Deceptively simple in design but epically engaging, Hearthstone will be instantly accessible to players regardless of their familiarity with Warcraft or collectible card games. Whether players prefer to wield magic or arms in battle, strike from the shadows or head on—or have never given any of that much thought—they’ll be able to jump right in, create a deck, and get in on the card-slinging action.

In addition to honing their skills in practice matches against the computer and taking on their buddies via their Battle.net friends list, players can challenge each other in two competitive game modes. “Play Mode” features traditional head-to-head battles, with players facing off for a chance to increase their medal ranking and earn card packs along the way. And for a different type of challenge, players can enter “The Forge,” where they start each match by building a deck from a new set of cards, and then use that deck to duel other Forge participants. Aside from winning new cards, players will be able to round out their collections by purchasing new card packs or disenchanting some of their existing cards to craft the ones they’re missing.

With hundreds of cards to choose from, featuring a wide range of colorful Warcraft spells, weapons, and characters, players will have limitless possibilities for developing and fine-tuning their deck-building strategies.

Battlegrounds is a game mode where eight players face off in 1v1 rounds, with the goal to be the last player standing. Each round consists of two phases. The Recruit Phase lets players purchase and sell minions, upgrade the tavern, use their hero power, and rearrange their minions' attack order. Combat Phase has minions automatically attacking the opponents' until one player (or both) has no minions remaining, at which point the victor attacks the loser.

A NEW CHAPTER OF BATTLEGROUNDS! In Season 7, Traditional Battlegrounds gets an enchanting update, including a magical new Mode, Battlegrounds Duos! On April 16, jump into the fray with new fairy-tale themed cards and rewards. 

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

• Grab a friend or make a new one! You and a partner queue together in a game against three other teams of two players. Teams have shared life totals, pass each other cards through the Portal (for 1 Gold), and fight in tag-team combat to take the crown! 
• Swapping between solo Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos is found on the main Battlegrounds menu. From the Duos menu, you can invite a friend to play as your teammate, or you queue on your own to get paired with a random player.  
• With Season 7, Battlegrounds Ratings will reset and Battlegrounds Quests will rotate out of the Tavern. Tavern Spells will stay in the Tavern for both traditional Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos going forward. There will be separate ratings for solo Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos, and separate leaderboards.

MINION AND MECHANICS UPDATE

• New Heros and Minions: With the launch of Duos comes new Duos-specific Heroes and cards that take advantage of the mode’s new gameplay: 4 heroes, 16 minions, and 3 tavern spells. These will only be available in Battlegrounds Duos, not the regular Battlegrounds mode.
• Once Upon a Tavern: Season 7 includes a massive minion update for both Duos and solo Battlegrounds, including 50 new minions, over a dozen returning minions, and a couple new Tavern Spells. There are also big changes including a rework to Beasts, refreshes to Dragons and Mechs, and balance adjustments to tons of minions and heroes.

BATTLEGROUNDS REWARDS TRACK REFRESH

• The Season 7 Battlegrounds Tracks keep things fresh with storied fairy tale themed cosmetics. Progress through the Season Pass track to earn the Endless Fables Legendary Strike, 18 additional Hero Skins, a new Bartender, and more!

Battlegrounds Season 7

Once Upon a Tavern, there was a new Battlegrounds season, filled with updates for Traditional Battlegrounds and a magical new Mode, Battlegrounds Duos! Jump into the fray with new fairy-tale themed cards and rewards. Whether you’re playing on your own or with a partner, a new chapter in Battlegrounds unfolds on April 16! 

With Season 7, Battlegrounds Ratings will reset and Battlegrounds Quests will rotate out of the Tavern. Tavern Spells will stay in the Tavern for both traditional Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos as a regular part of Battlegrounds going forward. 

Play Battlegrounds Duos 

Grab a friend or make a new one, Battlegrounds Duos is nearly here! We’ve been hard at work on Duos since we first shared it with you all at BlizzCon, balancing and polishing the mode. 

The basics of Duos are the same as when we first announced it. You and a partner queue together in a game against three other teams of two players. Teams have shared life totals, pass each other cards through the Portal (for 1 Gold), and fight in tag-team combat to take the crown!  

You can swap between solo Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos on the main Battlegrounds menu. From the Duos menu, you can invite a friend to play as your teammate, or you can queue on your own to get paired with a random player and make a new friend! There will be separate ratings for solo Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Duos, and separate leaderboards.  

New Duos Heroes and Minions 

With the launch of Duos, we’ve added some Duos-specific Heroes and cards that take advantage of the mode’s new gameplay: 4 heroes, 16 minions, and 3 tavern spells. These will only be available in Battlegrounds Duos, not the regular Battlegrounds mode. Some of these will look familiar to people who played Duos at BlizzCon, maybe with a few updates, and some of these are brand new! 

