Hearthstone Battlegrounds: Blizzard Enters Auto Chess Arena

While everyone knew Hearthstone would get a new expansion, no one expected we’d get a brand new game mode.

“Auto Chess” (autobattler) is a fairly new genre of game that has been around for almost a year and started with a Dota 2 mod. It became extremely popular this past spring. The creator of the mod quickly created a standalone version, and Valve quickly released Underlords. However, the one making the storm is Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics. And now, Blizzard has announced that it will be joining the Auto Chess genre to replicate Riot’s success (interestingly, Riot did the same thing when it announced the launch of the card game Legends of Runeterra to replicate the success of Hearthstone. ).

Here is the trailer for the game:

General information

• Early Access: November 5 (for BlizzCon Tickets and Descent of Dragons pre-orders)
• Open beta: November 12
• Number of players: 8 people per game
• The game will be playable in Hearthstone’s new mode section.
• The game requires a Hearthstone account, which is generally free. However, Hearthstone players will have an extra bonus – when you open the latest packs, you’ll gain access to more stats, be able to use more Heroes, and get unique Emotes!

Gameplay Information

• 24 Heroes with different Hero Powers will change the way you play. The game also adds dozens of minions to collect – most Hearthstone gamers know, but the game will have a few strange pieces. The full minion list is here.
• Instead of building decks, you’ll collect minions in Bob’s Tavern – at the beginning of each game, between rounds of combat. The longer the game lasts, the more Coins you will receive to recruit stronger minions, and other things like upgrading/adjusting the board.
• Collecting 3 minions of the same type will upgrade to a more powerful minion (without spending additional slots on the table).
• Between rounds, you can also place the minions you have on the table and change their positions.
• In round combat, minions will attack the opponent’s squad. The first minion on the left will randomly attack the enemy minion – unless the minion is Taunt – always attack first! Then your opponent’s leftmost minion will randomly attack yours and so on. Keywords also apply – for example, the Poisonous minion will destroy anything in one hit, while the Divine Shield minion will block the first damage taken.
• This mode also has a ranking system. You gain or lose points depending on your ability to play. In general, being in the top 4 at the end of the game will increase your rank, while being in 5-8 will lose points (as long as you are up against an opponent of the same rank).

Screenshots