In this Hearthstone Battlegrounds Tavern Spell guide, we will explore all the spells and shortly describe their use cases and overall usefulness. The list is in the order of Tavern Tiers and is made as an intro into the new Tavern spells that fundamentally change how Hearthstone Battlegrounds is played. If you want to learn the fundamentals of the game, you can check out our Hearthstone Battlegrounds guide with tips and builds. Furthermore, you can check out the Battlegrounds Heroes Guide for more info on each Hero. In conclusion, if you are an experienced player, you can check Battlegrounds Duos advanced guide and find something useful there. Having said that, here is the list of all Battlegrounds Tavern Spells that you might use.
Tavern Tier 1
Tavern Coin
Effect (1 Gold): Gain 1 Gold.
This is a very useful spell in a lot of ways. Since there are a lot of minions that give stats when you play a spell, buying a Tavern Coin is a no-brainer in these situations. You lose nothing and trigger the stat-boosting effects of your minions. Also, this Spell can be a useful tool for preserving Gold into the next turn if you are “stuck” with 1-2 Gold at the end of your turn and can’t buy a minion.
Pointy Arrow
Effect (1 Gold): Give a minion +4 Attack.
We are honestly not big fans of this Spell and there are only a few scenarios where this spell would be impactful. If you have early-game minions with Divine Shield or a high HP pool and low attack, sure, this can provide you with some extra firepower. But, spending gold for an attack boost in this period of the game is not optimal.
Fortify
Effect (1 Gold): Give a minion +3 Health and Taunt.
This spell can give you a slight boost in the early game if you need extra HP on a minion. For example, putting it on an Elemental will ensure he dies in most situations and that you get that juicy Tavern stat boost. Moreover, it is surprisingly useful in the later stages of the game, since you can get a Taunt on any minion for 1 Gold.
Tavern Dish Banana
Effect (1 Gold): Give a minion +2/+2.
A pretty Tavern Spell similar to Pointy Arrow and shouldn’t be bought in the beginning since you want to preserve your economy as much as possible. During the late stages of the game, this spell can be used to trigger the minion’s abilities that work with stat gain and spell casting.
Them Apples
Effect (1 Gold): Give minions in the Tavern +1/+3.
This is a nice one since you can combo it with something like Demons and Elementals because it goes naturally well with their play styles. Moreover, it can be used in the early game by buying it and saving it in order to buy 2-3 minions from Tavern at once.
Recruit a Trainee
Effect (2 Gold): Get a random Tier 1 minion.
This spell is useful in the first turn or two if you can manage to “optimize” your Gold based on the choice of your Battlegrounds Hero (Hero Power), buying minions, and this spell. It really depends on the situation, since there are hundreds of different scenarios in this phase of the game, but just keep in mind that you can get a minion for 2 Gold. Other than that, it’s pretty useless in the later stages of the game.
Enchanted Lasso
Effect (2 Gold): Steal a random minion from Bob’s Tavern.
This one is a bit complicated since it depends on what you “steal” from the Tavern. Using it in the early game can be beneficial since you can get a higher Tier minion for 2 Gold. In the later stages of the game, this Spell is somewhat useless since there will be a lot of minions in the Tavern, and the chances of you getting the right one are not that great.
Tavern Tier 2
Careful Investment
Effect (1 Gold): Gain 2 Gold next turn.
This is one of the best spells in the game because the investment/gain is very good. If you have 1-2 Gold at the end of the turn, or you don’t see too many good minions in the Tavern right now, you can “invest” in your next turn and gain an economical edge. Moreover, if you manage to get this from minions that provide you spells, your economy can really skyrocket.
Lantern Light
Effect (2 Gold): Give a minion stats equal to your Tier.
One of the most boring spells in the game, but not a useless one at all. Usually, you won’t buy this spell since a few stats isn’t worth 2 Gold, but if you generate spells from your minions or if you need to just cast spells to trigger stat-gaining abilities from minions, this is a nice way to do it.
Chef’s Choice
Effect (2 Gold): Choose a minion. Get a different minion of the same type.
We consider this a pure RNG spell since you can get the minion you want or a random trash one. If you already know which tribe you are going to play, buying this can be nice, but only if you get lucky…so it’s kind of a dice roll at the end of the day.
