Bolvar is the only target which gains bonus attack, not the hero. (Source)
Obtaining Bolvar directly from a player's hand, through a spell like Mind Vision, results in the clone being 1/7 even if the originating Bolvar is buffed. (Source)
Card Text
Whenever a friendly minion dies while this is in your hand, gain +1 Attack.
Flavor Text
Spoiler alert: Bolvar gets melted and then sits on an ice throne and everyone forgets about him.
There are too many answers for this card. Apart from normal removal, it's also vulnerable to the Big Game Hunter AND is practically useless (the equivalent of a Mogu'Shan Warden without taunt) when silenced. Compared to Mal'Ganis or Malorne, this legendary is underpowered. So, without further adieu, here's my Bolvar Fordragon rewrite:
Bolvar Fordragon |Mana Cost: 5|Attack: 8| Health: 2 | At the start of each turn, this minion's attack and health are switched and it gains divine shield.
So when you summon him he's an 8/2, but when your turn ends he becomes a 2/8 and gains a divine shield. From here he can be silenced by your opponent (making him a permanent 2/8), but he's not vulnerable to Big Game Hunter. If your opponent does not have a silence, they will want to pop his divine shield and reduce his health (which will become his attack on your turn). On your turn he regains the divine shield (if it was popped) and his attack becomes whatever his health was at the end of your opponent's turn. So he effectively switches from an offensive/defensive stance.
The amount of downvotes you got was so unfair, circle jerkers thinking this card would have been good all circle jerked, I bet they feel bad now
Everyone who was crying about how awful this card was before GVG came out amuses me so much. This card is AWESOME. Pally aggro, pally mid-range, pally control...it goes in all of them. "BUT IT CAN BE SILENCED IT SUX" ANY card with good text can be silenced, so? This card has single handedly won me so many games it's not even funny.
I love this card. Play him as a 4 attack against priest, after your slyvanas or tirion has been silenced against other decks, or hang on to him until fatigue starts. Have played him with 27 attack which is slightly overkill.
That means your tirion has less chance to be silenced, or sylvannas, or cairne, or your belchers, or even the opponents aldor'd giant ... In a pally deck, there are a lot of creatures that can be silenced. Bolvar soaking up 1 means more value for your other creatures. Or if you play out the other threats first, your opponent won't have a silence left in his hand for bolvar.
The last game I played with him I drew him in my hand at around half of my deck, kept him for two turns and came out as a 7-7 afterwards. He soaked up a pyroblast..
Value-wise he can indeed suck, and i'm definately not saying he's the best legendary out there, even in the 5-slot. But he really isn't that bad as everyone makes him out to be.
After playing with Bolvar Fordragon for about 109 games, so far.
My personal conclusion is that he's a very viable card to have in your deck. For 5 mana > He soaks a removal almost always, if the opponent has one. Otherwise he is a force to recon with. He has been a finisher for me more than once(highest one so far, 21/7, instant concede). You don't have to keep him in your opening had, personal suggestion is, you don't keep it in starting hand actually.
Combines well with Finicky Cloakfield, Reversing Switch and Whirling Blades spare parts. Also Paladin cards such as Divine Shield givers. And lets not forget the Paladin Hero Power and powerhouse cards like Muster for Battle. He baits your opponent's removals, which in turn makes your other strong plays safer.
Just, give it a try, you'll see what I mean.
And more or less to the point, his animation wins hearthstone (Especially if you play him with 7 or more attack).
You can get value from this card with a divine shield-heavy deck. It can be combo'd with a field covered in low health divine shield minions and Blood Knight. Let your opponent waste a silence on the Blood Knight or do a board clear to preserve health, and then you can drop Bolvar Fordragon. It is useless on its own, but paladin can do a LOT with this card
Running more divine shields above and beyond the good ones makes your deck worse though just to make this card slightly better. It seems like way too much effort, especially since it can be silenced. Argent Squire isn't useful anymore, and neither is Scarlet Crusader. On top of this, if you don't even draw him, then your deck is just worse than whatever the standard Paladin deck could have been.
At 7:31 and at 32:40. His entrance actually changes depending on how high his attack power is! And it plays the Wrathgate/Stormwind theme! Such a cool intro! His quotes are also all from that cinematic. I kind of want to craft him for that alone.
This card is a little bit underwhelming, especially because the german flavor text of Tirion Fordring is: "The most famous paladin - after Uther, Mograine, Bolvar, Arthas...", but this card doesnt look like he is better than Tirion :/
I prefer Feugen better. Guaranteed 4/7. Right in the blind spot for priests, hard to muscle through, Its kind of useless to silence Feugen if he comes out first. And guess what? He still is just a 4/7. He and Stalagg's special effect is very weak to mind control, (they get a 4/7 with a deathrattle to summon an 11/11.)
Just because it can be silenced doesn't mean it's a bad card, and if he gets silenced and Tirion doesnt, well, you win. Theres a TON of really good cards that arent good once silenced. "OMG Cairne, how about "pay two less mana, get a yeti, LOL" ....the new set didn't add more silence cards, just more silence targets... and nobody is going to be running that many silences. Run this guy, plus tirion, plus cairne/sylvannas then profit, they won't have enough silences to stop something really good from sticking.
