Blizzard just announced the next Battlegrounds Season – “Echoes of Un’Goro” (Season 11). The new season launches on August 5. As usual, new season comes with a big update – new Hero, major minions refresh, and new/returning mechanics. On top of that, there’s a cool quality of life feature – Guide.
Let’s start with the last one. Guide is an in-game compedium, where players can see all the minions and Tavern Spells are currently available (organized by Tier and Type). Before that, the info was not accessible in game and players had to rely on third party tools or websites to have it. Come to think about it, it’s a pretty basic feature that should have been in the game a long time ago, but it’s cool that it’s finally there!
Rally is a new keyword coming in Season 11, for now featured primarly on Quilboar and Dragon minions (but you’ll see some across all minion types). The effect triggers whenever the minion attacks – there were already a few minions like that (such as Monstrous Macaw or Yrel), but the effect wasn’t keyworded before. Rally minions will be high value targets to take down, so you should usually position them early. And keep in mind that, as with other effects that happen during combat, Rally effects aren’t permanent and will last only for a given combat (unless they say otherwise).
We get a second new keyword, this time exclusive to Pirates – Bounty. Bounties are Tier 3 Tavern Spells that will only appear in Pirate lobbies. There are five different ones, but they somewhat share the appearance rate (all five Bounties equal two regular Tier 3 spells in terms of how often you’ll see them). While all players can buy them, they will have extra synergies with Pirates, letting you generate more of them and make them more powerful.
Quests are making a return, with the core mechanic remaining intact. On Turn 4 (6 Gold), players will pick one of three Quests. Completing it unlocks a powerful reward – usually either a big, one-time bonus or a passive effect that lasts over the course of the match. 35 Quest rewards were brought back and 13 new were created for this season.
A new season means a major minion refresh, this time with over 100 new and returning minions. All of the minions will be revealed over the next week (as with the last few seasons, they will drop straight into the official BG minion database). On top of that, Season 11 adds a new Hero – Loh, the Living Legend. His Hero Power unlocks once 15 friendly minions attack, and lets you Discover a Rally minion for just 1 Gold.
An early access event with Twitch Drops is scheduled for August 1. Content creators will be able to test the patch a few days ahead of release. Watch for a total of 2 hours to earn 4 Battlegrounds tokens.
And finally, as always, everything will be reset at the Season launch. All players will be brought back to 0 MMR and a rewards track will refresh. So if you haven’t finished the current one, you still have almost 2 weeks to do so (until August 5).
To learn more, check out the official blog post below:
Explore the Lost City of Un’Goro with the new Rally keyword, the return of Quests, a major minion refresh, a new Guide feature, and more! All in Battlegrounds Season 11: Echoes of Un’Goro, going live August 5 at 10:00 a.m. PT.
When Season 11 starts, Anomalies and Trinkets will be removed from the Tavern.
New Keyword: Rally
Get ready to Rally your minions! Rally is a brand-new keyword in Battlegrounds that triggers an effect whenever a Rally minion attacks. This season, Rally is primarily featured in Quilboar and Dragons, but you’ll see some across every minion type:
In addition, several existing minions, such as Monstrous Macaw and Yrel, have been updated to have the Rally keyword.
Returning Mechanic: Quests
Battlegrounds Quests are returning for Season 11, and the core system remains intact: on Turn 4 (the 6-Gold turn), players choose one of three Quests. Completing a Quest unlocks a powerful Reward that lasts the rest of the game!
We’ve brought back 35 Quest Rewards, carefully selected based on player feedback and how they fit with the updated minion pool. You’ll also find 13 brand-new Quest Rewards, including some that reference the Rally keyword.
New Hero: Loh, the Living Legend
Get your Hero’s Welcome with Loh, the Living Legend. After 15 friendly minions attack, his Hero Power upgrades to let you Discover a Rally minion for 1 Gold!
New Keyword for Pirates: Bounty
Shiver me timbers, there’s another new keyword on the horizon! A Bounty is a Tier 3 Tavern spell that is exclusive to Pirate lobbies. There are five different Bounties—put together, they have a pool appearance rate equivalent to two regular Tavern spells. However, several new Pirates this season can generate them, and Proud Privateer pays them off big time.
A Major Minion Refresh
This season features over 100 new and returning minions and Tavern spells. Have a look at some of the heavy hitters:
Over the next week, we’ll be sharing more information about all the new, returning, removed, and updated cards. You can see all the card updates as they’re revealed in the official Card Library. Details about the reveal schedule are towards the bottom of this post.
Quality of Life Improvement: Guide
We’re debuting a new feature called the Battlegrounds Guide. In a game, open the Guide in the lower-right corner of your screen to see what minions and Tavern spells are available in your lobby, organized by Tier and type. Use it to familiarize yourself with new cards or browse what you might need to power up your warband!
