Pirates Will Join Battlegrounds Roster on June 9! 17 New Minions and 4 Heroes, Minion Types Shifting Each Game

Huge news for Battlegrounds players. Ever since Dragon patch a few months ago, we didn’t have any bigger BG updates. Some minions and heroes were added and removed, but the gameplay remained mostly the same. This won’t be the case with the latest Battlegrounds update, which introduces a whole new minion type – Pirates. 17 new minions and 4 new heroes will be joining the roster on June 9.

One of the major worries about introducing new minion types was diluting the minion pool. Getting the right minions was becoming more random with more of them in the pool. In this patch, the problem was solved. At the start of each Battlegrounds match, one of the minion types is getting excluded. It means that they won’t appear in the Tavern, through Discovers, Hero Powers and so on. Heroes that directly synergize with that minion type will also be excluded – e.g. you won’t see Millificent Manastorm when Mechs are not there, or Flurgl when Murlocs aren’t available. It was a necessary move, which also means that they can add more minion types without worrying about that (Elementals and Totems are only ones left to import from the base game, but the latter don’t make that much sense – that said, nothing is stopping them from adding new ones).

For now, Pirates will always be among the five available types,

One more important thing is that Holy Mackerel has been removed from the minion pool – no more infinite Poisonous + Divine Shield strategies!

Find all the new minions and heroes below:

Battlegrounds Hero Pool Updates

Players with Battlegrounds Perks will have early access to the following new heroes before they’re formally released on June 23.

NEW HEROES

Captain Eudora

Buried Treasure [Cost 1]

• Dig for a Golden minion! (4 Digs Left)

Skycap’n Kragg

Piggybank [Cost 0]

• Gain 1 Gold this turn. Increases each turn. (Once per game)

Captain Hooktusk

Trash for Treasure [Cost 0]

• Remove a friendly minion. Discover one from a lower Tavern Tier.

RETURNING & UPDATED HEROES

Patches the Pirate

Pirate Parrrrty! [Cost 4]

• Get a Pirate. After you buy a Pirate, your next Hero Power costs (1) less.

​The Rat King

• No longer always starts on King of Beasts. Now starts on a random minion type.

REMOVED

• Professor Putricide has been removed from the hero pool.
• Holy Mackerel has been removed from the minion pool.

New Battlegrounds Minions

Deck Swabbie

[Tier 1, Pirate] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• Battlecry: Reduce the cost of upgrading Bob’s Tavern by (1).

Scallywag

[Tier 1, Pirate] 2 Attack, 1 Health.

• Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Pirate. It attacks immediately.

Southsea Captain

[Tier 2, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Your other Pirates have +1/+1.

Arcane Cannon

[Tier 2] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• Can’t attack. After an adjacent minion attacks, deal 2 damage to an enemy minion.

Monstrous Macaw

[Tier 2, Beast] 3 Attack, 2 Health.

• After this attacks, trigger a random friendly minion’s Deathrattle.

Freedealing Gambler

[Tier 2, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• This minion sells for 3 Gold.

Yo-Ho-Ogre

[Tier 3, Pirate] 2 Attack, 8 Health.

• Taunt After this minion survives being attacked, attack immediately.

Salty Looter

[Tier 3, Pirate] 3 Attack, 3 Health.

• Whenever you play a Pirate, gain +1/+1.

Bloodsail Cannoneer

[Tier 3, Pirate] 4 Attack, 2 Health.

• Battlecry: Give your other Pirates +3 Attack.

Southsea Strongarm

[Tier 4, Pirate] 5 Attack, 4 Health.

• Battlecry: Give a friendly Pirate +1/+1 for each Pirate you bought this turn.

Goldgrubber

[Tier 4, Pirate] 2 Attack, 2 Health.

• At the end of your turn, gain +2/+2 for each friendly Golden minion.

Ripsnarl Captain

[Tier 4, Pirate] 3 Attack, 4 Health.

• Whenever another friendly Pirate attacks, give it +2/+2.

Seabreaker Goliath

[Tier 5, Pirate] 6 Attack, 7 Health.

• Windfury Overkill: Give your other Pirates +2/+2.

Nat Pagle, Extreme Angler

[Tier 5, Pirate] 8 Attack, 5 Health.

• Overkill: Summon a 0/2 Treasure Chest.

Cap’n Hoggarr

[Tier 5, Pirate] 6 Attack, 6 Health.

• After you buy a Pirate, gain 1 Gold this turn only.

Dread Admiral Eliza

[Tier 6, Pirate] 6 Attack, 7 Health.

• Whenever a friendly Pirate attacks, give all friendly minions +1/+1.

The Tide Razor

[Tier 6] 6 Attack, 4 Health.

• Deathrattle: Summon 3 random Pirates.