Since Hearthstone released Voyage to the Sunken City a month ago, players have been swimming with the fishes as they develop new decks and strategies. The Year of the Hydra is well underway, and with it, the beginning of a fresh year of cards, content, and quality of life improvements to Hearthstone's various game modes. Battlegrounds is the first mode getting some big changes with the "Rise of the Naga" update, featuring a slew of new minions, keywords, mechanics, and a new hero.
"Rise of the Naga" is the first-ever Battlegrounds Season in Hearthstone and will add 23 cards to the Battlegrounds minion pool. Of the new minions, 16 of them are Naga minions, 5 are other types of minions, and 2 are old cards returning to the minion pool. Many of the Naga minions use the Spellcraft mechanic, which adds a free spell to the player’s hand each turn that can be used to enhance a minion for a single battle.
Tier 1 - A Strong Start
Two new Naga minions enter into the fray at Tier 1: Mini-Myrmidon and Shell Collector. The former adds a small Attack buff spell to one’s hand each turn, while the latter gives a Gold Coin, effectively reducing its cost to 2 Gold. These minions can provide a strong and versatile beginning for all beginning warbands, especially those building a strategy around Naga.
Tier 2 - Spellcraft Synergies
This tier sees even more Naga minions in the Hearthstone game mode, as well as the first synergies with the Spellcraft mechanic. The Deep-Sea Angler provides another Spellcraft spell each turn, this one giving a minion +3 Health and Taunt to control the flow of the next battle. Lava Lurker makes the first Spellcraft spell cast each turn give a permanent effect–an ability that pays dividends the longer a match goes. Lastly, Snail Cavalry gets +2 Health when the first spell is cast on a turn, making it a fantastic target for the Deep-Sea Angler’s Taunt ability, as its Health continues to grow.
Tier 3 - Technically All Naga
An old friend makes its return in this tier with the Nightmare Amalgam, who left the pool during the Descent of Dragons set. As for new cards, Shoal Commander gives another Spellcraft spell–this one being a big bonus based on how many Naga are in the warband. Stormscale Siren causes all Spellcraft minions to cast an extra copy of their Spellcraft spells on themselves each turn, while the Legendary minion Pashmar the Vengeful gives players a random Spellcraft spell of their current Tavern tier or lower after 3 other minions die, allowing a player to come back with a vengeance on the following turn.
Tier 4 - Mighty Magic Minions
The new minions at Tier 4 offer several strong spells and options to build a warband. Eelbound Archer provides a huge Attack buff with her spellcraft, while the Eventide Brute gets more powerful with each spell cast while it is on the field. The Waverider gives a minion Windfury with its Spellcraft spell, transforming a high-Attack minion into a deadly weapon. Reef Explorer is the first non-Naga creature added in Voyage to the Sunken City. With the ability to find minion types not currently on the warband, it is a perfect find for menagerie strategies.
Tier 5 - Heavy Hitters
This tier brings some truly mighty minions to the field. Bristleback Knight makes its triumphant return after leaving the pool late last year. With Windfury and two instances of Divine Shield, it is a great target for Blood Gems in Quilboar warbands. Leeroy the Reckless is a new Legendary based on the iconic Warcraft meme and hero. With high attack and low health, he is certain to take down any minion he hits–one way or another.
Naga get powerful synergies at this tier as well. Critter Wrangler gives a minion a permanent +2/+2 boost every time it is targeted with a Spellcraft spell, which can quickly get out of hand when combined with a field full of Spellcraft minions. Corrupted Myrmidon doubles its stats at the start of combat, making it a fantastic target for a player’s Spellcraft spells. Lastly, Glowscale gives Divine Shield on a Spellcraft spell, granting versatile survivability to a warband.
Tier 6 - Finishers
As one might expect, the new Hearthstone Tier 6 minions are all game-changers. For Naga decks, Orgozoa, the Tender is an incredible pick. Though not a Naga itself, it grants a Spellcraft spell that discovers a Naga minion each turn, easily filling gaps in a warband strategy while fishing for golden copies of existing minions. Tidemistress Athissa throws out buffs to four Naga each time a spell is cast, which can cascade into huge gains with a handful of Spellcraft spells.
Quilboar decks will want to get their hands on Darkgaze Elder, who plays Blood Gems on four Quilboar every time four Gold is spent. For Murloc decks, Young Murk-Eye allows adjacent Murloc minions to trigger Battlecry effects each turn–a terrifying addition for the already-mighty Murloc warbands dominating the Battlegrounds. Last but not least, the terrifying Mantid Queen is an amazing finisher in any tribal deck, but especially menagerie decks, as it gets a huge buff or keyword for each type of minion in the warband–on top of the deadly Poisonous keyword.
Hearthstone’s Battlegrounds mode is going to get soaked with new strategies and combos when "Rise of the Naga" hits on May 10th. With new minions and keywords to combine with existing Hearthstone heroes and strategies, players will have plenty to keep the free-for-all mode interesting. Master these minions, and the new Naga-centric Queen Azshara hero, and dominate the Battlegrounds in all-new ways
Hearthstone is available now for mobile and PC.