Hearthstone Battlegrounds: Top 10 Heroes Patch 36.0 (2026)

Patch 36.0 for Hearthstone Battlegrounds, rolled out in early July 2026, has significantly reshuffled the meta. Between the rotation of active minion types (Beasts, Demons, Dragons, Mechs, Naga, Elementals, Pirates, and Undead), the adjustment of hero powers, and the arrival of new Epic minions, some heroes have shot to the top of the hsreplay.net stats while others have sunk. Here's our detailed tier list of the top 10 heroes right now, with difficulty, preferred comps, key tavern tier power spikes, minions to camp for, and pitfalls to avoid for each.

How to read this tier list

We're relying on consolidated data from hsreplay.net (winrate at MMR 6000+, week of July 8-15, 2026), analysis from the French-speaking community via Judgehype Battlegrounds, and the official patch notes at hearthstone.blizzard.com/fr-fr. Difficulty is rated out of 5: 1 = autopilot, 5 = expertise required.

• Power spike: the tavern tier at which the hero really takes off.
• Minions to camp for: targets to watch during the recruit phase.
• Pitfalls: classic mistakes that turn a top-1 game into a top-6.

S-Tier: the three masters of the patch

1. Reno Jackson — the king of singletons

Difficulty: 3/5. Reno remains the superstar of patch 36.0. His Golden! power lets him gold a single minion once per game, unlocking absurd scaling.

• Preferred comps: Menagerie Lich Baron, Undead with Titus Rivendare, Dragons Kalecgos.
• Power spike: tavern tier 5, once you can gold a legendary with a compounding effect.
• Minions to camp for: Lich Baron, King Bagurgle, Brann Bronzebeard.
• Classic pitfall: golding a plain Rockpool Hunter too early. Always wait for an exponential pivot.

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment. Titus Rivendare remains the best Reno payoff of the patch: gold him and you get three Deathrattle triggers.

2. Sire Denathrius — the scaling machine

Difficulty: 2/5. Denathrius benefits from the reduced cost of his passive power (5 coins instead of 6): he now stacks permanent +2/+2s like never before.

• Preferred comps: Beasts Ghastcoiler, Elementals Nomi, Kitchen Nightmare, Pirates with Captain Eudora.
• Power spike: tavern tier 4. Every free refresh turn feeds the scaling.
• Minions to camp for: any persistent minion you're going to hold on board for several turns.
• Classic pitfall: selling too often. Denathrius needs stability to stack.

3. Lady Vashj — queen of Naga

Difficulty: 4/5. Vashj gets a breather after a long slump. The return of Naga to the rotation gives her a native tribe again and a clear identity.

• Preferred comps: pure Naga, transitioning into Elementals in the late game.
• Power spike: tavern tier 3. The 1-coin hero power multiplies buffs on minions in hand.
• Minions to camp for: Bilefin Tidehunter, Oceanheart, Anima Anastrasza.
• Classic pitfall: aiming for a Divine Shield board without Sting. Vashj wants buffs in hand, not static stats.

A-Tier: the excellent choices

4. Bru'kan — patience rewarded

Difficulty: 3/5. Bru'kan is the sleeper pick of the patch. The free double refresh every three turns has been buffed slightly (turns now count even at tavern tier 1).

• Preferred comps: Mechs Divine Shield/Deathrattle, Menagerie Brann.
• Power spike: tavern tier 5, when your free refreshes land on legendaries.
• Minions to camp for: Kangor's Endless Army, Annihilan Battlemaster, Captain Eudora.
• Classic pitfall: over-tripling early. Bru'kan scales more slowly and needs to smooth out his health.

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment. Annihilan Battlemaster remains the centerpiece of a Mechs comp: paired with an attack buff, it wipes out half the opponent's board.

5. Illidan Stormrage — the early aggressor

Difficulty: 3/5. Illidan blows up the 1-4-4-4 phase. His Twinblade Dance hero power attacks with both of your side minions at the start of combat, which literally breaks the opponent's early game.

• Preferred comps: scaling Demons (Wrath Weaver, Cackling Fiend), Divine Shield Beasts.
• Power spike: tavern tier 2. You need to rush to be first at tier 3.
• Minions to camp for: high-attack, low-health minions protected by Divine Shield.
• Classic pitfall: staying in tempo mode too long. Illidan needs to start saving from turn 5 on to avoid falling behind in scaling.

6. Prince Malchezaar — the power of triples

Difficulty: 2/5. Malchezaar turns every minion you buy into an Epic with a passive power: your triples cascade one after another.

• Preferred comps: Demons with Blood Baron, Menagerie, Gold transition.
• Power spike: tavern tier 4. Your discovery rewards become tier+1 cards.
• Minions to camp for: Baker, Lich Baron, Champion of Kaboom.
• Classic pitfall: forgetting to triple manually. Malchezaar wants a loop of minion discoveries.

