Hoard Dragon Hero Guide by LSV
Horde Dragon is a powerful hero in the early AND late game. Read on for LSV's tips, tricks, and when to get greedy with Horde Dragon!
Hoard Dragon is one of my favorite heroes, and leads to some absurd games. It's a fun hero to play, and always offers a bunch of cool possibilities. Let's jump in!
Hero Power
Hoard Dragon's hero power is simple: you discover higher level Treasures than normal. It comes with some cool implications, but the long and short of it is that the more Treasures you find with Hoard Dragon, the better.
Hero Gameplan
Hoard Dragon doesn't have just one unified gameplan, which is part of what makes it such a sweet Hero. Hoard Dragon certainly shines in the lategame, as it gives you more access to level 7 Treasures than any other Hero (except maybe Celestial Tiger plus Treasure Map), but lategame isn't the only way to go. You can also Hoard Dragon into level 3 Treasures early, which leads to everyone's favorite combo, Merlin's Hat plus Crystal Ball.
Early Game
Throughout the game, you want to try and triple characters or complete quests, meaning that grabbing early pairs is almost always the right move. Hoard Dragon also has a strong lategame, so you can't go wrong by playing defensively early. Cinder-Ella is by far the best character to start with, and past that, any pair is what you want.
Mid/Late Game
Hoard Dragon comps tend to be all over the place, since you are so focused on grabbing any pairs that come up. There are a couple main exceptions:
- Mages: If you assemble Mage treasures like Merlin's Hat, Crystal Ball, or Forking Rod (ideally all three), you want to pick up as many Mages as possible, and lean towards a spell-based endgame.
- Royals: Sky Castle is fantastic on Hoard Dragon, and often can let you find three high-level Treasures much faster than normal. Note that being Sky Castle Royals doesn't mean you will finish the game as Royals, just that they are your midgame path to great Treasures.
Sample Comps
Comp 1
Characters (in slot order): Spell Weaver, Spell Weaver, Wizard's Familiar, Monster Book, Sporko, Lady of the Lake, Prized Pig
Comp 2
Sherwood Sureshot, Juliet, King Arthur, Cinder-Ella, Court Wizard, Court Wizard
Treasures
Hoard Dragon is all about Treasures, but isn't tied to specific ones all that strongly. What it can do well is assemble groups of Treasures easier than most Heroes, though note that you can never get level 2 Treasures (barring something like Krampus' Sleigh). Mimic is especially strong on HoardyD, since you end up with a lot of strong Treasures, and the forbidden fruit of Level 7 Treasures are especially tempting.
Tips and Tricks / Key Combos
Treasure Map and Blind Mouse are both great here, as they combine nicely with your Hero Power. When I find an early Map on Hoard Dragon, sometimes I try and hold off on tripling until I can triple a level 4 character, because the jump to level 7 Treasures is absurd.
Quest Characters are high picks across the board, for the same reason. It's definitely worth jumping through some hoops to complete these quests, as they pay you off especially well.
If you start strong, it can be worth buying XP spells to get to higher levels faster, but you shouldn't do that if you're taking a bunch of damage. Hoard Dragon wins lategames well enough even without acceleration, so there's no need to rush.
Hoarding All the Treasures
The combination of assembling Treasure combos and getting sweet Level 7 Treasures makes Hoard Dragon a blast to play, and I have trouble resisting it whenever it pops up. Good luck, and may you always start with Cinder-Ella!
-LSV