New Anomalies this week! All of the Anomalies in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 5 — and how to make the most of them

Hearthstone patch 27.2 has brought Anomalies to the Battlegrounds — and a few more have just been added to the game, with an increased appearance rate. Anomalies are a new mechanic that adds crazy effects that change the rules of a match before it even begins. Once the patch went live, 20 Anomalies were present, but that number increased as more Anomalies started being added week after week.

Only one Anomaly will be active per game, and it’ll be shown to every player before they even select their Hero. So let’s learn about those Anomalies, and discuss how each of them could affect the game — and how you can make the most of them.

New Anomalies in Hearthstone Battlegrounds

These Anomalies were added to the game this week, so they have an increased appearance rate at the moment:

Blood of Sargeras

• At the start of your turn, set your hero’s Health to 12.

Essentially, a player will only die when they take 12 or more damage — after they lose their Armor. Picking a hero with a high Armor value will be important. Filling your board with higher Tier minions means you’ll deal more damage, and be more likely to eliminate an opponent.

Mimiron’s Clockwork Stadium

• You cannot upgrade the Tavern with Gold. It upgrades itself every 2 turns.

Gold is only for rerolls and buying minions, so players are likely to find the minions they need sooner rather than later. Once you have a full board, don’t settle for the first minions you’re offered.

Path of the Treasure-Seeker

• After you Refresh 5 times, find the Golden Monkey!

Upgrading your tavern as early as possible is important, so that the Golden Monkey will offer you better minions from its reward.

Anomalies that were previously added to the game

These are the other Anomalies that players can find in the game, having been added to it previously.

Prudence of Amitus

• Unspent Gold carries over to your next turn. If you saved at least 5, gain 1 extra.

This will allow players some interesting turns where they can level their tavern tiers very aggressively at the cost of possibly falling behind on the current turn. Optimal strategies will certainly take some time to arise.

Anti-Gravity Stadium

• Minions in the Tavern have their Attack and Health swapped.

This is likely to have a lot of impact in the early game, but not make much of a difference in the later stages of the game, once minions have already scaled up their stats.

Might of Khaz-goroth

• At the end of your turn, set your left and right-most minions’ Attack to the higher of the two.

You can potentially make your lowest-attack minion catch up to your highest-attack minion every turn. You can easily boost up a good Divine Shield or cleave minion as well.

Fortitude of Khaz-goroth

• At the end of your turn, set your left and right-most minions’ Health to the higher of the two.

Make sure to bolster your Taunts by making them feed off each other. Remember that Venomous minions and effects like that from Leeroy the Reckless will shine in these games.

Money Match

• Start at 10 Gold.

The optimal strategy might be to upgrade to Tavern Tier 2, reroll (up to twice) and buy a minion right at the start — but maybe buying three Tier 1 minions could work as well. Players will definitely upgrade their Taverns much earlier in these games.

Denathrius’ Anima Reserves

• All heroes are Sire Denathrius.

What this really means is that this is a game with Quests — albeit one where Quests are selected right at the start. When evaluating your opponents, it might be harder to remember who’s who, so be careful!

Uncompensated Upset

• Start at 1 Gold. Minions cost (1) but sell for (0). Upgrading the Tavern costs (2) less.

You could potentially upgrade to Tavern Tier 2 right on turn 1, though you’d have no minions. You could also just buy three minions at the start. On later turns, being skilled at buying and selling fast will be a factor.

Secrets of Norgannon

• Tavern Tier 7 exists. Start with 10 extra Armor.

Depending on how strong Tier 7 minions end up being in practice, these games might become a race to see who reaches them first — there are only five copies of each for all players. The extra armor means longer games.

Transient Treasures

• At the start of your turn, choose from 2 new Quest Rewards.

These games will be chaotic, and highly unpredictable. Make sure you pick Quest Rewards that have a big impact on that turn, taking into account your board and your game plan.

Nguyen’s Shifting Disks

• All heroes are Master Nguyen.

Everyone gets a new Hero Power every turn, which can be more chaotic than anything else. Games like this might reward tactical players who can adapt to circumstances more than those who strategize for the long run.

Bring in the Buddies

• Buddies are in the Tavern.

Players will need to be attentive so that they don’t miss out on a good Buddy when it’s offered to them. Buddies can have game-changing effects, so good knowledge of what they do and how to use them will be crucial.

Oops, All (minion type)!

