Battlegrounds Patch 19.6 Hero Guide

Battlegrounds Patch 19.
6 Hero Guide
Click here for a youtube video introducing and outlining this guide.
Intro:
Greetings! This document is meant to be a (semi) comprehensive guide to the heroes in
patch 19.6. The following document is an addendum to the meta guide (an overview of things
like compositions, leveling/curve, positioning, and more general tips) I made a while back which
you can find here. The meta guide was originally made for patch 19.4.1, but most of the
information (especially the information about tribes/compositions) is still relevant in the current
patch. This guide focuses on specific heroes and their strategies/preferences.
This document was composed by Socktastic and edited by Markoto. We are both top
200 players, but are not the best players. Some information in this document may not be
completely accurate, but is decent advice nonetheless. Additionally, all statements are made
with regards to high level (high mmr) lobbies (BUT IS MEANT TO BE ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL
SKILL LEVELS). Some of the information may be inaccurate at your skill level (but will build
good habits if you implement them in your games). Furthermore, all advice is dependent upon
the lobby. Some lobbies are stronger than others, so ultimately you have to adapt to the lobby
you're in.
This is a live document and will be updated periodically. Additionally, I plan to come out
with a separate document full of “interactive examples” going over the information in this guide
and the previously made meta guide. Screenshots of real-game situations would be included in
this. (stay tuned!)
IF YOU ARE A NEW PLAYER, READ THE ENTIRE VOCABULARY SECTION.
Everyone should at least skim the Vocab section to make sure they understand some of my
shorthand.
Feedback in improving this guide is welcome and appreciated. As you can see
(hopefully, anyway), this document is much more organized and coherent than the meta guide -
largely due to you guys’ suggestions. So, keep ‘em coming!
I hope you find this helpful!
Check us out:
Socktastic’s Twitch Markoto’s Twitch
Socktastic’s Twitter Markoto’s Twitter
Socktastic’s YouTube
General info:
- A link to the general meta guide I produced can be found here. *****Very useful*****
- For each hero, this guide is separated into 6 sections - Tribes (wanted and unwanted),
Recommended Curve, Theory/Overview, Preferred Composition(s), Key Units, and
General Tips. Not each hero will have relevant information in each section (as an
example: The Rat King, for the most part, likes all tribes equally). If a section is blank or
has N/A (not applicable) written, this is the reason.
- Heroes are listed in Alphabetical order of their full title (Ex: Rafaam is listed as
“Arch-villain Rafaam” and is therefore under A, not R).
- The language “Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed” is intended to mean that,
occasionally, it is not needed to level past tavern 4. When going some comps (such as
Mechs), it is generally disadvantageous to level to tavern 5 or beyond. Occasionally you
will also be very low on tempo and facing a strong opponent and, therefore, leveling can
be equivalent to a deathwish. In this scenario it is also advantageous to stay on lower
taverns (typically tavern 4).
- The language “preferred composition” means whatever composition your HP is either the
most suited to or benefits the most from (but does not necessarily indicate the most
common composition for the hero to end up in).
Vocabulary: (The red terms are less well-known vernacular but used often within this
doc)
Economy Unit - This is a term I will use to refer to Alleycat, Murloc Tidehunter, Sellemental, and
deck swabbie. (They are economy units because they give you more gold relative to other units)
Economy Hero - A hero with a “built-in” economy. Typically, a hero that buys units cheaply
(Rafaam, Maiev, etc.)
Tokens - This refers to the token-generating minions Alleycat and murloc Tidehunter
Dshield/Shield/DS - Shorthand for Divine Shield
DSP - Shorthand for Divine Shield and Poison
HP/hp - Shorthand for hero power
X-drop - A minion of X tavern tier (a 3-drop is a minion from tavern 3)
Xg - X amount of gold (1g = 1 gold, 2g = 2 gold, etc.)
Fractions - 12/12 refers to 12 attack and 12 health (12/12 in “stats”)
Tempo - The amount of stats (or attack power) on your board.
Module - Shorthand for Annoy-o-Module
Buffer - A battlecry (typically) card that “buffs”, or gives stats to, a unit already on your board.
Power level - Leveling ahead of the “standard leveling curve” (see meta guide, leveling/curve
section)
Comp (or direction) - Shorthand for composition, the strategy you use in order to scale/grow
your board (typically in the mid-late game)
High rolling - Receiving above average luck - often extremely above average.
APM - Actions Per Minute. Typically used in the context of a high number of actions per minute.
Scaler - A unit used to “scale” your board (lil’ rag, lightfang, Kalecgos, etc.)

Table of Contents
Illidan Stormrage Rakanishu
Table of Contents
Infinite Toki Reno Jackson
A. F. Kay
Jandice Barov Shudderwock
Al’Akir
Kael’thas Sunstrider Silas Darkmoon
Alexstrasza
King Mukla Sindragosa
Aranna Starseeker
Lich’Bazhial Sir Finley Mrrgglton
Arch-Villain Rafaam
Lord Barov Skycap’n Kragg
C’Thun!
Lord Jaraxxus Tess Greymane
Captain Eudora
Maiev Shadowsong The Curator
Chenvaala
Malygos The Great Akazamzarak
Dancin’ Deryl
Millhouse Manastorm The Lich King
Deathwing
Millificent Manastorm The Rat King
Dinotamer Brann
Mr. Bigglesworth Tickatus
Edwin VanCleef
N’Zoth Y’Shaarj
Elise Starseeker
Nozdormu Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End
Forest Warden Omu
Patches the Pirate Ysera
Fungalmancer Flurgl
Patchwerk Zephrys the Great
George the Fallen
Pyramad
Greybough
Ragnaros the Firelord

A. F. Kay
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Dragons,
Unwanted: Demons, Pirates
Recommended Curve:
3g - Freeze Tokens, sellemental, and swabbie
4g - Freeze Tokens, sellemental, and swabbie
5g - Buy the economy unit you froze and level (if you did not get an economy unit, typically level
anyway)
6g - Level to tavern 3 (unless you see a really good shop/have Hangry Dragon)
7g - Buy the two best units.
8g - Level to tavern 4 if possible (typically if you can level and also buy a unit). Otherwise, buy
the 2 (or 3 by selling) best units.
9g - If on tavern 3, level to tavern 4
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
In most scenarios, AFK tries to use her HP to gain enough early tempo to skip the early
game. Alternatively, AFK can use cards such as Khadgar or Warden of Old in order to create a
strong economy to use in power leveling. Either way, the idea behind AFK is that you have
access to strong cards before other players. However, you rarely hit 3-drops that are completely
(early) game-winning. As such, her one-off hero power ends up generally just costing you too
much in having to skip the first 2 turns of the game (messing up your curve and often your
overall economy).
Some of the best available 3-drops are Dragons and Mechs. Therefore, AFK likes when
these tribes are in (Thus allowing strong tempo cards such as Iron Sensei, Replicating Menace,
or Bronze Warden to be discovered). Some of the weakest 3-drops (on an empty board) are the
Demon, Pirate, Beast, and Murlocs 3-drops. For this reason, AFK likes when these tribes are
missing. However, while the 3-drop Murlocs and Beasts are poor options to discover from your
HP, AFK likes it when both tokens are in. This is because Khadgar is a solid unit to discover
from your HP when tokens are in the game. (While the Khadgar nerf hurts AFK, Khadgar can
still massively benefit AFK’s economy while still being used to triple tokens for higher tier units -
albeit less of them.) Additionally, AFK needs tokens in order to smooth out her curve on the 5g
turn. Therefore, Demons and Pirates are AFK’s least wanted tribes.
Preferred composition:
● AFK likes going Mechs as she will often discover them from her HP. Additionally, she is
often stuck at lower taverns attempting to fill her board. Mechs are the best comp for
staying at lower tavern tiers (tavern 3 and 4).
Key Units:
● Warden of old - This card is generally the uber nuts on AFK. It helps smooth out many
things about your very awkward leveling curve and provides you with a way to purchase
more units.
● Iron Sensei - Scaling from turn 3 is very good to do. Double Sensei (or Sensei and
another mech) is an extremely strong start that will typically provide enough tempo to
power level to at least tavern 5.
● Deflect-o-bot - This card is a build-around card for an entire comp. While the comp
you’re building around isn’t particularly strong, starting with this card on turn 3 gives you
direction to build toward.
● Hangry Dragon - Scaling from turn 3 is very good to do and you (typically) win your first
fight. When you win your first fight with a Hangry Dragon start you will generally want to
stay on tavern 2 an extra turn in order to guarantee the win for the next fight.
● Khadgar - Finding a Khadgar (or two) in double token lobbies (beasts and murlocs in)
can give you a good edge in the early/mid game
General Tips:
● Remember that you can still lock on turns 1 and 2 - lock tokens/Swabbie/Sellemental
● If you didn’t find a token, you can take Stasis Elemental for a 50% chance at
Sellemental.
● When both tokens are in, choose Khadgar decently highly (especially when you have a
token locked)
● Soul Devourer is an extremely good card when you have a demon in your shop. You get
a 5/4 or a 5/7 depending on which 1-drop demon you devourer while still having 5g to
buy an economy unit and level.
Al’Akir
Tribes:
Wanted: Pirates and Beasts
Unwanted: Elementals and Mechs
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)
4g - Level to tavern 2
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units.
6g - Buy the two best units
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit
8g - If you have enough tempo, level to tavern 4. Otherwise, fill up the empty slots of your board
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3).
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll).
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed. Often you will stay on 4 until you find a triple, level to
tavern 5, and try to hit either Eliza or Goldrinn.
Theory/Overview:
In theory, Al’Akir is a hero that provides early game advantage with strong late-game
equity. In practice, however, Al’Akir’s HP isn’t actually super impactful in the early game. This
can be attributed to the fact that minions in the early game are very weak. Therefore, negating
one of their attacks is often irrelevant (there are a lot of 1/1s floating around in the early game!).
Additionally, Al’akir’s HP doesn’t end up working well with many late-game comps. It is therefore
rather hard to build one of the few comps that can greatly utilize Al’Akir’s potential (Macaw
beasts, Eliza pirates, and menagerie with a big cleave).
Elementals have 3 different 6-drops in the pool. As such, when they are missing, they
affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (such as Eliza and Goldrinn) greatly. Mechs have
2 different 6-drops in the pool. While Foe-Reaper is quite a good card for Al’Akir, it’s rare for you
to go menagerie on this hero. This is because the two main builds for this hero require 6-drops.
Therefore, you often find yourself tripling for a 6-drop, which decreases the odds of hitting
Lightfang or Bran. Additionally, Deflect-o-Bot mechs is rather awkward on Al’Akir as you
generally want to put Deflect-o first to guarantee the DS refresh but you cannot (the windfury
typically would kill the Deflect-o off). Therefore, Al’Akir prefers when mechs are missing to
remove 2 6-drops from the pool while removing a comp that he wants to avoid anyway.
● Goldrinn Beasts - It almost goes without saying that giving windfury to Macaw is
extremely powerful. Windfury doubles the effectiveness of the card, greatly improving the
peak strength of Goldrinn beasts. Furthermore, DS is good late game, and is typically
something beasts lack (although it is generally on a 4/3 Macaw - being able to pop two
shields instead of 1 is still better than nothing). Worth mentioning that until you are able
to find Macaws, Al’Akir’s HP also allows you to put a temporary taunt onto Goldrinn.
● Eliza-Scallywag comp - Eliza is an extremely strong card for Al’Akir to triple into as its
immediate tempo advantage is daunting (windfury procs Eliza two times). Giving a little
bit of time to a player with an Eliza on board is scary to do (for your opponents) as it
typically only takes a few turns to find a Khadgar or two and a Scallywag. Additionally,
you often don’t need Defender of Argus (one less piece to the comp!) to taunt Scallywag
as your HP will do it for you.
Key Units:
● Dread Admiral Eliza - The build-around card for a strong build utilizing Al’Akir’s HP.
● Goldrinn, the Great Wolf - The build-around card for a strong build utilizing Al’Akir’s HP.
● Tormented Ritualist - This card is extremely good in the early-game for Al’Akir as
opponents will want to put small minions first in order to bump off your DS (which in turn
just feeds extra stats from Ritualist).
● Macaw - Due to Windfurry allowing its effect to proc twice, Macaw is a great midgame
tempo card with Spawn of N’Zoth, economy card with Warden of Old, and a great
late-game card with Golrinn.
General Tips:
● Since your first minion is going to have taunt anyway, you can often taunt it with no
downside so that you can buff it with Strongshell (this is assuming you have a permanent
first attacker such as Hydra)
● Windfury cleave is BROKEN. When a buffed cleave presents itself to you, you should
almost always take it.
● Remember that poison likes DS quite a bit. If you have a spore or Maexxna, it is often
correct to put it up front in the late game.
● Avoid picking Al’Akir if Beasts or Pirates are missing (you need to maximize the chances
of your HP being useful).
● You want to have as many minions as possible early-on to maximize the chances of
attacking first (thus minimizing the chances of your opponent successfully bumping off
your DS with a bad unit).
● Having another taunt besides your first-attacker (or two - or more) is often advisable
because your DS is much more difficult to target in that scenario.
Alexstrasza
Tribes:
Wanted - N/A
Unwanted - Beasts, Elementals
Recommended Curve: (Alternative curve in General Tips)
3g - Buy best (economy) unit
5g - Sell and buy the two best units
Level to tavern 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
Since Alexstrasza’s hero power only activates on tavern 5, her curve revolves around
leveling to tavern 5 as quickly as possible. As such, the murloc and beast tokens, deck swabbie,
and sellemental are very important to get turn 1. These cards allow you extra economy and
tempo as you power level. The extra economy gives Alex a chance to be flexible in her leveling
curve, and also allows her to stabilize more quickly after power leveling.
One way to think about alex: the slower you level, the more likely your hero power reads
“when you level to tavern 5, gain 2 gold” (a very bad hero power). This is because you, more
often than not, do not get the powerful 5-drop and 6-drop dragons and, as the game progresses,
the average dragons your hero power gives you are less and less relevant. Therefore, you
should level as aggressively as possible, utilizing the tempo of (on average) 3-drop and 4-drop
dragons to stabilize as you reach tavern 5.
Dragons should be prioritized, but not forced. As an example, Don’t buy Dragonspawn
Lieutenant or Red Whelp over Spawn of N’Zoth (or other solid 2-drops) just because they say
Dragon. However, Picking Steward of Time and Glyph Guardian over cards like Harvest Golem
or Imprisoner is more often than not the right call. However, if buying a dragon puts you at a
significant tempo deficit, you should probably have bought the other card. Alex’s HP offers her
no early game advantage and in order to level to tavern 5 you need enough health to take some
hits (ideally not on tavern 2). That said, often picking up a few dragons along the way is
advisable as it makes Razorgore (and Kalecgos) much better hits from Alex’s HP. Additionally,
having a Glyph Guardian on your board can turn potential low-roll HPs into triples for 6-drops
(and potentially Kalecgos).
Elementals and Beasts have 3 different 6-drops in the pool. As such, when they are
missing, they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (such as Kalecgos and Nadina)
greatly. Therefore, Alex prefers when these tribes are missing from the lobby.
(Worth mentioning that Alex, as a hero, is quite likely to get 8th. Leveling this
aggressively lends itself to taking a lot of damage. However, the payoff can be worth it - and if
you don’t go for it then you don’t have a HP)
● Dragons (unsurprisingly) are Alex’s best tribe. The potential to get Kalecgos (or even just
Razorgore) off of your hero power is too powerful to ignore.
● Menagerie is worth mentioning as your hero power has the chance to give you
Amalgadon (Bronze Warden, the best menagerie dragon, is also common). Additionally,
as Alex, you typically find yourself on tavern 5 before anyone else, giving you access to
cards like Lightfang and Brann ahead of the curve.
Key Units:
● N/A
General Tips:
● Curve power leveling to tavern 3 on the 5g turn:

○ 3g: Buy best minion (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)
○ 4g: Level to tavern 2
○ 5g: Sell and level to tavern 3
○ 6g: Normally you will buy the two best units this turn. However, if your shop is
atrocious, you have decently high HP, and you started with a
Token/Selle/Swabbie Strat, consider selling and leveling to tavern 4.
○ 7g: Buy the two best units (you have 1 roll)
○ 8g: Level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit (or level to tavern 5 if you leveled to
tavern 4 on 6g.)
○ 9g: Level to tavern 5
● Alex wants to reach tavern 5 by gold 9. Even if you feel that you are weak, attempting to
high roll good, tempo dragons off your hero power typically puts you in a better position
than not leveling.
● Do not force dragons, especially when power leveling. Buying good tempo cards after
leveling to 5 is much more important than buying dragons. (you often can find
Lightfang/Brann and a few decent tribes/battlecries)
● When buying deck swabbie turn one (only do this without a token/Sellemental in the
shop), do not play it. Play it turn 2 after leveling. This way you can level to tavern 3 and
keep a unit on board (this is called “swabbie strat”).

Aranna Starseeker
Tribes:
Wanted: Elementals, Demons, Mechs
Unwanted: Murlocs (alternatively Beasts)
Recommended Curve: ( Based on Party Elemental strategy - for tips on execution of this strat,
see meta guide, elementals section)
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units (if you did not start with a token, or if your
shop is very bad, feel free to roll twice and buy 1 unit).
7g - Roll 1 time, buying the best unit.
8g - Buy the 2 best units (or 3 if available)
9g - Buy the 2 or 3 best units
10g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best units available
You may level to tavern 3 once you have at least 2 party elementals, but generally shouldn’t
level before the 8g turn (probably leveling on average at 9g or 10g).
Typically you do not level past tavern 3 (unless you are going mechs in which case you would
want to stay on tavern 4 instead)
Theory/Overview:
In order to fully utilize Aranna’s HP you must stay on lower taverns. This is because you
need to spend 5g rolling which is 5g you can’t spend leveling. Therefore, playing Aranna is
about maximizing your scaling potential at the lowest tavern possible. Far and away the most
consistent way to play Aranna is to simply “force” the Party Elemental strategy (I never really
recommend forcing compositions. However, I don’t believe I’ve gotten lower than 5th place
forcing Party Elementals on Aranna - and typically I get 4th or 3rd).
Often, in order to force Party Elementals, you can do things such as roll 2 times on the
5g turn looking for Party eles/Molten Rocks or roll 3 times on the 6g turn looking for Party
eles/Molten Rocks. Generally you don’t want to buy Sellemental or Refreshing anomaly until
you have at least 2 of the scaling units (party ele/Molten rock). Otherwise, you are simply not
scaling your long-term units and therefore wasting gold long-term.
As aranna wants to maximize her consistency of finding party elementals on tavern 2,

she wants the tribes with the most low-tavern units to be out. Demons, Beasts, Pirates, Murlocs,
and Mechs all have 5 units in tavern 1 and 2 combined while Dragons only have 4. Aranna
typically wants mechs to be used as a backup plan, so they are a wanted tribe. Dragons are
only missing 4 units, so that leaves Beasts, Murlocs, Demons, and Pirates. Pirates have
Freedealing gambler which is a very useful card for not wasting gold (you can buy Freedealing
Gambler every time you see it, providing some chance for a cheap triple, but mostly allowing
you to end your buying phase with 3g saved for next turn - as opposed to wasting that 3g on a
card like Kindly Grandmother which has no long-term benefit). As such, aranna typically wants
demons (this tribe doesn’t have a token) and one of Murlocs or Beasts to be missing. As
murlocs also increase the incidence of poison (and with the party elemental strat your biggest
minions are generally taunted Molten Rocks), they are the preferred missing tribe.
● Party Elemental strat - This is the “low-tavern” elemental strat, utilizing the scaling of
Party ele and Molten Rock to scale. It is very consistent but doesn’t have much (if any)
game winning potential.
● Wrath Weaver/Taunt Comp - Especially if murlocs are missing (as you can then taunt up
your large minions without much fear of poison), starting with Wrath Weavers and
turning into a taunt composition on tavern 4 is a rather consistent strategy for getting top
4. Since floating watcher’s removal, additional scaling is needed to supplement Wrath
Weaver - that’s why taunt cards are very powerful with Weavers. It opens up scalers
such as Champion of Y’Shaarj or Arm of the Empire (typically you want pirates to be in
for Goldgrubber as well).
● Deflect-o-bot Mechs - This is the best back-up plan when the Party Elementals just
aren’t coming. Mechs, like party ele strat, require you to stay at lower tavern while also
having medium-high tempo potential.
Key Units:
● Refreshing anomaly - A much better than normal card (esp. Turn 1) as it speeds up the
activation of your HP.
● Party elemental (and Molten Rock to a lesser extent) - Allows Aranna to fully utilize her
HP, staying on low taverns while still scaling.
● Deflect-o-bot - The quintessential low-tavern build-around card. Also allows Aranna to
fully utilize her HP by staying on low taverns.
General Tips:
● Forcing party elementals is probably the most consistent way to play Aranna. Even on a
low roll game you’re probably getting top 5 or so.
● If you do not want to force party elementals, then Aranna should be played with 3 main
checks (while following the “standard” leveling curve of getting to tavern 4 on 9g - see
meta guide, leveling/curve section).
○ 3 checks:
■ On tavern 1, if you find Wrath Weavers (generally at least 2), look for
more Weavers and Demons. Find your way to tavern 4 to look for
additional scalers - Bigfernal, Champion of Y’Shaarj, etc.
■ On tavern 2, if you find Party Elemental/Molten Rock, go Party Elemental
strat
■ On tavern 3, if you find Deflect-o-bot/iron sensei, go Mechs (Arm of the
Empire with a lot of taunts can also work as a “top 4” strat. You would
eventually level to tavern 4 for Quaraji, Module, etc.)
■ If none of these checks work out and you haven’t found anything, level to
tavern 4 and try to play a “normal” game (tripling for 5-drops and 6-drops,
attempting to go Dragons, Eliza-Scallywag comp, Menagerie, etc.) This is
a back-up plan as Aranna is not particularly good at leveling “normally”.
● Rolling is much better than usual (the first 5 times) as it activates your HP.
● Fun fact: The word “Party” was used 20 times in this section (including ← that one).
Arch-Villain Rafaam
Tribes:
Wanted - Elementals, Demons
Unwanted - Beasts
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (if Sellemental or Murloc Tidehunter, consider selling and hero powering)
4g - Buy best unit and hero power
5g - Level to tavern 2 and hero power (remember to roll and freeze if there are 2 good 2-drops)
6g - If you have a good shop, buy it. If you don’t, level to tavern 3 and hero power.
7g - If you bought last turn, level to tavern 3. If you didn’t, double buy and hero power.
8g - Level to tavern 4 and hero power
Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed.
Theory/Overview:
As Rafaam’s hero power only costs 1g, you are essentially “buying” a unit for 1g.
However, this unit comes 1 turn later, and therefore comes at a loss of tempo (you’re spending
1g for a future fight, rather than the next upcoming fight). Additionally, the unit you’re buying is,
to some degree, chosen by your opponent. As such, buying tempo units (and making tempo
plays) should be prioritized over economy/value units (and plays) in the early and mid game.
Rafaam can use his cheap hero power to stay on tavern 1 for an extended period of
time, picking up pairs and gaining economy (by buying cheap units through his HP). As these
pairs are from tavern 1, they are very likely to triple. These pairs typically want to be tripled for a
5-drop or higher in order to find a comp/direction.
Since Rafaam spends quite a few turns on tavern 1, the tribes he wants and does not
want in the lobby are largely based on what 1 drops are available for that tribe. Rafaam is one of
the better heroes at utilizing Wrath Weavers, and as the meta is slower than the previous one,
Weavers are pretty good to pick up right now. . Therefore, Rafaam wants Demons to be in the
game. The beast 1-drops are low-tempo and therefore unwanted by Rafaam. Additionally,
Sellemental as a card is very strong on Rafaam as it allows him to HP turn 1 for decent chances
of stealing a minion. As such, Rafaam wants Elementals in the game.
Rafaam’s high economy allows him a very flexible curve and many ways to play.
Therefore, there are more than one curve that Rafaam can follow (see general tips). In general,
you should try to level to tavern 4 by 8g on any curve you follow with Rafaam. So long as you
are prioritizing tempo and gold efficiency, you’re probably playing Rafaam adequately.
Rafaam doesn’t have a preferred composition, but he is able to level very aggressively
and hit large volumes of triples. As such, he is good at going for dragons and elementals
(comps that rely heavily on tier 6 units). It’s also worth mentioning that Rafaam likes going
comps that your opponents are also going (as you are more likely to steal units relevant to your
comp). Therefore, pay attention to the compositions in your lobby!
Key Units:
● Sellemental - Selle allows you to buy and hero power on turn 1 for a high chance to
“buy two” units on turn 1
● Spawn of N’Zoth - This is a popular unit to steal in the early game (and is therefore easy
to triple) as it is of high demand and placed 1st on your opponent's board. It is also a
high tempo unit in the early game.
● Acolyte of C’thun - This is a popular unit to steal in the early game (and is therefore easy
to triple) as it is of high demand and has taunt. Additionally, it’s a reasonable tempo unit
in the early game that can be extremely high tempo when paired with cards like Qiraji
Harbinger in the midgame.
General Tips:
● This is the more typical Rafaam curve. (However, I find myself going the “Recommended
Curve” more often - so that’s the one I recommended. This curve is also entirely
acceptable and better in some situations, however.):
○ 3g: Buy best unit (if Sellemental or Murloc Tidehunter, consider selling and hero
powering)
○ 4g: Buy best unit and hero power
○ 5g: Buy the best unit and hero power (you have 1 roll)
○ 6g: Level to tavern 2, buy the best unit, and hero power
○ 7g: Level to tavern 3 and hero power
○ 8g: Level to tavern 4 and hero power (if you are low on health/tempo, stay on 3
and get stronger instead, then level to tavern 4 the next turn.)
○ Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed
● Remember that you have to actually kill a minion to use the HP. If you are too weak to
do so, don't HP.
● If your opponent has no tribe listed on turn 2, they either have Acolyte of C’thun, Wrath
Weaver, or have no minion (on board - perhaps they have a deck swabbie in hand). If
they lost the previous fight, it's usually bad to hero power (as they probably have no
minion).
● Buying swabbie turn 1 (with the intention of leveling and HPing turn 2) does let you
power level in the early game, but good tempo units are probably better.
● Hero power at the end of a turn, not the beginning (you may want to use that gold
elsewhere!)
● If you only have 1g left, it is virtually always better to hp than to roll (just bank the gold for
a later turn where it can be useful later) (exception: if you have 2 amalgadons and you
may steal one from your opponent)
● At the beginning of each turn (especially in the early game), look at your opponent! If
your opponent’s information card reads 1 murloc, buying Rockpool Hunter is probably
better than buying Dragonspawn Lieutenant (and vice versa!)

