Fans of the game may think that they don’t need to alter their playstyle drastically for Hearthstone’s latest mode – Battlegrounds – but they’ll be sorely mistaken for thinking so. Although the mode features similar card text and tribes, it greatly differs when it comes to the actual composition needed and the strategies that must be adopted in order to succeed. In order to help you develop the best possible strategies, we have this Hearthstone Battlegrounds Strategy guide to aid you.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Strategy
The guide will go over each tribe and what kind of strategy and setup players should adopt when playing with a certain composition.
Mechs
Divine Shield, Magnetism, Recycling Mechanisms, and Summons are all present in Battlegrounds.
You’ll notice very quickly that outside of Nightmare Amalgam, no other early game units are available to you. This means that you’ll need to acquire as much as you can from the Tavern Tier, which can only be done if you play greedily at the start.
Due to this factor, it’s recommended that you lean heavily onto Nightmare Amalgam; it allows you to go full Mech later on, while simultaneously offering enough tribe flexibility and stats to synergize with anything else on the board.
We implore you to acquire Cobalt Guardian and Psycho-o Torn from the shop if you chance across them. Their value cannot be understated; they’re both juggernauts that will prove themselves indispensable in the later stages. Both these units benefit greatly from Magnetic Minions.
We also recommend acquiring the Annoy-o Module; equipping heavy-hitters with Taunt and Divine Shield adds a great deal of battle value and protects your backline (of which there should be a Security Rover).
Having mech minions synergize with Cobalt Guardian ups the win condition considerably.
Best Setup
- Junkbot
- Security Rover
- Psych-o-Tron
- Cobalt Guardian
- Nightmare Amalgam
- Foe Reaper 4000
- Piloted Sky Golem
Best Heroes
- The Curator
- F. Kay
- Millificent Manastorm
- Nefarian
- Patchwerk
Beasts
This tribe relies heavily on powerful summons and synergetic buffs. As a starting maneuver, it’s recommended that you place Scavenging Hyena on the right most position; it’ll continuously get buffs as the match progresses.
A quick and painless way of reaching Tavern Tier 3 is to pair a Hyena with a Kindly Grandmother/Alleycat; also pick up Rat Pack – add as many of the Tier 2 units as you can into your team, as quickly as possible.
Cave Hydra will serve you diligently in the long run, primarily due to its cleave damage being capable of doing damage to enemies protected by Divine Shield.
Place the Cave Hydra in the left-most position so it may rid the enemy front lines of Divine Shield.
To get a large number of buffs, Goldrinn’s Deathrattle can grant a total of 48 stat points (this is only possible on a full Beast Board). This is a massive buff, and also the most effective.
Try to have Goldrinn attack as early as possible for maximum efficiency. A good Beast-centric composition is not complete without Mama Bear.
Even if you don’t run a full Beast composition, 10 stats per summoned Beast can turn any fight in your favor.
The synergy between Mama Bear and Rat Pack is not only obvious but also the most powerful one in all of Battlegrounds.
Divine Shield and Poisonous enemies may prove to be a genuine hindrance, but Cave Hydra should allow you to power through.
Best Setup
- Mama Bear
- Cave Hydra
- Pack Leader
- Scavenging Hyena
- Rat Pack
- Goldrinn, the Great Wolf
- Nightmare Amalgam
Best Heroes
- Infinite Toki
- The Curator
- Patchwerk
- The Rat King
Demons
This particular tribe has the most potential. Its early game snowball effect is immense. Wrath Weaver’s buff mechanic allows several demons such as Voidwaker gain a great deal of value.
Nathrezim Overseer helps to keep up the board pressure in the mid game while providing a solid 2/4 body.
Nightmare Amalgam and Soul Juggler are absolutely necessary for a purely Demon setup. Depending on your Demon count, Soul Juggler’s active ability, in conjunction with Wrath Weaver, can drastically increase your direct board damage.
Siegebreaker offers a great body and active +1 Attack aura which justifies keeping one or two low-tier Demons on the board until you find your end game units.
Alongside this, try to roll Mal’Ganis (can be done by playing a Golden Unit on Tavern Tier 4). If you can’t do that, buff up your Nightmare Amalgam.
The most important facet of this setup is Annihilan Battlemaster, a unit that can double the effect of Wrath Weaver.
The synergy with Mal’Ganis offers ridiculous amounts of Health buffs for this pitlord, and Defender of Argus’ Taunt buff completes your beautiful Demon composition.
For your last board slot, pick a heavy-hitter; it can be any that tickles your fancy.
Demons, problematically, rely heavily on Wrath Weaver, and that requires a great deal of your health to be sacrificed.
If you can manage to find your high-value mid game solutions combined with one or the other golden low-tier Demon, you should be able to recover from your Health losses.
A pure Demon composition can be tricky but it has the most potential out of all the tribes!
Best Setup
- Annihilan Battlemaster
- Wrath Weaver
- Nightmare Amalgam
- Soul Juggler
- Siegebreaker
- Void Lord
- Mal’Gannis
Best Heroes
- Nefarian
- The Curator
- Lord Jaraxxus
- Bartendotron
Murlocs
Murlocs are a powerful tribe, capable of doing damage early game, and having enough snowball potential to be useful in the later stages.
