Hearthstone’s popular Battlegrounds mode has been considered to be in beta for a while, but it will experience its largest shakeup tomorrow. With the advent of Patch 21.2, the game mode will have 37 minions replaced with new ones never before seen throughout the mode’s history.
Aside from new content to learn about, every player’s Battlegrounds ratings will be reset for a new season. While it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in the patch notes, this is most likely a visible external rank reset rather than an internal MMR shift, much like every other rank reset throughout the game’s past.
Here are all the heroes, minions, mechanics, and major updates to Hearthstone Battlegrounds.
Mechanics
One major note to consider when evaluating all the new cards is that there’s a new Battlegrounds-specific keyword coming: Avenge. A minion with Avenge (x) has its ability trigger after an x-amount of minions die throughout combat. It was confirmed by a Hearthstone Battlegrounds designer on Twitter that this isn’t a one-time effect. This means if you have multiple minions die throughout combat thanks to token spawns like Scallywag or Rat Pack, you can amass ridiculous value.
Another notable system change to look out for is that there’s now a damage cap of 15 if no players have died yet. This means if you’re unlucky enough to fight against a hero reaching their power spike turn, you won’t take an unexpected ridiculous amount of damage.
One quality-of-life change for players with Battlegrounds Perks is that they’re more likely to be offered new heroes during the two-week early access period. Since a massive number of changes are occurring during this period, the lengths of turns three through nine will be increased by five seconds so players can get used to all of the new cards.
New heroes
- Master Nguyen
- Power of the Storm [Passive]
- At the start of every turn, choose from two new Hero Powers.
- Cariel Roame
- Conviction (Rank 1) – One Gold
- Give a random friendly minion +1/+1. (Upgrades at Tavern Tier 3.)
- Conviction (Rank 2) – One Gold
- Give three random friendly minions +1/+1. (Upgrades at Tavern Tier 5.)
- Conviction (Rank 3) – One Gold
- Give five random friendly minions +1/+1.
- Conviction (Rank 1) – One Gold
Players who have Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the heroes above before they’re officially released two weeks after the next patch on Sept. 14.
Removed minions
Tavern Tier One
- Fiendish Servant
- Vulgar Homunculus
- Micro Machine
- Murloc Tidecaller
- Dragonspawn Lieutenant
Tavern Tier Two
- Pack Leader
- Kindly Grandmother
- Steward of Time
- Waxrider Togwaggle
- Southsea Captain
- Tormented Ritualist
Tavern Tier Three
- Arcane Assistant
- Imp Gang Boss
- Infested Wolf
- Iron Sensei
- Hangry Dragon
- Bloodsail Cannoneer
- Warden of Old
- Crystalweaver
- Thorncaller
Tavern Tier Four
- Virmen Sensei
- Hexruin Maurader
- Junkbot
- Toxfin
- Herald of Flame
- Qiraji Harbinger
- Bolvar, Fireblood
- Security Rover
Tavern Tier Five
- Sneed’s Old Shredder
- Nat Pagle, Extreme Angler
- Seabreaker Goliath
- Ironhide Direhorn
- Mythrax, the Unraveler
- Mal’Ganis
- Faceless Taverngoer
Tavern Tier Six
- The Tide Razor
- Lieutenant Garr
Nerfed minion
- Arm of the Empire
- Old: 5 Health → New: 4 Health
New minions
Beasts
- Leapfrogger
- [Tier 2, Beast] Deathrattle: Give a friendly Beast +2/+2 and this Deathrattle.
- Sewer Rat
- [Tier 2, Beast] Deathrattle: Summon a 2/3 Turtle with Taunt.
- Bird Buddy
- [Tier 3, Not a Beast] Avenge (1): Give your Beasts +1/+1.
- Reanimating Rattler
- [Tier 4, Beast] Battlecry: Give a friendly Beast Reborn.
- Palescale Crocolisk
- [Tier 5, Beast] Avenge (2) and Deathrattle: Give another friendly Beast +6/+6.
Demons
- Impulsive Trickster
- [Tier 1, Demon] Deathrattle: Give this minion’s maximum Health to a friendly minion.
