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Hearthstone update includes three new Battlegrounds heroes

Hearthstone is sending 23 Wild cards back to whence they came, while also welcoming three new heroes to Battlegrounds.

Ozzie Mejia

December 5, 2019 10:13 AM

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Hearthstone is days away from getting its next expansion, Descent of Dragons. In fact, the deployment date is just a week away. Blizzard has dropped a new patch today, getting the game ready for the expansion's arrival on Tuesday. That means sending certain cards back to Wild where they belong. But on top of that, the new Battlegrounds mode is getting a major update.

First, let's touch on the Battlegrounds update, which has seen its popularity surge since the beta started. The biggest change will involve the arrival of three new Heroes. Say hello to Edwin VanCleef, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Arch-Villain Rafaam, who will each come with their own Hero Powers. Let's take a quick look at them below:

Those certainly look like debilitating abilities, especially Rafaam, who can basically add a new minion after every single battle phase. That's a pretty easy way to get a triple, if all goes right.

Other changes involve the arrival of two new minions. Floating Watcher comes in from Goblins vs. Gnomes, albeit with a few twists. This will be a 3-Star 8/8 that grows by +4/+4 whenever the player's Hero takes damage. The second minion is an all-new addition exclusive to Battlegrounds. King Bagurgle is a 5-Star Murloc and one that makes those Murloc decks much more powerful. It gives other Murlocs +4/+4 as a Battlecry and as a Deathrattle! With Gentle Megasaur waiting as a 6-Star, Murloc decks just became a lot better.

Battlegrounds players will also find a number of balance changes. Lightfang Enforcer will now only grant other minions +2/+1, while the other changes go to individual heroes: Millicent Manastorm, Patchwerk, A.F. Kay, The Rat King, Professor Putricide, Lich Baz’hial, and The Great Akazamzarak.

As for Hearthstone proper, remember how cool it was to get 23 Wild cards for a while? Forget about all that. As of today, those cards are back in Wild permanently. So adjust your decks accordingly. Players will also find a few balance changes to the Echo mechanic, with minions now unable to be reduced below (1). That fixes some troublesome problems in Wild involving Mechwarper and other similar cards. If this change doesn't sit well with you, Blizzard will offer Arcade Dust refunds on SN1P-SN4P (not the Golden copy, though), Glinda Crowskin, and Sound the Bells.

Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons is set to arrive on Tuesday, December 10. And if you're wondering about single-player, that's a little farther out. The final tale in the year-long storyline of the League of E.V.I.L. will wrap up with Galakrond's Awakening, a new solo adventure. It's set to release in January with more details coming soon. Lastly, if you want new Heroes, Sylvanas (Hunter) and Tyrande (Priest) have made their way into the Blizzard shop. For Tyrande, this marks her return following her brief availability as a Twitch Prime exclusive.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?