Four new heroes, 16 minions added to Hearthstone Battlegrounds for Masquerade Ball event

▲ It's time to party in Hearthstone. *Images via: Blizzard Entertainment*

Dust off your dancing shoes, pick up your finest suit from the dry cleaners and make sure your hair is looking fresh as a glorious affair has arrived in the world of Hearthstone. On Monday afternoon, Blizzard Entertainment revealed the newest in-game event for their collectible card game titled the Scholomance Academy Masquerade Ball. Taking place between today and October 21, players from around the world will get to experience never-before-seen content across each of the game's playable modes.

For fans of the auto chess game mode, Battlegrounds, Elementals are joining the pool of playable archetypes as four new heroes, and more than a dozen cards are being added. Owners of the Tavern Pass can begin using the following content right away while others will have to wait until October 13.

The playable party participants

▲ Al'Akir the Windlord is unleashing the power of the winds on one particular minion each combat.

▲ If you like playing Elementals then Chenvaala is the hero choice for you.

▲ Once Ragnaros swats enough insects, his hero power transforms into Sulfuras.

▲ Rakanishu's hero power scales over the course of the game.

The spicy sixteen

As if adding a new archetype to the pool wasn't enough, the game's development team released details of how the first rating reset in the game mode's history would take place:

"External Battlegrounds ratings will be reset for all players and a new progression system will be
introduced. The new system is similar to the progression system players are familiar with from our
constructed Ranked mode.

Players will see their rating reset to 0, and all new players will start with 0 rating. With every Top 4
placement, players will gain rating—up to 300 per win. A player's rating will never go below 0, and they cannot lose rating until they’ve climbed above 2000.

Here are the nuts and bolts of how the new system works:
- Between 2000 and 6000 rating, every 500 rating (2500, 3000, etc.) will act as a new rating floor
where you cannot lose rating.
- Below 6500 rating, players will earn a small bonus to their rating gains at the end of each match,
which will in turn make for a faster climb.

Matchmaking will now be done based on the player's invisible internal rating, which we’ve been tracking since Battlegrounds launched. Internal ratings for players will not be reset and will not be affected by the above modifications to external ratings. When your external rating is lower than your internal rating, you will gain rating faster."