C’Thun!
Tribes:
Wanted - Mechs, Beasts, (at least one of) Murlocs or Elementals
Unwanted - N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Hero Power and roll looking for Alleycat, Murloc Tidehunter, and sellemental (make sure to
freeze)
4g - Buy a token (or sellemental) and sell a unit to use your Hero Power
5g - Level to tavern 2 and hero power
6g - Buy 1 unit and hero power.
7g - Level to tavern 3 and hero power.
8g - Buy two units and hero power
9g - Either buy 2 units and hero power or Level to tavern 4 and hero power (never buy just 1
unit!)
10g - If on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and hero power (It is not always necessary to level to
tavern 4 this quickly on C’thun. If you’re low on health/tempo or see really good units, feel free
to stay on tavern 3.)
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed.
Theory/Overview:
Counter intuitively, C’thun wants to hero power on turn 1 (one of the few, if not the only,
hero that doesn’t buy a unit turn 1). This is because his hero power scales with each use. If you
make it to turn 12, you are losing out on 12/12 in stats if you didn’t hero power turn 1 (as you will
have only used your HP 11 times). However, you still want a unit on board as quickly as
possible so you can begin scaling it. This is why the Murloc token, Beast token, and Sellemental
are so important. They allow you to hero power while having a unit on board turn 2.
This hero, in a lot of ways, is a race to tavern 3. Since your hero power offers consistent
stats, quickly finding units, esp DS units (such as Bronze Warden or Crackling Cyclone), that
like to be buffed is very important. Additionally, this is why mechs are so highly valued for C’thun
(any mech can be turned into a DS unit through annoy-o-module). For this reason, C’thun highly
prefers mechs to be in the game. Additionally, C’thun needs Tokens or Sellemental in the game
to smooth out his curve. Since C’thun often relies on Macaw (see next paragraph), beasts are
preferred to be in the game. Therefore, at least 1 of Murlocs or Elementals should be in the
game in addition to beasts.
If you miss the Divine shield units on tavern 3, or are unable to level to tavern 3 quickly
enough, you can include Selfless Hero in your lineup instead. Often, Selfless Hero is paired with
Macaw on C’thun since access to tavern 5 (and therefore access to Baron) isn’t as common for
him. Generally, I’m pretty happy to buy Selfless on C’thun after I have 4 or 5 units on board and
none of them are DS units. For this reason, Deathrattle units such as Rat Pack or Imprisoner
are often bad pick ups on C’thun (they interfere with Macaw + Selfless).
Since C’thun has a very consistent strategy for having a DS filled board without having
DS units, it can be argued that C’thun doesn’t care *that* much about finding DS units. Along
this line of reasoning, C’thun’s HP offers decent scaling, but can be out-scaled by the stronger
scalers in the game (Kalecgos Dragons and Lil’ Rag Elementals). Therefore, it can be argued
that C’thun doesn’t want Dragons or Elementals in the game despite those tribes providing DS
units on tavern 3 (this is assuming that both Tokens are in so that Sellemental is not needed in
the early game).
C’thun offers consistent, steady scaling. He is not a “top 1” hero but more of a “top 4”
hero (meaning it is hard to win lobbies with him, but it is also hard to place outside of top 4 with
him when played correctly). Often you will find yourself losing your first 5 or so fights and
stabilizing around 25 health (where your hero power catches up and out-paces your opponents
until the late game where you will, again, be out-paced).
● Mechs - Especially Deflect-o-bot mechs, are C’thun’s favorite tribe. Not only is
this comp powerful, it is also available at low tavern tiers (where C’thun spends
most of his time). Additionally, with the refreshing divine shields, the natural
scaling of C’thun can be put to full effect.
● Menagerie - As you often have many good menagerie units on your board (a DS
dragon/ele/mech), is very good on C’thun as well. This is typically only available if
you triple into lightfang/bran, however, as you typically don’t want to level to
tavern 5 preemptively.
● “C’thun Build” - You will often find yourself stuck on lower taverns without DS
units on board. In these situations, you generally try to find golden Macaw and
golden Selfless Hero in order to give DS to your reasonably high-stated board.
Key Units:
● Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat - allow you to HP turns 1 and 2 while having a
unit on board turn 2
● Selfless Hero - Since you have consistent scaling, DS is important to have. Therefore,
when you don’t find DS units, Selfless Hero (generally with Macaw) is your best bet.
● Deflect-o-bot, Bronze Warden, Crackling cyclone - are the earliest divine shield units
available. Scaling DS units gives roughly twice the value (2x the attack power)
● Iron sensei - one of the earliest available units with extra scaling. As you are typically
stuck at lower tavern tiers on C’thun, any amount of additional scaling is extremely
welcome.
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE: Curve without token turn 1 or 2 (there is no good way for
this curve to work out. Generally, just spend your gold as efficiently as possible while still
HPing every turn:
○ 3g: Hero Power
○ 4g: Once you realize you cannot buy a token (or sellemental) and sell to use your
Hero Power, use your HP and roll 2 times looking for 1-drops that are good to
scale (mechs), high-tempo 1-drops, or tokens (in that order).
○ 5g: Buy the best unit and HP
○ 6g: if you have an economy unit in the shop, level to tavern 2, buy the unit, sell (if
necessary. Also, if sellemental is being sold, hold the water droplet in hand for
next turn) and use your HP. Otherwise, Level HP or buy a pair and HP (Try your
best to level)
○ 7g: Sell a unit that hasn’t been buffed much, buy the two best units, and HP.
Alternatively, roll 2 times and HP. (you can also buy/sell a buffer such as
Mug/Overseer)
○ 8g: Level to tavern 3 and HP. Alternatively, buy the two best units and HP (you
will generally have to buy 2 here, but leveling is preferable if possible/the shop is
very bad.)
○ 9g: if on tavern 2, level to tavern 3 and HP
● Hero Power EVERY turn
● Since you have to HP every turn, be mindful of your gold - especially for future turns (you
essentially have 2 less gold a turn). Example: Locking triples in order to level and triple
for a higher tavern unit is often too expensive
● C'Thun often doesn't do very much damage at the end of a fight (so you can level
against him with minimal risk).
● Avoid picking C’thun if mechs are not in the lobby
● Avoid picking C’thun if any 2 of these tribes are missing: beasts, murlocs, and
elementals
● C’thun often doesn’t level past tavern 4
● Do not be afraid to hold units (especially in the mid game) that you don’t want buffed in
hand if it is more gold efficient (ex: Screwjank clunker)
● As the hero power is not a targeted buff, SELL UNITS YOU DO NOT WANT BUFFED.
Every stat placed on a battlecry unit (for example) by your hero power is a wasted stat
● Remember that C’thun buffs randomly - this means that you shouldn’t pick up units that
need buffs to be useful later in the game (ex: turn 10ish Hydra is probably too late)
Captain Eudora
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Dragons (and Demons? - see theory)
Unwanted: Murlocs
Recommended Curve: Building a recommended curve for Eudora is difficult as, frankly, I’m not
sure what her best strategy is. There are essentially 2 possibilities: You are more likely to make
it to turn 10 (or 11 as digging on turn 1 isn’t always advisable) than not, or you very infrequently
make it to turn 10. If you are likely to make it to turn 10, then you should go for a second dig. If
you are unlikely to make it to turn 10, then you should try to maximize the value from your 1 dig.
I *think* that Eudora isn’t super likely to make it to turn 10, and the following Recommended
Curve reflects that, but there is an alternative curve for the alternative situation in General Tips.
Additionally, there is a turn five 5-drop curve in General Tips.
3g - Buy best minion (you can Dig turn 1 if you found a token, but this should generally only be
done if you think you would prefer tripling for a 4-drop than a 5-drop. For the most part, this
means if you have a token and two Wrath Weavers in your shop, or a token, a Wrath Weaver,
and a Demon, you can dig turn 1. I personally don’t prefer this, however, and recommend
simply buying the best tempo unit and refraining from HPing.)
4g - Buy best minion and HP
5g - Buy best minion and HP
6g - Level to tavern 2, buy the best minion, and HP
7g - Level to tavern 3 and HP
8g - Level to tavern 4 and HP (if you dug on turn 1, you can consider not HPing this turn in order
to triple for a 5-drop next turn)
9g - if you won your last fight, or had a good enough dig to set you up for winning your next few
fights, keep digging evey turn. If you are extremely low on health/tempo, stop digging (since
that’s 1g you could be spending on improving your board).
Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
Eudora is a very difficult hero to write a guide for as she has many different curves that,
at least on paper, make sense to follow. Additionally, each of these curves, at least to me, feel
very similar in terms of their variance. You end up getting eighth place very frequently with each
curve unless you high roll, in which case you can still end up getting eighth, but have a very
good shot at third or higher. In my estimation, Eudora takes too much damage to Dig on 1
without buying a unit. Even when she is able to sell a Token and dig turn 1 it feels like you end
up taking too much damage. As such, the recommended curve ignores digging every single turn
and instead focuses on maximizing the potential from your (typically) 1-off Dig.
This is a 5-drop meta. As such, Eudora tries to finagle her HP in such a way that she
triples for a 5-drop. Since this strategy revolves around power-leveling with a board full of
1-drops, you end up taking a LOT of damage. For this reason, Eudora prefers mechs to be in
the game. Mechs have very high tempo options on low-tavern (such as Mechan-o-Egg and
Annoy-o-Module) and can help recoup the lost tempo more quickly. Additionally, Mechs
synergize well with the most popular “stay alive strategy” in the current meta - Taunt comp
(because Module gives DS and Taunt to a mech). Demons are an interesting one for Eudora. I
think she may like starting with Wrath Weavers on 1 in order to mitigate some damage that she
takes while leveling. However, if you end up losing the fights as you level anyway, Weavers are
very bad since you already have such low health on Eudora. Additionally, if you low-roll your dig
and end up losing the next fight or two, you could be in a situation where your health is too low
to play anymore Demons. I *think* that Weavers are good on Eudora, but I felt it important to
outline the significant downside.
When following the recommended curve, Eudora’s HP gives her random units tavern 4
and below. Since they are random, you want the tribes that are in the game to have
above-average units tavern 4 and below. More specifically, you want the units to be good
individually since you have a board full of 1-drops which typically don’t synergize well with other
units. For this reason, Eudora wants murlocs to be out of the game as their best cards rely on
having other murlocs on board (Coldlight Seer, Felfin, etc). Additionally, every dragon on tavern
3 and tavern 4 are very good when golden (with the exception of maybe Twilight Emissary as
you don’t always have a dragon on board to buff). For this reason, Eudora prefers Dragons to
be in the game.
Eudora essentially starts the game on turn 6 with 20 health, a random golden unit, and a
5-drop. As such, Eudora needs a high roll. If you get a golden 1-drop, you almost always end up
getting 8th. Don’t be intimidated by that possibility - your HP inherently has a lot of variance.
Therefore, you might as well try to make yours extremely strong and go for a 5-drop or 6-drop
(or high-tavern golden unit from your HP).
Eudora doesn’t have a preferred composition. Rather, she attempts to high roll 1
build-around card from her HP/triple and uses it to stabilize. (as you are typically very
low health after digging). That said, you often do not have the health/tempo to level past
tavern 4, so you should gravitate toward Deflect-o-Bot mechs and Taunt comp (as they
are the best tavern 4 strategies).
Key Units:
● Goldgrubber - Since your HP gives you guaranteed golden units, your board is more
likely to work with Grubber. That said, only 1 golden minion isn’t enough to justify
Grubber, so only pick him up if you have a triple besides the one from your HP.
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - Hail Mary 6-Drop Triple: E ven if you get a token turn 1, do
not dig when following this curve. The theory behind this curve is that you cannot (in a
typical game) dig twice anyway. Therefore, you might as well maximize the value of your
one dig. (If you are extremely low on health on the 8g turn, you can settle for a 5-drop
and dig there. However, it is preferred to avoid this as if you’re settling for a 5 you
probably should have gone for the recommended curve.) When following this curve,
Eudora prefers Dragons and Pirates be in and Beasts and Elementals to be out.
○ 3g - Buy best minion
○ 4g - Buy best minion and HP
○ 5g - Level to tavern 2 and HP
○ 7g - Buy the two best units and HP
○ 8g - Level to tavern 4 and buy if it improves your board (DO NOT HP)
○ Level to tavern 6 as needed
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - Turn 5 Dig/Power Leveling: Only go for this curve if you start
with a token or Deck Swabbie. This curve, even more than Eudora’s other curves, is
relying heavily upon high rolling your turn 5 dig. If you have a poor first dig, you almost
always top 8. When following this curve, Eudora prefers mechs to be in the game as
they allow you to stabilize much more quickly after power leveling.
○ 3g - Buy best minion, sell, and then HP
○ 4g - Level to tavern 2, sell (when appropriate), and HP
○ 5g - Buy the best minion (esp tokens/Sellemental) and HP (you have 1 roll)
○ 7g - Level to tavern 4, sell, and HP
○ 8g - Fill up your board as much as possible. Dig if you won your last fight and are
likely to continue winning your fights, or if you have >15ish health and are likely
to win your next fight. Otherwise, stop digging.
○ Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed
● Eudora’s Dig’s give you a random minion from your tavern tier or below. So if you’re on
tavern 4, you cannot get 5-drops or 6-drops from your Digs.

Chenvaala
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: Murlocs, Beasts
Recommended Curve: Building a curve for Chen is extremely difficult as it is entirely

dependent on how many elementals show up in your tavern. In general, if you pay careful
attention to your gold and do not waste it, level when you have high HP, and buy tempo units if
you are low on health, then you are probably playing fine.
3g - Buy the best unit (Sellemental and Refreshing Anomaly highly preferred, Tokens preferred)
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the two best units
6g - Level if you can do so while buying a minion (or if your shop is very bad), otherwise buy the
two best units.
8g - Level to tavern 4 if you can while buying a unit (and do not have low health). Otherwise, fill
the empty slots of your board/replace your weakest units.
9g - If on tavern 4, level to tavern 5 if possible (especially with a triple). More often you will roll
for tempo units. If on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit.
Theory/Overview:
Chenvaala’s HP incentivises you to buy elementals as often as possible. Elementals,

however, are one of the hardest tribes to force, outside of Party Elemental Strategy, because all
of the key units are on tavern 6 (Lil’ Rag, Djinni, Garr). Also, Going Party Elemental Strategy is
very anti synergistic with your HP as to find enough Party Elementals to make it work you
typically have to stay on tavern 2 for an extended period of time. Since your HP is only useful if
you’re leveling, this is a very awkward position to be in.
Since Chen is an economy hero, you should prioritize tempo units as much as possible.
This is because economy heroes like to level, but if you level without tempo then you take too
much damage. Therefore, buy elementals when appropriate, but don’t pass up extremely strong
cards, especially early on (such as Spawn of N’Zoth or Bronze Warden).
Since Chen wants to triple for 6-drops in an attempt to hit elementals, he likes it when
tribes with many 6-drops are missing. For this reason, Chen likes it when Beasts are missing.
Chen also doesn’t like it when Murlocs are in the game as elementals typically rely on high stat
numbers to make it through the mid game and early parts of the late game. Since murlocs
increase the incidence of poison (the counter to big stat numbers) in the game, they are
preferred to be missing. It could be said that Chen likes it when high-tempo backup options
(such as imp mama or Eliza) are available on tavern 6 for when you miss the 6-drop elemental
units, but I’m not sure if this is enough of a reason to make Demons/Pirates “wanted” tribes - still
probably worth mentioning, however.
Long story short, Chenvalla is an RNG dependent economy hero who is incentivised to
power level in a slow-leveling meta. Therefore, he often takes too much damage while
executing his game plan for it to work out favorably. Chen has some high roll potential, but for
the most part is too inconsistent to be worthwhile.
● Elementals (Shocking, I know) - It goes without saying that Chenvaala doesn’t have a
HP if he isn’t buying elementals. Additionally, Chenvaala’s HP, at least in theory, allows
you to power level which is necessary to play Elementals. Therefore, Chen like’s tripling
for 6-drops and trying to hit Djinni, Rag, and Garr.
Key Units:
● Sellemental - Counts for 2 elemental “plays” for only 1g which makes you money every
time you see the card (because of your HP)
● Tavern Tempest - Same as Sellemental
● Djinni - When you triple into this card on tavern 5, Djinni feeds you elementals, helping
you level to tavern 6 which is where you need to be in order to play elementals.
● Party Elemental - Gives you a reason to spam play Elementals on your way to tavern 6
(as this unit will scale your board as you play Elementals)
● Molten Rock - Gives you a reason to spam play elementals on your way to tavern 6 (as
this unit scales as you play Elementals)
● Majordomo - Gives you a reason to spam play Elementals on your way to tavern 6
(where better reasons exist - such as Garr and Lil’ Rag).
General Tips:
Do not pick Chenvala
● Buying elementals lets you power level, but it will not help if you are behind. If you are
behind then you need to pick good tempo plays.
● If you are behind, ignore the hero power and make tempo plays.
Dancin’ Deryl
Definition - Dance: Selling many units in order to repeatedly buff unit(s) in the tavern through
Deryl’s HP. Typically this is done by first buying everything except one unit in the shop and then
selling units off. This guarantees that the buffs land on only one target.
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Murlocs, Beasts, and Elementals
Unwanted: Dragons and Pirates
Recommended Curve: Deryl’s Curve is pretty variable. Often, if I see enough economy units in
the first 2 turns, I will do a small dance on turn 2 and use that tempo to let me level more quickly
to tavern 3. Additionally, when possible, leveling to tavern 5 when your tempo and health are
high enough in the mid game is probably preferable (This gives you access to scalers such as
Brann, Kalecgos through triples, etc). Generally, if you are not wasting gold or stats in the
early/mid game (remember that buffing unwanted units in the tavern by selling units on your
board throws stats that would otherwise be placed on wanted/better units away) then you’re
probably playing fine. The following curve is the most typical one, however.
5g - Sell (when appropriate - you should almost always sell here as Deryl) and buy the 2 best
units.
8g - If you see a good dance target in your first shop, dance on it. If you do not see a good
dance target and you are at high health, buy 2 (or 3 units) and wait until the next turn. (Don’t be
afraid to hold units in hand on Deryl. Selling is how you scale so you don’t want to sell on
taverns you wouldn’t buy from.)
9g - If you Danced last turn, consider leveling to tavern 4. If you did not dance last turn, Dance
like your life depends on it (because it does).
10g - Level to tavern 4 and spend your gold efficiently
Theory/Overview:
Dancing Deryl is the quintessential “top 4 hero” as his HP gives him very consistent
scaling but also forces him to play from a low tavern. As such, he typically out-scales players
who level past low taverns and do not hit high-impact cards, but cannot outscale the players that
hit those minions. This generally means Deryl gets 4th, maaaaaybe 3rd, but rarely higher.
Deryl really likes dancing on tavern 3. This is because on tavern 3 there are only 4
minions in each shop. This means you can buy 3 of them and dance on the remaining 1 unit
anytime past the 9g turn without wasting stats by having to sell minions before the best dance
target is the only card in the shop. Therefore, dancing on tavern 3 is the most efficient way to
utilize your HP and you do not have to level past taven 3 as Deryl. This is in combination with
the fact that tavern 3 is where you can find DS the earliest (Bronze Warden, Crackling Cyclone,
and Deflect-o-Bot) and DS units are the best units to dance on (perhaps with the exception of
cleave).
Keeping the above information in mind, tavern 4 introduces some extremely strong cards
to dance on such as Cave Hydra and Annoy-o-Module. These cards are occasionally worth the
inefficiency of tavern 4 dances (where there are 5 minions in the shop - on 10g you must buy 3,
sell 2, and then buy another minion in order to exclusively dance on 1 target). Evaluate the
lobby and your board to decide if leveling makes sense. Some situations where you will typically
level past tavern 3 would be if you need taunt on your board (look for Module or Argus), if you
have mechs other than Deflect-o-Bot that have been danced on (leveling gives you access to
Module which can give DS to these units), if you have a triple and a 5-drop would significantly
benefit your board (Lightfang with many tribes, for example), or if you need poison in order to
beat high-scaler players (tavern 4 has toxfin and access to spore through tripling).
Tokens and sellemental are extremely important units for Deryl as they are both cheap
and sold twice. You buy these minions for -3g and then sell them twice for +2g. Since you sell
them twice, and each sell is +2/2 in stats, they give +4/4 in stats. This means Tokens and
Sellemental are +4/4 for 1g with Deryl’s HP. This is an extremely gold efficient way to scale,
comparable to Millhouse buying single-target battlecries with a Brann on board. You should buy
every one of these units you see while you are still dancing.
● Deflect-o-Bot mechs - As Deryl provides decent scaling at a low-tavern, buffing

Deflect-o-bot is typically your best bet as your buffs are then utilized multiple times
through Deflect-o’s DS refreshing.
● Menagerie - Occasionally Deryl will Dance on units of several different tribes. In this
world, it can be a good idea to triple for a 5-drop and look for Brann/Lightfang
Key Units:
● Murloc TideHunter, Alleycat, Sellemental - These units give +4/4 for 1g to a unit you
dance on which is extremely efficient scaling
● Deflect-o-Bot - The best build-around card (and one of the earliest DS cards) on low
taverns
● Crackling Cyclone, Bronze Warden - Early DS units that make for good dance targets
● Replicating Menace - Because this card is magnetic, it allows you to scale other mechs
(such as Deflect-o-Bot) past the normal range of Dancing (which is generally around
15/15 to 20/20 in stats)
● Annoy-o-Module - Since this card is magnetic, it allows you to scale other mechs past
the normal range of Dancing. Additionally, this card can give DS to large units you
already possess (typically through dancing).
General Tips:
● If you are ahead on tempo, don’t be afraid to buy all of the minions in a shop and wait
until next turn for a big Dance.
● Tripling is less good on Deryl as, after tripling, you have fewer units to sell off and,
therefore, less scaling. However, if you can triple for a card that gives you a solid comp
(such as menagerie or Kalecgos dragons) then it is generally advantageous to do so.
● Be careful to not “over-dance” with Deryl. Generally, it doesn’t matter how large the
minion you dance on becomes, if you end up with less than 7 (or even fewer) minions
on board, you are not extremely likely to win the upcoming fight.
Deathwing
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Beasts
Unwanted: Dragons, Elementals
Recommended Curve:
Theory/Overview:
At first glance, Deathwing’s HP seems like it is almost inconsequential. How could a

symmetrical effect be a powerful enough HP? As it turns out, your opponents are (typically) not
going to build boards that are good for your HP (as they have different HPs). For this reason,
Deathwing’s HP is a lot stronger in practice. That said, Deathwing’s HP doesn’t scale super well
into the late game as other strategies out-scale deathwing - his HP is more of an early/mid
game hero power. This means that Deathwing is typically more of a “top 4” kind of hero rather
than a first place kind of hero.
When buying units in the first few turns of the game, you should simply “count bodies”.
By this I mean you should count the number of units on your board including summoned units.
For example, Micro Mummy is 2 “bodies” as the reborn summons an additional unit while
Steward of time is 1 body. Steward of time is traditionally better than Micro Mummy, but on
Deathwing this is not the case as Micro has more bodies. As a side note, Selfless hero/DS units
can also be considered as 2 bodies.
As Deathwing, you really like tripling for 6-drops. There are many tavern 6 units that
work well with your HP such as Ghastcoiler, Imp Mama, etc while very few tavern 5 units that do
the same. However, more often than not, Mechs do not want to level past tavern 4. Generally
speaking, it can be said that if you have a Deflect-o-Bot on board, you should generally settle for
a 5-drop. If you do not have Deflect-o-Bot, then get a 6-drop if your health isn’t too low.
Additionally, going for a 6-drop is a lot better if you have a few beasts on board as it makes
Goldrinn an out.
Deathwing likes it when Mechs (especially) and Beasts are in. Deathwing likes Mechs
because Mechs often have many bodies (as they often have DS or a Deathrattle). Additionally,
Deflect-o-Bot has as many bodies as you have DS refreshes while also scaling well into the
earlier parts of the late game. The low-tavern beast strategy involves summoning many beasts
(Rat Pack, Infested Wolf, etc.) and therefore beasts are very good early tempo units for
Deathwing. However, Deathwing doesn’t like it when Dragons and Elementals are in the game.
This is because his best strategy is typically Deflect-o-bot Mechs which will generally be
outscales by those tribes.
● Deflect-o-Bot mechs - Mechs allow Deathwing to use his HP in a final composition as

refreshing DS means that you get multiple iterations of value within each fight from your
HP. Additionally, Cards like Replicating menace can be used to fill your board with 3/1s
even after your Deflect-o-Bots die off. All around, Deathwing likes mech cards as they
summon many things and have DS.
● Goldrinn Beasts - Deathwing’s HP isn’t particularly useful at the end-game version of this
composition (involving Macaw, Goldrin, and no other Deathrattle units). However, he will
often have many beasts on board in the midgame, and likes tripling for 6-drops.
Therefore, Goldrinn is often a good build-around card to pick up from triples.
Key Units:
● Deflect-o-Bot - the best build-around card for your HP (and it’s on tavern 3!)
● Rat Pack - Insane mid-game tempo.
● Bronze Warden - Insane mid-game tempo while also being a great unit for menagerie.
● Arm of the Empire - An extremely good scaler for the types of units Deathwing likes to
pick up (DS units). Just make sure to level to tavern 4 and find Defender of Argus.
General Tips:
● Do not go Demons with Deathwing. The extra attack works against your big Wrath
Weavers (as Demons don’t typically summon many cards - therefore, your opponent is
more likely to have a board good for your HP than you).
Dinotamer Brann
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs (and Dragons?)
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens highly preferred, Sellemental preferred). Lock token pairs.
4g - If you bought a token turn 1 and see the same token in the shop, buy the pair and then HP
to find the triple. Otherwise, level to tavern 2.
5g - If on tavern 2, Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units. If on tavern 1, sell the main
body of the token (Murloc Tidecaller or Alleycat, not the unit it summons) and then buy the triple.
Level to tavern 2 before playing the triple and get a 3 drop.
6g - Buy the two best units. Alternatively, If you had the triple token start, consider leveling this
turn (especially if it was the Murloc token start as the 3-drop Murlocs can be found through your
HP).
7g - If on tavern 2, Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit. If on tavern 3, buy the best 2 units
while rolling or HPing (if your HP can find you good units such as the 3-drop murlocs, use it over
rolling).
Theory/Overview:
Dinotamer Brann’s HP should be thought of as a roll (because it essentially is - just a roll

for Battlecry cards). For this reason, Brann is essentially a worse Nozdormu, though with a few
niche benefits. As it turns out, having to pay the 1g premium to use your HP makes it
significantly worse in most situations. That said, Brann’s HP does allow you to look for specific
cards, which can be quite good (if you need that third Battlemaster in order to create the biggest
Demon in the world, for example). However, the situations where your HP is extremely useful
are few and far between, and even when your HP is useful on average, you can always miss
and hit only Vulgar Homunculuses from your HP (for example).
Keeping this in mind, in order to maximize the value of Brann’s HP, you must use a
composition that takes advantage of battlecry cards. Dragons and Murlocs are the two prime
candidates. Dragons (or, more specifically, Kalecgos) are very hard to acquire when your HP
doesn’t offer you the tempo or the economy to level aggressively - so they’re not the best
candidate (although, if the opportunity presents itself, you should probably take it). Murlocs have
many high-impact battlecry cards such as Coldlight Seer, King Bagurgle, and Primalfin Lookout.
Therefore, playing Brann is often a game of find the murlocs on tavern 1 and 2, and then on
tavern 3 you start HPing to find the board-wide Buffers. It goes without saying that Brann
Bronzebeard is a very impactful card when playing Dinotamer Bran (and murlocs in general).
Therefore, triples should be saved, when possible, for 5-drops.
● Kalecgos Dragons - As Dragons scale through playing battlecries, Bran’s HP is very

good at finding them. However, it is very difficult to set up Kalecgos board on a
low-economy, low-tempo hero.
● Murlocs - This is the most common composition you will find yourself in as Brann. This is
because quite a few murlocs, especially the powerful buffer murlocs, are battlecry units.
Key Units:
● Brann Bronzebeard - As your HP gives you many Battlecry cards, finding a Brann makes
the cards your HP gives you twice as effective.
General Tips:
Do not pick Dinotamer Brann

