Though it may still be in beta testing, Hearthstone Battlegrounds has caught the attention of the gaming scene. Popular card game streamers like Dog have spent more than a couple of hours exploring this up and comer’s depth of strategy, and it’s a sure thing that once the game is officially released we’ll be seeing it more. The absence of a meaningful ranked ladder is enough to disincentivize most competitive players, but this is a hole that will be filled before long.
Before ranked does go live, it’s a good idea to get a handle on the most powerful strategies. There are many different routes to take towards victory in Battlegrounds, but some are more consistent than others. With that being said, it should also be known that all players pick minions from a shared pool of options, meaning that, if two other people are going the same strategy as you, it’s going to cost you. Keeping all of that in mind, here’s a helpful list of the current best archetypes. Just don’t blame us when you fail to roll up a single Gentle Megasaur.
10 The Menagerie
Key units: Lightfang Enforcer, Zoobot, Menagerie Magician, Rat Pack, Murloc Tidecaller, Psych-O-Tron, Imp Gang Boss.
This is a very strange strategy that only works because of the card Lightfang Enforcer, a tier 5 minion. What you want to do is buff up a minion from each tribe in the early game using Zoobot and Menagerie Magician. Reach tier 5 as soon as possible, and then get your hands on a Lightfang Enforcer and let him do the rest. At the end of each turn, he will buff your entire board. Unfortunately, because Lightfang is a tier 5 minion, this strategy often loses too much life in the early game and fails to succeed.
9 Battlecry
Key units: Crowd Favorite, Brann Bronzebeard, Screwjank Clunker, Defender of Argus, Metaltooth Leaper, Foe Reaper 9000.
While it can be a hard strategy to make come together, Battlecry yields some crushing results when you’re lucky enough to get some Crowd Favorites early. There are many battlecry cards in Hearthstone Battlegrounds, but they don’t fit together as neatly as the tribe strategies. The one thing they do all share is the ability to buff up your Crowd Favorites, so don’t go for this strategy unless you have a couple.
8 Deathrattle
Key units: Kaboom Bot, Spawn of N’zoth, Piloted Sky Golem, Mechano-Egg, Baron Rivendare.
The idea behind Deathrattle is to pick up the minions with the most impactful deathrattles and then trigger them multiple times with Baron Rivendare. Like the battlecry strategy, the deathrattle archetype revolves largely around one card, which makes both somewhat weaker than other choices.
Furthermore, Deathrattle suffers from the issue of the board limit and the random nature of minion attacks. For example, if your Mechano-Egg gets sniped early while you have a full board, even if the deathrattle triggers 3 times, you’ll only receive one Robosaur.
7 Dancin’ Deryl
Key units: Alleycat, Murloc Tidehunter.
This jovial Murloc hero has a power so unique its become a strategy of its own. By drafting the two token generating minions, you are able to sell many minions in a single turn. Then, you can use the gold they refund you to buy the remaining minion you’ve buffed to a healthy size. The rhythm of Deryl’s dance moves works best at lower tavern tiers, with players still debating whether it’s best to stay at tavern tier 1 or upgrade to tier 4.
6 Mechs
Key units: Junkbot, Cobalt Guardian, Security Rover, Annoy-O-Module, Foe Reaper 4000.
Though a strong composition, mechs can suffer pretty heavily in the early game. All of their key synergy units are tier 3 or above, and the card that brings it all together, Junkbot, is a tier 5 unit. However, it is possible to string together a winning early composition if you roll multiple Metaltooth Leapers.
Given you survive the early game, mechs become very hard to beat as soon as you magnetic some Annoy-O-Modules onto your minions. This way, your Junkbot is protected from the enemy board until he’s grown to a size capable of single-handedly toppling your opponent.
5 Demons
Key units: Wrath Weaver, Floating Watcher, Siege Breaker, Annihilan Battlemaster, Mal’Ganis.
Where mechs suffer in the early game, Demons thrives. The presence of Wrath Weave, Voidwalker, and Vulgar Homunculus in tier 1 makes finding a lot of demons early super simple—and the more of them you play, the bigger your weaver grows.
Unfortunately, in the patch a couple of days ago, Voidwalker was removed from tier 1 and is no longer available. It’s uncertain how big of a nerf this will be to the Demons strategy, but it may harm the archetype a considerable amount. Nathrezim Overseers should be your priority in the mid-game as you transition to the key higher tavern tier units. Health pool management is a key aspect of Demons play, as each time you play a demon your Wrath Weaver damages you. Be just greedy enough to survive until you draft Mal’ganis, and your board will gain more stats than any other synergy.
4 Soul Juggler Demons
Key units: Soul Juggler, Wrath Weaver, Floating Watcher, Imp Gang Boss, Voidlord, Mal’Ganis.
While it’s a close call, we’ve found more success with the Soul Juggler Demons strategy. This archetype revolves around Soul Juggler, though, which is a highly contested card due to its incredible strength. If you don’t manage to get one or two, your strategy will quickly fall apart which makes it a high risk, high reward line of play.
Soul Juggler deals 3 damage to a random enemy each time a demon dies, so your key units shift to demons that summon more demons. You’ll notice that Wrath Weaver, Floating Watcher, and Mal’Ganis are mainstays in both archetypes, which sometimes leads to tangential competition over the pool.
3 Cave Hydra Beasts
Key units: Cave Hydra, Houndmaster, Pack Leader, Goldrinn, the Great Wolff, Virmen Sensei, Menagerie Magician.
Just like Soul Juggler Demons, Cave Hydra Beasts revolves around its one card namesake as well. The whole idea is to abuse Cave Hydra’s multi-attack ability by buffing it up to gargantuan stature. There are a few cards that Buff the attack of beasts, and, in order to get the hydra you want, you’re going to need to draft all of them.
Don’t forget to keep your Cave Hydra on the far left side of your board, as that minion will always attack first. The last thing you want is you Cave Hydra getting sniped by an opposing minion before it gets a chance to attack.
2 Beasts
Key units: Pack Leader, Rat Pack, Infested Wolf, Scavenging Hyena, Goldrinn, the Great Wolf, Mama Bear.
Beasts is almost as much of a deathrattle deck as normal Deathrattle archetypes. The most important card here is Pack Leader, as you’ll be using his ability to make the 1/1s summoned by your deathrattles into well-sized minions. Early game, Alleycat is great for cycling through units, as you’re able to sell the minion it summons for extra gold. It’s also important to give at least one of your minions taunt early. Otherwise, your Pack Leader is in danger of dying, thus failing to buff up your deathrattle beasts.
1 Murlocs
Key units: Murloc Tidecaller, Murloc Warleader, Coldlight Seer, Old Murk-Eye, King Bagurgle, Gentle Megasaur.
Murlocs are capable of having tremendous attack stats due to Murloc Tidecaller and Murloc Warleader, as well as a solid pool of health thanks to Coldlight Seer. The problem is that they eventually get outpaced by the other strategies. In order to combat this, you have to draft a Gentle Megasaur, a unit only found in tier 6. Gentle Megasaur buffs your entire board with whatever you might need, usually divine shield or poisonous, giving your sea monster-sized fish an edge. If you don’t see a Megasaur, you normally just lose. Just say a quick prayer to RNGesus every night before bed, and you’ll have nothing to worry about!
NEXT: Hearthstone: 5 Cards That Are Underrated (& 5 Overrated)
