Aethas Sunreaver Boss Guide for Book of Heroes (Jaina)

Aethas Sunreaver uses a Secret Mage decks comprised of many Mage Secrets and synergy cards like Secretkeeper, Cloud Prince, and Kabal Crystal Runner. The Secrets the boss uses in its deck are specifically Explosive Runes, Flame Ward, and Counterspell. The boss additionally uses the Arcane Intensity Hero Power throughout the encounter.

For the encounter you will be given a Control Mage deck featuring many high-cost spells like Greater Arcane Missiles and Meteor. You will also be given the Icefall Rank 2 Hero Power to use.

In your mulligan you should look specifically for your early-game minions like Sorcerer's Apprentice, Gray Cat, and Arcane Keysmith, as your Hero Power will be more than enough to deal with enemy minions.

In the early game, you will largely be playing any minions you can while using your Icefall Rank 2 Hero Power to remove any enemy minions. When you can, you should start getting minion onto the board as soon as possible as you have a limited amount of time to win due to the boss's Arcane Intensity Hero Power.

While fighting the boss, the Secrets it plays can be particularly tricky to navigate. However, with prior knowledge of what they are and careful navigation, it is much easier. When the boss has unknown Secrets is play, you should always consider the following:

• When playing spells, always try to have a cheap spell to play before the one that is essential for your turn so allow you to check for Counterspell. If you cannot do this, check for other Secrets first or find an alternative play.
• When hitting face with your minions, make sure you attack with any minion that have 3 Health or fewer first. If you have multiple minions with low Health, you can simply not hit face and use your minions to control the board as the boss has no other board clears available.
• In the late game when you Health gets low, avoid playing low-Health minions like Arcane Keysmith or Sorcerer's Apprentice first to avoid taking unnecessary damage from Explosive Runes. Instead, try to play a high-Health minion like Arcane Giant or Violet Warden first to absorb the damage.

Once you reach the late game with the board under control, you will have a set amount of time to end the game before the boss kills you with its Hero Power. To achieve this, you will typically need a mix of minion and spell damage. Most of your minion damage will specifically come from Arcane Giants, so prioritise getting them onto the board when you have time to do so. Your spell damage will largely come from Pyroblast, Fireball, and Greater Arcane Missiles. For the latter speficially, you should try to clear the board with other methods like Icefall Rank 2 and Meteor first, to ensure any damage from the missiles will not be wasted on minions.