Edwin VanCleef
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Beasts
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units. (occasionally HP, but generally you
shouldn’t HP here.)
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit (alternatively, buy 2 units and HP).
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3 and HPing).
You will typically not nevel this turn.
Alternatively, you can buy a few units and HP.
Theory/Overview:
Similar to Rakanishu, Edwin’s HP dumps a variable amount of stats into one unit every
turn. However, unlike Edwin, Rakanishu’s HP has no prior condition that needs to be met for his
HP to function. For this reason, I think of Edwin as a worse Rakanishu for the most part. Edwin’s
HP forces him to stay on lower taverns in order to fully utilize his HP as, if you’re leveling, you
don’t have to gold to purchase units. That said, Edwin’s HP is more gold efficient than
Rakanishu’s in a lot of situations - especially on tavern 4 (where Rak’s HP gives +4/4 for 2g and
Edwin’s gives +3/3 on average for 1g). Once you reach tavern 4 (or 3), Edwin’s HP shines for a
few turns. However, the path that needs to be taken to get to tavern 4 isn’t so clear on Edwin.
His early game almost entirely revolves around buying the best units you see in the shop with
no help given by his HP. Additionally, his HP is essentially “deactivated” any turn you level. For
these reasons, Edwin’s early game and the set up for his mid game, are extremely tumultuous
and often leave you at low health with a meager board. Therefore, Edwin is generally stuck on
tavern 4 attempting to recoup the lost tempo of the early game and cannot level to look for the
big-boy scalers like Lightfang or Kalecgos. Due to this, Edwin likes it when Mechs and Beasts
are in the game as they provide the best units (Deflect-o-Bot and Cave Hydra respectively) on
low taverns to dump your HP into.
● Deflect-o-Bot Mechs - Buffing Deflect-o-Bot(s) is the best way to utilize your HP.
Additionally, as Edwin’s HP requires you to buy many cards per turn, you cannot level
quickly while utilizing Edwin’s HP. Therefore, low-tavern compositions, such as Mechs,
work well with his HP.
Units:
● Deflect-o-Bot - The best (and earliest) DS unit to buff with your HP as its DS gets
refreshed.
● Crackling Cyclone/Bronze Warden - Other early DS units to buff with your HP.
● Hydra - Consistently scaling a cleave with your HP is extremely good.
General Tips:
Do not pick Edwin VanCleef
● Since your HP has to happen at the end of your turn, make sure to count your gold
carefully.
● Often times, buying (traditionally) sub-par buffs such as Screwjank Clunker can be
acceptable on Edwin as buying more cards in a turn increases the value of your HP
Elise Starseeker
Tribes:
Wanted - N/A
Unwanted - N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (esp Tokens and Sellemental)
4g - Level to tavern 2 (you can lock tokens if you did not get one last turn and bought a good
1-drop - generally Acolyte of C’Thun)
5g - Sell (when appropriate), map, and buy the best unit in the shop
7g - Level to tavern 3 and Map. Alternatively, buy an extremely good unit in the shop (good
pairs, typically).
8g - Fill the empty slots on your board/replace your weakest units (buying a minimum 2 units,
but ideally 3). Alternatively, If you got Warden of Old from your map last turn, you can consider
leveling to tavern 4, selling your weakest unit, coining, and mapping. You can also level if you’re
very high on tempo/health and map next turn.
9g - Level to tavern 4, roll once, and sell your weakest unit to either buy or Map.
Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed. (Can level to tavern 5 when it costs 7g and map
immediately)
Theory/Overview:
Elise experienced the most dramatic change of any hero (other than Hooktusk - May she
Rest in Peace) in this patch, going from the best hero in the Battlegrounds to among the worst
(which just goes to show you how important 1g can be! Always play gold efficiently when
possible on all heroes). Due to this change, Elise can no longer level aggressively and must
take her time leveling up. Since she cannot level ahead of everyone else, the minions she gets
from her Map are less relevant (lower tempo) relative to the turn she gets them. For this reason,
in addition to the meta as a whole being much slower, Elise often finds leveling to tavern 5, let
alone tavern 6, rather difficult. That said, Elise is incentivised to level (as if she doesn’t then she
doesn’t have a HP). You should virtually always make it to tavern 4 on Elise by the 9g turn. After
this point, you should evaluate your board and ask if it wants to stay on 4 or not. If you have
good menagerie cards, such as Bronze Warden or Mechan-o-Egg, then maybe leveling and
mapping to hit Lightfang is a good idea. If you have a lot of taunt synergy cards or some
Deflect-o-Bots, perhaps you should stay on tavern 4 and look for more pieces to those comps.
So on and so forth.
Elise is a slow hero in a slow meta with few (if any) major benefits gained from her HP.
She pays full price for the minions from her HP, needs a token by the 5g turn or else has a very
awkward just as any other hero, and will often be unable to use the most powerful iterations of
her HP (the tavern 5 and 6 maps). That said, she does consistently buy a unit from the tavern
tier she would level to the turn she levels to it (while other heroes have the potential to low-roll
shops with few high-tier units in them). Overall, Elise is good at finding the important low-tier
cards within this meta (such as Arm of the Empire, Deflect-o-Bot, or Qiraji Harbringer) but
cannot fully utilize her HP in most games.
Elise doesn’t exactly have a “preferred composition”. For the most part, she attempts to
map into a build-around card (such as Lightfang or Brann - or, more typically in this meta, cards
like Arm of the Empire or Deflect-o-Bot) and uses that to give her direction.
Key Units:
● Warden of old - After mapping on the 7g turn for a 3-drop, if you hit Warden of old, you
can essentially play like the old Elise as the extra gold per turn discounts your map from
3g back down to 2g. (although, leveling hyper aggressively is probably going to be
punished in this meta and should still be avoided unless you are very confident in your
strength).
General Tips:
N/A
Forest Warden Omu
Tribes:
Wanted - Murlocs, Beasts, Elementals, and Pirates
Unwanted - N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (Tokens, Sellemental, and Deck swabbie esp.)
4g - Level to tavern 2, selling a token and buying another unit (Tokens, and Sellemental esp.).
5g - Sell a token and buy 2 best units
6g - Level to tavern 3 and buy best unit in shop
7g - Buy two best units
8g - Level to tavern 4 and buy best unit
Theory/Overview:
The previous meta taught us how powerful access to the current 6-drops is. However,
without the Darkmoon Faire prizes, it’s much more difficult for other heroes to justify
powerleveling.That said, Omu is the best hero at leveling aggressively in patch 19.6 (RIP Elise).
As she gains so much gold, utilizing it effectively is more important than anything else. Often,
the most gold efficient play is the correct play for Omu. Omu utilizes her extra economy to reach
taverns 5 and 6 extremely early, relying on the access to high-tavern tempo units to stabilize.
While gold efficiency is important, tempo units should be prioritized. Your hero power
doesn’t offer any early game advantage (in a vacuum). As such, Omu can end up taking a lot of
damage in the early game. Mitigating this damage such that you reach tavern 5 while still able
to take a hit or two is extremely important.
Ultimately, Omu is a very straightforward hero. If in doubt, so long as the gold works out,
just level. You will always have at least a chance to high roll that way.
Omu doesn’t have a preferred composition, but high tavern units are very accessible to
her as she can level very aggressively. Therefore, compositions such as Dragons, Lil’ Rag eles,
Eliza-Scallywag comp, etc, are easier for Omu to go relative to other heroes.
Key Units:
● Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, Deck Swabbie are necessary to smooth out
your turn 1 and 2 curves
● Warden of old - since leveling gives you 2g, an extra gold means you can level and buy
a unit every turn. Always buy this card on 5g or 6g and level aggressively (so long as
you don’t die)
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE: Without a token turn 1 or 2: This curve is MUCH WORSE.

Always level to tavern 2 on turn 2 if you have a token.
○ 3g: Buy best minion
○ 4g: Buy best minion with 1 roll (looking for a pair of what you bought turn 1)
○ 5g: Level to tavern 2, buy a really good minion or roll and then buy the best
minion
○ 6g: Buy the two best minions
○ 7g: level to tavern 3, buy a really good minion or roll then buy the best minion
○ From here: You will typically level each turn until tavern 5 or 6, buying a unit each
time.
● Buying Refreshing Anomaly turn 1 allows you one extra roll for a token turn 2
● Remember that you need to sell on 5g (in order to double buy), so think about which unit
you are selling.
● Omu has a built in economy as you level, so prioritize tempo units after the 5g turn or so
Fungalmancer Flurgl
Definition - Dance: Dancing refers to the act of buying and selling murlocs repeatedly (often this
takes up your entire turn). On Flurgl, this is typically done with buffer murlocs (such as Felfin
Navigator or Coldlight Seer).
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: Dragons Pirates
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (Murloc token highly preferred, Alleycat and Sellemental preferred)
4g - Level to tavern 2 (Freeze Murloc Tidehunter if you see it)
8g - Look for the 3-drop buffer murlocs with 1 roll. If you do not hit any (and are not at a low
health), then level to tavern 4. If you hit them, dance as much as possible, keeping an eye on
your gold and making sure to buy when you have 3g left. If you see a triple, lock it for a 5-drop.
9g - If you are on tavern 3 and do not see a buffer murloc, level to tavern 4 and replace your
weakest unit (you have 1 roll - don’t forget selling murlocs put another minion into the tavern).
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed (you will typically never level to tavern 6)
Theory/Overview:
First and foremost, and I cannot stress this enough, you should almost never be rolling
on this hero. In the early game, rolling is virtually always worse than doing something else (this
is true for any hero), and, most often, your entire turn in the mid/late game will be spent dancing.
At some point, you will have gained enough stats and it is beneficial to roll for Selfless Hero, but
this is only at very late stages of the game.
As Flurgl’s HP only works if you have murlocs to sell, hitting Murloc Tidehunter turn 1 is
extremely important. As such, I typically only go Flurgl when chosen from Sir Finley Mrrgglton
(so that I can see if there is a murloc token in the shop turn 1). The level of Flurgl’s success is
largely dependent upon the density of murlocs within your first 3 or 4 turns. Without a high
density of murlocs early on, you don’t have enough murlocs on board to scale with the buffer
murlocs in the midgame. As a rule of thumb, if you don’t have at least 3 murlocs by the 7g turn,
it is generally too late to go murlocs.
Flurgl wants to level to tavern 4 as quickly as possible, but doesn’t mind dancing on
tavern 3 for a turn or so. This is because the best murloc (Primalfin Lookout) is on tavern 4.
Additionally, Toxfin is a reasonable murloc to buy and sell - although buffer murlocs should be
taken over poison. (As a general rule, stats are how you get to the late game, poison and DS
are how you win it.) Additionally, by being on tavern 4, you have access to Brann through
tripling.
Generally, after you have tripled all or most of your murlocs (or you have found Brann)
you want to level to tavern 5. This is to add Bagurgle to the available murlocs in the dancing
pool and to be able to find Brann if you haven’t yet (although you still should not be rolling for
him). This is typically done when you can level and then play a Primalfin Lookout as the ability
to find Bagurgle off of this discover offsets some of the tempo loss from leveling. This also
allows you to eventually find baron for the super late game.
After you have scaled your murlocs enough, you can start buying Selfless Hero. This
allows you to take advantage of the synergy between DS and Poison in the end game. There is
no hard rule for this, but typically avoid Selfless before turn 9 or so, and plan to start buying
them around turn 10 or 11.
As Flurgl can be outscaled by stronger scaling comps, he prefers it whenever those

compositions are missing. Dragons have both larger units (typically) and more DS than Murlocs,
which isn’t a good matchup. The early stages of APM pirates can be countered by the poisons
on your board, but they will eventually garner enough tools to overcome you. Eliza-Scallywag
comp generally has enough damage output to overcome the stats on your murlocs. Therefore,
Dragons and Pirates are preferred to be missing on Flurgl. You may think that Elementals will
outscale murlocs and are therefore also an unwanted tribe, but poison as a mechanic
hard-counters most elemental boards. As such, Flurgl is more fine with Elementals being in.
● Murlocs (shocker, I know) - Flurgl’s HP is entirely useless outside of going murlocs.

Therefore, unless you would like to play the game without a HP, then you should try to
go murlocs on Flurgl.
Key Units:
● Murloc Tidehunter - This card allows you to look at 2 murlocs (through your HP) for only
1g (-3g to buy the card and +2g after selling it). You can think of this as a roll with 2
murlocs in it. If every roll you had contained 2 units of a certain tribe, then you are very
likely to find useful units within that tribe. As such, this card should be picked extremely
highly so long as you have the board space for it.
● Primalfin Lookout - This has the same benefits of murloc tidehunter with the additional
benefits of discovering the first murloc in the roll and not requiring additional board space
(Lookout also occasionally costs 0g whenever you discover Tidehunter from it).
● Selfless Hero - This card is extremely important for your late-game as without it you do
not have access to DS and simply have big murlocs (which are nice, but cannot typically
win lobbies).
● Brann Bronzebeard - The most impactful card to find early on as it dramatically
increases the overall scaling of your murlocs.
General Tips:
● Especially when you have a Brann, skipping combats can often be a good idea as some
turns can suddenly have very high APM demands (such as finding several Primalfins in
a row).
● Remember that selling puts units into the tavern, but the tavern can only hold a limited
number of minions (7, the same as your board). Roll whenever the tavern is filled with
murlocs that you do not want to buy
● Triple for 5-drops as much as possible. Hitting Brann is extremely important
● When you are on tavern 5, triples are almost meaningless as there are no 6-drops
(except maybe Amalgadon) that you want.
George the Fallen
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (esp. Tokens or Sellemental)
5g - Sell token and buy 2 best units; Alternatively, Buy best unit and hero power
6g - Buy two best units
8g - Buy two best units and Hero power (or, if you have high tempo, level to tavern 4 - typically
while HPing)
9g - If on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit or hero power
Theory/Overview:
George is a hero that is especially powerful in the late game. His hero power allows him
to give DS to units (Mythrax, Hydra, etc) that would otherwise be much more vulnerable (to
things such as poison). However, he can only use his hero power once per turn. As such, it
often takes time for George to get off the ground. This is coupled with the fact that Divine shield
isn’t particularly powerful in the early game (as there are a lot of 1/1s around). These things
necessitate that George follows a slower leveling curve (essentially, George can rarely, if ever,
power level).
George is the master of getting 2nd place. This is because his entire hero power is
countered by a single card - Unstable Ghoul. For this reason, scaling should generally be
prioritized over hero powering (your opponents can’t ghoul-away your stats!). Additionally,
because Ghoul will be taken very highly against you, you should avoid (when possible) cards
that are weak to ghoul and prioritize cards that are good vs ghoul. As an example, a Spore
should almost never be bought on George unless he HPs it in the same turn. Otherwise, it dies
for free to Ghoul. Additionally, cards such as Imp Mama like taking small amounts of damage
which Ghoul provides (although, worth mentioning that you cannot have DS on Imp Mama if you
want her to summon something from Ghoul - you must also have 6 units or attack first to make
board space.)
However, since George typically follows a slower leveling curve, often, you will find
yourself stuck on tavern 4, unable to level but unable to scale. This is where murlocs come in!
Who needs scaling when you can have infinite attack? Poison and divine shield are a deadly
combo and become even deadlier the longer the game progresses. Therefore, it is nearly a
necessity for Murlocs to be present when playing George.
● Menagerie - Since it is ideal to scale divine shield units, when presented the
opportunity, George loves tripling into Bran/Lightfang. He can utilize his hero
power to turn each of the different tribes into amazing menagerie units (Nat
Pagle, now with Divine Shield!)
● Murlocs - If you get an early enough Bran, you can have explosive murloc stats
but with easily accessed divine shields.
● Murlocs (scam) - Without early bran, rolling for Toxfins and Primalfins (to find
more Toxfins) on tavern 4 is a legitimate way to sneak into top 4. Depending on
your opponents comps, you can even win some lobbies with this strategy.
Key Units:
● Toxfin - This card allows George to abuse the synergy of divine shield (from his
hero power) and poison. This is why George likes murlocs being in.
● Bolvar, Fireblood - A very good tempo unit given George’s HP
● Drakonid Enforcer - A very good tempo unit given George’s HP
● Maexxna and Deadly Spore - These units come with poison which means that
you can spend 5g (including your HP) to buy what is effectively a DSP
Amalgadon. Worth mentioning that Spore is weak to Ghoul and should almost
never be played without HPing it (Your hero is weak to Ghoul - you don’t wanna
double down on your weaknesses).
General Tips:
● Generally speaking, when mechs are in, don't hero power them or Amalgadons (they
can get Divine Shield with Annoy-o-Module).
● Prioritize hero powering units with high attack as it allows the divine shield to get more
value
● DSP murlocs get better as the game progresses - they are quite weak in the midgame.
Don’t rush to put them on your board. This also depends on the compositions of your
opponents - if there are a lot of Goldrinn or Elemental players, poison becomes much
better.
● Typically, you shouldn’t buy units with Divine shield. Often, their only (real) effect is
having divine shield - you have enough of that!
● If you’re rolling at the end of your gold, you probably should have hero powered instead
(even if you have 1g left, often sell HP is a better play than rolling.
Greybough
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs (and Demons? - see theory)
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
9g - Level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll).
Theory/Overview:
I think of Greybough as a better Deathwing since his HP is both asymmetrical (which

means your opponent doesn’t benefit from it) and more relevant in the current meta (due to the
prevalence of taunt-synergy cards). Similar to Deathwing, Greybough (typically) has a very
strong board in the early game and uses this advantage to protect his health. Since
Greybough’s effect doesn’t scale well into the late-game, the extra health is very advantageous
in making 4th or higher.
Gameplay as greybough essentially goes as follows: On tavern 1 and 2, fill your board
with any unit that summons another unit. On tavern 3, look for pairs, Arm of the Empire or
Jugglers/Deflect-o-Bot depending on your board. From there, level to tavern 4 and triple for a
5-drop (if applicable) - hopefully this gives your direction. If you didn’t highroll a good 5-drop,
then stay on tavern 4 for the rest of the game looking for taunt synergy cards (or
Deflecto-o-Bot/Juggler build cards, or some combination of the 3, depending on your board
state). Worth mentioning is that Grebough likes tripling for 6-drops more than 5-drops as there
are many 6-drops that work well with his HP (Ghastcoiler, Boat, Imp Mama, etc). However,
leveling to tavern 5 (even to triple for a 6) on Greybough is often a mistake as Taunt
composition prefers to stay on tavern 4.
Since Greybough gives you access to a lot of taunt, compositions that want specific units
to die are especially good for Greybough. In practice, this essentially means that Juggler
Demons, Mama Bear Beasts, and Kangor’s build synergize quite well with Greybough’s HP.
Juggler Demons involve a lot of taunt minions that want to die and summon minions without
taunt that also want to die. Greybough is perfect for this set up because the more minions you
summon the more value you get from your HP. Greybough also taunts the untaunted Demons
that want to die which increases the board space you have for cards like Voidlord to summon
additional units. Mama Bear beasts is much the same story. Whenever your Rat Pack or
Infested Wolf dies, the minions they summon get taunted which means they're more likely to
die, clearing space for additional summons. However, setting up a good Mama Bear comp is
much more difficult as none of the relevant cards come with taunt (while many relevant cards to
Juggler comp come with taunt - this also synergizes with Qiraji Harbringer). This means you
have to not only find the minions, but you also have to find enough Defender of Arguses and
Houndmasters to taunt most of the Beasts on your board. Kangor’s build is extremely difficult to
set up as it requires many, specific units to work. However, it is worth mentioning as it is very
synergistic with Greybough, taunting the cards summoned from things like Mechan-o-Egg or
Sneed’s Ol’ Shredder which clears boardspace for your Kangor’s Apprentice to summon as
many units as possible. Generally speaking, you will find yourself going Jugglers before Mama
Bear comp or Kangor’s Build as it is the most accessible, easily built comp among these three.
While the above compositions are very synergistic with Greybough’s HP, the comp you
will end up going most often is (unsurprisingly) taunt comp. The mascot minions of Taunt comp -
Champion of Y’Shaarj, Arm of the Empire, and Qiraji Harbringer - all synergize very well with
Greybough’s overall game plan. For this reason, these cards are almost always worth picking
up, especially the first few turns you level to tavern 3 or tavern 4.
Greybough is more of a “top 4” hero than a 1st place hero. His HP is essentially useless
in the late game outside of a few, niche compositions (and these compositions don’t typically
make it to the late game). However, the additional health and tempo that Greybough affords you
is very good for consistently getting top 4. For this reason, your goal when picking Greybough
shouldn’t be to win the lobby. Instead, you should be very happy with 2nd or 3rd place while
expecting 4th or 5th place.
● Taunt comp - Greybough gives your board a much higher incidence of taunt minions. For
this reason, cards like Qiraji Harbringer and Champion of Y’Shaarj are especially good
for him.
● Juggler Demons - This can essentially be thought of as Taunt comp but composed
mostly of Demons. Therefore, cards like Qiraji Harbringer and Arm of the Empire fit very
well into this build.
● Kangor’s Mechs - A very difficult build to set up, but as it has many summons that want
to die to clear up board space, it works very well with Greybough’s HP.
● Mama Bear Beasts - A difficult build to set up, but as it has many summons that want to
die to clear up board space, it works very well with Greybough’s HP.
Key Units:
● Qiraji Harbringer - Provides this hero with insane midgame tempo and should be bought
virtually always.
● Arm of the Empire - Good midgame scaling, and decent tempo due to your HP.
● Annoy-o-Module - Works well with Qiraji and Arm as they both like to buff DS units and
Module can give any Mech taunt and DS.
● Champion of Y’Shaarj - A decent scaler that utilizes taunt (something you have plenty of)
● Soul Juggler - Greybough is the hero best at utilizing soul Juggler as the Demons
summoned from typical taunt Demon cards (Imprisoner, Ring Matron, Etc) do not have
taunt. Therefore, taunting them increases the consistency of them dying, which clears
board space for more summons (think cards like Voidlord or Imp Mama) and increases
the average number of juggles per battle.
General Tips:

Illidan Stormrage
Tribes:
Wanted: Pirates and Beasts
Unwanted: Elementals and Dragons
Recommended Curve:
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed. Often you will stay on 4 until you find a triple, level to
tavern 5, and try to hit either Eliza or Goldrinn.
Theory/Overview:
Illidan is a very inconsistent hero with some high roll potential. For how often you want it
to happen on other heroes, guaranteeing attacking first ends up not being a strong enough hero
power. Simply put, the advantage that attacking first gives you only really shows up once you
already have a composition. In the early and mid game, before you have a direction, attacking
first is virtually no benefit. Therefore, every hero that has a HP which increases the advantage in
finding/building a composition (Think Rafaam who can steal units, or Barov who gets gold to
buy/look for units - or virtually any other hero) will do so before Illidan which leaves him too far
behind to catch up. In that way, Illidan can be thought of as the opposite of the Rat King - rather
than having meaningless early game advantage, Illidan has meaningless late game advantage.
Although it is difficult to get to this stage, once Illidan has a few, key cards, his HP
becomes very powerful. For the most part, these cards are Eliza and Goldrinn. It sort of goes
without saying that having pirates attack while you have Eliza on board is beneficial.
Additionally, attacking with Macaw before your opponent gets to attack increases the size of
your units which means you’re less likely to be value traded by your opponent’s minions. Since
these cards are build-around cards for powerful compositions that work well with Illidan’s HP, he
likes tripling for 6-drops when possible. However, this meta involves much less aggressive
leveling than the last one. You are much more likely to take too much damage when leveling to
tavern 5 or tavern 6. For this reason, most other heroes right now triple for 5-drops. Therefore,
Illidan is an out-of-place 6-drop hero in a 5-drop meta. It is often too slow to level all the way to
tavern 5, hoping to hit 2 specific cards. That said, it is still the best bet for Illidan as, once you hit
these cards (especially Eliza), you are typically strong enough to win your next fight or two.
Some synergies outside of Pirate and Beast compositions for Illidan:
● Positioning Deflect-o-Bot to attack first (left-most position) with a reset attacking second
(right-most position) followed by a reset (directly to the right of Deflect-o-Bot). This will
allow 2 deflect-o-Bot resets to occur as, if the minion you put left-most survives an
attack, it will attack first when it is next your turn to attack. Therefore, when you only
have 1 Deflect-o, this setup is very powerful (although you can move the second reset
back 1 spot and run a second Deflect-o as well).
● Your left-most minion attacking and surviving. Whenever you are unafraid of poison, you
can place your largest minion in the left-most position and, if it survives its initial attack, it
will get to attack again which increases the number of powerful/relevant attack that you
get per combat. Alternatively, if your left-most minion has DS it is guaranteed to survive
and have the potential to attack again.
● Running a bumper vs taunted DS units. Since you always get to attack first as Illidan,
you always have the chance to put a small minion up front in order to “bump” off the DS
from a taunted minion. For this reason, Illidan is slightly better whenever Al’Akir is in the
lobby as your HP pseudo-counters Al’Akir (who always has a taunted DS unit).
Illidan prefers when Pirates and Beasts are in because the end-game compositions for
those tribes work well with his HP. For this reason, Illidan wants Elementals and Dragons to be
missing. Elementals and Dragons being out of the game decreases the number of units on
tavern 6 as much as possible, increasing the odds of hitting Eliza and Goldrinn. Worth
mentioning is that Dragons and Mechs both have two 6-drops each, but being able to guarantee
attacks with cleave is very powerful. Therefore, Illidan wants mechs in more than dragons as it
makes Foe Reaper a decent back-up plan if you miss Eliza and Goldrinn.
● Eliza-Scallywag Build - This build, in and of itself, doesn’t have the best synergy with
Illidan’s HP. However, Eliza herself is significantly improved by guaranteeing two attacks
before your opponent gets a chance to retaliate. Therefore, once tripled into, Eliza is a
very power tempo card that will keep you alize almost guaranteed (because of your HP)
as you search for the cards within the end-game build (Khadgar and Baron). Worth
mentioning is that you can also run 7 units when running this build on Illidan so long as
your 7th unit will die after attacking. Good units to use could be Deadly spore or Selfless
Hero.
● Goldrinn Beasts - Since this composition relies upon attacking for its stats (Macaw
triggering Goldrinn), it’s very beneficial to run this composition on Illidan. Controlling this
many attacks allows you to do things such as taunt Goldrinn (as you can guarantee your
Macaws attacking), run selfless hero (generally golden) and let it attack first so that it
doesn’t interrupt Macaw and Goldrinn (You then have 5 beasts with 4 divine shields
instead of 6 beasts without DS - 1 slot on your board being baron), and allows your
Hydras to attack earlier on in the fight - which increases the likelihood of cleave being
relevant.
Key Units:
● Dread Admiral Eliza - A card that loves attacking first and enables an end-game
composition.
● Goldrinn, the Great Wolf - A card that loves attacking first and dying or being triggered
by Macaw before your opponent has a chance to attack into your low-stated units
(pre-deathrattle).
General Tips:
Do not pick Illidan Stormrage
● If your left-most minion survives the attack that your HP gives it, it will be the first minion
to attack when it is next your turn to attack. (Therefore, if you have a minion that would
really like attacking twice it should be placed there. A good example would be a Foe
Reaper with a DS).
Infinite Toki
Tribes:
Wanted: Pirates, Dragons,
Unwanted: Elementals, Beasts
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (esp. Tokens or Sellemental)
5g - Sell token and buy 2 best units (selling a unit to level to tavern 3 when you have a token
start is better on Toki as you can HP for 4-drops the following turn)
6g - Buy two best units (alternatively, level and HP for a 4-drop and freeze).
8g - Level to tavern 4 and HP (freeze if desired)
9g - If you have enough tempo and do not want to buy the 5-drop from last turn, level to tavern 5
and HP
Theory/Overview:
Toki utilizes her HP to gain access to high-tavern units extremely early. However, as she
doesn’t have a built-in economy, it’s often difficult to fully utilize the minions you get from her
HP. Leveling aggressively is ideal on Toki as you then have access to even higher tavern units.
You want to be able to HP for 5-drops and 6-drops (ideally 6-drops) as early as possible on
Toki. Therefore, if you have enough health/tempo, you should almost always be leveling.
Since Toki’s goal is to power level, and she does not have a high economy, she has to
power level through high tempo. Largely, this means high rolling tempo units from her HP. For
this reason, it is often good to level to tavern 3 on the 5g or 6g turns, thereby giving you extra
chances to hit high-tempo 4-drops such as Ring Matron, Highmane, Jug, etc.
Since Toki wants to hit high-impact 6-drops off of her HP, she does not like Elementals
or Beasts being in the game because they have 3 different 6-drops each (and therefore, when
they’re missing, you’re more likely to hit impactful 6-drops). Toki Like Dragons and Pirates to be
in the game as they have the best 6-drops (Kalecgos and Eliza).
As she needs to hit high-impact (high-tempo) units early on in order to be able to power
level for the chance to high high-impact 5-drops and 6-drop, Toki isn’t the best hero. It is
ultimately very unlikely for her gameplan to work out, but occasionally Bob smiles down upon
you.
Toki doesn’t have a preferred composition. She mostly attempts to high roll some
build-around unit (Goldrinn, Eliza, Kalecgos, etc) with her HP and uses that card to give her
direction. However, Toki prefers high-tempo options such as Eliza (as it’s hard for her to power
level and buy units - so she is typically behind on tempo).
Key Units:
● Freedealing Gambler - Allows you to immediately buy high-tavern units you HP into
General Tips:
● Early leveling much better because of the hero power

