts Lord Marrowgar’s health from 30 to 15 if you can keep it alive. The ability to heal minions after Bone Storm or attacks also serves to make things easier.

Lord Marrowgar vs. Mage

If you do not have access to a good selection of Priest cards, Mage is another good choice for this fight. The objective here is to get enough cards in hand to deal 30 damage with spells and minions. Spells like Fireball and Frostbolt are key. The player can cast two Fireball spells and one Frostbolt to deal 15 spell damage in a single turn. The remaining damage will have to come from minions that are able to attack that turn.

Cards like Shatter or Polymorph can be used to deal with Bone Spikes by destroying a frozen Bone Spike or turning one into a sheep that is easily removed in more conventional ways. 

Lord Marrowgar vs. Druid

A deck from the Druid class will probably use a different technique for handling Lord Marrowgar. Rather than use his own minions against him, or whittle him down with spells, a Druid will use strategies like the popular Jade Druid deck. Essentially, the Druid is good at summoning a large number of powerful minions. This allows them to beat the boss through minion damage.

While these three classes have the easiest chance of beating Lord Marrowgar, any class can do it as long as you follow this list when building your deck:

  • Bring removal to deal with Bone Spikes before they can trigger — Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Control, Corruption, even Stubborn Gastropod if you need to.
  • Bring a way to deal with weapon damage. Something like Acidic Swamp Ooze will remove Lord Marrowgar’s dangerous weapon before he can use it.
  • Have a way to summon minions quickly, time is not on your side against Lord Marrowgar.

Good luck in Icecrown Citadel, and feel free to post in the comments if you have additional tips!

And make sure to check out our other Knights of the Frozen Throne guides for more tips and strategies. 

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