Rise of the Naga season, new Spellcraft keyword and Queen Azshara enter Hearthstone Battlegrounds!

This Hearthstone Battlegrounds update will arrive alongside the new Spellcraft keyword, Queen Azshara, plus minion pool updates. On top of that, Battlegrounds Buddies will be rotating out from the game mode.

Hearthstone Battlegrounds patch 23.2 will see the arrival of the Naga minion type. Drawn to magic, these minions have spell synergies that players can take advantage of during battle. 

A couple of these minions include Snail Cavalry and Tidemistress Athissa. While Snail Cavalry can gain health after a player casts a spell, Tidemistress Athissa gives four friendly Naga minions a buff. 

Of course, the Naga theme in Hearthstone Battlegrounds is not complete without Queen Azshara herself. She will be the newest hero to join the game mode, featuring the Azshara’s Ambition passive. When a player’s warband reaches 30 attack in total, Azshara begins her Naga Conquest, which lets her discover a Naga. 

A new keyword, Spellcraft, will also make an appearance in Hearthstone Battlegrounds. Minions with Spellcraft grant a temporary buff until the next turn. Some of these Spellcraft minions include Mini-Myrmidon, Shoal Commander, and Stormscale Siren.

There are several ways to synergize the Naga minions with the new Spellcraft keyword. For example, minions with Spellcraft generate a Spellcraft spell every turn, and Spellcraft effects last until the next Recruit phase. These particular spells also leave a player’s hand at the end of their turn, meaning a player will lose them if they’re not used up. 

If a player’s hand is full, then Spellcraft spells will not be destroyed or delayed a turn. Instead, they will wait until there’s room in the player’s hand. As for Golden Golden Spellcraft minions, they will create Golden versions of the Spellcraft spells plus double the effect. 

“Some Naga care about when you play spells. That includes Spellcraft spells as well as things like Coins, Blood Gems, and triple rewards,” Blizzard Entertainment added in an announcement. 

The announcement also noted the removal of five minions from Hearthstone Battlegrounds. They will be replaced with 16 Naga minions, five other new minions, plus two returning ones. 

More Naga minions will be revealed in the next few days as well, and content creators such as Kripparrian, Educated Collins, CarryPotter, Kid Invincible, and NinaisNoob will take part in these reveals. 

Below is the reveal schedule:

The first one of those is already out. Kripparrian revealed the Glowscale card and had a chat with Dom, the Game Designer for Hearthstone Battlegrounds. Dom also confirmed that Battlegrounds Buddies will be rotating from the game mode when the Naga minions make their entrance.

With the 23.2 patch arriving on May 10, Battlegrounds ratings will reset once again. This will coincide with the Battlegrounds Lobby Legends' competitive system thriving. Players will have from May 10 to May 31 to build up their MMR after the Battlegrounds reset.

It is worth mentioning that while the MMR you see will get reset, there's also a hidden rating that determines your Battlegrounds ranking, and that will not be fully reset. A benchmark to pair players from similar power levels is intended to help with matchmaking.

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