- Icky Imp
- [Tier 1, Demon] Deathrattle: Summon two 1/1 Imps.
- Impatient Doomsayer
- [Tier 3, Not a Demon] Avenge (3): Add a random Demon to your hand.
- Kathra’natir
- [Tier 4, Demon] Your other Demons have +3 Attack. Your Hero is Immune.
- Insatiable Ur’zul
- [Tier 5, Demon] Taunt. After you play a Demon, consume a minion in Bob’s Tavern to gain its stats.
- Famished Felbat
- [Tier 6, Demon] At the end of your turn, each friendly Demon consumes a minion in Bob’s Tavern to gain its stats.
Mechs
- Pupbot
- [Tier 1, Mech] Divine Shield
- Mechano-Tank
- [Tier 4, Mech] Avenge (2): Deal 6 damage to the highest Health enemy minion.
- Grease Bot
- [Tier 4, Mech] After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, give it +2/+1 permanently.
- Holy Mecherel
- [Tier 5, Mech] After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, gain Divine Shield.
- Omega Buster
- [Tier 6, Mech] Deathrattle: Summon six 1/1 Microbots. For each that doesn’t fit, give your Mechs +1/+1.
Murlocs
- Saltscale Honcho
- [Tier 2, Murloc] After you play a Murloc, give two other friendly Murlocs +1 Health.
- Swolefin
- [Tier 3, Murloc] Battlecry: Gain +2/+1 for each other friendly Murloc.
- SI:Sefin
- [Tier 5, Murloc] Avenge (3): Give a friendly Murloc Poisonous permanently.
- Seafood Slinger
- [Tier 6, Not a Murloc] Battlecry: Make a Murloc Golden.
Dragons
- Evolving Chromawing
- [Tier 1, Dragon] After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, double this minion’s Attack.
- Whelp Smuggler
- [Tier 2, Not a Dragon] After a friendly Dragon gains Attack, give it +2 Health.
- Tarecgosa
- [Tier 3, Dragon] This permanently keeps enchantments from combat.
- Prized Promo-Drake
- [Tier 4, Dragon] Start of Combat: Give adjacent minions +1/+1 for each friendly Dragon.
- Prestor’s Pyrospawn
- [Tier 4, Dragon] Whenever another friendly Dragon attacks, deal 3 damage to its target.
Pirates
- Defiant Shipwright
- [Tier 2, Not a Pirate] After you upgrade your Tavern Tier, add a random Pirate to Bob’s Tavern.
- Briny Bootlegger
- [Tier 3, Pirate] At the end of your turn, if you have another Pirate, add a Gold Coin to your hand.
- Peggy Brittlebone
- [Tier 4, Pirate] After a card is added to your hand, give another Pirate +1/+1.
- Tony Two-Tusk
- [Tier 5, Pirate] Avenge (5): Make another friendly Pirate Golden permanently.
- Nosy Looter
- [Tier 6, Pirate] Every two turns, add a random Golden minion to your hand.
Elementals
- Smogger
- [Tier 3, Elemental] Battlecry: Give a friendly Elemental stats equal to your Tavern Tier.
- Dazzling Lightspawn
- [Tier 4, Elemental] Avenge (2): Elementals in Bob’s Tavern have +1/+1 for the rest of the game.
- Recycling Wraith
- [Tier 4, Elemental] After you play an Elemental, your next Refresh costs (0).
- Master of Realities
- [Tier 6, Not an Elemental] Taunt. After a friendly Elemental gains stats, gain +1/+1.
Quilboar
- Gemsplitter
- [Tier 3, Quilboar] After a friendly minion loses Divine Shield, gain a Blood Gem.
Neutral Minions
- Budding Greenthumb
- [Tier 3] Avenge (3): Give adjacent minions +2/+1 permanently.
- Witchwing Nestmatron
- [Tier 4] Avenge (3): Add a random Battlecry minion to your hand.
You can try out a whole new Battlegrounds meta when Hearthstone Patch 21.2 goes live tomorrow, Aug. 31.
