With the new Battlegrounds Revamp update, two new hereos, Cariel Roame and Master Nguyen, were added to the game. Let's check out how they are doing in Hearthstone Battlegrounds.

Cariel Roame

To get straight to the point, Cariel Roame is an underwhelming hero with poor hero power and no unique gameplay.

As a comparison, when Guff Runetotem was first introduced to the Battlegrounds, its hero power was "Give a friendly minion of each Tavern Tier +2/+1." At the time, Guff Runetotem was one of the best heroes available. However, with its hero power nerfed to +1/+1, Guff Runetotem is at the bottom of Tier 4. Hero powers that cost an extra gold to buff the board should have an outstanding amount of stats buff to justify wasting gold every turn.

Cariel Roame's hero power is not much different from the nerfed Guff Runetotem. Currently, looking at the top 5% MMR range (6,400+), Cariel Roam sits at tier 4. If you were to pick her, the best Tavern Up curve would be to follow the regular curve and press the hero power whenever you have a spare gold left.

The worse part is that her hero power is boring. A few other heroes with lower average placement like Chenvalla and Paths the Pirate are more popular because of their highroll potential. There isn't anything special Cariel Roame can do. With an underwhelming power and dull gameplay, there is no merit to pick her.

Cariel Roame is currently offered more often to players with Battlegrounds Perk and players tend to flock to newly released heroes rather than pick old ones. With that in mind, the current 10.6% pick rate will only go down once other new heroes are updated.

Master Nguyen

Here comes the real hero of this patch. Master Nguyen is diametrically opposite to Cariel Roame: he is both fun and powerful. Master Nguyen offers a different style of gameplay every time and has the highest average placement.

Master Nguyen is currently the only tier 1 hero with an average placement under 4.00 in the top 5% MMR bracket with a 90%+ pick rate.

There are two reasons behind Master Nguyen's dominance. The first is that many heroes take advantage by playing their hero power only a few times (or even just once) per game. The most obvious example would be Reno Jackson who can only use his hero power once in a game, and that's all he has. Stealing Reno Jackson's hero power is Master Nguyen's dream.

Other heroes, like Yogg-Saron and Lich Baz'hial, fall into a similar category. Although their hero power can be played several times, they are best used in the early turns around 1-3. Tess Greymane takes advantage at the end of the game when every player has bought core minions, which Tess Greymane can steal. While those heroes rely on one or two uses of the hero power, Master Nguyen can use these hero powers many times at different game phases.

The second reason is that not every hero power is in Master Nguyen's pool. A few heroes like C'Thun, Galewing, and Ragnaros take several turns to become powerful. These hero powers are removed from Master Nguyen's pool because they are unplayable when terminated after a turn.

The chart above shows the complete list of available hero powers for Master Nguyen. Removing certain hero powers from the pool increases Master Nguyen's hero power a lot more likely to roll into a powerful one, increasing the average power level.

Despite the power level and popularity, there isn't much to write as a "guide" because Master Nguyen's gameplay spans out different every lobby. Hero powers like Forest Warden Omu, Lich Baz'hial, and Millhouse Manastorm can completely change the curve. Some interesting interactions can come with heroes like Dancin' Deryl and Vol'jin.

A few quick tips include: Pick and play Reno Jackson whenever offered and always think about how each hero power can create unique interactions. There could be several outplays that you won't usually see in a regular game.

MORE HEARTHSTONE BATTLEGROUNDS GUIDE
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