Battlegrounds Track Refresh
On August 5, Battlegrounds Season 10 will end and Season 11 will begin! With that, Battlegrounds Ratings will reset, and the Battlegrounds Track will update. Any rewards that were already earned from the Season 10 Rewards Track, but not yet claimed, will be automatically claimed for you.
The Season 11 Battlegrounds Track includes Underfel- and Dragon-themed cosmetics. Pick up the Season Pass to instantly unlock +2 Hero options at the start of each game. Then, progress through the Season Pass track to earn the new Underfel Legendary Strike, 13 additional Hero Skins, a new Bartender, and more! Or upgrade to the Season Pass + to get all the rewards from the Season Pass plus one included Hero re-roll per game.
Level
XP
Cumulative XP
Free Track
Tavern Pass
1
0
0
2 Hero Slots
2
20
20
3
20
40
BG Tokens (2)
4
20
60
BG Tokens (5)
5
30
90
Rare Hero Skin (Paleontologist Putricide)
6
30
120
Epic Emote (Bartender Magni)
7
30
150
BG Tokens (2)
8
30
180
Legendary Hero Skin (Tar Pit Ozumat)
9
40
220
Rare Hero Skin (Delicious Delver Scabbs)
10
40
260
BG Tokens (5)
11
40
300
Rare Hero Skin (Spelunker Holmes)
12
50
350
Epic Hero Skin (Explorer Rokara)
13
50
400
Rare Emote (Archaeologist Tae’thelan)
14
50
450
Rare Hero Skin (Fel Mutant Galakrond)
15
50
500
BG Tokens (2)
16
60
560
Rare Strike
17
60
620
Epic Bartender (Magni Bronzebeard)
18
60
680
BG Tokens (5)
19
60
740
Rare Emote (Delicious Delver Scabbs)
20
60
800
Rare Hero Skin (Proto-Dragon Zovaal)
21
60
860
Rare Hero Skin (The Nameless Dragon)
22
60
920
Epic Emote (Explorer Rokara)
23
60
980
Rare Hero Skin* (Slime Dragon Floop)
24
60
1040
Epic Hero Skin* (Dragonsworn Tamsin)
25
60
1100
Rare Hero Skin* (Dragon Hunter Illidan)
26
60
1160
BG Tokens (5)
27
60
1220
Epic Emote* (Doctor Holli’drake)
28
60
1280
Epic Strike
29
60
1340
Rare Emote (Spelunker Holmes)
30
60
1400
Rare Hero Skin* (Visionary Bru’kan)
31
60
1460
BG Tokens (2)
32
60
1520
Epic Hero Skin* (Drakerider Thorim)
33
60
1580
Rare Emote* (Lucky Roller Snake Eyes)
34
60
1640
BG Tokens (5)
35
60
1700
Epic Hero Skin* (Dragon Doctor Holli’dae)
36
60
1760
Legendary Hero Skin (Dino Cloner Zerek)
37
60
1820
Rare Hero Skin* (Game Master Snake Eyes)
38
60
1880
Epic Emote* (Akazamzarak, Whelp Magician)
39
60
1940
Legendary Hero Skin (Archaeologist Tae’thelan)
40
60
2000
Legendary Strike
*These rewards will become available after the 33.6 patch update.
Creator Early Access Event (with Drops!)
On August 1, watch your favorite content creators play the new Season live! Participating players will be streaming on their personal channels, so make sure you have notifications turned on. Time slots by region are:
Americas, LATM, EMEA regions: August 1 at 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. PT
JP: August 2 at 2:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. PT
CN: August 1 at 7:00 p.m. PT – August 2 at 7:00 a.m. PT
Drops will be enabled category-wide on Twitch. Watch for a total of 2 hours to earn 4 Battlegrounds Tokens (2 total hours, 1 hour per drop).
Upcoming Reveals
July 24: Demon, Naga, Mech and Neutral Reveals
July 25: Undead and Quilboar Reveals
July 28: Dragon and Beast Reveals
July 29: Pirate, Murloc and Elemental Reveals
August 1 at 8 a.m. PT: Patch Notes
August 1 at 9 a.m. PT: Early Access Event
August 5: Patch 33.2, new Battlegrounds Season begins
See the Card Library for updates during reveal season. Unlike prior minion refreshes, there won’t be any minion rollout with the patch—all the new cards will be available right away—make sure you follow along with reveal season so you’re ready to play as soon as the patch drops!
A Hearthstone player and writer from Poland, Stonekeep has been in a love-hate relationship with Hearthstone since Closed Beta. Over that time, he has achieved many high Legend climbs and infinite Arena runs. He's the current admin of Hearthstone Top Decks.
