Looking for a Hearthstone Battlegrounds tier list to dictate which heroes you should pick? Our list of auto-chess games is now a tiny bit longer and you know what sucks? Being on the back foot because you’ve picked one of the weaker Hearthstone Battlegrounds heroes. So many hero powers, and so little time! We’ve built a Hearthstone Battlegrounds tier list to tell you who you should be looking out for when it comes to picking your hero.
This Hearthstone Battlegrounds tier list will be focusing on the heroes and their powers, and rather counterintuitively not about the tiers in the game, nor the minions – we know, barmy concept. If you want to know about how to play Hearthstone Battlegrounds at a very base level, we have a guide for that. Alternatively, you can check out some of these other great PC card games like Hearthstone.
It’s also important to note that many of these are situational to some extent. There will always be a little bit of luck involved in Hearthstone Battlegrounds, you could be the best player in the world and still lose the occasional match. Playing the best hero might not always go as planned, but similarly, if you pick a lower-tier hero, it doesn’t mean you’re doomed either. Enough flim-flamming – here’s our Hearthstone Battlegrounds tier list.
S Tier
These characters are the best of the best. If you see them, there needs to be a good reason for you not to pick them. They might not fit your playstyle, but at least give them a chance to impress you.
NEFARIAN
Hero Power: Nefarious Fire
Cost: one coin
Ability: At the start of the next combat phase, deal 1 damage to all enemy minions.
The bane of any divine shield decks. Nefarian gets rid of some very pesky shields for only one coin, and in the early game, this hero power could probably clear one or two minions on its own.
EDWIN VANCLEEF
Hero Power: Sharpen Blades
Cost: one coin
Ability: Give a minion +1/+1 for each minion you’ve bought this turn
Invest in battlecry minions and try not to stick to a themed hand, eg. mechs and Edwin Vancleff can be incredibly powerful – especially as you can target any minion on the board, including those cards that are difficult to buff, like Zapp Slywick.
ARCH-VILLAIN RAFAAM
Hero Power: I’ll Take That!
Cost: one coin
Ability: Next combat, add a plain copy of the first minion you kill to your hand
This is a really annoying hero to come up against, because you know they’ll get the minion they kill first, meaning you always have to rethink what you have out on the board. For the cost of one coin, it’s a guaranteed minion that you can use, or sell back to Bob.
A Tier
Now, these characters might not be S tier, but they can, in a heartbeat, take on any of the S tier heroes. Played well they’re pretty much on even footing, but that’s the fickle nature of a tier list, you have to make some tough calls.
INFINITE TOKI
Hero Power: Temporal Tavern
Cost: two coins
Ability: Refresh Bob’s Tavern. The last minion will be from a higher tavern tier
Toki is arguably the best boss around for the game so far. Because of the way her hero power works, she can be ahead of the curve very quickly, receiving higher tier minions than the rest of her opponents very quickly. She’s so good that she’s been nerfed already.
THE CURATOR
Passive Hero Power: Menagerist
Cost: no cost
Ability: Start the game with a 1/1 Amalgam that has all minion types
The Curator is very versatile. Starting with anything on the board will give you an advantage, but one with all minion types is really excellent. Any buffing card specific to a minion group can go on the Amalgam, meaning The Curator can be dangerously flexible.
A. F. KAY
Passive Hero Power: Procrastinate
Cost: no cost
Ability: Skip your first two turns. Start with a minion from tavern tiers 3 and 4
Despite this seeming quite risky, A.F. Kay sacrifices a little health and a head start for some really good benefits. As long as you pick some solid minions from tier three and four, you’ll be on a roll.
DANCIN’ DERYL
Passive Hero Power: Hat Trick
Cost: no cost
Ability: After you sell a minion, randomly give two minions in Bob’s Tavern +1/+1
Requires a high turnover rate with minions to do well, and also relies on some RNG for a meagre benefit. We’ll pass.