● Toki can level on the 6g turn, hero power, freeze if the unit is good, and then hero power
double buy to get 2 4-drops by the 7g turn.
● Don’t be afraid to level, HP, and then freeze for good units. The high-tavern minion will
typically make up for the tempo loss on the next turn.
● Only freeze high-tempo units. Slower cards like Razorgore or Cave Hydra are often too
slow on Toki
Jandice Barov
Tribes:
Wanted: Elementals, Murlocs, and Beasts
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy a Token and HP it (not the generated token, the main body). Freeze.
4g - Rebuy the token and HP it again (if your shop is below average, roll before HPing). Freeze.
5g - Rebuy the token and HP it (you will get a triple. play it AFTER you level for a 3-drop). Sell
the worst unit on your board and level to tavern 2. Freeze.
6g - Rebuy the token, HP it, and then buy it once again. You may end up holding the token in
hand due to board space, that is okay.
7g - Level to tavern 3, sell a unit, play the token from hand and then HP it. Rebuy the token. You
may end up holding the token in hand due to board space, that is okay.
8g - Level to tavern 4, playing the token and tripling for a 5-drop. (you may stop HPing the token
at this point - though you will occasionally want to continue)
Theory/Overview:
Jandice is one of the best heroes in the game - so long as she has a token on turn 1.
Having a token on turn 1 gives her insane early economy and flexibility, while also allowing her
consistent triples, boosting her tempo as she levels. Additionally, these triples can give Jandice
potentially game-winning cards (khadgar on tavern 3, Brann on tavern 5). However, since
Khadgar has been nerfed, he is much less of a game-winning card than before (arguably he’s
no longer game-winning at all, merely game-boosting). However, to fully optimize Jandice, you
must still be proficient at using Khadgar to create triples with tokens as she is virtually the only
hero that can utilize Khadgar somewhat powerfully (which means she is the only hero with this
tool at her disposal). That said, her hero power is very flexible and can win in many different
ways.
Jandice is extremely proficient in Khadgar transitions as she increases the rate at which
you can play tokens (The first token you see in the shop = 2 tokens played). Since doing
Khadgar transitions is a game of finding a few select cards (Khadgar, Alleycat, Murloc
Tidehunter, and bran - although, since the nerf, you can only use up to 2 Khadgars/a Khadgar
and a Brann, so you will mostly be looking for tokens), removing an element of inconsistency is
very beneficial. That said, it’s probably no longer the correct line of play to roll exclusively for
Khadgar transition pieces (Khadgar transitions are no longer powerful enough for this much
dedication). Rather, if you happen to find a Khadgar or two before the 8g turn or so, you can buy
a few tokens and triple for a few 6-drops. Generally, it would be too late to sell your entire board
by the 9g turn (as the lower number of 6-drops aren’t enough to offset the tempo loss of selling
everything). I would say 8g is the latest you should do a transition now, with 7g being ideal.
When playing Jandice, consider your HP and what cards benefit from being replayed
(typically battlecries). It is often beneficial to end your turn on a battlecry that you are repeatedly
swapping every turn (such as Bagurgle or Menagerie Jug). Due to this, Jandice is extremely
fond of Brann as many of her strategies revolve around replaying battlecry units. Also for this
reason, Jandice does not like staying on tavern 4. She typically wants to level to at least tavern
5 to make full use of her hero power. That said, using your HP on Jug and staying on tavern 4
can often get you top 4 in a pinch.
As Jandice likes having a token in the early game, she likes both Murlocs and Beasts in.
That said, she prefers the murloc token over the beast token in the early game. This is because
having the murloc token fills your board with murlocs (duh), setting you up for the board-wide
murloc buffers such as Bagurgle or Felfin Navigator. There is some benefit to Alleycat, mostly
when tripled with a Mama Bear on board, but the murloc token is more frequently impactful.
Additionally, as Elemental compositions revolve around repeatedly playing elementals,
Jaundice’s HP synergizes well with the tribe. Therefore, Jaundice likes Elementals, Murlocs,
and Beasts in her lobbies.
● Murlocs - As a tribe, Murlocs rely on board-wide buffers that are hard to find, but
extremely impactful. Jandice’s hp provides consistency to this strategy. As such, often
tripling into Bagurgle with a few murlocs on board can coast you into top 4 (If you buff 6
other murlocs with Bargurgle you get +12/12 a turn - nothing to scoff at). Bran in
combination with cards like Bagurgle and Primalfin Lookout can be scarily strong.
● Elementals - Whether you’re Lil’ Rag elementals or Nomi elementals, you will benefit
greatly from the consistency Jandice provides. As scaling with elementals revolves
around playing other elementals, repeatedly playing high-impact elementals (such as
tavern tempest) can explosively grow the stats on your board.
Key Units:
● Murloc Tidehunter - Provides high economy in the early game while giving you potential
to go Murlocs.
● Alleycat - Provides high economy in the early game.
● Primalfin Lookout - An extremely useful card in murloc compositions that is relatively
hard to find. Jandice, however, only has to find 1 to play it every turn.
● Tavern Tempest - The best elemental to swap with Jandice’s HP in elemental
compositions (it is both high-tier and cheap).
● Amalgadon - Especially good with Jandice as, if you miss DS or Poison, you can always
try again.
● Menagerie Jug - A very efficient buff card that is good to swap with your HP in virtually
every composition.
General Tips:
● Curve with token turn 2:

○ 3g: Buy best minion
○ 4g: Buy the Token and HP it (not the generated token, the main body). Sell the
unit you bought turn 1 and the unit your HP gave you to rebuy the token. (your
board should be the main body of the Token generator and 2 summoned tokens)
○ 5g: HP the Token, Buy it, sell whatever your HP gave to you, Level to tavern 2
and triple for a 3-drop.
○ From here, you can follow the other curve
● Whenever you don’t find a token in the early game, look for other units for your HP to
utilize (Nathrezim Overseer, Menagerie Mug, etc.)
● Typically, if you find a token on 6g or before, you should buy it and start HPing it. On 7g
or later, only buy a token if your board has nothing going for it (no pairs, typically)
● You only need 1 Token! Often, buying a second Token is a mistake.
● Nomi: Whenever you swap an elemental into the tavern, the Nomi buff is re-applied to
the current size.
● While going Murlocs and Elementals allow you to maximize the use of your hero power,
other tribes can benefit from repeatedly playing units as well (Wrath Weaver demons,
Beasts with Mama Bear, etc). Keep an eye out for these strategies in a pinch.
● Make sure to keep something around that you would like to swap (don’t sell your Jugs!)
● Leveling aggressively to tavern 3 (such as on the 5g turn) is rather bad on Jandice as
she wants to make use of her hero power every turn if possible.
● If there is something in the shop that you want to play from hand (typically battlecries),
make sure to buy it before using your HP.
● If you have Faceless Taverngoer, you can swap a unit into the shop and then play
Taverngoer on it (useful for tripling hard-to-find cards such as Brann or Hogger).
● When going murlocs, you should typically swap Bagurgle before you have a Bran
(consistent scaling is very important), and Primalfin Lookout after you have Bran.
● Avoid Jandice when possible if Beasts and Murlocs are not in the game
● If one of Beasts and Murlocs are missing, she is still pickable, but is much worse as a
hero. Consider picking other heroes over her (it really doesn’t matter that both tokens are
in the game so long as you hit a token turn 1. However you’re 2x as likely to hit with 2x
as many tokens in the game).
● Just because Jandice HP is 0g does not mean it is always advantageous to use.
Evaluate what you gain by HPing before using it (this can take some practice)
Kael’thas Sunstrider
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Dragons
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
5g - Sell and buy the 2 best units. Alternatively, sell and level to tavern 3 (Since Kael’thas’ HP
gives him extra stats/tempo, he can recover from leveling this turn a little better than other
heroes).
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). Try your
best to buy 3 units here for the extra HP buff.
Theory/Overview:
Kael’thas is an early game tempo hero whose HP doesn’t scale super well into the
mid/late game. This is because, at some point, you no longer want to replace your board and,
instead, want to focus on buffing units you are keeping permanently (and your HP only buffs
minions you’re buying from the tavern). For this reason, Kael’thas really likes going mechs as
the magnetic units (Replicating Menace and Annoy-o-Module) allow him to utilize his HP to buff
permanent units for the entire game. Kael’thas can be thought of as an early-game hero like
Sindragosa or Rat King (although he is a better version of those heroes). As Kael’thas has no
built-in economy, it is difficult for him to level aggressively which means that his early tempo
generally doesn’t translate into the later stages of the game. Because of this, Kael’thas will
typically find himself stuck at lower tavern tiers, unable to level and find the end-game scalers
like Lightfang or Kalecgos. Mechs are Kael’thas’ best bet more often than not for this reason.
Because Kael’thas has high tempo in the early/mid game, it is often good for him to level
to tavern 3 on the 5g turn. He can recoup the tempo loss of leveling much more quickly than
other heroes. When following this curve, Kael’thas likes dragons to be in the game as they have
the highest tempo 3-drops (with the exception of perhaps Mechs).
● Deflect-o-Bot Mechs - As DS units like to be buffed, especially in the midgame, by an

extra +2/2, this comp allows your HP to maximize its effectiveness. Additionally, having
mechs on your board allows you to utilize the magnetic units into the later stages of the
game (making your HP somewhat relevant in those stages).
● Menagerie - Since the optimal menagerie build has a lot of DS units (and other units that
like to be buffed), Kael’thas is often set up well for Lightfang and Brann. Additionally,
menagerie incentives you to buy many cards per turn (as many Battlecries are useful),
and therefore your HP is more likely to proc and more likely to give you value.
Key Units:
● Annoy-o-Module - Allows the buff from your HP to be useful for a longer duration.
Additionally, it can give DS to any Mech you may have buffed with your HP.
● Replicating Menace - Allows the buff from your HP to be useful for a longer duration
General Tips:
● Pay attention to the progress of your HP! Often you can improve the order of buying
units (such as buying a Battlecry before buying a Cave Hydra so that the Hydra receives
+2/2 instead of the Battlecry).
● Your advantage is in the early game - act like it! Don’t be afraid to level a little
aggressively.
● It is sometimes correct to buy random garbage in order to buff a unit you’re buying. As
an example, your HP is 2 buys away from buffing and you see a shop of all 2-drops and
a battlemaster. Giving battlemaster +2 attack is very important as it’s attack is extremely
low, naturally. Therefore, I’m happy to buy random garbage 2-drops in order to buff the
Battlemaster. (you can think of the random unit as a single-target buff. If you would have
bought a single-target buff anyway, then it doesn’t matter than the unit itself doesn’t do
anything)
King Mukla
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Demons
Unwanted: Beasts, Murlocs
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (if there is a Sellemental or Token, sell and HP. Play Bananas if you are
too weak to win the fight, but otherwise hold them)
4g - Buy the best unit (especially Micro Mummy, Micro Machine, and Wrath Weaver) and HP
(Play Bananas if you are too weak to win the fight, but otherwise hold them)
5g - Buy the best unit (especially Micro Mummy, Micro Machine, and Wrath Weaver) and HP
(Play Bananas if you are too weak to win the fight, but otherwise hold them)
6g - Level to tavern 2 and buy the best unit (especially Micro Mummy, Micro Machine, and
Wrath Weaver) and HP (Play Bananas if you are too weak to win the fight, but otherwise hold
them)
7g - Level to tavern 3 and HP (Play Bananas if you are too weak to win the fight, but otherwise
hold them). Alternatively (especially if you have 2 Weavers and there are demons in the shop)
buy the two best units and HP.
8g - If you’re on tavern 2, level to tavern 3, buying the best unit and HPing. If you’re on tavern 3
and have high tempo/health (or have a triple locked and want a 5-drop), level to tavern 4 and
HP. Otherwise, hunt for a DS unit to dump your Bananas into while still buying at least 2 cards
and HPing. *You will typically be hunting for DS units on this turn*
9g - If you are on tavern 3, Level to tavern 4, buy the best unit and HP.
Theory/Overview:
Mukla is a strange twist on the “hero power that gives stats to your board” style of hero.
In a lot of ways, he resembles Rakanishu or Edwin, but with the significant downside of giving
bananas to your opponents. The way I like to think about this is that each HP on Mukla is worth
-1/1 less than the amount of stats that you get (since your opponents get +1/1). Without getting
too much into the math of it, since Bananas now come at a ⅓ frequency, the average HP gives
you (approximately) 2.5/2.5 worth of stats. However, I like to think of these numbers having -1/1
stats since your opponents also get a Banana. Therefore, you’re paying 1g for 1.5/1.5 in stats
every turn. This is roughly as efficient as Menagerie Mug (the 2-drop, not Jug the 4-drop) which
gives +3/3 for 2g assuming you have enough tribes. However, it is even better than this
because the buffs are not random! You get to select which minions the Bananas land on.
Therefore, this HP is quite strong in the early game. However, the big downside to this HP is
that, while it is decently gold efficient, your HP reading “gain +1.5/1.5 a turn for 1g” becomes
very insignificant very fast. Compared to a hero like C’thun, for example, by turn 6 C’thun will be
getting +6/6 per turn for 2g (or, an efficiency of +3/3 a turn for 1g). It doesn’t take long for most
Heroes to out scale Mukla’s meager effect.
Despite the low long-term efficacy of Mukla’s HP, you are very happy buying a Mug in
the early game. Therefore, buying something equally gold efficient is also a good idea - so long
as there is a curve that allows you to utilize most or all of your gold every turn. Therefore, the
recommended curve has you following the traditional “Rafaam curve” where you stay on tavern
1 until the 6g turn. This curve allows you to HP every turn which increases the long-term gain of
your HP. That said, the buffs from the Bananas are useless if you don’t buff a unit that you are
keeping long-term. For this reason, Mukla needs mechs to be in the game. The 1-drops Micro
Mummy and Micro Machine are the best targets to dump your Bananas into on tavern 1. This is
because they can eventually gain DS through Annoy-o-Module. Additionally, they provide some
amount of additional scaling. However, looking for only two 1-drops is probably too unlikely.
Therefore, what is the next-best 1-drop that you are likely to keep long-term? Wrath Weaver is
the answer. For this reason, Mukla will accept Bananaing Wrath Weaver in the event that he
doesn’t find the mech 1-drops. Additionally, Demons synergize relatively well with Mukla’s
general game plan because he is generally stuck on tavern 4 and below. Therefore, starting
with Wrath Weavers increases the number of outs you have in terms of composition/direction.
It is worth mentioning that following the Recommended Curve when you don’t hit the
three 1-drops mentioned is probably bad. This is because there are no other 1-drops that are
likely to make it into your final comp (with the exception of a murloc that you poison - but, in that
case, you didn’t need to buff it anyway since you’re giving it poison) and, therefore, you don’t
gain any advantage by dumping Bananas into them. In this world, you can level to tavern 2 on
the 5g turn and play the game “normally” until tavern 3 where you can start HPing once you find
a DS unit to Banana. Alternatively, you can follow the Recommended Curve but go for the
“hoard every Banana” strategy where you don’t play a single Banana until you find a good unit
(typically a DS unit) to buff.
Mukla is more of a “top 4” hero than a first place hero. You shouldn’t pick him expecting
to win the lobby. That said, he isn’t a very consistent top 4 hero because the scaling his HP
offers, while consistent, isn’t enough outside of the early game.
Since Mukla spends so much time on tavern 1, he prefers Beasts and Murlocs to be
missing. The Beast 1-drops are quite poor in quality and low-tempo. Murlocs have 3 different
1-drops which means that they increase the odds of hitting the cards you want when they’re
gone.
● Deflect-o-Bot Mechs - This comp provides a great unit to Banana in the form of
Deflect-o-Bot while also Utilizing the 1-drops Micro Machine and Micro Mummy well.
Micro Mummy is a reset in and of itself while Micro Machine can be turned into one
through Replicating Menace.
● Taunt Comp - This is more of a back-up strategy for if you don’t find Deflect-o-Bots as
that composition better utilizes your HP. However, if you start with Wrath Weavers on
tavern 1, then Taunt build is much better as you have additional scaling. Additionally,
when mechs are in Taunt build is a better idea as you can have any mech be a DS taunt
(which means it is also a good unit to dump Bananas into).
Key Units:
● Deflect-o-Bot - Probably the best unit to dump your bananas into as its DS gets
refreshed which means the stats from your Bananas gets “extra” value.
● Crackling Cyble/Bronze Warden - Early DS units that are good to dump your Bananas
into
● Cave Hydra - A very strong unit that can be found early on and is good for dumping your
Bananas into.
General Tips:
● Very important to level to 3 and find good units to buff (mostly DS units)
● Remember that other people also have Bananas. If you don't use your Bananas then
you are falling behind.
Lich’Bazhial
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs
Unwanted: Elementals, Murlocs, and Beasts (only when two of these tribes are missing together
- see theory)
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (high tempo ones preferred) and hero power
4g - Level to tavern 2 (can also double buy if the units are extremely good) and hero power
5g - Use a coin and buy the two best units. Use your HP.
6g - Level to tavern 3, using 2 coins to buy the best unit. Use your HP.
7g - Buy the best 2 or 3 units. Use your HP
8g - Level to tavern 4, buying the best unit and using your HP
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed. HP as needed.
Theory/Overview:
Lich’Bazhial is a very difficult hero to play as she requires a pretty good knowledge of the
battlegrounds to optimize (how much damage you can expect to take, whether you are stronger
than average, etc). She has a very high economy at the expense of her health total (this is a
good thing! Health is ultimately a resource). Since her economy is so high, she prioritizes tempo
units above all.
High economy heroes like power leveling as their economy allows them to stabilize
much quicker than other heroes after the tempo loss of taverning up. Lich’Bazhial is a tricky
hero to power level on, however, as she must balance her health total very carefully. Generally
speaking, she still prefers leveling over not leveling, but rarely at the cost of losing a fight.
Furthermore, since her hero power generates gold, gold efficiency should be prioritized. If you
waste gold, then you might as well have lost health for no reason.
As Lich’Bazhial enjoys tempo units, she likes it when mechs are in the lobby. This is
because mechs offer high tempo units at lower taverns. This allows Lich’Bazhial to stabilize
extremely quickly, and continue her leveling spree onto higher taverns. Additionally, since she
has a built-in economy from the start of the game, she doesn’t like it when other heroes have
early economy. Therefore, she loves lobbies with no murlocs AND no beasts in (or, no murlocs
and no eles, etc). This removes the economy units Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, and
Alleycat. Without these units in the game, other heroes are often forced into awkward board
states that Lich’Bazhial can circumvent with a single hero power (such as the 5g turn where you
typically want to sell a token and buy 2 units, ending up with 3 units on board).
Lich’Bazhial wants to HP until she has enough health to take a hit or two left over. After
this point, you should only HP if it is extremely beneficial. There is no hard rule, but you should
typically stop HPing somewhere in the 18-24 health range.
Lich’Bazhial has no preferred composition. That said, she has an easier time leveling
than most heroes, she can therefore more often go Dragons/eles in theory. Often, however,
your health total is too low to risk tripling for a 6-drop.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
● Don't go Demons, you are hurting yourself enough already.

● Better with Mechs in since they let you stabilize more easily.
● If you buy a token turn 1, DO NOT sell it on the 5g turn to buy two units. Use a coin
instead.
● Lich’Bazhial prefers cards like Acolyte of C’thun over tokens as they offer more tempo
(you don’t need the extra economy tokens grant you)
● If you have more than 2 coins in hand, you have probably done something wrong. Use
the gold you get, otherwise you don’t have a hero power!
● Don’t be afraid to use your HP at low health totals if it makes you immediately stronger
(#noFear)
● If you have a Mal’Ganis on board, your HP no longer deals damage to you!
● Once you’re below 8 health or so, just start HPing. You are very likely to die the next
time you take damage, so you might as well gain some extra gold.
○ Exception: If your opponent is on low tavern and dealing low damage to their
opponents (Heroes like C’thun, Deryl, or Aranna (going party elementals) can do
this)
Lord Barov
Tribes:
Wanted: Dragons and pirates (and elementals to some extent - see theory)
Unwanted: Demons and Beasts
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (and HP if available)
4g - Buy best unit and HP
5g - Level to tavern 2 and hero power (typically you buy a unit if you won your bet)
6g - Buy the two best units and HP (or level to Tavern 3 and HP)
7g - If on tavern 2, Level to tavern 3, HP, and Buy (if possible). If on tavern 3, buy the best two
units and HP.
8g - If you are at high health/low tempo, level to Tavern 4 and HP (also buy if possible). If you
are low on tempo, stay on tavern 3 and improve your board as much as possible (buying the
best 2 or 3 units, typically).
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4
Theory/Overview:
Barov is an economy hero that requires some degree of skill and some degree of
guesswork. In a lot of ways, Barov wants to be played like Omu (both gain 2 gold from each use
of their HP - assuming you win your bet) but often finds himself forced to stay on lower tavern
tiers (normally through betting incorrectly multiple times in a row). To be optimized, Barov
requires you to pay attention to the players in your lobby to determine who is strong and who is
weak. In the best case scenario, Barov power levels as he makes gold from his HP which is
used to buy high-tavern units. In the worst case scenario, Barov’s HP says “lose 1g a turn”. This
said, if you never use your hero power, then you might as well have chosen any other hero.
(Another way to think about this is if you win your bet it's +2g and if you lose your bet it's -1g.
Thus, if you literally flipped a coin for every bet you would gain 1g per turn on average.)
Therefore, is it very important to maximize the odds from your bets.
When betting with Barov, the following are things to lookout for: Early-game tempo
heroes (such as Lich King, N’Zoth, Millhouse, etc.), triples, amount of damage dealt, and win
streaks. For the first few turns, it is almost always correct to bet on early-game tempo heroes
(but that doesn’t mean bet blindly! Always Look at the players you’re betting on.) Toward the
midgame, betting on players with triples is typically correct (even over heroes like Lich King).
Finally, towards the end game (and later stages of the midgame), relying on the amount of
damage dealt, in combination with win streak, for your bets will provide the best results (though
if someone has an absurd amount of triples they may be a better bet). These are all rules of
thumb, and ultimately are not 100% correct. If someone you know to be very strong (such as a
Lich King with a token start and 2 spawn of N’Zoths on board) is playing someone who tripled in
the midgame, they may still be a better bet. Use your best judgement.
For the first few turns, it is rather important to win at least one bet. Otherwise, it is
extremely hard to fit the 1g necessary to HP into later turns (and, if you’re not betting, you don’t
have a HP). Fortunately, it is often possible to work out exactly (or likely) what is on each
player’s boards turns 2 and 3. Generally, just think about the different possibilities. Generally
there will be a more likely outcome. Applications such as HS Decktracker can help if you are
unfamiliar with which units are in the game. The following is an example of a turn 2 HP situation:
If player 1 won their first fight, has 1 demon, took 2 damage, and leveled to tavern 2, you can
know for certain that they have only Vulgar Homunculus on their board. If player 2 has no tribes
on board, won their fight, fought someone with 1 mech turn 1, and leveled to tavern 2, you know
(with high certainty) that they have only Acolyte of C’thun on board (Wrath weaver, the only
other no-tribe unit on tavern 1, is picked less often than Acolyte as it is weaker. It also ties with
Micro Mummy, while still beating Micro Machine, and is therefore less likely than Acolyte which
would win the fight against micro mummy). In this situation, it is correct to bet on Player 1.
Despite the fight likely being a tie (Vulgar and Acolyte tie in a fight), it is possible that player 2
has wrath weaver. Therefore, betting on player 1 gives you a chance to win the bet.
Similar to beasts, elementals have 3 different 6-drops in the pool. As such, when they
are missing, they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops greatly. For this reason, Barov
often wants elementals to be out. However, Sellemental is a very good unit turn 1. Additionally,
since Barov likes to power level, he likes going comps that rely on many high-tier units such as
elementals (which rely on many 6-drops to make their comp work). Typically, however, you
prefer hitting Kalecgos or Eliza off your triple rather than Djinni or Lil’ Rag. It can be said that if
pirates and dragons are both in, Barov wants elementals to be out. If one of pirates and dragons
are out, Barov is happy with elementals being in (additionally, when you are losing bets early
on, it is often better to triple for 5-drops looking for Lightfang, Mythrax, etc rather than 6-drops).
● Dragons - Barov wants to utilize his economy to level extremely quickly. Therefore, his
most preferred comp is one that takes advantage of the highest-tavern units.
● Elementals - Similar story to dragons, but elementals are less powerful than dragons
(generally speaking).
Key Units:
● Sellemental - allows you to HP turn 1, giving an extra chance to win an early game bet
● Murloc Tidehunter - allows you to HP turn 1, giving an extra chance to win an early game
bet
General Tips:
● Use your hero power EVERY turn (except turn 1 when unable)
● Barov is one of the few 1g HP heroes that doesn’t want to stay on 1 for long. The 5g turn
is the latest you should be on tavern 1 typically.
● ALWAYS LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU ARE BETTING ON - more information means a
more accurate bet.
Lord Jaraxxus
Tribes:
Wanted: Pirates
Unwanted: Murlocs, Dragons, Elementals
Recommended Curve: “ Demon” here includes Wrath Weaver in the first 3 or so turns of the
game.
3g - Buy the best unit in the shop (Demons highly preferred, Tokens and Sellemental slightly
preferred). Freeze if there are extra Demons.
4g - If you bought a Demon turn 1 and there isn’t a Demon in the shop, roll for another Demon
and buy the best unit. If you hit a Demon turn 1 and have another Demon in the shop, buy it and
HP. If you bought a random unit last turn and see a demon in the shop, buy it and HP. If you
bought a Token last turn and do not see a Demon in the shop, level and (probably) end up
playing as if you don’t have a HP.
The following turns are assuming you have at least 1, but preferably 2, Demons on board.
5g - Buy a demon if you see it (you have 1 roll). If you do not see a demon, level to tavern 2 and
HP.
6g - If you bought a Demon last turn, level to tavern 2, buy the best unit in the shop, and use
your HP. If you leveled to tavern 2, buy the two best units in the shop (and HP if possible).
7g - If there is a Demon or two in the shop, consider buying them and HPing (this is preferable).
Otherwise, level to tavern 3 and HP.
8g - If you have high health and are getting +3/3 or more from your HP, consider leveling to
tavern 4 and HPing. If you see a Demon or two in the shop, consider buying the two best units
and HPing (you have one roll - generally for more demons).
9g - If you stayed on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and HP (you can sell and buy a demon/random
unit)
Theory/Overview:
Jaraxxus’ early game revolves around filling your board with as many Demons as
possible and scaling them with your HP. As these units will typically end up on your board even
at the end of the game (well, the end of your game - Jaraxxus doesn’t typically make it past 3rd
place or so), tripling early on is almost always a bait for Jaraxxus. You can think of 1-drop and
2-drop Demon pairs as 1 whole unit. When they are separate, you scale the whole unit twice as
fast, therefore increasing your long-term strength (Ex: When you HP with 2 Fiendish Servants
on board, you give the “future golden Fiendish Servant” +2/2 assuming you triple - which you
typically do for low tavern units. However, when you HP with a golden Fiendish Servant on
board you only give that unit +1/1.) As such, you shouldn’t take triples early on. Generally you
take triples when you need board space in the midgame, or when you can hit relevant cards off
of the triple - such as Mal’Ganis, Battlemaster, Lightfang, Kalecgos, etc.
As Jaraxxus’ HP offers consistent scaling you want to milk it for as much value as
possible. That said, +7/7 a turn (HPing with 7 demons on board) is not enough scaling in later
parts of the game. Therefore, you need to supplement that scaling with other forms of scaling.
As such, cards like Goldgrubber, Arm of the Empire, Bigfernal, and Champion of Y’Shaarj are
important to pick up on Jaraxxus. His board is not very tribe diverse so cards light Lightfang
typically don’t work to scale it (though if you end up with good tribes on your board, you are
never unhappy taking Lightfang). As Brann only (really) works with Crystalweaver, it’s not worth
having him around to look for 1 battlecry. Lil’ Rags do work to scale your board but you’re
typically leveling too slow to triple for 6-drops. As such, the 4-drop units that scale are your best
bet most often.
The demons you HP generally cap-out around 20/20ish for a normal Jaraxxus game.
This is far too small. As such, he wants to find another way to give his units higher attack power.
As you generally start scaling Fiendish Servants from the beginning of the game, a golden,
20/20 Fiendish and Baron can grant high amounts of attack to your board. For this reason,
along with the fact that the only way to give your board DS as Jaraxxus is through Selfless
Hero, Baron is very common in late-game Jaraxxus builds. Additionally, when I have a demon
start on Jaraxxus, I generally only buff my Fiendish Servants with Nathrezim Overseer. This is
because this attack will be doubled later in the game when Fiendish is tripled, and doubled
again when you find Baron.
Since Jaraxxus’ scaling is extremely mediocre, Jaraxxus likes it when Dragons and
Elementals are out. This is because even some of the weakest Dragon and Elemental boards
will out-scale Jaraxxus. Additionally, as Jaraxxus’ game plan largely revolves around big (often
taunted) units, murlocs are preferred to be out as well to decrease the amount of poison in the
game. Pirates, while able to easily outscale Jaraxxus through APM pirates or Eliza-Scallywag
comp, are necessary to increase the amount of scaling Jaraxxus has through Goldgruber.
Therefore, Jaraxxus typically wants pirates to be in.
Jaraxxus is simply too slow in the current meta. You may be able to find some success
with him at low or middle MMRs, but at high MMR, Jaraxxus is close to unplayable.
Jaraxxus sort of has his own, unique preferred composition. It is very difficult to find
Fiendish Servant (or Vulgar Homunculus, Imprisoner, etc.) in any typical late-game build outside
of playing Jaraxxus. Essentially, he just prefers to have 3 demons in the shop turn 1 (or 2 Wrath
Weavers and a Demon), that’s his preferred composition. Worth mentioning is that Jaraxxus’
playstyle is very synergistic with the taunt synergy cards from tavern 3 and 4. However, his taunt
build would still be a very non-standard one so it’s hard to call it “taunt comp”
Key Units:
● Selfless Hero - Grants DS to an otherwise DS free board.