Shiny Ring
Effect (2 Gold): Give your minions +1/+1.
Let’s analyze what you actually get here: you spend 2 Gold for +7/+7 stat boost on all your minions (providing that you have 7 minions on the board). This is not a very good trade-off unless you are in a very late-game scenario and have your build completed. Even in that scenario, it would still be better to refresh and look for something more useful.
Strike Oil
Effect (3 Gold): Increase your maximum Gold by 1.
This is the best economy Spell in the game. If you get a few of these early on, you will get a lot of value in the later stages of the game. Moreover, getting this spell by other means (minion powers) is also excellent value. If you are on turn 4,5,6 and this is in the Tavern, 9 times out of 10 it’s smart to buy it. It is expensive, but you will get your value back in a few turns. This is considered as one of the best Hearthstone Battlegrounds Tavern spells in the game.
Hasty Excavation
Effect (3 Gold): Gain 1 Gold. This costs Health to buy instead of Gold.
The first thing that comes to mind with this Spell is that it’s excellent with a Demon build. Outside of Demons, using this spell in the early-mid stages of the game for a few HP trade-offs is an okay choice. The 1 extra Gold can win you battles in these stages of the game. On the other hand, in the later stages, getting 1 Gold for 3 HP is not a good idea and it should be avoided.
Tavern Tier 3
Overconfidence
Effect (1 Gold): If you win your next combat, gain 3 Gold. If you die, gain 1.
Nothing too special to be said about this spell. You place a bet on yourself and that essentially means that you are confident about winning your next battle. You need to have good game sense, remember what your previous opponents had for an army, and be lucky a bit.
Tricky Trousers
Effect (1 Gold): Give a minion +1/+2 and Taunt. If it already has Taunt, remove it.
Tricky Trousers is a niche usage utility spell. You probably won’t be casting it more than once per game unless you are going for a fort build. It works well if you are playing with beasts or if you are just looking for a minion to sacrifice when the combat begins. Note that you can also remove Taunt with it which can be useful if you are playing with Demons.
Fleeting Vigor
Effect (1 Gold): Give a minion +5/+5 until next turn.
Fleeting Vigor is a cheap spell but not a very good one. It can be used in certain situations but most of the time, simple refresh is a better way to spend gold. The only effective usage of this spell is a gold dump or if you are in need to cast any kind of spell (if you are running a spellslinger naga build for example). Other than these situations, Fleeting Vigor is to be avoided.
Echoing Roar
Effect (2 Gold): Give a friendly minion “At the end of your turn, gain +2/+2.”
There is a general problem with Echoing Roar that we have noticed: it doesn’t have a particularly good usage. The issue is the fact that if you use it early on, it will give a decent stat boost eventually but one might argue that you need to look for minions early on and not spend Gold on stats. If you use it in later stages of the game this will not be a problem but then it won’t give enough stats. Unless you have a key minion that needs this buff early on, avoid Echoing Roar.
Planar Telescope
Effect (4 Gold): Discover a minion of your most common type.
Planar Telescope is simply put an awesome spell. Just think of it like this – your regular minions cost 3 Gold. For just 1 Gold more you get to Discover a minon of your most common type. It is good for all kinds of builds except maybe for menagerie type. Overall, this is the spell that you will be looking for in most of your games.
Natural Blessing
Effect (3 Gold): Choose a minion. Give all minions that share a type with it +3/+2.
Natural Blessing is a really good Tavern Spell. It’s good however you use it – early on, late game, whatever – if you have let’s say 6 minions of the same type, you will get +18/+12 power boost for only 3 Gold which is outstanding. This spell works particularly well with builds that are in need of stat-boosting spells such as Dragons or Mechs.
Staff of Enrichment
Effect (3 Gold): Minions in the Tavern have +2/+2 this game.
This Tavern Spell is interesting as it works well with some builds and is a complete waste of money when used in others. For example, it’s perfect if you are going for Tavern-Consume demons as it will effectively give you around +10/+10 if you have Famished Hellbat on the board. On the other hand, if you are playing a build that doesn’t rely on stats (such as Murloc scam) this is a complete waste of Gold.