Murlocs are a complex tribe, mishandling of such a tribe could lead to some bad results; but if handled with care, the end result will be in your favor.
Murlocs, to function at their absolute best, require good synergy and strong buff effects.
Besides the usual snowball mechanics involving Murloc Tidecaller’s self-buff and buffs from Rockpool Hunter and Coldlight Seer, you need to aggressively play for general buffs as well.
Zoobot, Menagerie Magician and even Defender of Argus or Strongshell Scavenger carry your Murlocs into the later stages of the game.
Nightmare Amalgam, of course, is a necessary component. Run 2 copies of it to maximize its effectiveness, especially in the early game.
Ultimately, you want to use Gentle Megasaur; if you manage to discover Divine Shield or Poisonous for all Murlocs on the board, even the most beefy Mech compositions barely stand a chance against your buffed up board.
Best Setup
- Murloc Warleader
- Old Murk-Eye
- Murloc Tidecaller
- Nightmare Amalgam
- Rockpool Hunter
- Nightmare Amalgam
- Gentle Megasaur
Best Heroes
- Giantfin
- Shudderwock
- The Lich King
- Dancin’ Deryl
The Menagerie
The Menagerie composition is unarguably the most versatile composition you can hope to have.
Unlike other compositions, the decision to play a Menagerie board should be made in the later stages of the game.
The Lightfang Enforcer unit is the most important part of a Menagerie setup; it adds 16 stats if you play a minion from one of the 4 tribes – and this can be done every single round.
It has a 2/2 body but the buffs it provides more than make up for it.
Lightfang Enforcer also offers tons of flexibility when it comes to your personal Menagerie composition.
Many weak units get surprisingly strong over time if they bring the right stats.
If you’re unable to acquire a Lightfang Enforcer, Zoobat and Menagerie Warden are also capable of buffing your units, albeit not as much.
Best Setup
- Lightfang Enforcer
- Nightmare Amalgam
- Nightmare Amalgam
Best Heroes
- Rat King
- The Curator
- F. Kay
- Patchwerk
Now that you have a solid grasp on how to compose the board with certain tribes, let’s go over some other basic Hearthstone Battlegrounds strategy guides on how to effectively win any particular match.
Freezing the Board
An action that can be done at the end of any Recruit Phase; this allows you to keep all minions available for purchase for future Recruit Phases, but it will also prevent the Tavern from Refreshing (you might miss out on some goodies).
You should only freeze the board when (i) you’re trying to pick up a potential 3rd copy of a minion, (ii) you’re trying to pick several 2nd copies of minions, or (iii) trying to pick up a minion that can change the tides of battle.
Do not freeze the board at the end of your turn, as the Tavern will not refresh and you’ll miss out on minions belonging to a higher tier.
Tavern Upgrade
As a general rule of thumb, you want to upgrade your Tavern as soon as possible. This is due to the fact that an upgraded minion will offer you a card from 2 Tiers up.
However, there are certain reasons to delay upgrading your Tavern.
They are: (i) Upgrades get cheaper after every turn; (ii) Some Taverns do not offer the appropriate synergy; and (iii) certain Minions can only be picked up from lower tier Taverns.
Combine/Upgrade Minions
Combining 3 Minions gives you a stronger minion and you’re likely to discover a minion from the next tier.
Minions will always be instantly combined when you purchase your 3rd copy, regardless of whether they are in your hand or in play.
Additionally, the new minion will retain any buffs placed on the first 2 minions.
A combined minion can help you discover a card from the next tier, so hold off on playing the card until you’ve upgraded your tavern so you get you discover an immensely powerful minion.
Hero Powers
Any Hero Power that permanently affects the board should be used as early as possible so that you derive the most value from it.
On the other hand, any Hero Power that has a one-time effect should be used later in the game.
You want to have lots of coins early on so you can purchase Minions, meaning you should hold off on using this kind of Hero Power until later.
Battlecry Token Minions
Any minion you summon via a battlecry can be sold for 1 gold. This provides you with more minions to sell and effectively gives you more gold to work with, which is especially powerful in the early game and can allow you to snowball exponentially.
Counter your Opponents
Be vigilant of your opponent’s positioning – where they place their minions (and which minions they have on the board).
By understanding the what and where, you can form a strategy to disrupt your opponent’s tactics; something that can be done if you purchase the proper minions.
You should also reposition your own minions to perfectly counter your opponent’s minions. Counterintuitive positioning will give you a stark advantage going forward.
Positioning Minions
Your minions attack from left to right. Therefore, you need to appropriately position your minions so that you maximize their effects.
For example, the minions on the left side buff up the remaining minions, so you should leave your most powerful minion for the end so that it’s completely buffed when used.
Of course, each game varies and the same strategy will not apply every time.
You need to study your opponent and appropriately position your minions.
Take into account the minions that benefit from other minions; be sure to not have too many minions that are vulnerable to cleave damage; leave enough room on the board for new minions; and if your enemy uses Divine Shield, position your minions in a way that the weaker ones attack first.
Do not simply react to your opponent’s strategies, anticipate them, prepare for them, and strategize to properly combat them.
Hopefully, this Hearthstone Battlegrounds Strategy guide is enough to let you do all that.
