Season 4 of Hearthstone Battlegrounds introduced a very new and fresh pool of minions to buy from. 59 minions were removed from the pool, and 58 minions were added. With all of these sudden and drastic changes to the minion pool, it can be difficult to take your pick from Bartender Bob’s offerings. Here is a look at all of the new minions so your first match will not be quite as intimidating.
Tribes
Mechs
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4 brings in a slew of Mechanical minions to play with, and 80% of them include the Magnetize/Magnetic keyword. This update also introduced the ability to magnetize minions on a full board, both in traditional Hearthstone play and also in Battlegrounds! Before this update, you could only stack a Magnetic minion onto a Mech minion if you had an additional space on your board to place it down. Thankfully, we can now Magnetize a full board!
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Mech minions.
Lullabot is a cheap minion that starts off relatively weak and scales throughout the game, eventually becoming a monstrous Tier 2 minion. However, with the Magnetic keyword, any Mech minion in Battlegrounds can have this consistent growth at the end of every turn.
The Accord-o-Tron provides consistent value and with the Magnetic keyword, it is a very high-value minion. After 3 turns, it pays for itself, and each turn after it is generating a profit along with buffing your chosen Mech by (2)/(3). Gold-generating minions like Pirates take up space and have much less value because you are required to weaken your warband in order to gain that gold.
Scrap-Scraper is a clearly powerful minion but requires a minion summoning warband in order to maximize value. Thankfully, one of the Magnetic Mechs you can receive is a minion summoning Mech (Replicating Menace). If obtained mid to early game and used with Replicating Menace, a large amount of stackable attack and health power will fill up your hand.
The Utility Drone is a must-have for warbands looking to spam Magnetic keyword minions and scale any given Mech minion to the skies. Even with just a few Magnetic minions, this card is extremely powerful and is worth hyper-rolling for.
The Polarizing Beatboxer is an incredibly strong card, also focusing on the Magnetize keyword. The power is so great that it makes anyone playing Mech very tempted to upgrade to Tavern Tier 6 as soon as possible, because the sooner you can get this the more it will scale.
Quilboar
Moon-Bacon Jazzer introduces a powerful new mechanic to the Quilboar tribe, increasing the value of all Blood Gems received. Unfortunately, it is stuck behind the Battlecry keyword. Unless you have a way to repeatedly trigger the Battlecry, the best option for repeatedly triggering this is to sell it after use in order to put it back in the minion pool.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Quilboar minions.
Prickly Piper is significantly better and only one Tavern Tier higher, at 4 stars. This Deathrattle will obviously trigger much more often than a Battlecry, and increasing attack is possibly even stronger than increasing health, after the nerf/rework to the Poisonous mechanic that also launched in Season 4 of Battlegrounds. This rework changes the name to Venomous, and it is only active for the first minion it damages.
Bongo Bopper is a very strong Quilboar that both generates Blood Gems and places Blood Gems on itself. While it does not generate a large amount of gems, it scales very quickly.
Bristlebach is very strong if your team composition is optimized for summoning lots of minions, which is something many tribes can do effectively at this point. With the “Mistake” amalgam, you can both have a full Quilboar board and also summon mechs in combat with the “Replicating Menace” magnetic card.
Demons
Backstage Security is a pretty strong card and is balanced thoughtfully. The stats of 4/6 on a Tavern Tier 2 minion are very strong. While you may receive value from receiving damage, you likely do not have Soul Rewinder as well unless Bartender Bob is feeling especially gracious.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Demon minions.
Soul Rewinder is extremely valuable, possibly the most important early-game minion for the Demon tribe. It offers the invulnerability that used to be reserved for Mal’Ganis and also buffs this minion each time you prevent damage. If you are trying to win with Demons and someone else has nabbed all of the Soul Rewinders, you are gonna have a bad time.
Keyboard Igniter is a decent card, although not getting it is perfectly fine. The buff it offers is somewhat weak, and depending on your board state it might not even be ready to trigger. Compared to many of the other new cards, this is pretty underwhelming.
Malchezar, Prince of Dance is a very popular new minion for any type of team composition. In all nearly all card games where health exists, it is a resource that can be spent. It is also important to be mindful of your health total and make sure you have enough health to survive at least one close combat or two. But if you have enough health to spare, consider using it instead of gold in order to roll as many times as possible.
Imposing Percussionist certainly has a better Battlecry than Keyboard Igniter, but it is still a somewhat weak card without a way to trigger it repeatedly. If you have a minion that either doubles your Battlecries or triggers it again, then this is a very strong card.
Tichondrius is likely the most valuable Demon in the newest set, providing a large board buff that can be triggered many times outside of combat, providing a permanent buff. It is not the most powerful late-game Demon in the current minion pool, but it does have a lot of value.