• This Anomaly has a version for each minion type. Only that type and Neutrals will be in the Tavern, and the amount of each minion in the pool will be greatly increased.
  • On Oops, All Pirates! games, Cap’n Hoggarr will be added to the minion pool.

This is probably my least favorite Anomaly — these games might get a little samey. The Pirate version spices things up by adding Hoggarr, so players who get copies of him — and are good at buying and selling really quickly — will shine.

A Faire Reward

• Instead of a minion, Triple Rewards Discover a Tier 1 Darkmoon Prize. (Upgrades in 3 turns!)

In normal games that have them, Darkmoon Prizes are powerful but rare. This Anomaly makes them much more common, allowing players to really take advantage of their powers. Remember that the longer games go, the better getting triples becomes — and it doesn’t matter what you triple, even Tier 1 minions will work!

Finicky Hourglass

• Start at Tavern Tier 2.

This just means that games will be over much faster since the initial stage will be skipped. Make sure to adjust your leveling curve adequately.

Packed Stands

• The Tavern always has 7 minions.

Another one that will reward attentive players. Finding doubles and triples is easier, so power levels will be higher overall — take advantage of that. Finding key pieces for your composition becomes easier as well, so falling behind in these games will be devastating.

Double Header

• The first time you buy a minion each turn, get an extra copy of it.

Every player gets a guaranteed double each turn, meaning that everyone will be swimming in golden minions and triple rewards. Freezing becomes a crucial skill — if you see a double, just wait one turn and you have a guaranteed triple.

Echoes of Argus

• Your Battlecries and Deathrattles trigger an extra time.

This one is pretty obvious — make use of lots and lots of Battlecry and Deathrattle minions! Compositions like Dragon, Beast, and Undead will probably have an edge over the others.

False Idols

• You only need 2 copies of a minion to make it Golden. Instead of a Triple Reward, get a Gold Coin.

The abundance of golden minions will make power levels a bit higher, but the real winner here is the economy. Be smart about how you spend all that extra gold: upgrade your Tavern earlier, and reroll more to find the minions you need.

Grapnel of the Titans

• The first minion you buy each turn is free.

This one will likely have a bigger impact in the early game, since players can buy two minions on turn 1, or upgrade their tavern and immediately buy a minion. Still, it seems less exciting than other Anomalies.

The Golden Arena

• ALL minions are Golden, but you do not get Triple Rewards. This includes cards that are Discovered or generated by other cards.

Minions that have powerful Battlecry, Deathrattle, or “end of turn” effects will be particularly effective in these games, since they’re more likely to make an impact than others that just have increased stats. But the lack of triple rewards will make it harder for players to find the strongest pieces of their compositions, so these games might have slower (or “wonkier”) final boards.

Big League

• Only Tavern Tiers 3, 4, 5, and 6 exist.

This doesn’t simply mean that the early game is essentially skipped — it also means that some common minions you see every game will be nowhere to be found. These games ought to have crazy power levels and be shorter overall.

Little League

• Only Tavern Tiers 1, 2, 3, and 4 exist.

Here, on the other hand, we’ll have games that are much more defined by the board: many compositions will be lacking their cornerstone minions that are able to flip games later on, so getting a strong early board will matter much more.

Everything’s On Fire!

• At the start of the game, take 30 damage. Whenever another hero dies, regain 5 Health.

This seems like one of the most interesting Anomalies. Play to survive: just aim to make your board sturdy, rather than spending too much gold trying to find the “right” minions.

Wisdom of Ulduar

• At the end of every 3 turns, set your right-most minion’s stats to 15/15.

It’s almost like every player gets a free Uther the Lightbringer every three turns. Early on, use its effect to bolster whatever your weakest minion is. Later, use it to protect and enhance minions like Titus Rivendare and Brann Bronzebeard.

Overseer’s Orb

• After you upgrade the Tavern, Refresh it with minions of your most common type.

Pay attention to which minion types you have early on, and plan on your late game board earlier if possible. On the other hand, “pivoting” to a new composition if things aren’t working out might become easier.

Perfected Alchemy

• Start with a “Goldenizer” that makes a friendly minion Golden.

Adopt the same strategy you would when playing as Reno Jackson: save this “goldenize” power to a key minion once you find it — but don’t take too long to do it, or you might fall behind the competition!

 

Anomalies should change the game as much as other mechanics like Buddies and Quests did. They’ll certainly make matches far more unpredictable — and hopefully more fun too!

Originally posted August 22, 2023. Updated September 12, 2023.