B-Tier: viable bets

7. Cariel Roame — the queen of keywords

Difficulty: 4/5. Quilboars are out of rotation this patch, but Cariel has been adjusted to buff any minion with a keyword (Divine Shield, Taunt, Poisonous).

• Preferred comps: Divine Shield Beasts, Menagerie Brann, Poisonous Mechs.
• Power spike: tavern tier 4. The permanent +1/+2 buff becomes exponential once Divine Shields are in place.
• Minions to camp for: Cackling Fiend, Oceanheart, Lich Baron.
• Classic pitfall: buffing a minion you're going to sell. Every hero power activation needs to land on a permanent unit.

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment. Silver Sellsword remains one of the most effective Divine Shield payoffs (its stats grow by one point for every friendly Divine Shield) for both Cariel and Illidan.

8. Millhouse Manastorm — the Mechs specialist

Difficulty: 2/5. Millhouse returns to the top 10 thanks to Mechs coming back into rotation. His Trade Homunculus power gives +1/+1 to all your Mechs in hand: essentially a free boost with every purchase.

• Preferred comps: Divine Shield Mechs, Deathrattle Mechs, Gold transition.
• Power spike: tavern tier 3. The stacked buffs in hand create an explosive board as early as turn 6.
• Minions to camp for: Kangor's Endless Army, Annihilan Battlemaster, Annihilan Battlemaster.
• Classic pitfall: holding minions in hand too long. You end up overpaying for every slot.

9. Sneed — the late-game thief

Difficulty: 4/5. Sneed is a gamble: up to tavern tier 4, his health takes a hit. But once he triggers Sneed's Special Delivery, he gets free legendary minions straight onto his board.

• Preferred comps: strong Menagerie, Dragons Kalecgos, late-game Beasts.
• Power spike: tavern tier 6. That's when Sneed steals the best legendaries from the opponent's board.
• Minions to camp for: any top-tier legendary: Brann Bronzebeard, Bilefin Tidehunter, Kalecgos.
• Classic pitfall: chasing an early first place. Sneed has to accept mediocre mid-game results in order to explode late.

10. A. F. Kay — the delayed upgrade

Difficulty: 1/5. A. F. Kay has been buffed: she now skips two turns but gets a free tavern tier 3 upon returning. A real low-skill lever.

• Preferred comps: any scaling comp — Beasts, Demons, Elementals.
• Power spike: tavern tier 3, as soon as she returns.
• Minions to camp for: whatever's offered by the passive power. Always take the best of the three for your target comp.
• Classic pitfall: thinking you're safe. A. F. Kay starts with a huge gold deficit by turn 4.

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment. Kalecgos, Arcane Aspect powers half the Dragon comps of patch 36.0, no matter which hero you play.

The strongest comps of patch 36.0

• Divine Shield Beasts with Ghastcoiler and Lich Baron.
• Scaling Demons around Blood Baron.
• Naga hand buffs, carried by Lady Vashj or Anastrasza.
• Divine Shield/Deathrattle Mechs with Annihilan Battlemaster.
• Anima Dragons with Kalecgos and Brann.
• Scaling Undead with Titus Rivendare.

Minions to camp for, universally

Whatever your comp, these minions are worth a refresh:

• Brann Bronzebeard (tavern tier 5) — doubles all your Battlecries.
• Lich Baron (tavern tier 5) — doubles all Deathrattles.
• Captain Eudora (tavern tier 4) — a free golden minion every 4 turns.
• Titus Rivendare (tavern tier 6) — triples Deathrattles.
• Kalecgos, Arcane Dragon (tavern tier 6) — gives +2/+2 to a Dragon with every purchase.

General pitfalls of patch 36.0

A few recurring mistakes seen among players ranked 5000-6500 MMR:

• Staying at tavern tier 4 too long. This patch's economy curve rewards aggressive upgrades to tier 5 as early as turn 8.
• Force-fitting a tribe. If Beasts aren't showing up on refresh, pivot to a Menagerie instead of stubbornly sticking to it.
• Neglecting health. The patch has increased damage from Divine Shield/Poisonous combos: an out-of-reach top 4 can quickly turn into a top 7.
• Underusing the tavern freeze. Freezing a potential triple is better than a desperate refresh.

Verdict

Patch 36.0 is a fine-tuning patch that brings heroes with clear curves back to the forefront: Reno, Denathrius, Vashj, and Millhouse dominate the stats, while Illidan and Bru'kan remain solid choices for players comfortable with more technical identities. The hsreplay.net data is being refined every week — keep an eye on the next official patch notes expected at the end of July, which should rebalance the standing of Naga and Undead for the end of the season. Good luck piloting the Battlegrounds, and above all: track your games. Analyzing a top 8 will always teach you more than ten top 4s scraped by on autopilot.