In this article, we will go over all the Pirate minions in Hearthstone Battlegrounds and explain how they fit in making a good Pirate composition. For the full guide on the actual Battlegrounds gameplay, visit our Hearthstone Strategy Guide for in-depth information. We will be only focusing on Pirate individually to create a different approach to explaining things.
Sure, the final composition is useful to know, but each minion has its strengths at different stages in the game, and that’s why it’s important to go over them individually also. That said, let’s start our analysis of the Pirate tribe.
Tavern Tier 1
Scallywag
Scallywag is a decent starting minion, but you always need to be aware of what kind of tribes there are. For example, no level 1 elemental can beat him (3/3 or 1/4), but a Skeleton undead can, so just be aware of the tribes in the game and pick him accordingly. Later on, Scallywag can be used when playing Sky Pirates if you don’t have anything else to put since he will have that extra Deathrattle that you just might need to win the game.
Southsea Busker
Southsea Busker is a new minion that is a very niche one. There is no rule on when you can use him – if you can re-trigger his battlecry that would be great, but other than that, try to do the math and see if you will need that extra 1 gold next turn. He is best used on turn 1 if you are playing Battlegrounds Hero that has (2) Power with summon or take abilities (so that you can get two minions on turn two and upgrade and get a minion on turn 3).
Tavern Tier 2
Defiant Shipwright
Probably the best tier 2 minion in the current meta. This Pirate is amazing for early-game tempo. If you can get a few buffs on Attack, and there are a lot of ways to do that at the moment, he will scale really well. The most notable combo is with Peggy, with no other Pirate on the board. This can make Defiant Shipwright a mid-game carry and make your tempo really good.
Ripsnarl Captain
Ripsnarl Captian is a nice pickup if you have Scallywags, otherwise, you should be careful about going for a full Pirate tempo build early on. Scallywag is really the key here and you should probably skip Ripsnarl if you don’t have Scallywag. It’s not a bad Pirate, but there are a lot of alternatives for a tempo play. Better yet, the best alternative for tempo play is not to play pirates early on at all since you won’t be needing any of them later on.
Freedealing Gambler
There isn’t too much to say about the effect of this card, but it can make for some interesting plays/decision-making. For example, if you want to just “hold” your gold when you’re on tavern tier 2, you can just buy Freedealing Gambler and sell him when you get to a high tavern tier and see an appropriate minion. He also works well as a cycling minion for things like Peggy and Gunpowder Courier.
Tavern Tier 3
Plunder Pal
This Pirate is exclusive to Battlegrounds Duos (it’s a Duos-only minion), and while we are generally talking about regular battlegrounds here, Plunder Pal is a mansion and it’s a part of the Pirate family. he is very good at generating resources and should be picked up in most games, especially if you happen to get him early on.
Peggy Sturdybone
Peggy is also one of the core pirates, as she works very well when you are cycling minions with a lot of gold. One other thing to note is that she works extremely well if she and Defiant Shipwright are on the board (the Shipwright needs to be the only other pirate), because each time you trigger Peggy, she will give stats to Shipwright, and his affect will also trigger. This can make Shipwright very big and carry you through the mid-game.
Gritty Headhunter
Gritty Headhunter is a pretty good pirate that has a very good innate value. Basically, in the early stages of the game, it’s a must-pick because he has decent stats and you also get the spell that gets you a random pirate from the shop. In the later stages of the game, he’s very powerful with Bran because…well, you get the idea. You get a lot of free pirates from the Battlecray.
Grace Farsail
Grace Farsail is also a new pretty interesting Pirate. To cut it short, it’s a very good value to go for it early on and select the 4-gold option. In the later stages of the game, you can select the 2-gold option only if you are afraid that you’re going to lose the game in the next 2 turns.
Lovesick Balladist
This is one of the core Pirates that you will be cycling while you play around your endgame build. The point is to spend as much goal as possible and at the end of your turn buff up a Pirate. Brann obviously works with him very very well, and Pirates really lack health without this minion that’s why he’s considered a court part of the Pirate composition.
