Hearthstone Battlegrounds Guide and Tips
Hearthstone Battlegrounds is a unique and challenging Hearthstone game mode. Although it is been a few months since it was released, there are still a lot of players who make critical mistakes while playing Battlegrounds. In this guide, you will learn general information about Battlegrounds, get tips for starting out in the game, get good examples of the gameplay, and the basic rules of the new Hearthstone game mode.
Basic Information
Some people think that Battlegrounds has about 80% of the Hearthstone gameplay and 20% from autochess. But the game mode is easy to learn for everyone. Our basic information is based on your past experience in Hearthstone.
If You Playing Hearthstone Regularly
There are eight players in a lobby. You can join a game with one friend, but you will not be allies. If you already play Hearthstone regularly, Battlefields will be easy for you. You know almost all the cards, and you played in the PvE modes of the Year of the Dragon, which means that you will learn the basic rules by playing a couple games. Most card mechanics should be familiar from past experience: battlecries, deathrattles, taunts, magnetism, and different minions.
Key Differences from Ladder
Minions attack independently, similar to during the effect of Mass Hysteria, but in the given order from left to right
There is no deck, you select and buff minions on the table from the Bob Tavern
Minions have no mana cost. Instead, they are broken down into 1-6 tier.
Newcomers to Hearthstone
If you’ve never played Hearthstone, that’s okay. The game is easy to learn and very intuitive, especially in Battlegrounds.
Get to know the basic parts of the gameplay: your hero and his ability, the enemy hero, minions, your hero power. You can easily study it on the official website here. Important tip: ALWAYS use this template while playing. This extremely important because you should know which tier of minions you need at a given time.
Main Rules
At the very beginning, you can choose one of three heroes. There are 33 heroes in total: three of them will be selected by the game randomly and offered to you. Each hero has their own unique ability, which can be used between battles.
Image via Hearthstone.
The gameplay is divided into 2 phases: recruitment of minions and combat.
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Recruitment of Minions
To recruit or buy one creature, you need to spend 3 gold – the price is the same for any minions of each tier in the game.
Bob (the game) offers three actions to choose from: upgrade the level of the proposed minions (by finding 3 same minions in the tavern), sell a minion for 1 gold and freeze the minions (they will be saved for the next round of recruitment).
Make sure to spend all the gold every turn. It is not saved for the next round.
By recruiting a minion, you will receive it in your hand, and after that, you can put it on your half of the table for free. You can place 7 minions on the battlefield.
Combat
Combat goes off automatically: you cannot do anything in this phase. Minions attack in order from left to right. The player who attacks first is random. The only exception is when you or your opponent has more minions on the table, then the player with more minions will attack first.
When attacking, a minion can choose any other minion. If a player has taunts, the minion must attack one of them.
The player who has a minion left on the table wins a round.
The winning hero deals damage depending on the number of remaining minions and their characteristics. Each hero has 40 HP, except Patchwerk, he has 50 HP.
If you do not lose the full health after combat phase, you will begin the phase of recruiting again.
All dead minions will reappear on your half table with full health. All damaged creatures fully restore health.
Gameplay and the current meta
After the patch with the dragons, the meta and strategy have changed significantly. Almost all Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 minions do not pose a threat. You can no longer rely on one minion in the mid-game and especially in the late-game. An exception to this is Cobalt Guardian. You can build-up your strategy around him and get a good table in mid-game.
The key and main threats right now are at levels 5 and 6 of the tavern.
The task of any player is to take at least level 4 of the tavern as quickly as possible and look for potential triplets. So you can unearth Brann Bronzebeard, Goldrinn the Great Wolf, Baron Rivendare, Sneed`s Old Shredder, or other 6-tier minions that can become the basis of your table in the mid and late game.
Therefore, upgrading your tavern on 4, 7 and 9 gold is optional, but a desirable option. You should not delay with the upgrade, because all players have a common pool of creatures. Those who take high tavern tiers will quickly find key minions, which means there will be nothing left for you.
After you have upgraded level 4 of the tavern, do not linger on it. You need to go for a tier-5. Ideally, you should do it before facing a weak opponent or by finding a triplet. If you have not lost your health in the early stages of the game, you can push for tier-5 earlier.
The current meta is based on 5-6 level minions. They are much stronger than the rest of the minions. Therefore, players who manage to take high levels and find key minions will occupy the top ranks of the lobby.