● Baron Rivendare - Works well with Fiendish Servant and Selfless Hero in the late game
in order to make your board not entirely awful.
● Wrath Weaver - gives you early/mid game tempo and long-term stats
● Bigfernal/Goldgrubber/Champion of Y’Shaarj - A situationally powerfully scaling minion
that can supplement the scaling of your HP
General Tips:
● Do not triple in the early game - you need the extra stats.
● Generally, Selfless Hero should be avoided in the early game. While it is extremely
important to have eventually, you’d rather that board slot be filled with a Demon that you
are scaling early on
● Selfless Hero should generally not be played on board until it is golden.
● Most of your time will be spent on tavern 4, but at some point in the game it is generally
advisable to level to tavern 5 in order to look for Baron (unless you triple into him) and
Spore
● It is generally better in the early game to buy Wrath Weaver rather than buy a Demon
and HP. This is because playing a Demon gives Weaver +2/2 but HPing a Demon only
gives +1/1
● All single-target demons buffs should (generally) be put on your Fiendish Servants as
that scales your long-term attack much higher.
Maiev Shadowsong
Tribes:
Wanted: Dragons, pirates, (elementals kind of - see theory)
Unwanted: Demons, Beasts
Recommended Curve: (Alternative curve in General Tips)
3g - Buy the best unit (and HP if possible). If no good units are in the shop, don’t be afraid to roll
and HP a good one instead.
4g - Buy best unit and HP
5g - Level to tavern 2 and HP
6g - Buy 2 best units or level to tavern 3 (and HP if possible)
7g - If on tavern 2, level to tavern 3 and HP. If on tavern 3, buy two best units and HP.
8g - Level to Tavern 4 and buy (or HP)
Theory/Overview:
Maiev utilizes her hero power to cheaply buy units in the early game. She typically stays
on tavern 1 to take advantage of her HP, picking up pairs of 1-drops and (hopefully) imprisoning
triples for later. The delay in her hero power is a tempo disadvantage, but not a strict
disadvantage (you’re spending 1g for a future fight, rather than the next upcoming fight). You
can (and should) lock triples away for later, tripling for high-tier units (5-drops and 6-drops,
typically).
Since Maiev stays on tavern 1 for so long, her “unwanted tribes” are largely governed by
what tribes have bad 1-drops. Demons and beasts have poor units on tavern 1, and therefore
Maiev prefers them out. (exceptions: Alleycat on turn 1 specifically so that you can buy and HP;
Vulgar homunculus is a decent tempo unit in and of itself but is expensive to triple health-wise;
two wrath weavers together can be worthwhile tempo-wise, but just 1 isn’t enough). Additionally,
beasts have 3 different 6-drops. Therefore, when they are missing, Maiev is more likely to triple
into the high-impact 6-drops (Kale, Eliza, etc).
Similar to beasts, elementals have 3 different 6-drops in the pool. As such, when they
are missing, they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops greatly. For this reason, Maiev
often wants elementals to be out. However, Sellemental is a very good unit for tavern 1, which is
good for Maiev. Additionally, since Maiev is one of the best-equipped (if not the best-equipped)
heroes for tripling into high-tavern units, she is good at going elementals (which rely on many
6-drops to make their comp work). However, Maiev often operates at a tempo deficit, and the
6-drop elementals are rather low tempo the turn you triple into them (it is often difficult,
therefore, to justify going elementals as maiev). Typically, it can be said that if pirates and
dragons are both in, Maiev wants elementals to be out. If one of pirates and dragons are out,
Maiev is happy with elementals being in.
● Dragons - Maiev is very good at tripling for high tier units. As dragons are the best tribe
in the game, but require many 6-drops to work (typically 2 kales and a Nadina), Maiev
likes going dragons.
● Elementals - Maiev is one of the best heroes at going elementals due to her high volume
of triples.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
● This is the more typical Maiev curve. (However, I find myself going the “Recommended
Curve” more often - so that’s the one I recommended. This curve is also entirely
acceptable and better in some situations - especially when you buy/HP pairs on tavern
1):
○ 3g: Buy the best unit (and HP if possible). If no good units are in the shop, don’t
be afraid to roll and HP a good one instead.
○ 4g: Buy best unit and hero power
○ 5g: Buy the best unit and hero power (you have 1 roll)
○ 6g: Level to tavern 2, buy the best unit, and hero power
○ 7g: Level to tavern 3 and hero power
○ 8g: Level to tavern 4 and hero power (if you are low on health/tempo and do not
have a triple coming, stay on 3 and get stronger instead, then level to tavern 4
the next turn.)
● Remember that the HP takes 2 turns. If you need/want something immediately, do not
imprison it. (If you’re already on tavern 4 or higher, imprisoning a triple is probably
wrong. Freezing it and buying it next turn is almost always better.)
● Turn 1
○ If you have 2 good units and a bad unit in your first shop (such as an Acolyte of
C’thun pair and micro machine), you can buy the bad unit in order to sell it, hero
power one of the good units, and then freeze the second good unit. This frees up
shop space for next turn.
○ Typically, buy turn 1 if you are likely to win the fight. HP turn 1 if you’re not likely
to win the first fight.
● Delay triples as long as possible early game (consider HPing a unit other than the triple,
freezing, and HPing the triple the turn after)
○ However, later in the game, if you are getting a 5 anyway, generally don't delay
triples. It puts you too far behind.
● Simply by “buying” units for 1g through her HP, Maiev has a built-in economy. Therefore,
in the early game especially, you should prioritize tempo units over economy units.
Malygos
Tribes:
Wanted: Beasts, Murlocs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
Because Malygos has a 0g HP with no downside if used in the tavern, you should be using it
every turn. Use it on your board if you play a unit that is understated relative to its tavern tier
(typically a battlecry unit). Use it on the tavern to look for more desired units.
3g - Buy the best unit, tokens and Sellemental preferred (don’t forget to HP!).
Theory/Overview:
Malygos’ has the functionality of “rerolling” specific units on your board or in the tavern.
In the early game, Malygos wants to HP minions on your board in order to incur some additional
early-game tempo. As such, starting with either Alleycat or Murloc Tidehunter is extremely
important (as they allow you to reroll 1/1s for much better units such as Acolyte of C’Thun or
Vulgar Homunculos).
In order to maximize the use of Malygos’ HP, you should value battlecry units more
highly. This is because battlecry minions typically have lower stats than other minions. As such,
after playing battlecry minions you can HP them in order to turn them into more powerful units,
thereby gaining some amount of tempo.
Malygos’ HP can also be used as a way to look for specific units (say you have a few
good tribes on board and see a Baron - you can reroll that Baron into another tavern 5 minion,
hoping it turns into Brann/Lightfang).
Overall, Malygos’ HP is extremely weak outside of a few, niche cases. But, it does at
least provide some amount of utility.
Malygos doesn’t have a preferred composition as his hero power doesn’t fit into any
specific comp. As such, he will take any scaler/direction offered to him.
(It can be said that his HP allows him to better look for specific units, such as a Khadgar by
HPing a 3-drop or Baron by HPing a 5-drop, but this is a minor advantage. However, it does
make Malygos slightly better in Goldrinn beasts, Eliza-Scallywag comp, and other comps that
look extremely hard for specific units)
Key Units:
● Alleycat - Tokens improve Malygos’ early game significantly as they allow you to HP
your board for tempo
● Murloc Tidehunter - Tokens improve Malygos’ early game significantly as they allow you
to HP your board for tempo
General Tips:
Do not pick Malygos.
● If you are going to pick Malygos, make sure to do it with both tokens in - otherwise you
have no early-game advantage.
● Remember that you can Hero Power the minions in the tavern as well as your board.
Millhouse Manastorm
Tribes:
Wanted: Dragons, Elementals
Unwanted: Beasts, Murlocs
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (or units). Remember that you can buy beneficial cards like Refreshing
Anomaly or Desk Swabbie and sell them off for a higher tempo unit in the same shop.
4g - Level to tavern 2 if you can do so without losing the fight. Otherwise, buy the best 2 units.
5g - If on tavern 2, buy 3 best units (remember to buy and sell beneficial cards if applicable). If
on tavern 1, level to tavern 2, selling and buying the best unit in the shop.
6g - Buy 3 best units (you can level to tavern 3 if your shop is awful).
7g - Level to tavern 3, buying a unit where appropriate
8g - Level to tavern 4 if you have enough tempo. Otherwise, replace the weaker units on your
board (generally, you should only stay on tavern 3 if the first roll has 2+ units you want to buy)
9g - If on tavern 3, level and buy the best unit in the shop (it’s okay to hold cards in hand)
Theory/Overview:
Millhouse is one of the most distinct heroes in the battlegrounds roster, fundamentally
changing some of the game rules (the cost of buying units, leveling, and rolling). For any hero, it
can be said that you should avoid rolling like the plague. For Millhouse, this rule is twice as
important. Generally speaking, if a shop is so bad that you don’t want to buy from it, leveling is
probably preferable to rolling. Minions you buy with Millhouse essentially cost only 1g as you
buy them for -2g and sell them for +1g. This is twice as gold efficient as every other hero for
which minions cost 2g (buying for -3g and selling for +1g).
As a hero with a built-in economy, it’s important to maximize tempo early on. However,
since buying units and rolling both cost 2 gold (an even number) millhouse needs to find
economy units in the early game in order to do this. Economy units allow millhouse to utilize all
of his gold on the odd-gold turns (3g, 5g, 7g, etc.). Typically, you want 2 economy units within
the first 3 turns to make the 3g and 5g turns less gold inefficient.
When Millhouse is able to fully utilize his gold, he has high early-game tempo while also
having lots of late-game potential. However, Millhouse’s largest struggle is with transitioning into
the late-game (even if you have pairs, you cannot roll more than 5 times a turn looking for the
triple). Therefore, maximizing your chances of finding powerful, specific units (Kalecgos, Brann,
Hogger, etc.) is very important for Millhouse. As such, staying on tavern 4 for an extended
period of time is typically poor Millhouse play. Most often, you want to get to at least tavern 5
(generally with a triple for a 6-drop looking for Kalecgos) so that you have access to higher tier
units. That said, there are definitely situations in which Millhouse wants to stay on tavern 4. Use
your best judgement - if you have the time/resources for Kalecgos then go for it. Otherwise,
don’t go for it.
Initially, Millhouse is typically forced into going menagerie build. This is because it is rare
for him to find the many specific cards that make up other comps. However, with the right shop,
Millhouse is the hero that is the best in the game at transitioning (as every unit you see is so
cheap). In the midgame to early-late-game, you will often go either Menagerie or taunt comp in
order to stabilize your tempo. However, always keep your eyes peeled for an opportunity to
transition into Kalecgos dragons.
Beasts and elementals have 3 different 6-drops each. As such, when they are missing,
they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (Such as Kalecgos) greatly. For this reason,
Millhouse often wants these tribes to be out. However, if both elementals and beasts are
missing, it’s highly likely Millhouse doesn’t find enough economy units to smooth out his
early-game curve. It can be said that if either Dragons, or 2 of the economy-unit-tribes (Pirates,
Beasts, elementals, and murlocs) are out, Millhouse should be avoided if possible. Additionally,
he is one of the better heroes at utilizing Lil’ Rag and Majordomo (as every elemental is ½ as
expensive - or free like Sellemental!), but these methods of scaling are vastly inferior to
Kalecgos and should be thought of as a back-up plan. Additionally, Murlocs are one of
Millhouse’s worst tribes. This is because murloc games are spent rolling for very specific
minions such as Bagurgle, Toxfin, Coldlight Seer, etc (I’m sure you’ve had games on other
heroes where your board is full of Murlocs and you simply never hit any buffers. This is much
more likely to happen to Millhouse). Therefore, he prefers when Murlocs are missing (although
Murlocs are occasionally necessary just for Murloc Tidehunter in the early game.)
● Dragons - Millhouse LOVES getting a Kalecgos. Approximately ⅓ of the minions in the

game are battlecry units, and each one only costs Millhouse 1g. Therefore, the cards
that scale your board with a Kalecgos are easy to find and very cheap. Millhouse
outscales every other hero with Kalecgos (or two)
● Menagerie - Brann as a card on Millhouse is broken. Any battlecry that generates units
into your hand makes you 1g (Murazond, Primalfin Lookout, etc.), and every battlecry
card you see only costs 1g making Bran very efficient.
● Lil’ Rag Elementals - as every elemental is 1g cheaper, this essentially doubles their
efficiency as buffers when played with Lil’ Rag (this is true of all buffers, but Lil’ Rag is
esp good at scaling on milli as some of the elementals are free for him - Sellemental,
tavern tempest, etc). In a typical situation for other heroes, with 1 Lil’ Rag on board,
Molten Rock is worth +2/2 for 2g (-3g to buy, +1g after selling) - an efficiency of +1/1 per
1g. On Millhouse, this molten rock is worth +2/2 for 1g (-2g to buy, +1g after selling), an
efficiency of +2/2 per 1g (this is the equivalent efficiency of a 4-drop elemental for every
other hero).
Key Units:
Kalecgos - Far and away the best way for Millhouse to scale
Brann - Turns many cards into extremely efficient ways to buff your board.
Economy units (sellemental, Alleycat, etc.) - These cards are very important for smoothing out
Millhouse’s early-game curve. Otherwise, every time you’re on an odd-gold turn, you end up
wasting gold.
General Tips:
● Level to tavern 4 early. There are lots of good buffs and you get access to tavern 5 units
(through tripling)
● Generally speaking, it is always better to buy instead of rolling with 2 gold left, buying
only costs 1g, and you might as well bank the gold for later.
● You will often be holding a lot of cards in hand. This is fine. Not all cards you buy have to
be played immediately (or at all).
● Power leveling is good when possible (let’s get that Kalecgos!)
● Rolling should be avoided at all costs, even with lots of pairs
● In general, if you see a good shop, buy everything. If the shop is bad, level
● If you’re behind on tempo, buy everything that looks remotely better than your board
● Kalecgos is so good because it is very hard to get a specific comp going with Millhouse
(he can’t roll for a bunch of specific pieces to a comp). Kalecgos alleviates this by
making every battlecry you see good for you.
○ Also can play many battlecries because they’re cheap
● Minions that make many cards good should be prioritized (Saurolisk, Amalgaddon,
Brann, etc.)
● Don't go for builds where you need many specific cards (Goldrinn, Bomb Build, etc.)
● Late game as Millhouse you need to be constantly playing cards. He has many actions
and little time.
● Virtually always, if you see a Hogger, take a Hogger (He costs 1g and makes every
pirate you see free).
● You can buy worse buffers than you otherwise would as they are extremely cheap
● Millhouse, when played optimally, probably involves skipping a lot of fights through
disconnecting (see meta guide, General Tips/Info section) as his turns can be extremely
high APM. However, I personally don’t find this fun and so I avoid this, but it’s worth
mentioning.
● You should buy almost every Refreshing anomaly you see - they turn your next roll into a
1g roll
● Always buy Freedealing Gambler - she makes you 1g
● If there is a Faceless Taverngoer in the shop, it is probably a mistake to not buy i
Millificent Manastorm
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs (sometimes - see theory)
Unwanted: Elementals, Dragons, Pirates
Recommended Curve:
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). You should
generally be staying on tavern 3.
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed (typically you do not level past tavern 4 unless you
need specific cards, like Spore, to counter another player’s comp in the super late game).
Theory/Overview:
Millificent is a hero that always does surprisingly well when I see her played (relative to
how often I see her played). This is probably due to the fact that forcing mechs isn’t the worst
strategy in the game as they are rather high-tempo units, and giving them even more tempo
decreases the likelihood of you placing low even more. That said, Millificent is reliant upon
actually rolling into mechs - which isn’t something that always happens.
Millificent’s strategy revolves around leveling to tavern 3 as quickly as possible in order

to start hitting the mech cards that matter - Iron Sensei, Deflect-o-Bot, etc. Once on tavern 3,
you do not have to level quickly, but if you have Deflect-o-Bots, leveling to tavern 4 is a good
idea as there are many useful cards on that tavern (Module, Draconid Enforcer, Bolvar, Egg,
etc). That said, just because you do not have Deflect-o-Bot doesn’t mean that you should stay
on tavern 3 looking for it. In general, you should always be on tavern 4 by 9g (but if you are
extremely weak, staying on tavern 3 until turn 10g can be justifiable on this hero).
As Millificent typically finds herself going Mechs, and mechs do not have much potential
in the super late-game, Millificent prefers when the comps that are best in the super late-game
are missing. Therefore, Millificent prefers when 2 of Dragons, Pirates or Elementals are missing
as they can all easily outscale her.
Whenever you don’t find Deflect-o-Bot, you generally don’t have a worthwhile comp. It’s
important to keep in mind, if your build isn’t working out, you do not need to level. Leveling puts
you at a tempo deficit which is something you should avoid when weak. However, here are
some back up plans in order to try to squeeze out 5th place or higher:
● Taunt comp - Picking up Qiraji Harbinger, Champion of Y’Shaarj (earlyish on),

Annoy-o-Module, Arm of the Empire, and Defender of Argus can provide enough tempo
to beat out other players. This comp also works on Tavern 4, meaning you do not need
to level.
● Tripling for other comps - If you have pairs on your board and are above 20ish health,
depending on your board state, you can attempt to triple for 6-drops (or 5-drops such as
lightfang, Bran, Mama Bear, etc. if your health doesn’t allow it) in order to find
build-around cards for other comps - preferably high-tempo ones (such as Eliza).
● Deflect-o-Bot - (I know, it’s surprising.) Deflect-o-Bot comp takes advantage of

Millificent’s HP the most and, as such, is her preferred comp.
Key Units:
● Annoy-o-Module - Gives DS to any mech

● Iron Sensei - Is the earliest form of consistent, significant scaling - and it works with your
preferred composition!
● Deflect-o-Bot - The build-around card to your preferred composition.
General Tips:
● Do not pick Millificent and expect to win the lobby. At best, hope for 3rd place
● Getting to tavern 3 is extremely important as that is where the good mech cards start
popping up.
Mr. Bigglesworth
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
Theory/Overview:
Mr. Bigglesworth is essentially Tess Greymane but much, much slower (and without the
1g cost). Mr. Bigglesworth, in addition to being slower, is also much less consistent than Tess
(as you only see 3 units on your opponent's board. However, the units you get from your HP do
keep their stats/effects. This is your major benefit to playing Mr. Bigglesworth. Golden units are
still golden (and still give you the triple effect), 30/30s are still 30/30s, DSP Amalgadons are still
DSP, so on and so forth. This makes Mr. Bigglesworth a monster in the late/super-late game.
It’s getting to that stage in the game that is difficult.
Unlike Tess, in order to find units that are powerful in the mid-game, you need to level.
This is because, in the average game, people don’t start dying until turn 8 or 9. This is too late in
the game for 2-drops and 3-drops to keep you alive. Therefore, you need to make it to at least
tavern 4 where many high-tempo options are available. That said, you cannot power level to
tavern 4 as you have no catch-up mechanism. This means you must take your time in getting to
tavern 4. Once you reach tavern 4, you will often spend the rest of the game there, however
(with the exception of leveling to 5 in order to triple for a 6 occasionally).
As playing Mr. Bigglesworth is essentially about maximizing the time you are likely to
stay in the game, Mechs are the best comp to build toward. Mechs are the best comp below
tavern 4 and provide a high-tempo, flexible composition (great for waiting on better units to
come to you and then altering your comp to accommodate them - or simply switching comps
altogether).
When possible, the composition of other players should be kept in mind when building
your own (as your HP steals from other players). However, this is often not an available option
as you should prioritize not dying over building a late-game comp - the late-game units will
come to you so long as you stay alive, don’t become impatient.
● Mechs - In the midgame, Mr. Bigglesworth attempts to forge a Mech build to keep
himself alive
● Dragons - Despite wanting to go mechs prior to people dying, stealing a Kalecgos from
some hopeful player’s untimely demise is a great way to build a comp that can win a
lobby. Ultimately, Mr. Bigglesworth wants to build the late-game comp that the most
players are utilizing - but Dragons are the most powerful and so the one most desired.
Key Units:
Anything that keeps you alive, really - typically things with a lot of stats or divine shield:
● Qiraji Harbinger - An extremely high-tempo 4-drop.

● Arm of the Empire - A high-tempo, low-tavern, pseudo-build-around card that can help
you stay alive
● Soul Juggler - Provided you find enough Demons/Jugglers, this comp is rather high
tempo in the middle game (can be used with Qiraji Harbinger to great effect - generally
your demons are taunted).
● Deflect-o-Bot - The best low-tavern build-around card.
● Annoy-o-Module - Giving divine shield to a high-attack mech is a very large tempo boost.
● Toxfin - It can be extremely beneficial to have poison on your board (depending on what
tribes are in/who you’re facing) and this is the only access to poison you have on tavern
4 or below.
General Tips:
Do not pick Mr. Bigglesworth
● Tempo tempo tempo! Always pick up tempo when possible. You are always in survival
mode - try to never lose a fight!
○ Spawn of N’Zoth is king
○ Cards like Warden of old (unless tripled into) are too slow.
○ You can occasionally not play full tempo if the long-term benefits outway the
short term detriments (use your best judgement)
● Assuming you make it into the late game, your turns can often take much more time
than expected whenever 1+ people die. If 3 people die in a turn, that’s 3 potentially
difficult choices you have to make before you can even use your gold (and perhaps even
more choices if you get golden minions and therefore triple).
○ Remember that doing 10 sub-par things is often better than doing 5 perfect
things. Just try to use your gold in High APM (or DPM - decisions per minute)
situations, worry about optimizing it for next time after you’re done with the turn.
N’Zoth
Tribes:
Wanted: Beasts and Mechs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). You should
be leveling on this turn if you have high tempo.
9g - If you are on tavern 4 and at high health (30+ ish), consider leveling to tavern 5 if your
opponent isn’t too scary. If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit
(you have 1 roll).
Theory/Overview:
N’Zoth is a high roll dependent early-game hero with a small late-game advantage. Most
of the early/mid game deathrattles are in Beasts and Mechs - one of the few exceptions being
Spawn of N’Zoth. For N’Zoth, the early game revolves around maximizing the tempo the Fish
gives to you and power leveling with that strength. However, power leveling is made easier
through having a high economy - something N’Zoth doesn’t have. Generally you try to make up
for your lack of economy by hitting key deathrattle units (mostly Spawn of N’Zoth) and letting
that tempo carry you to tavern 5.
Counter intuitively, most of your late-game comps do not involve the Fish. Typically, at
some point in the game, you should end up selling the fish. There are essentially only 3 comps
that make exceptions to this rule: Kalecgos dragons, Goldrinn beasts, and Kangor’s/Bomb build
- and even within these comps, you only occasionally keep the Fish throughout the entire game.
The fish allows for an “extra” Nadina in Kale Dragons, but as you will typically pick Kalecgos
before Nadina, the Fish is generally sold before Nadina is on your board (as no dragons have
deathrattles). The Fish allows you to taunt Goldrinn in deathrattle beasts (as if Goldrinn dies the
Fish will gain its deathrattle, allowing Macaw to still function). However, the fish is often sold
(assuming you didn’t taunt Goldrinn) for more impactful units like Cave Hydra or another
Macaw. Finally, the fish gives a ton of extra Bomb/Egg/Sneed’s/Kangor’s procs in Bomb build.
Kangor’s build is the only comp that virtually always wants to take advantage of the Fish (but is
also one of the hardest builds in the game to complete as it relies on many specific cards).
Typically the Fish should be sold in the following situations: Whenever you have 7 units
on board and no deathrattles, when it gets in the way of buffing more powerful units (think
Lightfang/Bran with a Hydra), or when it is simply the lowest-tempo unit on your board (while
also having no potential use in your late-game comp - meaning you have little chance of going
Goldrinn beasts, Kangor’s, etc). The fish should generally not be sold before turn 7 (but this is
not a hard rule). If possible, triple for a 6-drop and look for Goldrinn. If you hit Goldrinn, keep the
fish, if you don’t, ditch it.
Do not buy bad deathrattle units! Yes, they technically synergize with your hero power,
but that doesn’t mean that they’re worth the amount of gold you’re spending on them. For
example, I’d rather take a Southsea Captain over a Fiendish servant, even with no pirates on
board. Additionally, be wary of board space. Cards like Rat pack, while having deathrattle, can
often overfill your board and deny your stronger deathrattles (like Sneed’s or Coiler) value.
As previously mentioned, N’Zoth often doesn’t utilize his HP in the late game. As such, he
doesn’t always have a preferred composition, and will take any direction offered to him. That
said, the following 2 compositions are the ones that best utilize the fish.
● Goldrinn Beasts - Allows Goldrinn (or other beasts - see General Tips) to be taunted,
providing extra stats to the beast build through a guaranteed Goldrinn death.
Additionally, this also allows units like Hydra to be further up in the attack order (as
Hydra is normally positioned behind Goldrinn).
● Kangor’s/Bomb Build - In theory the Fish virtually doubles the damage output of this
comp by allowing twice the number deathrattles to proc.
Key Units:
● Spawn of N’Zoth - The highest tempo unit for you to find in the early game
● Baron Rivendare - As the Fish relies on deathrattle units, often Baron will be an
above-average pick for N’Zoth
● Goldrinn - Enables the most common comp for the Fish to find its way into
General Tips:
● Don't get attached to the Fish. Use it early game to survive, but if it doesn't fit into your
comp late game, sell it.
○ Even if it can theoretically fit into your build, it's not worth it to keep it over a
better card unless you already have the synergy (ex. Dragons but no Nadina yet)
● If you are going Macaw build and you still have fish, Taunt the Goldrinn.
○ Put the Fish 3rd or later, in case Goldrinn does not die.
● In Goldrinn comp, the Fish allows you to taunt Goldrinn. However, it also allows you to
taunt other units, such as Highmane (or Rat Pack, Infested Wolf, etc.). If you have a
taunted Highmane, you can put Golrinn first, followed by Macaws. This will mean that the
fish gains the deathrattle of both Goldrinn and Highmane which is then triggered by
macaw, filling your board with beasts (through Highmane’s deathrattle) as it buffs your
board (through Goldrinn's deathrattle). This is slightly risky as it relies on Goldrinn dying,
but can be a powerful setup, especially with 2 Goldrins (the fish will gain the deathrattle
of both Goldrinns, essentially becoming a golden Goldrinn).
Nozdormu
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred). Don’t forget your free roll!.
4g - Level to tavern 2 (if you bought a decent tempo unit on 1 such as acolyte of C’thun or
Vulgar Homunculos, lock tokens)
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units (if you didn’t start with a token, roll before
buying so that you can potentially buy a token to sell instead)
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit (you can roll after leveling up and buy 3-drops)
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 2 rolls, so
be pretty selective).
Theory/Overview:
Theoretically, in the early game, Nozdormu’s HP can be used to incur a slight

