Hearthstone Battlegrounds is currently the reigning champ of Hearthstone game modes, and Blizzard has promised that they will keep adding new content to it.
In the most recent Hearthstone patch, Blizzard has added a few new minions to Battlegrounds, as well as bringing back the buddy system. Most buddies have been reworked since their latest iteration, with some getting completely new abilities and some having their old abilities tweaked. And with plenty of Hearthstone Battlegrounds builds around, there is a lot of replayability.
Each buddy has a set cost when the game starts, which will go down by two when you lose a game and by three when you win or tie. After getting your hands on your first buddy, that cost will reset. The second time you pay the cost, you will get your hands on two buddies. If you still have the first one, it will become golden and give you the usual Discovery card. But as you would expect, not all buddies are created equal, so here is a quick rundown of some of the best buddies that are currently available.
Submersible Chef
Even though Ambassador Faelin makes you lose your first turn, you get three randomized mobs of Tiers two, four, and six. To give you even more fuel, the Submersible Chef buddy has a battlecry that will give you a tier one, three, and five minions. While this is not the greatest buddy ability out there since it lacks consistency, with a bit of luck you can land some great minions. And while Faelin’s ability forces you to reach that particular Tier before you can play the reward minions, Submersible Chef has no such requirement.
Muckslinger
Shudderwock’s hero power has been reworked, allowing you to activate a minion’s battlecry effect every turn for no cost. When you play Muckslinger, Bob’s Tavern will receive a battlecry minion that also gets +2/+2. This ability has excellent synergy with Shudderwock’s hero power, ensuring that you always have a battlecry minion to use your hero power on. And since that bonus minion comes from outside the main pool, getting golden battlecry minions will also be easier.
Valithria Dreamwalker
Since Ysera’s hero power adds a dragon to your Tavern, usually you will be forced into playing a dragon build. And since dragon builds are limited to getting huge stats that can also have divine shield, the fact that Valithria buffs dragons in the Tavern by +3/+3 is a great benefit. Just make sure you give up some HP at the start of the game to upgrade your Tavern tier as fast as possible to get your hands on those high-tier dragons.
Brann’s Epic Egg
Dinotamer Brann has always been a crowd favorite, especially when there are Murlocs available, since they have some of the best battlecry effects around. Brann’s Epic Egg doubles down on that by giving you a free battlecry minion whenever it dies. And since it has Taunt, that should be a given in every round. Just make sure to pick up all minions that give extra minions as a battlecry effect, and you have yourself a winning combination.
Death’s Head Sage
Even though Death Speaker Blackthorn can work with any faction since Blood Gems can be applied to any minion, Death’s Head Sage pretty much forces you to play Quillboars. His ability states that whenever you would get a Blood Gem you get an extra one. And this applies to every single Blood Gem you get. For example if you were to get two Blood Gems you’d instead get four and so forth. This works great with cards like Prophet of the Boar and other Blood Gem engines. Pair it up with Agamaggan, the Great Boar and your minions will have some insane stats in no time.
Nathanos Blightcaller
In the past, Sylvanas was a rather unpopular hero in Battlegrounds, even though her main ability is a stat engine from the get-go. Her hero power works best with minions that have Reborn or Deathrattle, since it gives minions that died last turn +2/+1. But combined with Nathanos Blightcaller, Sylvanas is now a very strong hero. All you have to do is buff up a particular minion as much as you can, and then sacrifice him with Nathanos to buff two other minions with those stats. This works great with Ball of Minions which can receive faction-specific buffs from any card, including making him golden with Seafood Slinger.
Ticket Collector
Even though Tickatus is a rather unpopular hero due to the random nature of Darkmoon Prizes, his buddy makes him much stronger. When you sell him, Ticket Collector’s ability will give you a Darkmoon Prize from your next prize turn. Your game plan should be to get the best board that you can while buffing your minions with Darkmoon Prizes. In the late game, your ideal play is to land a Training Session prize that will allow you to change your hero power for a better one. While this is still very luck based, sometimes you can land a perfect hero power for your current build.
Snow Elemental
Chenvaala is always an interesting hero to play since you can upgrade your Tavern really fast if you land enough elementals. And now, with the addition of his buddy Snow Elemental, Chenvaala is one of the top-tier heroes in Battlegrounds. Snow Elemental’s ability will add a frozen Elemental to the Tavern whenever it’s refreshed. This ensures that you will never miss getting at least one Elemental per turn. Combined with Recycling Wraith and Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare, you’ll get your hands on some huge Elementals in no time.
If you’re a beginner when it comes to Battlegrounds, you can learn a lot from our Hearthstone Battlegrounds hero tier list guide. Not all heroes are created equal, and neither are their buddies. Blizzard seems interested in adding more content over time, especially since Battlegrounds is the one game mode that is still keeping the game alive.
