Even though Hearthstone is struggling with the popularity of its main game modes, Battlegrounds is still bringing in many players. This includes most of the big Hearthstone streamers, with very few still playing the Normal or Arena game modes.
Battlegrounds is Blizzard’s spin on the auto-battler genre. To start off you have to choose from a wide variety of heroes, each of them with their special abilities and starting HP and Armor. Then you get to buy or sell units from a tavern which you can also upgrade in order to get access to higher-tiered units. Get three units of the same type and that unit will turn gold, buffing its abilities while also allowing you to choose among three units from a higher tier. But even though you can win with pretty much any hero, some are still stronger than others. So let’s have a look at some of the best heroes that you can get in Hearthstone Battlegrounds.
Master Nguyen
A literal jack of all trades, Master Nguyen’s ability allows you to choose out of two possible hero powers at the start of each turn. While this is a very random ability that doesn’t ensure any form of consistency, it can still bring many benefits. Certain powerful abilities can only be used once by their respective heroes. If you manage to nab one of those with Nguyen, you don’t have to worry about that limitation since next turn, you’ll have a completely new hero power. But this randomness can obviously end up hurting you in the long run when you keep getting lackluster hero powers that pretty much do nothing for your board state.
Professor Putricide
With a hero power that pretty much caters to playing Undead, Professor Putricide is a very strong hero even when you don’t have access to this new faction. His hero power costs four mana and will allow you to create a randomized Undead unit by choosing out of three possible Undead units twice. After you make your choices, their power and abilities will be merged. Your best bet with this hero is to wait for at least tavern level four before using this ability since you will have access to bigger, better Undead units to choose from.
Cookie the Cook
Cookie has a penchant for eating units from the tavern. His hero power allows you to consume one unit from the tavern. After consuming three units, you Discover from their unit types. Since his hero power has no cost, it basically means you get a free unit every three turns. Those Discover units will have a tier up to your current tavern tier, which means with a little luck, you can get some very strong units.
The Lich King
The Lich King has a hero power that costs zero and gives one of your units Reborn until your next turn. The Reborn ability makes a unit revive once after dying with one toughness. This ability mainly caters to Undead builds, even though it can work with a lot of units. For example, Divine Shield units will receive Divine Shield again after being Reborn. With plenty of uses for his ability, Lich King is one of the most consistent heroes out there.
Y’shaarj
His hero power costs two and will add a random minion of your current tavern tier to your hand. During your next combat, you will also summon a temporary copy of it. To make the best out of this ability, you should try to use it on turns you upgrade your tavern, ensuring that unit could potentially be of the highest possible tavern tier. This means that any units that can give you gold coins or other methods of upgrading your tavern faster can be a great pick when playing with Y’shaarj.
Arch-Villain Rafaam
Rafaam has a hero power that costs one and steals the first minion you killed during your last combat. This is basically a free unit, since if you don’t want to keep it you can sell it and get your money back. If you pay attention to every combat, this ability can allow you to get triples easier, which is always a good thing, no matter what build you’re going for.
Galewing
Galewing’s unique hero ability lets you choose from three possible quests. These are Westfall which gives your leftmost minion +2/+2 (after one turn), Ironforge will give you two gold (after two turns), and Eastern Plaguelands, which will Discover a minion of your tavern tier (after three turns). While you will generally use the first two for the early turns, in later turns where you have a higher tavern tier, the third quest will also come in handy.
Vanndar Stormpike
Vanndar has a passive hero power with Avenge (2): Give your minions +1 health permanently. This means that for every two units you lose, all your other units will get a +1 health buff. While this is not an amazing scaling ability, it can make up for some factions’ lack of health, such as Murlocs or Elementals. But the best faction to play when using Vanndar is the Undead since they have a lot of Reborn and Deathrattle effects.
Ambassador Faelin
Faelin has to skip his first turn as part of his hero power. He will choose one unit from tiers two, four, and six during that first turn. After reaching that particular tavern tier, he can play those units. Even though the units you choose are randomized, sometimes you can access some very strong units. Or, at the very least, you can have a vague idea of what you might play during this run, depending on what units you got from your hero power.
Infinite Toki
Toki has a very powerful hero ability that costs one mana. After activating it, the tavern will be refreshed with a guarantee of two units from one tier higher. Obviously, this is a very powerful boon, especially in those rounds where you have gold left over that will probably be wasted on a simple refresh. Even though those units will be randomly chosen, getting access to a higher tier beforehand can allow you to get your hands on particular units before your opponents do.
Even though Hearthstone as a whole has seen a steady decrease in its player base, Battlegrounds is still very popular. Even though not as popular as TFT for example, it still brings a ton of players daily. And each new season comes with additional changes, fixes, and new content. And with a constantly evolving metagame, Battlegrounds is definitely here to stay as one of the biggest auto-battlers out there. If you’re growing bored of Battlegrounds and want to get back into Standard, you can check out our handy Hearthstone meta decks list.