advantage. This is because the extra roll allows him to be slightly more selective over which
units he buys and will therefore have stronger units on board than the average hero. This also
means that he is more likely to hit big-ticket units in the early game such as Spawn of N’Zoth or
Tormented Ritualist. However, in practice, the slight advantage doesn’t always feel very
advantageous, and you end up taking a lot of damage in the early game.
The benefit you generally feel from Nozdormu is his ability to pick up pairs and find
triples. You will often make it out of the early game with multiple pairs of solid 2-drops such as
Harvest Golem or Imprisioner. Additionally, you are rather likely to find the triple of these units.
However, one huge detriment to Noz is his anti-synergy with freezing. Yes, you are likely to find
the triples, but you are extremely sad having to lock them as each turn you lock is a turn without
a HP (unless you want to roll the triple away). For this reason, your Freezes should be
extremely confident, only being used on unambiguously strong cards (such as triples or scalers
like Lightfang).
Something to keep in mind is Nozdormu’s ability to roll on higher taverns before buying.
If you have a full board and, after leveling, you have 2g left, you have the option of leveling,
rolling, and then selling the weakest unit from your board in order to buy a high-tavern unit.
Nozdormu has no preferred composition as his HP gives similar advantage to any comp.
He simply triples for 5-drops or 6-drops and uses those cards to determine his end-game
composition. However, it is worth noting that his HP is slightly better in comps that search for
specific units (such as Eliza-Scallywag comp which is often only rolling for more Khadgars and
Barons).
Key Units:
● Freedealing Gambler - Allows you to immediately buy higher-tavern units after (often
leveling and then) using your free roll
General Tips:
● Since you have extra rolls, you need to have a higher standard for minions that you buy.
● Remember to roll first when applicable. More information before making decisions is
always preferable.
Patches the Pirate
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: Murlocs (and to some extent Beasts and Elementals - see theory)
Recommended Curve: ( Building a recommended curve for patches is difficult as there are so
many different ways to weave in uses of his HP. Generally speaking, if you’re leveling
somewhat aggressively, have pirates on board, and are not wasting gold, you’re probably
playing correctly.)
3g - Buy Tokens, Sellemental, or a pirate if presented to you. Otherwise, use your HP.
5g - Depending on the scenario, sell (when appropriate) and buy the two best units, sell and buy
the best unit and HP, or HP and buy the best unit. (maximize pirates and units on board)
6g - Level to tavern 3 if you can buy/HP while doing so (unless the shop is something insane
like 2 Southsea Captains)
7g - Buy the two best units and HP if possible (almost always better to put 3 units on your board
than to put 2 units on your board.
8g - Level to tavern 4 and Buy or HP.
(Typically, if your board is very strong, level to tavern 5 as quickly as possible. If your board is
weak, stay on 4 until you find a triple, at which point you should level to tavern 5, triple for a
6-drop, and pray to Davy Jones Locker for Eliza to show up and save you.)
Theory/Overview:
Force pirates. GG no re.
Patches is one of the few heroes for which it is often correct to force a specific
composition. In a worst case scenario, Patches can purchase 1 random pirate a turn for the
“standard” price of 3g. This is far from a bad worse case. As such, in the early game I often find
myself HPing on patches when I can squeeze it in, even if I have very few pirates on board.
Patches can be thought of as an economy hero as he often is buying units for 1g or 2g
through his HP (and oftentimes those units are Free Dealing Gamblers). Therefore, he typically
likes to level as quickly as possible. This is especially true because Patches gets dramatically
stronger when he has specific, high-tavern units - Eliza and Hogger. Therefore, he wants to get
to tavern 5 in order to look for these cards before anyone else has a chance to. However, as an
economy hero, Patches also should prioritize tempo as much as possible. Salty Looters are
rather valuable in this regard as they are very good at giving you mid-game tempo.
While Patches likes to go pirates, DO NOT FORCE PIRATES. Typically, you will end up
going pirates, but if you power level to tavern 3 and your first shop is (as an example) Bronze
Warden and Twilight Emissary, buy them. If you happen to triple into Kalecgos later, maybe
you’re Patches the Dragon instead of Patches the Pirate. Use your best judgement, don’t let
your HP think for you.
Patches prefers when those pesky murlocs are not present. This is because the ideal
pirate build (the strongest pirate build) is APM/infinte pirates (see meta guide, Pirates section).
This build, at least in its first few turns, relies almost exclusively on high stats in order to win
fights. High stats are countered by poison - which is much less prevalent without murlocs in the
game.
Beasts and elementals have 3 different 6-drops each. As such, when they are missing,
they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (Such as Eliza) greatly. For this reason,
Patches often wants these tribes to be out. However, if Patches doesn’t start with a pirate in his
first shop, he likes buying Tokens (and sellemental) just as any other hero.
● APM pirates - This comp is what Patches strives for, but is still quite rare to pull off as
needing at least 4 of a specific 5-drop (Hogger) for a comp to work is a big ask.
● Eliza-Scallywag comp - This is the comp you will end up going for most often on patches
as you only need one Eliza to start building it (you already have a board full of pirates so
one Eliza is normally more than enough tempo the start looking for Khadgars and
Baron).
Key Units:
● Eliza - Eliza is probably the best pirate in the Battlegrounds. She provides ridiculous
tempo the turn you find her while also being a build-around card for an end-game comp.
● Hogger - With 1 Hogger on board, technically the first 3 pirates you buy every turn are
free (as buying pirates also discounts your HP). 2 Hoggers and every pirate you see is
(actually, not technically) free. For a hero power based on buying pirates, buying pirates
for free is very good.
General Tips:
● Buying Pirates is good, but do not auto-buy every Pirate

● You don't have to have a discounted hero power in order for it to be worth using.
Sometimes, spending 3g for a random pirate is the best option
● Keep an eye out for pirate-heavy early game shops. You can often start with a triple or 4
units on board by turn 3 (5g turn) while still making it to tavern 2 and having no curve
hiccups.
○ Ex: Turn 1 - Buy Swabbie. Turn 2 - The shop has a Scallywag and a Swabbie in
it. Buy the Scallywag, freeze the Swabbie, and HP (as your HP only costs 1g
now!). If your HP gets Deck Swabbie, do not play it. Turn 3: Level to tavern 2 and
then play the Deck Swabbie (this “fixes” your curve as you stayed on tavern 1 an
extra turn so leveling to tavern 3 is 1g more expensive than “usual”). Triple the
Swabbie (if you got a second Scallywag from your HP, you can HP here instead
of tripling.) Tip: HPing before you level is a guaranteed triple in this situation as
you have another Deck swabbie in the shop. Without that swabbie, it may be
better to HP after leveling for a chance at Southsea Captain.
● You only need to find 1 pirate in the early game in order to have 3 units on board turn 3
(5g turn) as buying 1 pirate makes your HP cost 2 (3g to buy a unit, 2g to HP on the 5g
turn.)
● Starting in the midgame especially, just because you see a pirate in the shop doesn’t
mean you should buy it (even with a Looter(s) on board and even with 1 hogger on
board. Buying a pirate for a few stats on Saly Looter isn’t going to get you very far. It
takes 2 hoggers for it to be worthwhile to buy every pirate as they are free at this point).
Patchwerk
Tribes:
Wanted: Demons? Mechs and Dragons
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
5g - Sell and level to tavern 3 (unless your shop is extremely good or you have a Wrath Weaver
start).
8g - Level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit.
9g - Level to tavern 5 if you have enough tempo. Otherwise, replace your board with better
units. (try to level this turn)
Theory/Overview:
As a hero, Patchwerk has one thing and one thing only going for him - high HP. This is
not a very significant advantage. It doesn’t really matter if you have enough health to take an
extra hit when every other hero’s HP develops their board in some way making it less likely for
you to win a fight (which means you lose more fights and take more damage - essentially
nullifying your HP).
It is worth mentioning that Patchwerk has some synergy with Wrath Weaver as, in
theory, it allows him to convert his extra health into tempo. However, since the removal of
Floating Watcher, Wrath Weaver Demons is far and away from a viable composition.
The theory of Patchwerk, as I see it anyway, would be to utilize your extra health by
power leveling as quickly as possible. In this line of reasoning, I encourage leveling to tavern 3
on 5g. You might as well utilize your HP by filling your board with 3-drops instead of 2-drops.
However, as Patchwerk has no built-in economy, it is very difficult to take advantage of the
high-tavern units you would find after power leveling. To partially alleviate this, Patchwerk needs
to start with an economy unit in some form on turn 1. As such, he likes it when as many of
Murlocs, Beasts, Elementals, and Pirates are in the game as possible. Additionally, Mechs and
Dragons have the best 3-drops. Therefore, when power leveling to tavern 3, you want those
tribes to be in the game.
Long story short, Patchwerk is essentially a challenge run of Battlegrounds where you
play without a hero power.
Patchwerk doesn’t have a preferred composition and his hero power is only useful in an
old, patched-out composition (Big Demons). As such, he will take any scaler/direction offered to
him.
Key Units:
● Wrath Weaver - Can convert your extra health into tempo utilizing this card.
General Tips:
Do not pick Patchwerk.

Pyramad
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Murlocs, (Demons, kind of - see theory)
Unwanted: Beasts, Pirates
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy best unit (see key units). If you did not get a good starting unit, hold the unit in hand.
(Can play, sell the 1/1, and HP if you find Murloc Tidehunter).
4g - Buy best unit. If you got a good starting unit, play it and HP. If you’re holding a unit in hand,
keep it there until you think you may lose a fight, at which point you should play it on board. If
you didn’t find a good starting unit, level and play the game “normally” (weaving in HPs when
you have an extra gold, but for the most part ignoring your HP and just buying good minions).
The rest of the curve is assuming you found a good HP target
5g - Buy the best minion and HP
6g - Buy the best minion, level to tavern 2, and HP
7g - If your shop is extremely good you can consider buying the two best cards and HPing, but
you should probably level to tavern 3 and HP
8g - If you are still high health, level to tavern 4 and HP. Otherwise, fill up the empty slots of
your board or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3).
You should typically be leveling on this turn.
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll or a
HP).
Theory/Overview:
Pyramad utilizes his hero power in order to gain early game advantage by repeatedly
hero powering 1 (ideally) or two units. However, as his HP only gives health, the minion your
buffing should ideally scale in attack power on its own. As such, Murloc Tidecaller,
Micromachine, Wrath Weaver, and Micro Mummy (typically 2 of them so that they can scale
each other) are highly preferred as HP targets. The major downside to this being that you buy a
minimal amount of units in the early game - this limits your economy heavily.
As this is how Pyramad starts most of his games, his mid/end game is all about
maximizing the utility of his 1 or 2 high-health units. Typically, when possible, Pyramad would
like to level to tavern 5 and find Brann/Lightfang to scale the attack of his units. However, his
limited economy typically makes this untenable. As such, Pyramad will often spend a few turns
(or the rest of the game) on tavern 4, filling his board or building his comp (through triples into
5-drops or finding Deflect-o-Bots/Toxfins).
As pyramad wants to find a few, specific units within the first few turns, the tribes he
doesn’t want in the game reflect that. The Beasts and pirates 1-drops are some of the worst
units for Pyramad to HP. As such, he doesn’t want them in the game. Demons is a tricky tribe to
evaluate. They have 3 different 1-drops, but only one of them is good (Wrath Weaver). The
good Demon 1-drop, Wrath Weaver, is decent early game tempo, but doesn’t scale well into the
late game (and takes away one of your advantages as Pyramad - high health out of the early
game). Additionally, picking Wrath Weaver fills your board with a bunch of undesirable HP
targets (the demons you play to scale Weaver). As such, Wrath Weaver is a decent card to start
with as Pyramad, but the card should generally be avoided if better options present themself
(See key units).
● Murlocs - When going murlocs, it is almost entirely unimportant which murlocs are on
your board as they all get poison in the end. Additionally, poison synergizes very well
with Pyramad as his HP provides health, but not attack - poison provides infinite attack.
Therefore, starting with murlocs is Pyramad’s favorite way to play as it gives him early
tempo that transitions well into a late-game strategy.
● Menagerie - Whenever you have a mech (Micro Mummy/ Micro Machine) start, Pyramad
typically tries to turn this into a menagerie comp, tripling your 1-drop pair into a 5-drop for
lightfang/Brann.
● Deflect-o-Bot mechs - Whenever you have a mech (Micro Mummy/ Micro Machine) start
and find a Deflect-o-Bot(s) on tavern 3, you can often turn this into a mech build.
Key Units:
Pyramad needs to find one of the following starting units within the first two turns of the game to
fully utilize his HP:
● Murloc Tidecaller
● Micro Machine
● Micro Mummy (preferably 2 of them)
● Wrath weaver
Alternatives:
● Rockpool Hunter (typically 2 of them - or 1 with a Tidehunter/Tidecaller)

● Murloc Tidehunter
The remaining key units are other minions that work well with pyramad’s HP/strategy.
● Toxfin - Provides your low-attack high-health units with infinite attack

● Annoy-o-Module - Gives DS to the high-stated 1-drop mechs you may have on board.
● Tormented ritualist - a good unit to give extra health to early on.
General Tips:
● Don’t be afraid to hold units in hand the first few turns in order to maximize the chances
of your HP landing on a desired target.
● Your HP should generally be avoided in the late game (and later parts of the midgame).
This is because you can’t guarantee your HP landing on a good target (And, as the
game progresses, scaling stats becomes less and less relevant).
Ragnaros the Firelord
Tribes:
Wanted: *Mechs*, Beasts, and Dragons/Elementals
Unwanted: Demons, Pirates
Recommended Curve:
8g - Fill up the empty slots of your board or replace the weaker units on your board (hunt for DS
units).
9g - Level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll). If you are far from quest
completion, stay on tavern 3.
Theory/Overview:
Once activated, Rag’s HP is essentially a free, targeted Menagerie Jug played every turn
(+6/6 - this is quite good). Therefore, his early game revolves around maximizing kills in order to
quickly complete the requirement. Largely, this means playing for tempo (instead of economy)
and staying on lower tavern tiers (not power leveling). This is also why Rag doesn’t typically
want demons in the game - they provide early game tempo to your opponents with minimal units
on board (Wrath Weavers + a few demons - where the Weavers often survive the fight, taking
away a kill).
Since he prefers staying on low taverns, Rag often finds himself going Mechs. This,
coupled with the fact that his HP provides consistent scaling to any DS units you may have, he
is one of the best heroes at going mechs. This means you often find yourself not leveling past
tavern 4 on Rag. However, when you have enough tempo, typically through an early activation,
Rag loves to level to tavern 5 and look for Lightfang/Bran (extra scaling is always welcome).
Typically, if you activate your HP by turn 6, you are in a very good position. Turn 7 is a
little late, and turn 8 is generally too late. Rag often gets 8th place if your HP is activated turn 8
or later, but is very good at getting top 4 or top 3 with a turn 7 or earlier activation.
As the low tavern pirates are typically weak and, as Rag, you generally stay on lower
taverns, Pirates are not the best tribe for Rag. The best pirate is on tavern 6 (eliza) which is
virtually inaccessible for you relative to other heroes. Along this line of reasoning, Rag likes it
when Mechs are in as they provide many low-tavern, high-tempo units for him to win fights with.
Additionally, Mechs being in the game provide a much greater access to DS (through
Deflect-o-Bot and Module), which is very important for Rag. The same can be said for
Elementals/Dragons (due to Crackling Cyclone and Bronze Warden).
● Mechs - DS units are very good to buff in general (as they essentially get double the
attack) so refreshing DS are even better to buff. Deflect-o-bot is one of, if not the best,
unit to buff with your HP. Additionally, since it is available at early tavern tiers, it can be
scaled from the beginning of your HPs activation.
● Menagerie - Since Rag cannot always find 2 Deflect-o-bots, he often has to settle for
Crackling elemetal, Bronze warden, or random mechs. This plethora of units lends itself
to Lightfang very well. (His hero power is also, approximately, the same amount of
scaling as a lightfang, so 1 Lightfang is kinda like 2 Lightfangs for any other hero)
Key Units:
● Cave Hydra - the lowest tavern cleave (that you can scale with your HP)
● Deflect-o-bot - If you thought buffing 1 DS was good, how about buffing a refreshing DS!
● Bronze Warden - A low-tavern DS unit. Good for your HP to scale.
● Crackling Cyclone - A low-tavern DS unit. Good for your HP to scale.
● Annoy-o-Module - turns any mech into a DS unit, meaning that any mech can be an
okay HP target (before finding Module, anyway. After you put a Module on a random
mech you are very happy to buff it).
● Alleycat - This unit being in the game increases the rate that you complete your HP (as
your opponents will have extra units on board)
● Murloc Tidehunter - This unit being in the game increases the rate that you complete
your HP (as your opponents will have extra units on board)
● Sellemental - (To a lesser extent than the others as it is only 1 unit on board turns 1 and
2) This unit being in the game increases the rate that you complete your HP (as your
opponents will have extra units on board)
● Battlemaster (when murlocs are missing) - Provides a huge amount of health for your HP
to give attack to (and make useful).
General Tips:
● Once your hero power is active, if you don’t have good units to buff (mainly divine
shields, mechs, or Hydra), try very hard to get them (typically don’t level in this situation,
roll for DS).
● When picking your early minions, prioritize high attack (high tempo) to guarantee kills.
● Don't play greedy as Rag if your hero power is not active yet.
● Even if the majority of your board is Mechs, an early Hydra (turn 8ish) is still worth it.
Consistently buffing cleave is just too good.
● Avoid picking Rag if Mech are not in - they increase the incidence of good Buff targets
for your HP greatly.
● NEVER power level on the 5g turn with Rag. Buying a sub-par shop is virtually always
preferred as you need the kills so badly.
● Don’t be afraid to stay on lower tavern tiers. Typically I recommend always being on
tavern 3 by the 7g turn - Rag can be an exception. Feel free to double buy on that turn
instead if you are very behind.
● If you are ahead on tempo, and have two Deflect-o-bots, don’t be afraid to put one
Deflect-o-Bot in the back in order to buff it.
● Generally speaking, tripling buffed units with DS is a mistake (you only have 1 DS after
tripling rather than 2, losing some value).
Rakanishu
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Dragons, Elementals
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve: W hen possible, Rak loves to follow Elise’s old curve (a token is
necessary to follow this curve). However, you should be wary of your health total. If it is too low,
it is probably advisable to stay on lower taverns rather than power level. Additionally, he only
likes HPing if he is able to HP a good unit (such as a mech, low attack high HP minions such as
Yo-Ho-Ogre, DS units, etc). If you don’t have a good HP target, it’s okay to buy units instead, for
example.
3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and sellemental preferred)
4g - Level to tavern 2 (lock a token if you didn’t buy one turn 1 and intend to follow Elise’s old
curve. Typically only do this if you bought a good HP target turn 1, such as Micro
Mummy/Machine.)
5g - Sell (when applicable) and buy the two best units. Alternatively, buy the best unit and hero
power (this is typical in following Elise’s old curve).
6g - Buy the two best units. Alternatively, Level to tavern 3, sell token, and hero power
7g - If on tavern 2, level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit (can HP in a pinch). If on tavern 3, buy
the two best units, sell the other half of the token and hero power (or just buy the best 2 units).
8g - Try your best to level to tavern 4 and hero power (especially if you leveled to tavern 3 on
the 6g turn), but you can buy the two best units and HP if you are behind on health/tempo.
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and either buy the best unit or HP.
Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed.
Theory/Overview:
Rakanishu’s HP allows him to buff 1 unit a turn for a variable amount. As the amount of
stats Rak’s HP gives is based on tavern tier, the quicker you level the better Rak’s HP becomes.
Additionally, Rak benefits greatly when he has a unit that really likes to be buffed. Mostly, this
means finding a unit with DS (buffing a DS unit gives you twice the amount of attack value from
the buff). As such, Rak likes leveling to tavern 3 as quickly as possible - where the earliest DS
units can be found.
Rak tries to follow Elise’s old curve, but his HP is often not quite enough tempo to level
as aggressively as he’d like. As such, he often takes a turn off of leveling (or more) once he hits
tavern 4. But, if he is able to, Rak is very happy to power level to at least tavern 5 (strengthening
his HP and providing access to scalers that buff units synergistic with his HP - Brann/Lightfang).
Outside of the early game (and even within most turns of the early game) Rak should be
HPing every turn. As a hero, the advantage you incur comes from your hero power (duh). If your
hero power directly gives stats to your board and you end up not using your HP, then you don’t
build your advantage. As such, it is important to keep in mind gold efficiency as you roll on Rak.
if you have 6 units on board and 5g left, you should virtually always buy a 7th unit from the shop
and HP, for example (3g to buy a minion, 2g to HP).
Rak likes it when Mechs, Dragons, and Elementals are in the game so that he can
maximize his chances of buffing DS units.
● Mechs - Rakanishu is exceptionally fond of going Deflect-o-bot build. Any amount of

consistent scaling given to a Deflect-o is extremely valuable (as you get multiple DS and
therefore a lot of “extra” value from the stats you give). However, there is a slight
anti-synergy when going Mechs with Rak - with mechs you want to stay on tavern 4,
thereby capping the value of Rak’s HP.
● Menagerie - This build allows you to take full advantage of your HP by (typically) utilizing
many units that love to be buffed (DS units, cleave, etc). Additionally, when going
Menagerie you level above tavern 4 which provides extra HP value.
Key Units:
● Deflect-o-Bot, Bronze Warden, Crackling Cyclone - the earliest available DS units (DS
units loved to be buffed)
● Hydra - The earliest available cleave (a good unit to dump your HP into it)
● Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, Sellemental, Deck Swabbie - Allow you to follow Elise’s old
curve, which is the best way to power level while taking advantage of a 2g HP.
General Tips:
● When you don’t have a DS unit, random mechs are probably your best buff target as
they can acquire DS in the future
● Once you have a divine shield and your tavern tier is somewhat high (3+), you should be
HPing every turn.
● In the early game, buffing anything with high health and low attack is pretty decent.
Reno Jackson
Tribes:
Wanted: Demons, Dragons
Unwanted: Beasts, Elementals
Recommended Curve: R eno’s curve is extremely difficult to outline as his play is rather
variable. There are many situations to account for that cannot be accounted for in a single
curve. The following curve is Reno’s preferred method of playing as he loves to triple for the
highest-tier unit possible so that he can make it golden. The idea of this curve is to go for 1st
place, trying to hit Kalecgos, Eliza, etc. I will outline another curve in general tips for 5-drop
triples.
8g - Fill up the empty slots of your board or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a
minimum 2 units but ideally 3). You should value pairs very highly. If you see a triple, lock it.
9g - Level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit. If you have a triple, lock it again.
10g - Level to tavern 5 and triple for a 6-drop. Golden it (in 95/100 situations you will need to
just HP here even if the unit you get is sub-par).
Theory/Overview:
Reno is one of my favorite heroes by far. Reno’s HP is extremely flexible and will require
on-the-fly decision making in most of your games. While Reno prefers for his HP to be explosive
(such as HPing Kalecgos) it is often too slow to make this play. As such, Reno will often find any
high-tempo card along his way to tavern 5, HP it, and use that tempo to powerlevel. For some
examples of strong HP candidates, see key units.
As Reno pines after HPing high-tavern units, picking up pairs should be valued a little
higher on him (as tripling gives him access to high-tavern units quickly). However, that doesn’t
mean that you should buy every pair of bad units you see. Simply be a little bit more lax on your
standards for a unit if it’s a pair. (Ex: Don’t buy pairs of Fiendish Servant. Buy pairs of Kindly
Grandmother so long as the other units in your shop aren’t extremely better - buy Grandmother
pair over Steward of Time, for example, but not Spawn of N’Zoth, Tormented Ritualist, etc.)
Worth mentioning is the fact that if you HP one of a pair of units you have, you no longer have a
pair (as you cannot triple the golden minion). This typically only comes up when you have 2
wrath weavers, but is occasionally relevant elsewhere.
Wrath Weaver - in my opinion - do not HP this minion. The idea behind HPing Wrath
Weaver is that you can utilize the tempo of +4/4 with every demon you find in the early game to
power level and build a late-game comp. While it isn’t the least reasonable play, HPing Wrath
Weaver forces you to buy conventionally bad units (such as fiendish servant, Nethrism overseer
without demons on board, etc.) in the early-game. This is a very subpar way to fill up your board
as demons do not lend themselves well to transitioning into other compositions. Additionally,
HPing Wrath Weaver immediately puts a cap on your potential (you can no longer HP a 5-drop
or 6-drop, for example). While HPing Wrath Weaver is a relatively consistent top 4 strategy, It is
my opinion that you will place higher (on average) letting your HP win the lobbies where you’re
able to find an early golden Kalecgos, for example. That said, I think Reno (probably) prefers
Wrath Weaver to be an option on the table for him in the early game.
Reno likes Dragons, Demons, and Pirates to be in because they have some of the best
6-drops (Kalecgos, Imp Mama, and Eliza/Boat). Elementals and Beasts both have 3 different
6-drops in the pool. As such, when they are missing, they affect the odds of hitting high-impact
6-drops (such as Eliza and Kalecgos) greatly. As such, it can be inferred that Reno likes it when
Dragons and Pirates are in while Elementals and beasts are out.
It is worth mentioning that Reno is one of the better heroes at Khadgar transitioning
since he can HP a Khadgar at any time (although, since the Khadgar nerf, this is much less
relevant). That said, transitioning into Eliza-Scallywag comp is still extremely strong as you
already have important pieces within the comp (Khadgars). That said, it is probably far more
consistent in the current state of the game to HP a Kalecgos or Djinni and get first than to HP
Khadgar and get first. Even so, if Dragons and Elementals are both missing, you should keep in
mind the idea of HPing a Khadgar to look for Eliza on Reno as finding her immediately gives
you a comp that can win the lobby.
Reno doesn’t exactly have a Preferred composition. That said, he LOVES being able to
triple for a 6-drop and slam down a golden Kalecgos. However, this isn’t typically possible in the
current meta. As such, he will often find himself forced to triple for a 5-drop and HPing whatever
he gets for tempo (or HPing even earlier for tempo), be it Mama bear, Mythrax, etc. (Often, you
find yourself going Menagerie with a golden Lightfang/Brann.)
Key Units:
The Key units section for Reno is a little strange as virtually every scaler/high-tempo
mid-tier+ unit in the game can go here. I will attempt to list, therefore, more counter intuitive HP
targets (and some intuitive ones for the sake of being pedantic.)
● More obvious HP candidates (in no particular order) - Brann, Lightfang, Lil’ Rag,
Kalecgos, Baron Rivendare, Imp Mama, Ghast Coiler, Mama Bear, Sneed’s ol’
Shredder, Gentle Djinni, Mythrax, Foe Reaper, Hogger, etc.
● Nat Pagle - Probably the best non-scaler 5-drop to HP. A 16/10 is extremely scary early
on and that much attack virtually guarantees getting Value from Nat’s ability (which,
when golden, gives you 2 units instead of 1). High economy and high tempo, the best of
both worlds.
● Majordomo - Golden domo provides a surprisingly high amount of scaling in the
midgame, esp when paired with a cleave/DS unit (though additional scaling will need to
be found eventually.)
● Herald of the Flame - Very few units in the midgame have more than 5 or 6 health. As
such, the chaining overkill effect of this unit is extremely deadly.
● Security rover - A surprisingly high-tempo option for a HP. Very few units this early can
1-shot a 12 health unit, and 4/6s with taunt are nothing to scoff at.
● Soul Juggler - Insanely high tempo in the midgame. Should only be done with 2+
demons (that are likely to die - typically taunted) on board.
● Iron Sensei - A surprisingly high amount of scaling, esp when paired with Deflect-o-bot
● Warden of Old - If you thought +1g in the early game was nice, how about +2g? I’ve
HPed this unit with some decent success, but I only do it when I also find a Macaw for an
absolutely absurd amount of extra economy (also, a 6/6 Warden of Old is decently likely
to not die).
● Goldgrubber - By HPing this unit you immediately have 1 golden unit on board! If you
have another golden unit on board, that’s +8/8 a turn which is comparable to lightfang in
terms of raw stats/turn.
● Macaw - This HP should generally only be done if your board is extremely likely to go
Goldrinn composition (and you have a spawn, esp a golden one, on board).
● Freedealing Gambler - HPing this card gives you +3g. I’ve yet to see a situation in which
it is correct to HP this card for +3g, but I’m convinced the situation exists (at a minimum
it’s a fun HP to mention and think about).
General Tips:
● Alternative curve - 5-drops: This is Reno’s less preferred method of playing as, in an
ideal world, his 1-use HP wants to gain as much value as possible (therefore, he wants
to triple for the highest-tier unit possible). That said, this curve is probably more common
as Reno doesn’t typically have the health or resources to go for a 6-drop.
○ 3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)
○ 4g - Level to tavern 2
○ 5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units.
○ 6g - Buy the two best units
○ 7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit
○ 8g - Level to tavern 4, sell two units, and triple for a 5-drop (you will generally HP
it). If you cannot triple, stay on tavern 3 and fill up the empty slots of your
board/replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but
ideally 3). You should value pairs very highly. If you see a triple, lock it.
○ 9g - Level to tavern 4 and triple for a 5-drop (you will generally HP it).
○ Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed
● If you are below 20ish health, generally make the first decent thing you find gold. You
can't get value if you die.
● Leveling to tavern 3 on the 5g turn is a little better than usual since Reno can get tempo
at will with his Hero Power.
● Using your HP on Goldgrubber with one other golden unit on board is good in a pinch
(+8/+8 per turn).
● Pairs are better than usual since you want to triple into something you can make Golden.
● If there is something you can Hero Power that will give you a ton of tempo, it is often
correct to just HP. Having a lot of tempo will set you up to highroll later.
○ Even some conventionally bad minions are busted early on if golden (Herald,
Rover, etc)
● Bolvar, generally, isn't good enough to HP, he just gets a little bigger, which isn't really
enough.
Shudderwock
Tribes:
Wanted: Beasts, Murlocs, Mechs (Demons? - for Battlemaster)
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
8g - Fill up the empty slots of your board or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a
minimum 2 units but ideally 3).
9g - Level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll or a HP).
Theory/Overview:
Shudderwock’s HP is extremely difficult to utilize in the early game - very few units
benefit from it and the curve, often, doesn’t work out. As such, any time you can maximize
tempo through HPing (provided you have enough gold), you should do it. Shudderwock
generally doesn’t have a long-term game plan as there are no comps that want to double only 1
battlecry a turn. Shudderwock’s HP is also nullified by the 5-drop Bran Bronzebeard. As such,
any comp that Shudderwock is building would be immediately improved by finding a Brann.
In theory, going for some Lightfang build without a Brann on board, utilizing your HP to
double the effect of Menagerie Jugs or Battlemasters (for example), would be the best-case
scenario. However, this is very difficult to set up (as you generally don’t have enough tempo to
level to tavern 5), and virtually the only comp that can work this way.
Therefore, in previous patches Shudderwock was simply a Khadgar-forcer. Since the