Tavern Tier 4
Doubloon Grifter
Doubloon Grifter is essentially the bread and butter of the pirate economy in this meta, and playing around him is key. The main issue you’re going to face with him is, if you don’t really get him early on, it’s tough to pick up the pace in the later stages of the game. Nevertheless, having two of these or this golden in the combination with some other pirate-generating minions, like Gritty Headhunter + Brann is a very good combination to get your economy up and running.
Blade Collector
Blade Collector is pretty self-explanatory, but you should really know when to go for this minion. There are a lot of cases where just buying it straight up is not ideal because you don’t have enough resources or build-up to make him. he requires a good stat boost because his natural stats are awful, and he goes very well with the endgame Pirate build.
Gunpowder Courier
Gunpowder Courier is an interesting Pirate that can be played as a tempo unit as well as an endgame solution to getting your attack up. It’s generally very good if you reach that point in the game when you start to cycle minions and you also have a few cleaves on your board. However, at that point, you will probably be running a stronger stat-boosting build so you don’t really need him later on. Keep in mind that in the current meta, he works extremely well with the tier 6 Spacefarer pirate because every time you up the attack of another pirate the Spacefarer gets +3 Health which is a very strong combo.
Skypirate Flagbarrer
This is the key minion for Sky Pirate build. You have the link there so I suggest you check it out if you don’t know how it works because there is a lot of math involved. Here, I will just say that you should never triple Sky Pirate Flagbearer unless you are in duos and have a good economy because (so that you can find 2 more). This is the most common mistake for beginners as you basically ruin your board if you triple him since the main benefit that you get from him is his Start of Combat Deathrattle ability.
Tavern Tier 5
Rapscallion Recruiter
While this Pirate isn’t particularly good at the endgame composition or does really provide you with any resources, managing to pick him up relatively early will make your tempo very strong, because he is hard to deal with and encounters a lot of shenanigans that players have. Of course, he works extremely well with Admiral Eliza and Titus Riverdale, but that build is kind of old and played out.
Cruise Controller
There is nothing too much to say about CruiseController, except that he is the part of the Deathrattle “Exodia” build, which relies on you summoning a lot of 1/1 pirates. This, in combination with Titus and Skypirate Flagbearer is a good build in the current meta.
Dual-Wield Corsair
Dual-Wield Corsair is also one of the key minions in the stat-gaining pirate build, and, I mean, you get the idea. The more gold you have, the more stats you will get. And do keep in mind that the more gold you have, the more pirates you are able to play and further affect the Doubloon Grifter, which means that in the current state of the game, the pirates have a slow ascendancy, but an extremely powerful late game if you can manage to get there.
Tavern Tier 6
Spacefarer
Spacefarer is the pirate that scales the best. He will have a lot and we mean a lot of HP if you combine him with pirates like Gunpowder Courier. Spacefarer is the final piece in the puzzle for the stat-gaining pirate build but do keep in mind that the first issue you need to tackle is your economy and then if you manage to get a good ball running Spacefarer is the pirate that will win you the game.
Admiral Eliza Goreblade
As we mentioned above, Eliza works very well with Rapscallion Recruiter and Titus. He can be an extremely good tempo minion, as well as the ability to play him in the endgame with the mentioned build. But with all the shenanigans nowadays, this build isn’t that strong and doesn’t scale very well. That said, he is a pretty good pick-up if you need a bit of tempo.
Tavern Tier 7
Captain Sanders
Captain Sanders is pretty self-explanatory and as it’s tier 7, you won’t be seeing much of him in the game, but still we should mention. His Battlecry is extremely powerful and you obviously need to use it on a core minion. One thing to mention is the abuse potential of this Battlecry since Draconic Deathscale or Brann’s Blessing can also be used to trigger this effect and make more of your minions golden. Overall, it’s a pretty powerful minion that is always useful.
Photo Credits: Blizzard Entertainment