SHUDDERWOK
Hero Power: Frumious
Cost: two coins
Ability: Your next Battlecry this turn triggers twice
It all depends on whether you get a solid number of battlecry minions within your reach. Because of the pooled nature of the minions, it means that battlecries could have been picked by your opponents early on. Make you pick fast.
Tirion Fordring
Hero Power: Honorable Warband
Cost: one coin
Ability: Give minions with no minion type +1/+1
This hero may lack direction, but with a lot of type-less minions knocking about in the minion pool, early buffing can really pay off. Also using this on Soul Juggler, so he doesn’t take hits from Zapp Slywick by the endgame proves very useful.
B Tier
Still handy in a pinch, and great with the right deck. The B tier is either harder to use, or simply not as strong as the S and A tiers.
THE RAT KING
Passive Hero Power: King of X
Cost: no cost
Ability: Whenever you buy X give it +1/+2. Swaps type each turn. (Each turn X will be either beasts, murlocs, mechs, or demons)
Another buff benefit that you don’t need to pay for. This buff, although temperamental, gives your minions a good chance to survive in the earlier rounds. Just remember to pay attention to what the hero power is each turn or you’ll end up with a useless board.
MILLIFICENT MANASTORM
Passive Hero Power: Tinker
Cost: no cost
Ability: Mechs in Bob’s Tavern have +1 attack
Like Lord Jarraxus, this hero power relies on getting a certain type of minion, but it’s very effective if you do.
SINDRAGOSA
Passive Hero Power: Stay Frosty
Cost: no cost
Ability: At the end of your turn, Frozen minions get +1/+1
If you know you’re going to purchase a minion in Bob’s Tavern at the start of the next round and you freeze it, giving that minion +1/+1, it’s a handy way to guarantee an extra buff for zero cost, and without even having to think about it.
LORD JARRAXUS
Hero Power: Bloodfury
Cost: two coins
Ability: Give your Demons +1/+1
Lord Jarraxus was so bad he got a buff, taking the cost of this power from three coins, down to two. He still isn’t the best, but a focus on demons can be pretty meta at this point in time. Just don’t overspend when there are maybe better things you could be doing with your time.
YOGG-SARON, HOPE’S END
Hero Power: Puzzle Box
Cost: two coins
Ability: Hire a random minion from Bob’s Tavern, and give it +1/+1
RNG everywhere. The pool of minions in Hearthstone Battlegrounds is pretty varied, so consistency is fleeting. There are some good cards, great cards, and average ones too. Yogg’s hero power means you put it up to Bob to choose what you get so it’s just a little risky.
ELISE STARSEEKER
Passive Hero Power: Lead Explorer
Cost: no cost
Ability: When you upgrade Bob’s Tavern get a ‘Recruitment Map’
Elise Starseeker gives you a lot more choice of minions, instead of spending gold coins to constantly refresh minions, you can instead use your Recruitment Map to spend three gold coins on a minion in your current tavern tier.
C Tier
Poor heroes with the odd redeeming quality.
BARTENDOTRON
Passive Hero Power: Skilled Bartender
Cost: no cost
Ability: Reduce the cost of Tavern Tiers by (1)
This is pretty handy early on, in the race to get to the higher tier minions, but quickly expires when you hit the final leg.
PATCHWERK
Passive Hero Power: All Patched Up
Cost: no cost
Ability: Start with 50 health, instead of 40
Patchwerk is an odd boss because although the health is really useful when you need it if you don’t have anything on the board that packs a punch, your health isn’t going to matter for much longer. This hero keeps you in the game for a longer time, and gives you a lot more breathing room, but you still need to look for the best board.
LICH BAZ’HIAL
Hero Power: Graveyard Shift
Cost: zero coins
Ability: Take two damage and add a Gold Coin to your hand
This is risky play and you’ll need to decide whether taking the damage is worth it. Now new Hearthstone Battlegrounds cards have been added to the game, this hero is best paired with Floating Watcher, that gains +4/+4 each time your hero takes damage on your turn. It’s never a sure thing though.
