Three new hereos — Diablo, Sneed, and Cookie the Cook — were added to Hearthstone Battlegrounds with 21.6 Patch. Let's see how they are doing in Battlegrounds.

Diablo

Diablo is a collaboration hero that is available for only a limited time. His hero power text is not intuitive because it is an ability that never existed in Hearthstone before.

Every four turns, EVERY player faces Diablo. Only one faces the real Diablo, and everyone else faces a copy of Diablo (with "666" health to tell that it's a fake one).

During the fight, a deathrattle minion summons in on the board. On turn 4, it is a 5/5 minion: every four turns, the stats of this minion double. For example, the screenshot above is a turn 8 Diablo with a 10/10 token minion. If you kill this minion, you get one of the Diablo spells. If not, Diablo receives two copies of the Diablo spells.

There are many different Diablo spells, but all of those are temporary buffs. Non-permanent buffs are not strong enough to make up for the lack of hero power in the early game. Also, there aren't any specific synergies that could potentially help Diablo to highroll.

Diablo currently sits at tier 3 in the top 5% MMR range (7,600+). As it is a time-limited hero, Diablo will probably be seen often in lobbies. Playing Diablo to destroy all seven other players in the same turn is definitely a fun experience, but Diablo usually gets defeated by the heroes.

Diablo is a fine pick for fun but don't expect it to win you the lobby most of the time.

Sneed

Sneed is a great new hero. Its hero power is a permanent minion buff that lets you build a sticky board. Sneed's Replicator is already a decent hero power on its own without any synergies. However, it gets absurd with new Avenge minions.

Usually, hero power that buffs the board, especially with a gold spent, is not too strong. For example, Lich King, Alakir, Ragnaros, Rakanishu, and Wagtoggle are ok heroes but not the best.

Sneed's story is different because the Avenge keyword turns it to game-changing powers like buffing every elemental in the shop, adding extra minions to your hand, or turning one of your pirate minions into a gold one.

Sneed currently sits at the top part of tier 2 (9th overall) in the top 5% MMR range (7,600+). Sneed is great at going for a top 4 finish for MMR gain in any lobby. Going for the first place could depend on the bans because a few type-specific Avenge minions like Dazzling Lightspawn and Tony Two-Tusk are the keys.

Check out our detailed guide on Sneed!

Cookie the Cook

Cookie the Cook's hero power is nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. It is basically like Galewing because you get to discover a minion for free (if you use the hero power on a minion in the shop) every three turns.

What makes Cookie better than Galewing is that Cookie discovers a minion faster than Galewing. Cookie discovers the first minion on turn 3, whereas Galewing discovers one on turn 4. 

Cookie is not strictly better than Galewing because 1) Cookie does not guarantee you to discover a minion of your tavern tier and 2) In a few very unfortunate cases, Bob may not offer you any minion with a minion type. 

For example, in the screenshot above, Cookie is on his turn 3. Cookie wants to sell his minion, tavern tier up to 3, then discover a minion. Unfortunately, all four minions in the shop are typeless and thus can't discover any minion.

Regardless, Cookie the Cook is still a tier 1 hero (3rd overall) in the top 5% MMR range (7,600+). One turn difference is significant enough to risk the lowroll scenarios we've explained above. Cookie has a great curve flexibility depending on the bans and what Bob offers you in the shop.