Pirates
Southsea Busker is a decent Tavern Tier 1 choice, providing a small amount of value on the next turn. There is also potentially a combo effect provided you have the Underhanded Dealer or a minion that scales with gold spent.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Pirate minions.
Gunpowder Courier is a very strong Pirate, which will be triggered frequently and buff up your entire board. Once you begin generating an abnormal amount of gold, this effect will be even stronger.
Bloodsail Cannoneer is not a bad option, but clearly, the Gunpowder Courier provides more value if you intend to keep the minion on the warband. However, Pirates do not have a lot of stat buffing at the moment so buying this minion as often as possible is a good idea for an all-Pirate composition.
Lovesick Balladist is another decent option for buffing your minions, however, it only targets a single minion as opposed to all other Pirates in your warband. This makes it a bit weaker, but if you have an extremely powerful and important unit, then this is worth buying. Since this scales with gold spent it will be stronger late-game, but you will likely be nearing late-game if you are at Tavern Tier 4.
Blade Collector is the new Pirate that all of your friends are talking about. It is likely the most impactful single Pirate that was added in Season 4, and the weak base stats are merely a deception. Many different tribe compositions can result in the Blade Collector turning into a gigantic minion that kills three minions at a time. Naga and Quilboar are the most obvious choices for buffing it up fast, but an all Pirate warband can be effective at buffing the Blade Collector as well.
Record Smuggler is a very strong gold generator and if you are intending to rely on this element, then this is a must-have. With an all-Pirate warband, this generates 7 additional gold per turn. With a golden version, it provides 14 additional gold per turn. Late-game this will be 24 gold in total, as opposed to the 10 that most players are working with. The amount of bonus gold that Pirates provide is no longer a pittance to scoff at.
Underhanded Dealer scales with gold gained, so obviously it will grow very quickly with a Record Smuggler on your warband or any other gold generators. It is worth remembering that the new Magnetic mech, Accord-o-Tron, can be put onto the “Mistake” minion in order to maintain a full Pirate warband and generate bonus income from this amalgam. Many other buffs can be given to this minion depending on the tribes in your game.
Upbeat Impressionist is one of the more powerful Upbeat minions, although it is stuck at Tavern Tier 5 unfortunately. Essentially providing the value of two specific minions every 2 turns, this card is not very good or bad. it is definitely a contender for at least a temporary option in a Pirate warband in order to generate golden minions faster. Once you have a fully golden warband this card obviously does not have much value, so consider it a springboard that you will replace with a more powerful minion once you near late-game. However, only being available at Tavern Tier 5 means you are already nearing late-game and probably have several golden minions already.
Fleet Admiral Tethys is the new Pirate that players are racing for if there is more than one Pirate warband in your lobby. It provides approximately between 1 and 3 free Pirates per turn depending on gold generated, as it triggers for every 8 gold spent. This is a lot of value, especially if you are generating 20+ gold per turn. Given the fact that there are fewer copies of each Tavern Tier 6 minion in the pool, whoever ends up with Tethys has a big advantage if multiple players are running for Pirates.
Beasts
Manasaber has a lot of value, generating not only beasts but also taunt minions. It is very strong for a Tavern Tier 1 card and designed cleverly so that in early-game it does not provide much value until you provide a way to buff your summons.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Beast minions.
Humming Bird is a very strong Beast, providing a buff to your other Beasts (including your 0/1 summons from the Manasaber). This is also only Tavern Tier 2, providing an early-game buff and making the Beast tribe even more dominant in the early game. Many players will keep a golden Humming Bird through most of the game due to the strength of summon buffing team compositions.
Rylak Metalhead is a very strong minion for any type of team composition or tribe and frequently sees use in compositions outside of Beasts. Battlecries are generally higher value than Deathrattle, as they are a bit harder to trigger. Being able to trigger them repeatedly is very powerful, however, minion buffs will unfortunately go away after combat ends as they were applied in combat. But if you are repeatedly gaining Blood Gems, minions, or gold coins, this value will remain after the end of combat.
Banana Slamma is another very strong minion, doubling the stats of your summoned minions. With Humming Bird, the value gained is even stronger. With a board-filling minion like the Rat Pack, your horde of fodder is suddenly formidable.
The Octosari, Wrap God, is clearly the strongest new Beast minion of the set. While it is locked at Tavern Tier 6, this card is arguably the strongest Beast in the game. The Tentacle summoned on death will grow quickly based on your number of summoned minions, and the stats will not disappear after combat, they will only continue to grow. Beasts also have some tricks in the Deathrattle department, more specifically, triggering them repeatedly. This will create a horde of gigantic Tentacles that will only get scarier in each combat they are used.
Murlocs
The Murloc tribe got a lot of powerful minions in this set, likely in order to make up for the removal of the Poisonous keyword that was especially beneficial for the Season 3 Murloc meta.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Murloc minions.
