On Aug. 31, the biggest Hearthstone Battlegrounds update, the Battlegrounds Refresh, was released. It added a new Battlegrounds-specific keyword, Avenge, 37 new minions, and two new heroes. Check out how the meta evolved around the latest update.

Impatient Doomsayer: Avenge of the Demons

The most wanted card in the current meta is Impatient Doomsayer. Do you remember when Gentle Djinni was a Tier 5 minion? A Tier 5 minion that adds one random Elemental to your hand was broken enough to warp the meta around Elementals completely. Now, a Tier 3 minion can add one, or even many, random Demons to your hand.

This minion may not seem as broken at first sight because Demons are usually only playable when you can buy a Wrath Weaver on Turn 1. The issue with this card is that the Avenge keyword is triggered on any type of minions. If you can find this minion, you can start copy golds with free Demons.

Even if you don't have a Wrath Weaver or even any Demons, Bigfernal and Insatiable Ur'zul will let you build a strong board at any moment. Token-summoning and/or Taunt minions are available everywhere in any minion type. If you are not sure about the new Battlegrounds meta yet, remember to buy Impatient Doomsayer whenever Bob offers it to you.

Now, it is difficult for any other comps to catch up to Demon's economy and scaling. Elementals comp with an insane tempo might beat Demons, but it needs incredible highrolls like double Nomi before Turn 7. Poisonous minions can counter demons but playing Poisonous minions on board is more difficult with Toxfin rotated out. However, there is one secret strategy that can compete against Demons.

Bugged Dragons with Whelp Smuggler

Whelp Smuggler is a card that can bug the Dragons. This minion does not look outstanding on paper, and it should not be. However, there is a problem.

As of now, there is an unintended interaction (bug) that makes Whelp Smuggler give more health to Dragons than it should. Whelp Smuggler re-buffs the amount of health it buffed in the previous turns.

You will often see Dragon comps that have more than 100-200 health due to this interaction. Removal of Toxfin makes this comp more unbeatable like the Demons. When you can find Whelp Smuggler with scaling Dragons, it could easily outscale Demons. However, finding a full Bugged-Dragon comp is not as easy as Demons because it also needs good Scaling Dragons like Razororgore and Kalecgos.

The real villain behind Whelp Smuggler is C'Thun. C'Thun's Hero Power gives a +1/+1, then repeats it X times. This means that Whelp Smuggler triggers every time it shoots a +1/+1 buff. C'Thun's buff gets exponentially better every turn, overwhelmingly outscaling any other Heroes (if C'Thun finds Whelp Smuggler).

C'Thun can easily abuse this unintended interaction, unlike other Heroes that require Whelp Smuggler and more Scaling minions. C'Thun will guarantee you a top finish unless you pick C'Thun with Dragon banned or unfortunately not find any Whelp Smugglers.

The screenshot above summarizes the current meta of Battlegrounds. To win the lobby, you will have to find Impatient Doomsayers or abuse Whelp Smuggler. Remember that Demons are powerful with Impatient Doomsayers, even if you don't have any Wrath Weavers or Demons minions!

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