How to play with the three new heroes in Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9

With the release of Season 9, Hearthstone Battlegrounds is adding three new heroes to the game: Farseer Nobundo with his spell-copying powers, Zerek, Master Cloner with the ability to create an exact copy of a friendly minion, and Exarch Othaar with his discounted spells. These heroes are included in the new patch, which brings a huge shakeup to the minion roster as well, and arrives today.

So read on to find out how to best utilize the hero powers of the three new heroes.

Farseer Nobundo

Farseer Nobundo allows you to double-dip from your spells, for a cost — but that cost decreases each turn, so you could potentially fire this hero power for free within three turns of not using it. However, keep in mind that the cost will reset back to three gold once you use it, which should keep this hero power balanced.

This hero will likely shine later in the game, as you reach higher Tavern tiers and gain access to more powerful spells. Getting free copies of higher tier spells — especially those that cost four gold or more — should be your goal.

But remember that even in the early game, it could be very useful to boost your economy by getting free copies of those Tavern spells that give you extra gold: as a rule of thumb, economy-based effects are more effective than “board-buffing” effects early on, so you should focus on those — and that’s a tip that applies not just to playing this hero.

Zerek, Master Cloner

Possibly the most fun of the three new heroes, Zerek, Master Cloner obviously reminds us of Reno, with a hero power that can only be used once per game, but can be extremely impactful — and, thus, should be saved for a moment when it’ll really shine. You’ll most likely want to plan ahead with this one: play the game normally at first, and decide on a minion type or build. Depending on which build you’re playing, around the middle stages of the game, you’ll likely identify a target for the Cloning Gallery.

If you’re having trouble finding your key minion to duplicate, consider something like Rivendare, for instance — it’s hard to go wrong there. Other obvious contenders are big cleave minions (those minions that deal damage to adjacent minions when they attack) — especially ones you can buff and apply effects like Divine Shield and Windfury to.

It’s important to remember that “exact copy” means that this power will also duplicate any buffs accrued by that minion throughout the game — and that it’ll also duplicate golden minions. So it’s very tempting to get a little greedy with this one, waiting until you make your key minion golden, very buffed, and then duplicating it. This could very well be a game-winning move, of course, but you need to be aware of how the game is going for you: if you’re falling behind, it might be better to get a “weaker” clone sooner, before it’s too late to realize your ambitions, and settle for a nice 4th place — a win is a win, after all.

Exarch Othaar

The simplest of the three new heroes, Exarch Othaar has a very straightforward hero power that discounts one spell each turn by one gold, starting from turn 3. Playing this hero is basically the same as having one extra gold per turn that can only be used for Tavern spells.

You’ll obviously want to take advantage of this hero power every single turn, since it’s free. If you can find nothing useful to nab for the moment, just get any old spell that costs one gold — it’ll be free, and can sit prettily in your hand to be used later on. But the main reason for Arcane Knowledge to exist is, obviously, getting discounts on the more expensive spells that turn up later in the game.

Frankly, there isn’t much “strategy” that can apply to this hero in the same way as a hero like Zerek, Master Cloner. You likely won’t plan around this hero power, trying to get a discount on some specific spell that will turn the game in your favor: you’ll simply take advantage of Arcane Knowledge on a more “tactical” manner, analyzing the shop each turn and nabbing whichever spell seems more useful for the current state of the game. Just don’t think too hard about it!

So, which of the three new heroes are you most excited about? You’ll be able to play with them really soon, as Hearthstone Battlegrounds Season 9 releases today!