Upbeat Flutist is an extremely strong Tavern Tier 2 minion for any team composition. While it does synergize especially well with Murlocs, every minion can benefit from additional health. A very common strategy is buffing up a series of minions in your hand for use in late-game, or to be summoned by the Bassgill. If hand-buffing is your goal, getting a golden Upbeat Flutist should be your highest priority in the early game.
Scourfin is a similar hand-buff minion, but definitely a bit stronger and will trigger a lot more often. This card is so strong that it is worth picking up Titus Rivendare in order to trigger this repeatedly. Monstrous Macaw can also trigger this in combat repeatedly, making that important as well if you want a gigantic minion hidden in your hand.
Bassgill is essential for any hand-buff team composition. Without Bassgill, you will only gain the value from hand-buffing after playing the minion, which can be risky. With Bassgill, you retain this value and essentially add an extra minion to your warband. This is so inherently powerful that it is surprising every single team composition does not try to use Bassgill in some way. That being said, many strategies use Bassgill outside of just Murlocs so make sure they do not all get bought out from under you. This effect can be triggered with the Monstrous Macaw or doubled with Titus Rivendare. If you have a golden Bassgill and golden Titus Rivendare, this will pull 6 minions from your hand and put them onto the battlefield if there is enough room. If you enjoyed the Combat phase, why not double it?
Bream Counter is the hand-buff minion that will likely be sitting in the hands of the Murloc players and will make its appearance after the parting of the Bassgill. It can grow very quickly, reaching over 100+/100+ stats if it is golden and you have an extra spot on your warband to spam Murlocs as much as possible.
Plagued Tidewalker is pretty weak by itself, but it is a decent option as your first minion to swing because if it does not hit divine shield it essentially functions like Leeroy Jenkins (on death it kills the enemy minion that is responsible). It can be somewhat powerful when used with Soulsplitter, the Tavern Tier 5 Undead minion that provides another Undead with the Reborn keyword at the start of combat. Unfortunately, this other minion will have to remain a member of your warband as well, which offsets the value gained by having a Venomous minion with Reborn.
Operatic Belcher is the Venomous Murloc that is worth buying. Not only is it Venomous, but it gives another Murloc the Venomous keyword on death, or two Murlocs if the Operatic Belcher is golden. Of course, with Titus Rivendare, you can give most or all of your Murlocs Venomous. This is a very strong combo.
Choral Mrrrglr is the hand-buff Murloc to rule them all, which can reach astronomical heights depending on the size of the minions in your hand. Hand-buff Murloc is very strong with or without this minion, but this minion sets a powerful warband above the rest.
Dragons
Upbeat Frontdrake provides a modest amount of value every 3 turns which is impressive for a Tavern Tier 1 minion. The downside is that the stats are 1/1, so without some other early-game minion from your Hero Power, you will likely lose your early combats.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Dragon minions.
Low-Flier is a very strong Tavern Tier 2 minion, buffing your entire board permanently if they have less attack than this minion. This is a minion worth holding onto for a very long time and is beneficial for any type of tribe composition.
Stormbringer is very strong for all Dragon warbands, scaling very quickly with many other minions that buff up your Dragons’ attack powers. It does take some time to grow to extreme values, but it can be obtained in the early to mid-game and can scale quickly depending on how efficient your board buffing is.
Electric Synthesizer is a pretty strong card given the scaling value of giving your Dragons higher attack power. However, there are other minions to buff your Dragons, so this is not necessarily required for a successful Dragon composition. With a full Dragon composition, this is +18 attack power total, or with a golden Electric Synthesizer, +36 attack power in total. Stormbringer will grow very quickly if you can get a few Electric Synthesizers.
Sanctum Rester provides health as opposed to attack power, and it triggers at the start of combat as opposed to during the recruit phase. So unless it is buffing Tarecgosa, it will not keep this health and it will not continue to grow after each combat. This is honestly a pretty low-value minion, especially for Tavern Tier 5. If you have no other synergizing Dragon options and require all Dragons, then this is worth using. However, I would opt for more permanent buffing options.
Disco Shuffler is a very weird card. The “Choose One -” keyword has generally been used for Druids, and it is first used in Battlegrounds for a Battlecry Disco Dragon. With a strong Battlecry team composition, this is a powerful tool. Otherwise, this is a decent card but a bit weak at Tavern Tier 5. In comparison, “Orgozoa, The Tender” is a Tavern Tier 6 Naga and it allows the player to discover one Naga per turn. This does have the utility of triggering a Battlecry of an already played minion during the Recruit phase, which provides permanent buffs. Rylak Metalhead provides a similar value, but it only triggers during combat and therefore provides temporary stat buffs.
Elementals
Flourishing Frostling is a masterfully designed minion that is somewhat weak/decent early game, continues to scale into the late-game, and remains a relevant source of damage throughout the game.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Elemental minions.