Khadgar nerf, however, Shudderwock has very little viability in the current meta.
● Murlocs - As there are many impactful battlecry murlocs, Shudderwock likes going
murlocs more than any other compositions (but ultimately 1 doubled battlecry a turn isn’t
enough stats for murlocs to be worth it).
● Menagerie - Shudderwock, at least in theory, would be the best hero at going a
Lightfang menagerie with no Brann on board as you have the ability to increase the
effectiveness of 1 impactful battlecry every turn (such as Menagerie Jug or
BattleMaster).
Key Units:
● Khadgar - Allows you to utilize your HP to turn 1 token per turn into a triple.
● Menagerie Jug - Allows you to gain tempo in the mid-game
● Primalfin Lookout - The most powerful Battlecry for the Murloc composition
(Shudderwock’s best composition)
● Alley Cat/Murloc Tidecaller - Provides the potential for highroll situations in the early
game, offsetting your tempo deficit. (also enables Khadgar stuff which is a small benefit)
General Tips:
Do not pick Shudderwock
● Alternative curve - the double token: When there are two of the same token in your
turn 1 shop (two alleycats for example) you can follow this curve. You can also do this
curve if you see the second token turn 2. This curve allows you to triple for a 3-drop
extremely early which can help out the tempo of this otherwise slow hero. It also gives
you the potential to hit Khadgar which provides you with 1 triple everytime you find a
token (through your HP + Khadgar).
○ 3g - Buy one of the tokens
○ 4g - Buy the other token, HP, and play it. (do not play the triple).
○ 5g - Level to tavern 2 and play the triple. You can sell the golden unit to buy
something in the shop.
○ 6g - Buy the two best units or level to tavern 3 (preferably level).
○ 7g - If on tavern 2, level to tavern 3 and buy (if possible). If on tavern 3, buy the 2
best units and HP (if possible).
● Soul Devourer does not work with Shudderwock’s HP (the part of the battlecry that is
doubled is the first sentence, “Choose a Demon”, ultimately rendering the HP use
irrelevant.
● Typically speaking, it is not worth it to sell a unit in order to double Nathrezim Overseer
or Menagerie mug’s battlecries in the early-game - the lost gold and tempo of the unit
you’re selling is too big of a detriment. However, 1/1’s can potentially be sold for this
purpose (such as alleycat).
Silas Darkmoon
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs (and to some extent Elementals and Pirates)
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred - even over tickets)
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). If you can,
wait until tavern 4 to buy the last ticket so that you get to discover a 4-drop instead of a 3-drop.
Theory/Overview:
It might be tempting to view Silas as an economy hero as he gets extra units relative to
the average hero, but these extra units are too few and too far between. I prefer to think of Silas
as a late game hero with a small early game advantage (typically 1 extra 2 drop that you get to
discover) - a lot like Al’Akir (but better than Al’Akir). Silas’ HP is extremely strong in the late
game as there are many compositions that want specific minions of the tavern tier you’re on.
Being able to search for them can be very powerful.
In the current meta, staying on tavern 4 is very common. Often leveling to tavern 5 and
beyond is incorrect as very few heroes can level without dying. That said, Silas is one of the
best heroes at staying on tavern 4 as he is the best at finding key cards such as
Annoy-o-Module, Qiraji Harbinger, Defender of Argus, etc. Therefore, Silas is quite good at top
4ing this meta. However, he is also one of the better heroes at leveling as his tickets can be
used like a triple for cards such as Lightfang or Brann. Generally, if your health is high and you
can level while discovering a relevant 5-drop, you should go for it. However, if your health is low,
or if your comp is very “tavern 4” (meaning you are very deep into taunt comp or Mechs or
another comp that doesn’t want to level past 4), then stay on tavern 4 and build your advantage
there.
Silas will typically get 1 discover on tavern 2 (which is where his slight early game
advantage comes from) and another discover somewhere between taverns 3 and 4. This
second discover can often be treated like a triple - save it for a higher tavern if possible (even
tavern 5 if you have enough health/tempo). Getting an early 4-drop or 5-drop can be extremely
impactful, so make sure you’re setting yourself up for the best situations off your discover.
Realistically, Silas is extremely flexible and, so long as he can level to the appropriate tavern,
can go virtually any composition. That said, the following compositions are the most
common/most beneficial for Silas and his HP.
● Taunt comp - This is the most common composition for Silas to end up in within the
current meta, utilizing his HP to discover the high-impact 4-drops such as Qiraji
Harbringer, Defender of Argus, Champion of Y’Shaarj, etc.
● Elementals - If you are able to make it to tavern 6 (which is rather unlikely), there are
three different 6-drop elementals. As such, it is very easy to find them off of Silas’ HP,
and therefore easier for Silas to go elementals than the average hero. Sidenote: Silas is
also decent at doing the “Party Elemental Strat” (see meta guide, Elementals section) as
he can discover 2-drops, looking for Party eles and Molten Rocks.
● APM Pirates - (assuming you can make it to tavern 5) Imagine you are on tavern 5 and
every pirate you see is free because you have 2 hoggers. Now imagine some
percentage of those free pirates will have a ticket on them. This seems like a great
scenario for finding even more Hoggers. Long story short, Silas is very good at going
infinite pirates as he is good at digging for extra Hoggers. That said, it is often difficult to
make it to tavern 5.
Key Units:
● Any cheap/economy unit is good for silas so long as it has a ticket on it. (Refreshing
Anomaly, Sellemental, Freedealing Gambler, etc)
● Hogger - Discounts the cost of many units in the shop, making many more tickets
worthwhile.
General Tips:
● Silas is good with comps that need very specific minions from the tavern tier you’re on
(Elementals, Mechs, Pirates, etc.)
● Freezing shops is worse than usual as the units you freeze will not gain tickets.
● Make sure to think about leveling before buying the 3rd ticket (Ex: Do I want a 3-drop
here or a 4-drop?)
● In general, Cheap tickets (Tokens, Sellemental, etc.) should always be bought (esp. In
the late game). However, do not buy bad units over good ones simply because they
have a ticket on them! (I would much rather have Spawn of N’zoth turn 4 than a Murloc
Tidehunter with a ticket, for example.)
Sindragosa
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy the best unit and freeze (Tokens and Sellemental preferred).
4g - Level to tavern 2 and freeze.
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units and freeze.
6g - Buy the two best units and freeze.
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit (potentially freeze, use best judgement on the power
level of the minions you would be locking - if they would be better than the average 3-drops,
probably freeze)
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). Freeze if
applicable.
Freeze if applicable.
Theory/Overview:
Sindragosa has one thing and one thing only going for her - early-game tempo. Your
goal when playing Sindregosa is to build a high-stated early-game board that allows you to
power level to tavern 5 or even 6. From there, look for scalers such as Brann, Kalecgos, etc
depending on your board state. However, since Sindragosa is operating on a very low economy,
it is quite difficult to actually power level. If you are leveling, then you are not buying units. If you
are not buying units, then you do not have a HP as Sindragosa. This is an awkward situation to
parse and, ultimately, has no resolution.
Sindragosa prefers mechs being in the lobby as this allows you to give DS to buffed
1-drop and 2-drop mechs through Module. It could be said she also likes Dragons and
Elementals in the game to increase the incidence of DS on tavern 3, but generally you want to
stop freezing outside of the early game (if you see a Bronze Warden/Crackling Cyclone during
your first turn on tavern 3, you don’t want to freeze it - you want to buy it).
● Menagerie - As you will often be forced into buying many units of different tribes,
Lightfang will often be a good candidate to scale your board with.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
Do not pick Sindragosa.
● Past the 7g turn or so, you shouldn’t freeze very often (for the sake of scaling minions,
that is). Generally, at this stage of the game, it’s too slow to wait on buying units. You will
need the tempo now, not later.
Sir Finley Mrrgglton
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
N/A
Theory/Overview:
Finley is a “reroll” option when you are presented with less than ideal hero choices
(either weak heroes or good heroes with less than desired tribes in the game). There is quite a
bit of advantage to picking finley as you get to see your tavern 1 shop, the other heroes that are
in the game, and who you’re facing turn 1 - all before choosing your HP. As such, he is quite a
bit better than the average hero.
Something to consider: Heroes like Flurgl or Jaraxxus are significantly worse if they do
not start with key units in their shop (Murloc tidecaller for Flurgl, any demon for Jaraxxus). As
such, these hero powers are much more pickable from Finley’s selection rather than the usual
blind selection.
Since tribal heroes (patches, Ysera, etc) can only be selected when their tribe is in the
game, it could be said that Finley wants to be picked more often when the tribes of bad tribal
heroes are unavailable. EX: If Dragons and Demons are missing, Ysera, Alexstrasza, and
Jaraxxus are no longer in the pool of available heroes for Finley’s HP selection (these are all
below averageish heroes - probably making Finley slightly better). Along this reasoning, Finley
likes it when pirates are in as Patches is a well above-average hero. However, Finley should
virtually never be considered in this fashion and instead be picked only if no other
above-average options are available.
N/A
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
Skycap’n Kragg
Tribes:
Wanted: Pirates, Demons, Dragons
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve: I t is difficult to build one “Recommended Curve” for Kragg as his HP is
extremely flexible and can be used in many ways. However, the current Kragg meta typically
revolves around attempting to “skip” either tavern 4 or 5 through is HP (typically tavern 4) and
the following curve reflects that.
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units (leveling to tavern 3 on this turn with Kragg
is a lot better as you can gain back the lost tempo whenever you want with the push of a button.
You will typically level to tavern 4 on the 8g turn after doing this).
8g - If you have enough tempo (or a locked triple), level to tavern 4 (generally with the intention
of level to tavern 5 next turn and then HPing). Otherwise, fill up the empty slots of your board or
replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3).
9g - Level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit (you have 1 roll). If you are extremely low on
tempo/health and have picked up a low-tavern build-around card (such as Soul Juggler or
Deflect-o-Bot) you can HP here and build that comp up more (HPing in this way is fighting for
top 4 instead of trying to win the lobby).
10g - Level to tavern 5 and HP, buying high-tempo 5-drop, 4-drops, and scalars such as
lightfang or Brann.
Theory/Overview:
Kragg’s HP is extremely flexible. As such, there is no one curve or way to play Kragg. In
general, if you can HP without wasting gold and buy several high-tempo units that make you
extremely confident that you will win the next fight or two (and can therefore level aggressively),
then HPing is probably correct. That said, the longer you wait the better your HP becomes - it’s
a balancing act. As before, there is no set number, but as a rule of thumb, the minimum gold
you should HP for is around 5g while the maximum is around 8g or 9g. The maximum limit is
due to the fact that if you’re waiting this long to HP, you’re probably going to die (think Mr.
Bigglesworth - you typically don’t anticipate him making it past turn 8 or 9 unless someone dies).
Within the current meta, Kragg is often forced to stay on tavern 4 and run Deflect-o-Bot
mechs or taunt comp (for example). However, Kragg’s preferred method of playing is to try and
skip tavern 4 altogether, leveling to tavern 5 and HPing in order to regain the lost tempo. This
gives him access to powerful scalers and, therefore, equity for winning the lobby. Additionally,
this is approximately in the sweet spot of the balancing act his HP undergoes - not so early that
you waste potential value but not so late as to be dead (Generally around turn 8 for +8g). Use
your best judgement. Leveling is expensive. Occasionally it is better to spend and extra turn on
tavern 4 rather than level up to tavern 5.
Kragg’s HP lends itself to going many different comps as its gold can be used in any way
you please. That said, Kragg prefers to power level. Therefore, Kragg loves going Dragons and
Pirates (the best long-term comp and the highest tempo 6-drop - Kalecgos and Eliza.
Depending on what units he buys as he levels, Kragg is also happy to go Menagerie). However,
he can equally well go any other composition. As a rule of thumb, if you HP for <7g, try to power
level, but if you cannot, then low-tavern compositions (Mechs, Juggler demons, Taunt comp,
etc.) are good options. Otherwise, if you HP for >=7g, reach for the stars and hit that Kalecgos.
Key Units:
● Freedealing Gambler - Can be replaced with any high-tempo unit you see after power
leveling.
General Tips:
● Don’t greed your HP for too long - if you are about to die, an extra 5g or 6g can definitely
make a difference.
● After leveling to tavern 3 on the 5g turn, you can consider leveling to tavern 4 on 6g. This
should only be done if your first shop on tavern 3 is pure garbage (mostly 1-drops for
example) and you started with a token (as otherwise you don’t have the gold to level).
This is technically something any hero can do, but Kragg probably does it the best as he
can HP and buy an extra 2 units (typically), rapidly filling his board with high-tempo
4-drops.
● It is rare that HPing for 4g is correct, and I can pretty confidently say that HPing for 3g is
never correct.
● You should virtually never get 9g or 10g from your HP - you are waiting too long!
Tess Greymane
Tribes:
Wanted: Elementals, Demons, Beasts
Unwanted: Pirates, murlocs
Recommended Curve:
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit (or, HP and buy 2 - typically for pairs/triples)
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3). HP if
applicable.
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1 roll). HP
if applicable.
Theory/Overview:
Building a “Recommended Curve” for Tess is difficult as her curve is extremely

dependent on your opponent's board. As a general rule of thumb, Tess is played on lower
tavern tiers than the average hero (let your opponents level and get good units for you). Play for
tempo to stay alive until an opponent gives you good enough units to commit to a composition.
However, if your board is strong, or if you have pairs/triples, don’t be afraid to level and naturally
triple into 5-drops and 6-drops. Additionally, although Tess prefers being on a lower tavern, she
generally wants to reach Tavern 4 somewhat quickly (turn 9 or so). From tavern 4, you have
access to many more ways of playing, and the units your opponents give you are more likely to
be helpful.
For Tess’ HP to be useful, your opponent has to be unable to kill you. Therefore, Tess
really does not like high-tempo 6-drops being in the game. As such, she prefers when cards like
Eliza, Boat, Imp Mama, etc., are missing. Typically if you face an early Imp mama or Eliza, you
take a LOT of damage. Although these cards are, in theory, good to steal, you generally don’t
have the time to steal them after taking so much damage early on. That said, Demons are a
tribe Tess is fond of as Wrath Weavers on low tavern give Tess an excuse to level slowly (since
you do not have to level aggressively when you have Weavers because they provide tempo
regardless of your level). Additionally, Wrath Weavers are making it back into the meta and,
therefore, can often be stolen from your opponents.
Tess likes elementals being in as all elemental comps benefit from a shop full of
elementals (which your HP can occasionally provide). Additionally, Goldrinn beasts (the main
beast comp) is very easy to steal from an opponent (and if you are Goldrinn beasts facing
another player who is Goldrinn beasts, congratulations! You can finally triple that Macaw you’ve
been rolling for - a joke, but you get the point). Because some of the most common
compositions for Tess are weak to poison (Elementals, Demons, and Goldrinn Beasts), Tess
prefers when Murlocs are missing.
As a hero, Tess is typically too slow. She often dies before getting a full comp off the
ground as she has to wait for her opponents to find key cards (such as scalers) first. Generally
speaking, If your opponent has a scaler before you, then they will be scaling before you and
therefore bigger. That said, if Tess is able to find a solid comp and stabilize, she can be a
deadly threat in the late game (Oh, that’s a nice Amalgadon you have there. Would be a shame
if I stole it).
Disclaimer: Tess’ true “preferred composition” is whatever the most players in your lobby are
going. However, it is not always possible to transition in order to match the lobby. The below
comps are ones that Tess benefits from the most when multiple players are running this
composition.
● Nomi Elementals (not recommended as Nomi is generally too slow and therefore a bait.
However, Tess is one of the heroes best at going Nomi so it’s worth mentioning) -
Provided 1 or 2 players are also going elementals in your lobby, as Tess, you will be
able to find an extremely high volume of elementals to scale with Nomi through your HP
● Little Rag elementals - Provided 1 or 2 players are also going elementals in your lobby,
as Tess, you will be able to find an extremely high volume of elementals to scale with Lil’
Rag through your HP
● Goldrinn Beasts - Goldrinn beasts, as a comp, involves rolling for a very few key cards.
As such, being able to steal those key cards from other players is extremely beneficial.
Key Units:
● Sellemental - When this card is in, everyone and their mother buys it turn 1. It is
therefore very easy for Tess to triple this card, and she should value it very highly turn 1.
● Freedealing Gambler - Can be replaced with any unit on your opponent’s board after
HPing (In short, Gambler gives you more gold to work with).
General Tips:
● Prioritize staying alive until you can steal all of the high-rollers' stuff
● Less of a need to level as your opponents will do it for you
● ALWAYS look at your next opponent/rest of the lobby when deciding which comp to go
for.
● Make sure to keep in mind how much gold it takes to buy the units you want from your
opponent. You, typically, cannot buy their entire board.
● Try to stay as flexible as possible, go comps that are easy to transition out of (Mechs
esp.) and avoid comps that are difficult to transition out of (Ex: Juggler demons).
The Curator
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Murlocs
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
Theory/Overview:
As the curator starts with an Amalgam, you might think it doesn’t particularly matter
which tribes are in. In theory, his HP allows him to work well with any composition. However, in
practice, this is untrue. The amalgam often ends up being a useless unit on your board,
rendering your HP into +1g (this is very bad). As such, maximizing use out of the amalgam is
very important for making the Curator work (which is, generally, a difficult task). For this reason,
the Curator is virtually unpickable when either mechs or murlocs are missing - without these
tribes in, he cannot get DS and Poison on his Amalgam.
The extra unit on board, to some degree, provides you with some early game tempo.
However, you will often find yourself losing the early fights anyway. As it turns out, a 1/2 is not
particularly impactful in most fights.
Having access to an extra amalgam lends itself very well to playing Lightfang builds.
Therefore, you typically want to triple for 5-drops (that, coupled with the fact that you generally
don’t have enough health to go for a 6-drop). Similarly, the Curator wants to level to tavern 5 in
most board states, but often finds himself too behind to do so. A lot of your games will be spent
on tavern 4, attempting to stay alive. However, if the option presents itself, it is probably a good
idea to look for Brann/Lightfang by leveling (such as when playing a dead guy or you have
higher than average tempo).
● Menagerie - The amalgam lends itself well to menagerie builds. Lightfang and Bran
should be heavily valued by the curator.
● Murlocs - It is often hard to make use of the amalgam because it is hard to buff it to a
significant level. As such, going murlocs is one way to (almost) guarantee the amalgam
is useful through board-wide buffs and poison (however, going murlocs without Bran is
not recommended).
Key Units:
● Toxfin - This unit gives the amalgam poison.

● Annoy-o-module - This unit gives the amalgam divine shield.
● Lightfang - Works well with your HP as you have a guaranteed “extra” tribe
● Brann - Works well with your HP as you have a guaranteed “extra” tribe (or a guaranteed
murloc that can get DS)
● Mythrax - Works well with your HP as you have a guaranteed “extra” tribe
General Tips:
● As sad as it may be, do not be afraid to sell the amalgam. If it’s turn 8 (for example) and
you have a 1/2 on board, you are typically more sad to keep it on board than you are to
sell it.
● Never put the amalgam first vs Rafaam (you’re essentially giving him your HP!)
The Great Akazamzarak
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs
Unwanted: Beasts
Recommended Curve:
6g - Buy the two best units or level to tavern 3 and HP (typically when your shop is quite bad)
7g - If on tavern 2, level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit. If on tavern 3, buy 2 units and HP
8g - If you have enough health/tempo, level to tavern 4 and HP. Otherwise, fill up the empty
slots of your board or replace the weaker units on your board and HP (buying a minimum 2 units
but ideally 3).
9g - If you are on tavern 4 and still high health/tempo, level to tavern 5 and HP. If you are on
tavern 3, level to tavern 4, buy the best unit and HP.
Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
As a hero, Akazamzarak is extremely likely to make it into the top 4. This is true even
though you can now only find 1 Ice Block per game. “Akascamzarak” often “scams” his way into
the late game through Ice Block. There are many times I have found myself with a 6th place
board getting 3rd (or higher) because of the time that Ice Block grants you. Even if you never
end up finding a scaler with the extra turn, you can often instead use the additional time to build
a poison scam comp (see meta guide, Murlocs section). For this reason, Akazamzarak
generally prefers murlocs to be in (additionally, he has no built-in economy so the token is
useful). As a summary, Akazamzarak is a hero with a high roll based early-game advantage
(through Competitive Spirit) that is afforded an extra turn in the mid/late game (through Ice
Block) while having pretty significant advantage(s) in the super late game (through
Auto-Defense Matrix, Splitting Image, or Venomstrike Trap).
In the early game, you should not be HPing with only 1 or 2 units on board (except on
the 4g turn during the Rafaam curve - see general tips) unless absolutely necessary. This is
because Competitive spirit is the only secret that matters in the early game (getting an extra 4/4
or more on your board is pretty good - basically like having an extra 3-drop). Starting in the
midgame, you generally shouldn’t HP unless you do not have an ice block up, in which case you
should HP every turn looking for one. The late game is where the secrets become much more
relevant as you typically have more tools to take advantage of them (meaning you can set your
board up in ways that make certain secrets very good - such as having a taunted poison
Amalgadon for Splitting Image and Auto-Defence Matrix).
With an ice block up, it is often good to play more greedily than you would have
otherwise. For the most part, you should do this when you know you can’t win the lobby if things
continue at their current pace and you already have a reasonable comp.
Example: You have 1 Kalecgos on board and are on tavern 6. You know another player also
has 1 Kalecgos and they have been scaling for an extra turn relative to you. Both players have
Nadinas. In this scenario, it is reasonable to assume that you are going to lose at the current
pace of the game. Therefore, making a play such as buying 3 battlecries and holding them in
hand without playing them is a good play. This gives you the opportunity to find another
Kalecgos next turn, thereby increasing the scaling of the battlecries you bought this turn. Since
you have an Ice block up, you can be unafraid of dying despite not playing any cards for a full
turn (and potentially even more turns if your ice block remains intact).
Beasts have 3 different 6-drops in the pool. As such, when they are missing, they affect
the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (such as Eliza and Kalecgos) greatly. Therefore
Akazamzarak prefers them to be missing.
Akazamzarak doesn’t have a specific preferred composition that works with his hero
power. However, his hero power does give him a lot of time (through ice block). Often, therefore,
you can go for more greedy compositions such as lil’ Rag elementals and Kalecgos dragons.
Key Units:
● Khadgar - Works well in tandem to his best late game secret (splitting image). With
enough khadgars, you can sell your entire board to splitting image 5 DSP Amalgadons,
for example.
● Tokens - If you’re doing the “Rafaam” or “stay on tavern 1” curve, tokens are quite good
for him to pick up as they fill your board. (More units on board = more value from
competitive spirit).
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - the Rafaam curve: This curve relies upon hitting the secret
competitive spirit. For this curve (and the early game in general), Competitive spirit > Ice
block > all other secrets. Starting around tavern 3 or 4, you’re going to want to pick up an
ice block. Personally, I’m not fond of this curve as, although you, more often than not,
have enough tempo from competitive spirit to level to tavern 4 or 5 without taking much
damage, it is very hard to build a comp with random 1 drops.
○ 3g - Buy best unit
■ If you see a Sellemental AND a token in the shop, you can buy the
Sellemental, Freeze the token, sell Selle, and then HP. If you hit Comp
spirit, do not play the water droplet as Competitive spirit will not trigger if
you have 0 minions on board. Next turn you can play the token and water
droplet for +3/3. This method of HPing gives you 2 chances to pick Comp
Spirit for +3/3 by turn 2. I personally don’t think this is worth it to only get
+2/2 (if you don’t find a token you only have 2 units on board), so I don’t
recommend HPing turn 1 outside of this specific situation.
○ 4g - Buy best unit and HP
○ 5g - Buy best unit and HP (you have 1 roll)
○ 6g - Level to tavern 2, buy best unit and HP
○ From here, level each turn until tavern 4 or 5 (generally 4, but Ideally 5), HPing
every turn.
● Outside of the early game, Ice Block is much more important than any of the other
secrets. Look for it every turn until you have it. But, once you have it, looking for secrets
is much less important unless there are specific secret(s) that make you much stronger
(such as splitting image with a taunted DSP amalgadon).
● You should typically hero power first in the late game as it may affect what you buy.
● When choosing splitting image, often what you are copying is whatever taunted unit you
have. Often, you will want to make your first attacker a unit that is likely to die (so that if
you attack first, you make board space for a healthy copy of your taunted minion).
● Venomstrike Trap is very weak to cleave as it will summon all the way to the right of your
board (where taunts are typically placed).
● Secrets that summon units will not activate unless you have extra board space (splitting
image, Venomstrike Trap, etc.)
● Running 6 units with a splitting image up is often a good play
● Secrets that are not triggered during combat will remain active for next combat (say you
have Snake Trap but no units on board. In this scenario, you have no units to be
attacked, so the secret will not trigger during this combat phase.)
The Lich King
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Beasts and Elementals
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
Theory/Overview:
Lich King is one of the few early-game tempo heroes that can also utilize his HP to a
significant degree in the late-game. Generally speaking, however, his HP doesn’t have amazing
tempo outside of using it on a few, select cards (Spawn of N’Zoth, Tormented Ritualist, etc). As
such, when you don’t find these cards, you will often find yourself losing early game fights.
Largely, the units that most like being reborn are units with deathrattle as you get double
the deathrattle value (and a lot of deathrattle cards have low stats, but large deathrattle effects).
Therefore, Lich King’s favorite comps generally revolve around Baron Rivendare.
● Goldrinn beasts - This Comp benefits greatly from Lich’s HP in two main ways.
Whenever you initially triple into Goldrinn, you get 2 Goldrinn procs (an extra from your
HP). This is often much above average tempo-wise which means you have more time to
actually put the pieces of the comp together (baron, Macaw, etc.). Secondly, as Lich
King you can taunt Goldrinn (and HP it so that there’s little risk of Macaw not working) for
more consistent stats and a better attack order (your hydras don’t have to attack as late
now).
● Kangor’s Mechs - This build is virtually only viable on Lich King (and even then not super
viable) but is still worth mentioning. As Lich King gets to resummon any unit on your
board, an extra golden Mechano-egg, Kaboom-bot, or Kangor’s Apprentice provides
significantly higher damage output.
● Lil’ Rag elementals - This comp does not benefit from Lich King’s HP as much as the
previous two. However, due to Gentle Djinni being a card, transitioning into this
composition is very easy for the Lich King (as HPing Djinni gives you two elementals -
potentially two Lil’ Rags or Garrs!). As such, when the Lich King gets out of the early
game with high health and triples into Djinni, I would typically prefer picking it over
Goldrinn or Kangors (even with something like a golden bomb or a few beasts on board).
This is mostly due to the fact that Elementals have more of a chance to actually win a
lobby.
Key Units:
● Spawn of N’Zoth - an insanely high tempo unit in the early/mid-game when paired with
your HP
● Gentle Djinni - One of the best 6’s for the Lich King. It works with his HP, giving him
extra economy and good equity for winning the lobby (through going elementals)
● Goldrinn, the Great Wolf - One of the best 6’s for the Lich King. It is decent (with a few
beasts) or high tempo (with a lot of beasts) and gives reasonable long-term equity for the
Lich King.
● Warden of Old - if you though 1 extra coin was good early on, how about 2! (HPing
warden on Old early on gives you (essentially) the same hero power as a Lord Barov
who wins all of his bets but with an extra 3/1 on board.
General Tips:
● If playing Deflect-o-Bot mechs, remember that any mech can be a reset if you HP it.
● Make sure not to automatically hero power the same minion you've been hero powering.
Think about the minions you bought this turn - are any of them better HP targets?
● Usually want Goldrinn or Djinni late game
● Remember that deathrattles happen before reborn effects - therefore, be careful about
HPing cards that summon many tokens such as Rat pack, Boat, etc as they may
overflow the board, canceling the reborn effect.
The Rat King
Tribes:
Wanted: N/A
Unwanted: N/A
Recommended Curve:
Theory/Overview:
The Rat King has one thing and one thing only going for him - early-game tempo. Your
goal when playing the Rat King is to build a high-stated early-game board that allows you to
power level to tavern 5 or even 6. However, your HP works against you in this regard because it
is random which means your additional early-game tempo is randomly given. This means that
he is less consistent than other early game heroes such as Sindragosa or Lich King (although
the Rat King, technically speaking, has more high roll potential). That said, after building early
game tempo, look for scalers such as Bran, Kalecgos, etc depending on your board state.
However, since the Rat King is operating on a very low economy, it is quite difficult to actually
power level. If you are leveling, then you are not buying units. If you are not buying units, then
you do not have a HP as the Rat King. This is an awkward situation to parse and, ultimately,
has no satisfying resolution. (Rat King and Sindragosa are very similar heroes in my head. They
both have meaningless early-game tempo)
● Menagerie - As you will often be forced into buying many units of different tribes,
Lightfang will often be a good candidate to scale your board with.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
Do not pick The Rat King

