In this guide, we will go over all the Dragon minions and explain in a bit how they work with each other, focusing on synergies and an overview of each minion. You can find the full builds in our lengthy Hearthstone Battlegrounds strategy guide, we will be focusing only on individual dragons here
There are usually two main mechanics regarding dragons in season 9, End-of-turn and Battlecry build. Just note that almost every Dragon falls into one of these categories of builds. That said, let’s dive into dragon minions and how they make the whole dragon composition work together.
Tier 1 Dragon Minions
Dozy Whelp
Dozy Whelp is a pretty nice dragon because it can scale into mid-game and still be relevant with the +1 Attack permanently. Moreover, it has Taunt, and having a taunt minion is generally helpful in some situations.
Misfit Dragonling
The main benefit of this dragon is that he is decent in the mid-game. Getting stats from your Tavern tier is good and if you are, for example, Tier 4 and have Persistent Poet next to him, he will gain +4/+4 each turn. Overall, a somewhat weak early pick that turns decent after you level up your Tavern.
Tier 2 Dragon Minions
Blazing Skyfin
Blazing Skyfin is now a decent early-game minion with the patch buff to 2/4 stats, especially if you get a few good early-game Battlecry minions. Furthermore, if you end up playing a Murloc build, the ability will prove to be very useful once you start cycling Murlocs. The same goes for Battlecry Dragons in the mid-late game.
Electric Synthesizer
Electric Synthesizer is pretty good for tempo. If you have other dragons, the stats you gain are really worth it in the early to mid-game. Moreover, he can work nicely with Brann later on, but it is generally used for early game Tempo.
Tier 3 Dragon Minions
Reverber Drake
Reverber Drake is a weird one because it casts Echoing Roar on a friendly dragon, which is nice if you have Efficient Engineer with him and are playing end-of-turn Dragons. Keep in mind that casting this on Hunter of Gatherers is also beneficial because it triggers his effect.
Smoldering Gardener
Nothing too special to say about Smouldering Gardener. He basically gives you Smolderwing for 2 gold, which is kind of nice. He works well with Brann and Hunter of Gatherers and should be generally avoided if you’re not playing Battlecry Dragons.
Tarecgosa
Tarecgosa is in a weird place right now. A while back, it was the bread and butter of Dragons, but with the Persistent Poet, the special effect of Tarecgosa is a bit diminished. Moreover, since Amber Guardian is a Tier 5 minion now, picking Tarecgosa early on is rarely a good choice. Nevertheless, it is a good minion if you have Amber Guardian, and other “combat stat-gaining” dragons.
Tier 4 Dragon Minions
Efficient Engineer
Efficient Engineer is one of the essential dragons in the end-of-turn dragon build, because he works with Razorgore, Outback Smolderer, and of course, Echoing Roar spell which can be cast either “standalone” or with Reverber Drake.
Razorgore, the Untamed
Razorgore is pretty simple in terms of understanding how he works, but the main issue is whether or not you should go for him at the mid-stages of the game. Since he has low stats, to begin with, you really have to have almost all dragons on your board to actually feel the benefits of him. Nevertheless, he is pretty good and can carry you through the mid-game if you get him early on.
Outback Smolderer
Outback Smolderer is a very good dragon in general because dragons really lack resources and extra minions. Having one Smolderwing each turn is pretty good especially if you can trigger the end-of-turn effect multiple times.
Hunter of Gatherers
This is probably the bread and butter of every dragon build since getting that juicy health is extremely powerful. If you’re playing either Battlecry build or the “end-of-turn” build, you will have Smolderwings and other stat-gaining effects, which are generally best used on Hunter of Gatherers since all your other minions get the extra HP.
Persistent Poet
The bread and butter of the “combat stat-gaining” dragon strat. This is the key minion that will actually scale your dragons. As we already mentioned, getting Nightbane, Amber Guardian, and Prized Promo-Drake can be a very powerful mid-game build. One overlooked dragon is Hoarding Hatespawn, which saves its 10/10 stats after combat with Persistent Poet. We will explain how some other Dragons interact with Persistent Poet below.
Tier 5 Dragon Minions
Nether Drake
Nether Drake is probably one of the best dragons for scaling in this meta, since every time his end of effect triggers, it actually upgrades itself. That means that if you can get this effect to trigger 3 times, you will, in short, get exponentially more and more attack on every Dragon on your board. Combining this with Hunter of Gatherers a very good combo to get both Attack and Health.
Nightbane, Ignited
Nightbane, Ignited is generally considered not so optimal in the current meta because he doesn’t really make sense in a full dragon build. He can be extremely powerful if you get a persistent poet and for example, a Warpwing which benefits largely from Attack damage, but generally speaking he doesn’t blend in exceptionally well with all of the other dragons. Sure he is Good to scale, but you will find that more often than not, your board will be very “crowdy” if you’re playing, for example, Battlecry Dragons.
General Drakkisath
General Drakkisath is essential to the Battlecry build and goes well with Brann, and Draconic Deathscale. Moreover, it’s a money-printing machine and will give a lot of stats once you acquire Kalecgos. It’s usually optimal to get a Triple from this Battlecry in order to find a good Tier 6 minion. Don’t forget that Young Murk-Eye also works extremely well with General Drakkisath.
Prized Promo-Drake
In order to get the full potential out of Prized Promo-Drake, you really do have to have a decent Dragon comp already in place. Obviously, he works the best with multiple Persistent Poets and Tarecgosas because you really want the stat gain to be permanent, otherwise, there is not much of a point in picking him up.
Tier 6 Dragon Minions
Warpwing
Warpwing is just a straight-up good minion. The idea of this Dragon is to buff it as much as possible. It doesn’t provide you with any resources or a good Tempo, but if you already have your stat-gaining minion on the board (Brann, Kalecgos, Hunters of Gatherers, etc) you should be looking to fill your board up with 1-2 Warpwings and scale them. The special “invulnerable while attacking” ability can be extremely annoying to deal with, especially if you Taunt everything except your Warpwings.
Kalecgos, Arcane Aspect
Finally, we have the old-school Kalecgos, Arcane Aspect. This Dragon is the main stat scaling minion for the Battlecry build and he works very well with Brann + Draconic Deathscale + General Drakkisath + other Dragons board. You will be able to have stats/minions/resources from your Battlecry’s as well as additional stats (from Kalecgos) from triggering them. This is the essence of Dragon Battlecry comp.
Tier 7 Dragon Minions
Obsidian Ravager
While it is rare to see this Dragon (only through Thorim, Stormlord’s ability), we have to mention him as he is a part of the Dragon tribe. The unique ability is one of the strongest mechanics in the game, which basically allows Obsidian Ravager to deal damage to 2 units before he takes any damage himself. This can be extremely powerful if your Ravager is high-stat and can destroy minions before they can deal damage to them (by having more Attack than the enemy’s Defense). Putting a Divine Shield on him will make it even more powerful, it’s just a shame we don’t see him more.
Photo Credits: Blizzard Entertainment