Dancing Barnstormer is a very strong minion and provides yet another option to permanently buff all Elementals offered in the Tavern. While it may not be the strongest minion with this buff, it is still a strong effect that can be triggered at least once per combat. Of course, with a Monstrous Macaw and Titus Rivendare, this can be triggered many times in a single combat.
The Gusty Trumpeter is a somewhat strong minion that provides value based on Elementals sold. Many Elemental minions scale based on Elementals played, bought, or sold. Considering this is such an integral part of the Elemental strategy, this is a must-buy unless you absolutely require stronger minions.
The Elemental of Surprise allows you to make a golden minion with only two of any Elemental. Additionally, the base stats of this minion are relatively high, making it a strong minion on your warband until it is used for tripling.
Rock Rock is the strongest new Elemental by far and possibly one of the strongest Elementals in general. The amount of value you provide your entire board by just spamming Elementals like you normally would is insane. This is certainly worth rushing to Tavern Tier 6 for if you are playing Elementals and have opponents also playing them.
Naga
Reef Riffer is another minion designed to be somewhat weak early game and get stronger as the game progresses. While there are many powerful late-game Naga options, +6/+6 or even +12/+12 is still a strong buff.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Naga minions.
Zesty Shaker is a really cool minion that gives Naga more spell-spamming ability. With so many powerful Naga creatures that do not offer a Spellcraft, it is a good idea to pick up a minion that essentially gives you another copy of any chosen Spellcraft.
Deep Blue Crooner is the strongest Naga of the set by far, it is insane. Very quickly it will be buffing +20/+20 or more if you have more than one Crooner and/or some Zesty Shakers.
Silent Swimmer is an interesting card, introducing the Stealth mechanic to Battlegrounds. The stat buff is minor, but it provides the utility of keeping a minion safe from being targeted until it attacks. Many strategies and team compositions are reliant on keeping a specific minion alive, and previously, the only option was giving every other minion Taunt. While giving all others Taunt is still technically better, giving a single minion Stealth is much easier and in practice is almost as effective.
Undead
The Incorporeal Corporal is another minion designed to be weak in the early game and stronger in the mid-game. While it will win most fights in the early game, it will result in a tie. In the mid to late game, it can be given Taunt or sat on the furthest right of a large warband in order to remove most of the risk of it destroying itself.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new Undead minions.
Radio Star is a strong value-generating card that can be picked up relatively early in the game. While it does not provide a lot of attack or defense, it will provide a free minion from your opponent’s warband after every turn. There is a good chance of obtaining a golden minion for free by facing the same opponent several times. This is also contingent on the fact that their warband goes largely unchanged and the combat goes similarly. However, if Radio Star is your only minion with Taunt and they have the same minion attacking first every turn, you will continue to stack that minion.
Plagued Tidewalker is a bit stronger in an Undead warband as opposed to a Murloc warband, as Murlocs have better options for Venomous. Additionally, the Undead have minions with an active effect to buff all Undead attack damage. This makes the Plagued Tidewalker a decent minion even after they attack once and lose their Venomous trait
.Xylo-bones is a permanently scaling minion based on summoned minions. While this is very effective with lots of Reborn minions, nearly all tribes have their own powerful form of minion summoning. That makes Xylo-bones very powerful in many compositions, especially with Beast summoning.
General (Tribe-less)
The Mistake is incredibly powerful. There are many powerful Magnetic mech minions, and they can all be stacked onto the Mistake. Additionally, there are many powerful tribe-based effects. For example, this minion can be given Venomous because it is considered a Murloc. It is also a Beast and Undead, which means there are two different minions that can give it Reborn. Many players run a Mistake regardless of team composition if Mechs are in the minion pool of their match, but it is worth taking advantage of all tribal buffs possible.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 4’s new general minions (tribe-less).
Upbeat Duo is a very powerful value generator, speeding up the rate at which you will triple minions. This is especially powerful with Tier 6 minions that can be harder to find, especially if other players are trying to snatch them up as well. The lack of a tribe makes it a bit weaker which is a bit of a necessity due to how strong it really is.
Drakkari Enchanter has many powerful cards it can combo with, especially the Upbeat minions. The Upbeat Duo for example is already strong and doubling or even tripling that effect is just wildly powerful. While this is an especially strong card, it is locked behind Tavern Tier 5 and requires some specific minions for value, making it very situational. It requires very thoughtful play to make this investment worth it, including the investment of having this weak minion on your warband.
The Boogie Monster is one of the strongest Tavern Tier 6 minions that can be powerful in virtually any team composition. It has a very easy condition to buff your entire board, although because it requires another minion to be played in conjunction with it, you are required to give up two minion spaces for this in the late game. Each space is valuable in late-game, so having to sacrifice two spaces for it is likely enough to balance the powerful board buff it provides.