Tickatus
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs, Dragons, and Pirates
Unwanted: Elementals, Beasts
Recommended Curve:
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units (you should almost never sell and level to
tavern 3 as Tickatus - you need minions on board for Might of Stormwind!)
6g - Buy the two best units (if you end up missing on Might of Stormwind, you can consider
leveling to tavern 3 with pocket change, buying the best unit in the shop)
8g - Try your best to level to tavern 4 - Especially if you hit Might of Stormwind. However, if you
are too far behind on tempo, fill up the empty slots of your board or replace the weaker units on
your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3).
9g - If you are on tavern 4 and at high health, consider leveling to tavern 5 (this sets up for turn
8 - your second prize where Evolving Tavern and On the House benefit greatly from being on a
high tavern). If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and replace your weakest unit (you have 1
roll).
10g - If you hit on the house or Evolving tavern, consider leveling up a tavern to look for even
stronger units. If you health is low, however, do what works best for the tavern you’re on.
Level to tavern 5 or 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
Tickatus’ strength as a hero comes from the imbalanced nature of the Darkmoon Faire
prizes. By this I mean that there are 1 or 2 prizes at each section of the game that are
significantly stronger than the others. The most important prizes are the first two, however. On
the 4g turn, Might of Stormwind provides huge amounts of tempo that will carry you through the
early game. On the 8g turn, being able to Evolving Tavern or On the House for high tavern units
is extremely powerful - so on and so forth. Therefore, when you hit these prizes back to back in
a game, you will typically be set up for a good game. However, if you miss and are forced to
take one of the poor-quality prizes, then your game will typically not go very well.
Your early game revolves around filling your board as much as possible in order to
maximize the value of Might of Stormwind. From there, you will ideally utilize the tempo you
acquired to power level to tavern 5 in order to best set up for the turn 8 Darkmoon Faire prize.
When possible, you should level to tavern 5 by turn 7 - this allows you to take maximum
advantage of On the House and Evolving Tavern the following turn. However, in the current
meta it is relatively common to be on tavern 4 on turn 7 instead since leveling that aggressively
is often a recipe for taking a lot of damage. When you get On the House and are not low on
health, you should consider leveling to tavern 5 or 6 before using it (this is also tribe dependant -
if the high tempo 6-drops, such as imp mama or eliza, are missing then this may be a bad idea;
Especially if your opponent looks strong).
As Tickatus tries (though not always successfully) to high roll 6-drops through Evolving
Tavern and On the House, he likes it when good 6-drops are in the game. This means that
Dragons and Pirates are wanted to be in (as Eliza and Kalecgos are the highest-impact 6-drops
in the game). Furthermore, Elementals and Beasts should be out as they have 3 unique 6-drops
each which means that when they are missing it’s more likely to hit the good 6-drops. That said,
you will often have to settle for Evolving or On the Housing into 5-drops. Therefore, having good
menagerie tribes (the tribes that have units with DS, cleave, or high stats naturally) in the game
are more important in this situation. This is because the best scalers on tavern 5 are the
menagerie units Brann and Lightfang. Additionally, Tickatus wants murlocs to be in the game as
when you level more slowly, finding a Primalfin or two on turn 8 can give you a very solid start in
the Murloc direction when you get Bran’s Blessing (often you will level to 5 in this situation so
that you can discover King Bagurgle).
The turn 12 and turn 16 prizes are less impactful because the game often doesn’t
progress that far in time. However, if the game does get to those turns, you are extremely happy
being Tickatus as there are many powerful options - such as Buy the Holy Light, Give a Dog a
Bone, Argent Braggart, and many others.
Tickatus has no preferred composition(s). Instead, his HP revolves around high rolling
5-drops and 6-drops on turn 8 for which you can build a comp around. Generally speaking,
however, Tickatus will have decent access to many 5-drops (or, less commonly, 6-drops). As
such, he is very happy going menagerie by finding cards like Lightfang, Faceless Taverngoer for
more Lightfangs, Mythrax, etc. When going for 6-drops, Tickatus likes going dragons when he
hits Kalecgos and Pirates when he hits Eliza (those are the two power-units, but your board can
also be set up for different builds such as having Macaws for Goldrinn).
Key Units:
● Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, and Sellemental - these units increase the number of
minions on your board in the early game for Might of Stormwind
General Tips:
● Selling a unit and leveling on 5g is worse because it messes up Might of Stormwind the
following turn (you need units on board for Might to buff them).
● More important than usual to get a token since 3 minions on board much better than 2
for Might of Stormwind.
● Remember that Brann’s Blessing does not stack with Brann Bronzebeard - two Bran’s do
not quadruple the battlecry.
Y’Shaarj
Tribes:
Wanted - Dragons and Pirates
Unwanted - Elementals, murlocs
Recommended Curve: This curve is very idealistic, especially toward the end. If you find
yourself behind on health/tempo, do not be afraid to stay on tavern 4 or 5 for an extra turn in
order to play for tempo and save health.
3g - Buy best unit (esp Tokens, Sellemental, and Deck Swabbie)
4g - Level to tavern 2 (and lock tokens, etc, if you did not get one last turn)
5g - HP and buy best unit
6g - Level to tavern 3, selling a token and HPing
7g - Buy two best units and sell your weakest unit to HP (Alternatively, you have 1 roll)
8g - level to tavern 4 and HP
9g - level to tavern 5, selling your weakest minion and HPing
10g - level to tavern 6, selling your weakest minion and HPing
Theory/Overview:
Y’Shaarj is a power leveling hero in a slow leveling meta. As such, he attempts to make
it to tavern 5 or 6 before everyone else. Since most other heroes will be staying on low taverns
in this meta, you will often take boat loads of damage while leveling. This is compounded by the
fact that your HP gives you a minion during combat which means you are always running down
a unit. This means that you always attack second - typically a bad thing to do. That said,
Y'Shaarj’s HP is best suited to leveling quickly. This is because, if you level slowly, you get
much less tempo from your HP (relative to the turn you are actually leveling on). Additionally,
since his HP is random, it isn’t a great idea to stay on tavern 4 (for example) looking for extra
taunt synergy cards as it makes your HP very unlikely to be useful. The randomness of your HP
better lends itself to leveling ahead of everyone else and using the random high-tavern units for
tempo.
Y’Shaarj likes starting with one of Alleycat, Murloc Tidehunter, Sellemental, or Deck
Swabbie. This is because you want to be able to level to tavern 3 on 6g while HPing for a 3-drop
(without having to sell a ‘“good’” unit). Additionally, when you start with a token, by the time you
are on tavern 4, you have a full board when following the recommended curve.
Y’Shaarj is a power leveling hero, but with very little gas in the tank. As you cannot
control the units your HP gives you, you often find yourself falling behind in tempo. Keeping this
in mind, it’s important to protect your health as you level. Typically, at least 1 turn is taken “off”
from leveling (typically the 7g turn) in order to stabilize. While the recommended curve is ideal,
you will often be unable to make it all the way to tavern 6. It is occasionally an okay play to
recklessly level to tavern 6 anyway and hope to high roll imp mama (for example) from your HP.
This is partially due to the fact that Y’Shaarj has the ability to use his HP more than once on the
same tavern tier. This means that, once you get to tavern 6, you can “buy” 1 random 6-drop
every turn for 2g. However, in general, if you are facing a strong opponent, stay on tavern 4 or 5
and play for tempo. Use your best judgement to determine if leveling is right for you. If as soon
as you get to tavern 3 you find 2 Deflect-o-Bots (for example), perhaps you won’t be leveling
past tavern 4. Since you can’t always level to tavern 6 right away, it’s a good idea to grab good,
high-tempo menagerie units (bronze warden, Mechano Egg, BattleMaster, etc.) on the way to
tavern 5, finding Bran/Lightfang for tempo, and then using that tempo to level to tavern 6 with
the intent of transitioning to Dragons or Eliza-Pirates.
As your hero power is random, you want to inflate the pool of minions with high-tempo
units. As such, Elementals and murlocs are Y’Shaarj’s least favorite tribes. Neither lend
themselves particularly well to power leveling as elementals dilute the pool of 6-drops to include
3 low-tempo units and murlocs are not good stand-alone units.
Y’Shaarj doesn’t exactly have a preferred comp. He typically loves tribes with very
high-tempo options, but his HP is random and uncontrollable. Therefore, he often finds himself
picking up menagerie scalers (Bran/Lightfang) on tavern 5 as the random assortment of minions
lends itself well to those cards. Additionally, Y’Shaarj likes leveling all the way to tavern 6 to
make full use of his HP. When this is possible, he likes grabbing Eliza and Kalecgos in an
attempt to win the lobby.
Key Units:
● Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, and Deck Swabbie - Finding at least one of
these cards is essential for smoothing out your leveling curve.
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - tavern 1 curve: T his curve requires 1 economy unit by turn 2
to work. The benefit of doing this curve is that you get to HP an extra turn. This means
that you are a little more efficient in buying units as your HP “buys” for 2g. I would really
only ever go this cuve if I am buying a particularly good pair such as Mirco Mummy,
Acolyte of C’thun, or Wrath Weaver. This curve is very infrequently correct.
○ 3g - Buy or HP
○ 4g - Sell the token on your board and HP (or if a token is in the shop, buy it and
then sell HP)
○ 6g - Level to tavern 3, or double buy/buy and HP
○ 7g - if on tavern 2, level to tavern 3. If on tavern 3, double buy, sell and HP (or
just double buy
○ 8g - Level to tavern 4 and HP (may have to sell to accomplish this)
● Remember that you need an open board slot for the HP, so plan gold (and board)
accordingly.
● Tavern 6 HPs are SIGNIFICANTLY better than tavern 5 HP. There are too many 5’s and
quite a few of them are low-tempo units. Get to tavern 6 whenever possible
Yogg-Saron, Hope’s End
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs
Unwanted: Beasts
Recommended Curve:
3g - Buy really good units (such as the Murloc Token or Sellemental) or HP. If you are HPing,
remember you can roll first if your shop isn’t that great.
5g - HP and buy best unit
6g - Buy the two best units or HP and buy the best unit (you have one roll if you’re HPing)
7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit or roll and HP
8g - If you have enough tempo/health, Level to tavern 4 and HP. Otherwise, fill your empty
board slot and replace your weaker units. (This turn is why starting with a token is still good on
Yogg - it allows you to sell and 1/1 and HP while leveling.) The goal is to level this turn, but it’s
not always possible.
9g - If you are on tavern 3, level to tavern 4 and buy the best unit or HP
Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed.
Theory/Overview:
I generally think of Yogg as a worse Y’Shaarj (though this may be inaccurate). Yogg has
some advantages over Y’Shaarj such as being able to position units your HP gives you from the
beginning and getting +1/1 on low-tavern units, but the +1/1 becomes vanishingly irrelevant past
tavern 2 or so. It can be said that Yogg is better Y’Shaarj until tavern 3 or so at which point
Yogg is typically worse. You don’t get the tavern-up effect (your HP giving you units from the
tavern you just leveled to rather than the tavern you started on) from Yogg in the way you do
from Y’Shaarj. Additionally, Yogg’s low-rolls are almost always lower than Y’Shaarj’s (Yogg can
HP into 1-drops on any turn while only a handful of units past tavern 2 are that bad for Y’Shaarj
- Strongshell Scavenger with no taunts is an example). Yogg’s high rolls are also limited by the
fact that he cannot get units of the tavern he just leveled to - so they are also lower than
Y’Shaarj’s.
Yogg often likes starting with one of Alleycat, Murloc Tidehunter, Sellemental, or Deck
Swabbie. This is because these cards enable you to follow Elise’s old curve, leveling to tavern 3
on 6g while HPing (without having to sell a ‘“good’” unit), and then leveling to tavern 4 on 8g
while using your HP. Yogg wants to be played as a power leveling hero in this way, but often
finds himself unable to do so. As you cannot control the units your HP gives you, you often find
yourself falling behind in tempo. However, when possible, Yogg likes to power level. Keeping
this in mind, it’s important to protect your health as you level. Typically 1 turn is taken “off” from
power leveling (sometime after the 5g turn) in order to stabilize. You can take off on 6g, 7g, or
8g (and every other turn is spent leveling if possible). Additionally, when you start with a token,
by the time you are on tavern 4, you have a full board (when following the old Elise curve).
However, he isn’t always able to follow this curve as he doesn’t always start with a token, and
isn’t always able to power level due to low tempo/health. For these reasons, I recommend a
different curve for Yogg, but the old Elise curve is still detailed in General Tips.
While leveling extremely quickly is ideal, you will almost never be able to make it all the
way to tavern 6. For this reason, it’s a good idea to grab good, high-tempo menagerie units
(bronze warden, Mechano Egg, Crackling Cyclone, etc.) on the way to tavern 5, enabling
high-tempo options such as Bran/Lightfang. Additionally, you can then occasionally use that
tempo to level to tavern 6 with the intent of transitioning to Dragons or Eliza-Pirates (for
example)A.
As your hero power is random, you want to inflate the pool of minions with high-tempo
units. For this reason, Yogg likes it when mechs are in and beasts are out. Mechs have
high-tempo units on lower taverns while very few beast minions at all are tempo units (by
themself). Additionally, the randomness of your HP doesn’t scale well into the mid/late game.
Yogg’s HP becomes increasingly useless as the game progresses. For this reason, it’s
important to start strong on Yogg. This means that pairs should be valued highly as they can
provide the late game direction (by tripling into key units) that your HP is lacking. Yogg without
pairs often feels like Rat King or Sindragosa - a hero with meaningless early game tempo.
Yogg doesn’t exactly have a preferred comp. He typically loves tribes with very
high-tempo options, but his HP is random and uncontrollable. Therefore, he often finds himself
picking up menagerie scalers (Bran/Lightfang) on tavern 5 or staying on tavern 4 to go
Deflect-o-Bot Mechs or Taunt comp.
Key Units:
● Sellemental, Murloc Tidehunter, Alleycat, and Deck Swabbie - Finding at least one of
these cards is necessary to follow the old Elise curve (although, following that curve is
not always the best leveling curve for Yogg in the current meta).
General Tips:
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - Old Elise Curve: T his curve requires 1 economy unit by turn
3 to work.
○ 3g - Buy Tokens, Sellemental, or Deck Swabbie. If these units are not present,
roll and HP in an attempt to hit them (unless the first shop is extremely good to
HP)
○ 4g - Level to tavern 2 (and lock tokens, etc, if you did not get one last turn)
○ 5g - HP and buy best unit (if you haven’t played an economy unit, this is your last
turn to buy one).
○ 6g - Level to tavern 3, selling a token and HPing
○ 7g - Buy two best units (you have 1 roll - or you can sell HP)
○ 9g - If you have enough tempo/health, Level to tavern 5, selling your weakest
minion and HPing (the goal is to be able to level here, but it is better to take a
turn on 4 and replace your board if you are too weak).
● ALTERNATIVE CURVE - tavern 1 curve: T his curve requires 1 economy unit by turn 2
to work. The benefit of doing this curve is that you get to HP an extra turn. This means
that you are a little more efficient in buying units (as your HP “buys” for 2g) and typically
you don’t incur a tempo deficit as tavern 2 units are typically worse than tavern 1 units
with +1/1
○ 3g - Buy or HP
○ 4g - Sell the token on your board and HP (or if a token is in the shop, buy it and
then sell HP)
○ 6g - Level to tavern 3, or double buy/buy HP
○ 7g - if on tavern 2, level to tavern 3. If on tavern 3, double buy, sell and HP (or
just double buy
○ 8g - Level to tavern 4 and HP (may have to sell to accomplish this)
● Use hero power as much as possible early game, the extra stats and economy are
helpful for power levelling (and just early game advantage in general).
Ysera
Tribes:
Wanted: Murlocs
Unwanted: Elementals, Beasts (alternatively, Pirates or Mechs can also be missing)
Recommended Curve:
5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units. (Selling and leveling to tavern 3 is a more
reasonable play on Ysera - see general tips)
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3 - if you see a
triple, it should almost always be tripled for a 6-drop).
Level to tavern 5 (normally once can triple for a 6-drop) and tavern 6 as needed
Theory/Overview:
Ysera often feels like “Kalecgos or bust: the hero”. Her play typically revolves around
buying pairs of dragons, tripling for a 6, and hitting Kalecgos, Nadina, or getting 8th place. When
you hit Nadina, you typically immediately level to tavern 6 and look for kalecgos once you’re
there. Additionally, it is often the case that 1 Kalecgos is not enough. Therefore, when you hit 1
kalecgos, you want to find an opportunity to level to tavern 6 as soon as possible (Nadina + two
Kalecgos is virtually a guaranteed 1st place).
As Ysera has no built-in economy, token units are extremely helpful for her curve.
However, she doesn’t want Beasts or Elementals in because they reduce the chance of hitting
the dragon 6-drops. As such, she really wants to hit the murloc token turn 1 with beasts and
eles missing (though this is rather unlikely). Additionally, without a built-in economy, Ysera is
often forced to level slowly, almost always spending a turn on tavern 3.
Beasts and Elementals have 3 different 6-drops each in the pool. As such, when they
are missing, they affect the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops (Kalecgos, Nadina, and to a
lesser extent Amalgadon) greatly. Therefore, Yesera prefers them to be missing to maximize the
chances of hitting key cards. Alternatively, you can have beasts and mechs (or pirates) missing.
(mechs/pirates only have 2 6-drops, but with elementals in you have access to sellemental turn
1. Sellemental is better than alleycat, but Elementals and Beasts can also be swapped in this
situation.) Mechs would be preferred to be missing over pirates, however, as the back-up plan
of Boat/Eliza is better than the back-up plan of Kangor’s (ew) /Foe Reaper.
● Dragons - Very unsurprisingly, Ysera’s favorite comp is dragons. As such, a lot of her
strategy revolves around maximizing the chances of hitting Kalecgos.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
● Don’t be afraid to skip triples of dragons on low taverns (saving them to triple for a
6-drop later on). Ysera is super likely to find those minions again due to her HP (triples of
Glyph guardian, Steward of Time, etc can be ignored on tavern 2).
● Leveling to 3 is more important than usual because of Bronze Warden and Twilight
emissary.
○ Thus “Swabbie strat” (holding swabbie in hand turn 1 and playing it turn 2 after
leveling) is much better (Swabie strat allows you to level to tavern 3 on the 5g
turn while keeping a unit on board).
○ Hangry Dragon isn’t extremely good after power leveling to 3 as you’ve very
unlikely to actually win fights
● Red Whelp strat (Do not do this, it is bad and caps you at getting 6th or 5th if you’re
lucky. But, it’s very fun.)
○ Stay on 1 to get a bunch of Red Whelps
○ Only go for it if you get a lot of Red Whelps early on
○ If you go for it, you have to commit. It’s typically too late to switch back to normal
play.
○ There are a total of 16 Red Whelps in the game - see if you can catch them all! (5
goldens and 1 regular)
Zephrys the Great
Tribes:
Wanted: Mechs, Dragons, Elementals
Unwanted: Pirates, Demons
Recommended Curve:
or replace the weaker units on your board (buying a minimum 2 units but ideally 3. Can HP if
tempo is needed). You will often level on this turn in order to HP and triple for a 5-drop.
Theory/Overview:
In theory, Zephrys’ HP can be rendered useless by simply finding the triples of all your
units in your rolls naturally. As such, it is very tempting to only use your HP to triple units that
are very unlikely to triple (such as 5-drops like Brann or 6-drops like Kalecgos) or save your HP
to only triple for high-tavern units. This way of playing is far too slow, however. Playing without a
HP for that long opens you up to taking too much damage and will generally put you in an
untenable position. Remember that you have 3 uses of your HP and only 1 can be used per
turn. This set up lends itself to a much more steady pace of triples. As such the only use of your
HP that you should consider playing greedily with (waiting for a high-value use such as on a
5-drop or 6-drop) is the last one. Otherwise, you risk putting yourself at too large of a
tempo/health deficit.
In the early game, your HP should generally be used anytime you’re behind on tempo.
Don’t worry about lost long-term value from tripling 1-drops and 2-drops (you have no long-term
value if you’re dead). I generally recommend never tripling for 4-drops, but Zephrys can be the
exception. This is because he has access to more triples than pretty much any other hero, and
can therefore triple for sub-par units without giving up too much. This is something that should
only be done in a pinch, but it’s a good tool to have at your disposal.
A typically Zephrys game will have you tripling for a 5-drop on the 8g turn, and staying
on tavern 4 for a turn or two to recoup the tempo loss. When available, you should use your HP
to find cards advantageous to your comp (if you’re going menagerie, triple for 5-drops looking
for lightfang. If you have some dragons, perhaps looking for Kalecgos/Nadina is better). When
possible, Zephrys loves leveling to 5 quickly, allowing him to more easily triple high-impact cards
like Mama bear, Bran, etc.
As Zephrys typically goes for 5-drops, he likes Mechs, Elementals, and Dragons to be in
the game. This is because they provide some of the best menagerie units (Bronze Warden,
Crackling Cyclone, etc.) to utilize with the high-impact 5-drops. Additionally, Demons and
Pirates have some of the highest “I am about to deal 30 damage to you” potential (typically after
tripling into Imp Mama/Eliza). As such, it is good for Zephrys (a hero who generally doesn’t go
for 6-drops) to have Demons and Pirates be out of the game to mitigate the chances of this
possibility.
While I recommend going for 5-drops in the average case, you should be adjusting your
HPs based on which tribes are in the game. If both Elementals and Beasts are missing, going
for 6-drops instead of 5-drops may be a good idea as 6 different 6-drops are now missing,
increasing the odds of hitting high-impact 6-drops like Kalecgos and Elzia. If Dragons and
Pirates are missing, tripling for a 6-drop is almost never the right call (as there are fewer
high-impact 6-drops in this world).
Zephrys doesn’t have one specific preferred composition. Typically, your comp generally
revolves around whatever 5-drop (or, less commonly, 6-drop) that you end up tripling through
your HP. Often, you will find yourself with a golden Brann or Lightfang (as they are the best
scalers on tavern 5) and therefore going some Menagerie build.
Key Units:
N/A
General Tips:
● Your hero power is good, but it isn’t that g ood. Going for tons of 6-drops is usually not
enough to offset not having a high-tempo hero power.
● If you see 2 of the same token by turn 2, I like Freezing the second token and HPing it to
triple for a 3-drop on the 5g turn. It provides an above-average tempo while also allowing
for some huge high-rolls (such as Warden of Old)
● If you see a triple in the shop, it is virtually always better to buy it than to use your HP.
You only have 3 uses of your HP so don’t waste them unnecessarily!

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Wanted: Mechs, Dragons,

Unwanted: Demons, Pirates

3g - Freeze Tokens, sellemental, and swabbie

4g - Freeze Tokens, sellemental, and swabbie

7g - Buy the two best units.

9g - If on tavern 3, level to tavern 4

Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed

Wanted: Pirates and Beasts

Unwanted: Elementals and Mechs

3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)

5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units.

6g - Buy the two best units

7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit

Unwanted - Beasts, Elementals

Recommended Curve: (Alternative curve in General Tips)

3g - Buy best (economy) unit

5g - Sell and buy the two best units

6g - Buy the two best units

7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit

Level to tavern 6 as needed

● Curve power leveling to tavern 3 on the 5g turn:

Wanted: Elementals, Demons, Mechs

Unwanted: Murlocs (alternatively Beasts)

3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)

6g - Buy the two best units

7g - Roll 1 time, buying the best unit.

8g - Buy the 2 best units (or 3 if available)

9g - Buy the 2 or 3 best units

10g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best units available

As aranna wants to maximize her consistency of finding party elementals on tavern 2,

Wanted - Elementals, Demons

4g - Buy best unit and hero power

8g - Level to tavern 4 and hero power

Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed.

Wanted - Mechs, Beasts, (at least one of) Murlocs or Elementals

5g - Level to tavern 2 and hero power

6g - Buy 1 unit and hero power.

7g - Level to tavern 3 and hero power.

8g - Buy two units and hero power

Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed.

Wanted: Mechs, Dragons (and Demons? - see theory)

4g - Buy best minion and HP

5g - Buy best minion and HP

6g - Level to tavern 2, buy the best minion, and HP

7g - Level to tavern 3 and HP

Level to tavern 5 and 6 as needed

Unwanted: Murlocs, Beasts

Recommended Curve: ​Building a curve for Chen is extremely difficult as it is entirely

5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the two best units

7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit

Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed

Chenvaala’s HP incentivises you to buy elementals as often as possible. Elementals,

Do not pick Chenvala

Wanted: Mechs, Murlocs, Beasts, and Elementals

Unwanted: Dragons and Pirates

3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)

6g - Buy the two best units

7g - Level to tavern 3 and buy the best unit

10g - Level to tavern 4 and spend your gold efficiently

Level to tavern 5 and tavern 6 as needed

● Deflect-o-Bot mechs - As Deryl provides decent scaling at a low-tavern, buffing

Wanted: Mechs, Beasts

Unwanted: Dragons, Elementals

3g - Buy the best unit (Tokens and Sellemental preferred)

5g - Sell (when appropriate) and buy the 2 best units.

Recommended Curve: Building a curve for Chen is extremely difficult as it is entirely

● ALTERNATIVE CURVE: Without a token turn 1 or 2: This curve is MUCH WORSE.