Huge Updates Across Solo and Duos 

Battlegrounds Duos isn’t the only story to tell Once Upon a Tavern. Season 7 includes a massive minion update for both Duos and solo Battlegrounds, including 50 new minions, over a dozen returning minions, and a couple new Tavern Spells. There are changes across the whole game, including a rework to Beasts, big refreshes to Dragons and Mechs, and balance changes to tons of minions and heroes! All these updates apply to all Battlegrounds games, traditional and Duos. 

Exciting Reveal Schedule 

This is just the prologue to this season’s story! Gather around for exciting reveals leading up to launch: 

April 4, 10:00 a.m. PDT – Duos-Specific Minion Reveals* 

April 5, 10:00 a.m. PDT – New Minion Reveals* 

April 9, 10:00 a.m. PDT – Returning Minion Reveals*  

April 11, 10:00 a.m. PDT – 29.2 Patch Notes 

April 15, 9:00 a.m. PDT – Grab a Friend Event 

April 16 – 29.2 Patch Live 

*Look for #HearthstoneDuos on social media at these scheduled reveal times—your favorite creators will have lots more to share on these topics! 

Grab a Friend Livestream Preview Event 

On April 15, the day before Patch 29.2 launches, watch several of your favorite content creators try out Battlegrounds Duos live! But they can’t do it on their own—each invited player has also been allowed to invite their Duos partner of choice. Participating players will be streaming on their own channels, so make sure you have notifications turned on. Time slots by region are: 

APAC region – April 15, 2:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. (PDT) 

NA, LATAM, and EMEA regions – April 15, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (PDT) 

Battlegrounds Track Refresh 

On April 16, Battlegrounds Season 6 will end and Season 7 will begin! At that point, players will switch over to begin earning awards on the new Battlegrounds Season 7 Rewards Track. Any rewards that were already earned in the Season 6 Rewards Track, but not yet claimed, will be automatically claimed for you. 

The Season 7 Battlegrounds Track includes storied fairy tale themed cosmetics. Pick up the Season Pass to instantly unlock +2 Hero options at the start of each game. Then progress through the track to earn the Endless Fables Legendary Strike, 18 additional Hero Skins, a new Bartender, and more!  

Level	XP To Level	Cumulative XP	Free Reward	With Season Pass
1	0	0		2 Hero Slots
2	20	20		Yelling A.F. Kay (Rare Emote)
3	20	40	Grumpy Cho'Gall (Rare Emote)
4	20	60		Axeman Thorim (Rare Hero Skin)
5	30	90		Hatter Putricide (Epic Emote)
6	30	120		Hatter Putricide (Epic Hero Skin)
7	30	150	Corrupter Cho (Rare Hero Skin)
8	30	180		Endless Fables (Rare Strike)
9	40	220		Sleeping Ysera (Rare Emote)
10	40	260		Sleeping Ysera (Rare Hero Skin)
11	40	300	Happy Cho'Gall (Rare Emote)
12	50	350		Jailer Deathwing (Rare Hero Skin)
13	50	400		Malevolent Baz'hial (Rare Emote)
14	50	450		Malevolent Baz'hial (Legendary Hero Skin)
15	50	500	Corrupter Gall (Rare Hero Skin)
16	60	560		Oni Jaraxxus (Epic Hero Skin)
17	60	620		Redcap Silas (Rare Hero Skin)
18	60	680		Malevolent Jailer (Legendary Hero Skin)
19	60	740	Tavish Drizzle Pike (Rare Emote)
20	60	800		Sylvanas Breezerunner (Rare Hero Skin)
21	60	860		Beast Tess (Epic Hero Skin)
22	60	920		Narrator Hartley (Epic Bartender)
23	60	980	Tome of Tales (Rare Strike)
24	60	1040		Piper King (Epic Hero Skin)
25	60	1100		Humpty Patchwerk (Rare Emote)
26	60	1160		Humpty Patchwerk (Epic Hero Skin)
27	60	1220	Tavish Drizzle Pike (Epic Hero Skin)
28	60	1280		Endless Fables (Epic Strike)
29	60	1340		Vanndar Cavedweller (Epic Hero Skin)
30	60	1400		Benevolent Cariel (Legendary Hero Skin)
31	60	1460	Benevolent Faelin (Epic Emote)
32	60	1520		Fairytown Greybough (Epic Hero Skin)
33	60	1580		Tengu Taron (Epic Hero Skin)
34	60	1640		Tin-o Mechano (Rare Emote)
35	60	1700	Tome of Tales (Epic Strike)
36	60	1760		Tin-o Mechano (Legendary Hero Skin)
37	60	1820		Repunzel Xyrella (Epic Emote)
38	60	1880		Repunzel Xyrella (Epic Hero Skin)
39	60	1940	Benevolent Faelin (Legendary Hero Skin)
40	60	2000		Endless Fables (Legendary Strike)

Hearthstone is available for Android, iOS and PC.