Blizzard’s autobattler, Battlegrounds, which is built into the card game Hearthstone, received its own set of notable announcements at this year’s BlizzCon—notably a new Duos mode.
As the name suggests, this mode will pit players against each other in teams of two, similar to TFT’s Double Up. Battlegrounds Duos is set to launch sometime in 2024.
What is Battlegrounds Duos?
In Duos, both the life total and combat phase are shared across the two players. Here’s how the official description puts it:
“Combat is sequential, so one teammate’s warband goes out first and fights until it takes out both opponents or goes down swinging. If the first teammate is defeated, the second teammate’s warband takes over from there to finish the combat. If the first player manages to take out both opponents, then the second player’s warband just comes in to dogpile the damage on the opposing team!”
Players can use a portal to look at their teammate’s hand and board. They can also share cards with each other through the portal at the cost of one gold. A simple emote system was implemented to help communication despite the game’s continued lack of a chat function.
While the cards and mechanics are still subject to change, the preview announcement and live play sessions on the BlizzCon floor have already offered a glimpse of what is to come. For example, a tier six minion called Sandy transforms into a copy of your teammate’s highest Health minion at the start of combat, and it is just one of many cards specifically designed to take advantage of the way Duos games will play out as teammates interact with each other.
Here’s over 35 minutes of gameplay to watch, courtesy of Rarran, one of the many content creators playing at the event:
More Hearthstone stuff: Catch-Up packs and Showdown in the Badlands reveals
Hearthstone’s regular card game content output also received its own showcase at BlizzCon: Though the game is rapidly approaching its 10th anniversary in a much-diminished state in terms of player count and competitive potential, the content train continues to rumble on.
The game’s next expansion, the Wild West-themed Showdown in the Badlands, will launch on Nov. 14 with the usual volume of 145 new cards. The expansion focuses on the previously popular highlander archetype and introduces two new keywords: Quickdraw, which gives the card an extra ability or modifier on the turn it was drawn, and Excavate, which rewards you with non-collectible Treasures, each getting more powerful the more you dig. Certain synergy cards also trigger effects based on how many times you Excavated before in the game.
A new kind of pack was also introduced, the Catch-Up Pack, each featuring a variable number of cards up to 50 instead of the usual five, with the goal being, as the name suggests, to help players catch up with their collection. The number of cards in each Catch-Up Pack is determined by the percentage of your existing Standard expansion collection.