GEORGE THE FALLEN
Hero Power: Boon of Light
Cost: four coins
Ability: Give a minion divine shield
A large price to pay for a mighty benefit. George the Fallen’s hero power is a double-edged sword. You spend four gold upgrading a minion, but it means that the value of said minion is now seven gold. Selling it back to Bob for only one hurts a little, so you have to be wise when using the hero power because those minions might need to stick with you for a while.
THE LICH KING
Hero Power: Reborn Rites
Cost: one coin
Ability: At the start of next combat phase, give your right-most minion Reborn
Order on the board means everything but the keyword Reborn isn’t likely to save a minion for much longer if it’s already been killed once. It could work if the deathrattle of the minion is really excellent.
THE GREAT AKAZAMZARAK
Hero Power: Prestidigitation
Cost: two coins
Ability: Discover a Secret. Put it into the battlefield
Again RNG based. Some of these secrets are useful in the context of a higher tier minion board, but otherwise, nothing especially exciting.
SYLVANAS WINDRUNNER
Hero Power: Banshee’s Blessing
Cost: zero coins
Ability: Remove a friendly minion to give adjacent minions +1/+1
You can only use this hero power once per turn, as it’s not a passive, but it is effective in giving two minions an extra buff if you know you’re going to sell back a card.
PROFESSOR PUTRICIDE
Hero Power: Rage Potion
Cost: one coin
Ability: At the start of next combat, give your left-most minion +20 attack
This hero power received a slight buff recently which raised it’s tier. Although it’s still not fantastic, as you can quickly negate the attack with a divine shield, pairing this hero power with a swipe minion such as Hydra, or Annihilan Battlemaster near the end game can prove a deadly combination.
Millhouse Manastorm
Passive Hero Power: Manastorm
Cost: no cost
Ability: Minions cost 2 gold. Refresh costs 2 gold. Start with 2 gold
Although cheaper minions may at first seem appealing, the refresh price of two coins just isn’t worth the pay off.
D Tier
These guys don’t have a lot going for them. On the surface, some of their hero powers might seem pretty useful but even when masterfully played, don’t have too much of an effect. If you can, avoid these guys and pick someone from higher up on the list – or don’t, we’re not your parents.
PYRAMAD
Hero Power: Brick by Brick
Cost: one coin
Ability: Give a random friendly minion +3 health
For the cost of one coin, this hero power isn’t going to cut in. Giving 3 health to a random minion can come in handy with murlocs, and even lower health cards like Soul Juggler, but the randomised nature makes it too risky.
PATCHES THE PIRATE
Hero Power: Fire the Cannons!
Cost: one coin
Ability: At the start of next combat, deal 4 damage to two random enemy minions
Although Patches has a slight advantage in the beginning, with the hero power only setting you back one coin, this is another power that doesn’t pay off towards the end. Even if you’re hoping to take out some divine shields or a low cost buffing minion, 4 damage just isn’t going to sway it.
RAGNAROS, THE FIRELORD
Hero Power: DIE INSECT
Cost: two coin
Ability: At the start of next combat, deal eight damage to two random enemy minions
Eight damage is normally a lot in the context of Hearthstone, but when you can buff the heck out of your minions like in Battlegrounds, it might not be as good as you might think.
QUEEN WAGTOGGLE
Hero Power: Wax Warband
Cost: one coin
Ability: Give a random friendly Mech, Demon, Murloc, and Beast +1 health
Encourages a playing style with no solid direction. There will be very little synergy within your cards if you try to focus too much on Queen Wagtoggle’s ability. I recommend thinking more about what’s in Bob’s Tavern more than her ability.
So that’s our Hearthstone Battlegrounds tier list. We expect that even more balance changes will be on the way, as Blizzard has already rotated heroes and added extra cards to the game.