Also, you can almost count on 1 minion per turn dying. You dont have to keep this in your starting hand if you can draw the game out, which isnt hard for paladin. You can easily drop this guy as a huge win condition on the same turn as loatheb or a sludge belcher, both giving him a huge chance of sticking long enough to go face ftw.
The amount of downvotes you got was so unfair, circle jerkers thinking this card would have been good all circle jerked, I bet they feel bad now
Everyone who was crying about how awful this card was before GVG came out amuses me so much. This card is AWESOME. Pally aggro, pally mid-range, pally control...it goes in all of them. "BUT IT CAN BE SILENCED IT SUX" ANY card with good text can be silenced, so? This card has single handedly won me so many games it's not even funny.
It's literally in NO Paladin deck, what are you talking about?
I love this card. Play him as a 4 attack against priest, after your slyvanas or tirion has been silenced against other decks, or hang on to him until fatigue starts. Have played him with 27 attack which is slightly overkill.
He screws up sneeds old shredder and recombobulator, 2 very important cards in my deck. Thats my bolvar rant.
Everyone whining about him being silenced..
That means your tirion has less chance to be silenced, or sylvannas, or cairne, or your belchers, or even the opponents aldor'd giant ... In a pally deck, there are a lot of creatures that can be silenced. Bolvar soaking up 1 means more value for your other creatures. Or if you play out the other threats first, your opponent won't have a silence left in his hand for bolvar.
The last game I played with him I drew him in my hand at around half of my deck, kept him for two turns and came out as a 7-7 afterwards. He soaked up a pyroblast..
Value-wise he can indeed suck, and i'm definately not saying he's the best legendary out there, even in the 5-slot. But he really isn't that bad as everyone makes him out to be.
After playing with Bolvar Fordragon for about 109 games, so far.
My personal conclusion is that he's a very viable card to have in your deck. For 5 mana > He soaks a removal almost always, if the opponent has one. Otherwise he is a force to recon with. He has been a finisher for me more than once(highest one so far, 21/7, instant concede). You don't have to keep him in your opening had, personal suggestion is, you don't keep it in starting hand actually.
Combines well with Finicky Cloakfield, Reversing Switch and Whirling Blades spare parts. Also Paladin cards such as Divine Shield givers. And lets not forget the Paladin Hero Power and powerhouse cards like Muster for Battle.
He baits your opponent's removals, which in turn makes your other strong plays safer.
Just, give it a try, you'll see what I mean.
And more or less to the point, his animation wins hearthstone (Especially if you play him with 7 or more attack).
You can get value from this card with a divine shield-heavy deck. It can be combo'd with a field covered in low health divine shield minions and Blood Knight. Let your opponent waste a silence on the Blood Knight or do a board clear to preserve health, and then you can drop Bolvar Fordragon. It is useless on its own, but paladin can do a LOT with this card
Running more divine shields above and beyond the good ones makes your deck worse though just to make this card slightly better. It seems like way too much effort, especially since it can be silenced. Argent Squire isn't useful anymore, and neither is Scarlet Crusader. On top of this, if you don't even draw him, then your deck is just worse than whatever the standard Paladin deck could have been.
very conditional card, maybe with Onyxia + 2xImp Master...
You know, after getting him in a few arena games... he's not really that bad. He also has my favorite entrance of any card.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYl27wJPuP4
At 7:31 and at 32:40. His entrance actually changes depending on how high his attack power is! And it plays the Wrathgate/Stormwind theme! Such a cool intro! His quotes are also all from that cinematic. I kind of want to craft him for that alone.
What the hell are you talking about?
This card is a little bit underwhelming, especially because the german flavor text of Tirion Fordring is: "The most famous paladin - after Uther, Mograine, Bolvar, Arthas...", but this card doesnt look like he is better than Tirion :/
I really want to play more Paly...I really do....
I prefer Feugen better. Guaranteed 4/7. Right in the blind spot for priests, hard to muscle through, Its kind of useless to silence Feugen if he comes out first. And guess what? He still is just a 4/7. He and Stalagg's special effect is very weak to mind control, (they get a 4/7 with a deathrattle to summon an 11/11.)
Just because it can be silenced doesn't mean it's a bad card, and if he gets silenced and Tirion doesnt, well, you win. Theres a TON of really good cards that arent good once silenced. "OMG Cairne, how about "pay two less mana, get a yeti, LOL" ....the new set didn't add more silence cards, just more silence targets... and nobody is going to be running that many silences. Run this guy, plus tirion, plus cairne/sylvannas then profit, they won't have enough silences to stop something really good from sticking.
Also, you can almost count on 1 minion per turn dying. You dont have to keep this in your starting hand if you can draw the game out, which isnt hard for paladin. You can easily drop this guy as a huge win condition on the same turn as loatheb or a sludge belcher, both giving him a huge chance of sticking long enough to go face ftw.
Guys i just created a petition : https://www.change.org/p/blizzard-entertainment-hearthstone-team-change-flame-leviathan-and-bolvar-fordragon
lets change it
SIGN !
That's actually good lore-wise design! He is so bad that everybody will soon forget about his existence.
Best excuse so far.
well played