Hearthstone Battlegrounds adds Kerrigan, Raynor, and Artanis as new (and complex) heroes, and Anomalies return

It’s not usual for us to get enormous minion roster shakeups and rule changes right in the middle of a Hearthstone Battlegrounds season, but that’s exactly what we just got. Our (admittedly very boring) “vanilla” season has ended, as Anomalies were added back to the game after a long absence, and the meta has completely shifted as several minions were removed, old minions were re-added (with some of them being rebalanced), and there are even brand new minions joining the fray.

What’s more: three heroes of StarCraft have been added to the game, and their hero powers are considerably more elaborate than the norm. Kerrigan, Raynor, and Artanis will require you to really study the blades (and the rifle) if you want to succeed. So read on to find out all that’s changing in Hearthstone Battlegrounds with this unexpected mid-season major update!

Anomalies are back, and feel better than before

Anomalies were introduced in Season 5 in August 2023, as a way to make games feel fresh by adding a custom rule to each one. This time, a lot of the old Anomalies that weren’t very popular have been pruned, while several new ones are being introduced (21 in total, with four being exclusive to Duos), and adjustments made to some of the returning ones.

The brand-new Anomalies, as well as Secrets of Norgannon, which adds Tavern Tier 7 to the game, have an increased chance of appearing in the game during the first two weeks of this new patch. Some of them are worthy of note:

• Marin’s Treasure Box makes it so that everyone plays as Marin the Manager and adds Trinkets to the game.
• Magic Shop adds Spell Tickets to the Tavern. Once you get three Spell Tickets, you Discover a Tavern Spell of your tier.
• Cosmic Duality gives everyone a second Hero Power at the start of the game.

From the few games I’ve been able to play so far, this iteration of Anomalies definitely feels better than the one from almost two years ago. The new Anomalies I’ve played with so far feel more fun than “unfair,” and the updates to the list make a lot of sense.

The three new StarCraft heroes are more complex than the usual

You might want to refer to the official Card Library for these guys: Kerrigan, Raynor, and Artanis all have a lot of new minions or spells attached to them, and you’ll have to make choices as you play — and being familiar with the cards will help you win matches!

Artanis is the simplest of these new heroes, requiring you to pick from two powerful Protoss minions when the game starts, which will unlock later — similarly to heroes like A. F. Kay and Ambassador Faelin. All of those minions are Tier 5 Mechs, and you’ll get them after you buy 16 cards. Some of those minions, like Colossus, can keep getting upgraded as the game continues, while Mothership — perhaps the most powerful one — can give you random Protoss minions on its Avenge (5) effect.

Jim Raynor is in the middle of the pack, being more complex than Artanis by requiring you to constantly buy upgrades to the 2/2 Battlecruiser he starts the game with. Those upgrades show up in the tavern, cost gold, and are played just like any other spells, upgrading your Battlecruiser each time. The main skill factor to be aware of is that those upgrades get better as your Tavern Tier increases, so you need to be careful to know when to invest — waiting until at least the middle of the game is advised, but waiting too long can leave you weak early on.

Kerrigan, Queen of Blades is the most complex of the three new heroes. You’ll start the game with a 2/2 Larva, and each turn you’ll have to choose a different Zerg for your Larva to morph into for the next battle. The catch is that you also need to pay gold to upgrade Kerrigan’s hero power, so that you get stronger Zerg offered to you — there are Tier 2 and a Tier 3 Zergs waiting to be unlocked, and each upgrade costs seven gold (though that costs is reduced by one each turn). So not only do you need to know the Zerg and pick the best one to fit your strategy, you also have a “secondary Tavern” you need to level up in the game.

These heroes might be complex, but they’re certainly fun, since some of their effects can be really overpowered — adding some payoff for the extra investment you need to make.

The minion roster has received a big shakeup, and there are new Tier 7 spells

Despite the fact that we’re halfway through a season, the minion roster has just been greatly changed. Beasts, in particular, seem to be getting considerably affected: no longer will Beetles be the only possible game plan for them, as they’re getting the return of effects that trigger once Beasts are summoned in combat, as well as the beloved Cave Hydra for some cleave shenanigans.

Elementals are also changing slightly, leaning even more into the buying and selling of Elementals during the Tavern phase than before. There’s even a new Mech/Elemental minion, Technical Element, that can Magnetize into Mechs or Elementals! And speaking of Mechs, Lighter Fighter is back to make those “deal damage when your minions die” strategies possible once again. Naga and Demons seem to have been majorly buffed overall.

A few spells have also been re-added to the game mode, including three very powerful Tier 7 spells! And they’re all very simple to use:

Sharing is Caring

• [2 Gold] Start of Combat: Your left-most minion gains stats equal to the nearest enemy minion’s.

This is just free scaling, and can be outrageously powerful in the later stages of the game.

Blade of Ambition

• [6 Gold] Choose a minion. Set its Attack and Health to match the highest in your warband.

Another one that doesn’t require you to think too hard: simply copy the stats of your biggest minion onto another one — perhaps a brand-new one that you just got from the shop but fits perfectly into your strategy.

Hallowed Ritual

• [5 Gold] Discover a Tier 7 minion.

The strategy here is to pick the best Tier 7 minion for your current Warband. Crazy stuff!

We hope this update makes everyone enjoy the game mode more! It’s certainly been fun to play with these crazy new heroes and uncover the updated minions. And the Anomalies make matches much more varied than how they were with the “vanilla” season — where everyone was just racing to get to the endgame quicker than the others, and there wasn’t that much variation from game to game. We’ll see you on the Battlegrounds.