Tavern Tier 4
Cloning Conch
Effect (4 gold): Get a random Murloc and a copy of it.
Cloning Conch is overall a good spell to get if you know that you will be going for a Murloc build. Basically, you will get 2 random Murlocs for price of 4 gold – chances are that you can use Battlecry or get better value by selling them after you use the spell. To conclude, it is a nice niche spell that doesn’t have a broad usage.
Boon of Beetles
Effect (1 gold): Summon a 10/10 Betle with Taunt when you have space.
Boon of Beetles is a very useful spell. Overall, for a price of 1 gold, you get a nice tempo unit that’s especially good to have early on and in mid-game. Furthermore, if you are running a Beast build, it can be even more useful for triggering Deathrattle:Reborn mechanics that Zoo comp has.
Gem Confiscation
Effect (1 gold): Play 2 Blood Gems on a friendly minion and stell all Blood Gems from it’s neighbors.
This spell is a very niche one – you will need Gem Confiscation only if you are running a Quilboar army and you want to sell a Quilboar minion with something stronger. In that case, most players use this to transfer gems from a minion and then sell/replace it. Overall, it’s OK but only for Quilboars.
Guzzle the Goop
Effect (4 gold): End of turn Dragons get +4 Attack for 3 turns.
Similarly to the previous spell, Guzzle the Good works only with Dragons. It does offer a nice value – for 4 gold, you get +12 attack in total on all your Dragons. This spell can work even better if you have Hunter of Gatherers or other Dragon minions which abilities trigger when they gain attack.
Plunder Seeker
Effect (7 gold): Steal a random card from the Tavern for each Pirate you control
In all honesty, Plunder Seeker is not a good Battlegrounds Tavern Spell. First of all, Pirates are in a weird spot this season and the last thing you want is to waste gold on minions that you don’t need. Sure, if you somehow have like 3 minions that you need in Tavern and several pirates on board, you can use this – but this will happen once in a blue moon.
Spitescale Special
Effect (2 gold): Get 3 random Spellcrafts
Spitescale Special is another tribe-based spell that works fine in two scenarios. The first one is obvious – if you are running a Deep Blue comp, obviously you need as many spells as you can get to buff your Deep Blues and minions in the Tavern. The second one is a bit of a niche: if it’s the last turn and you are in dire need of Divine Shield on one of your minions, you can gamble and use this in hopes of getting it. Good luck!
Toxic Tumbleweed
Effect (2 gold): Start of Combat summon a 1/1 Tumbling with Venomous that attacks immedietly.
Toxic Tumbleweed is a very useful scam Tavern Spell. It works in all sorts of comps, and it’s especially effective in Battlegrounds Duos. It’s pretty straightforward: for a price of 2 gold, you get one-shot Venomous thingy that can turn the tides of the fight. Fun, right?
Suspicious Stimulant
Effect (4 gold): Choose a minion in the Tavern, lock it in hand and in 1 turn double its stats.
Another niche HS BG Tavern Spell is Suspicious Stimulant. It works nicely only in comps that rely on boosting minions in Tavern, such as Living Azerite or Blue Shelemental. In all other cases, this spell is really slow and you don’t really need it.
Ritual of Growth
Effect (2 Gold): Replace all cards in the Tavern with ones of a Tier higher.
Ritual of Growth does have it’s use but in general, is not a very good Tavern Spell. If you are in mid-game and looking for a specific key minion on a tier higher than what you are at, you can use Ritual of Growth. The same thing can be said if you are stuck on Tavern Tier 5 and can’t upgrade. Other than those scenarios, this spell is not a very useful one.
Misplaced Tea Set
Effect (3 Gold): Give a friendly minion of each type +3/+3.
This Tavern Spell is pretty useful if you are playing a menagerie type of build. It can be used as a tempo spell during mid-game if you have minions of different types and if you are in need of stat-boosting. Other than that, you should avoid Misplaced Tea Set.
Hired Headhunter
Effect (3 Gold): Discover a Battlecry minion.
Similarly to Bran’s Blessing, Hired Headhunter Tavern Spell is only useful if you are going for a Battlecry build. In all other scenarios, it is just a waste of money and pretty RNG. It works well with Murlocs and Dragons but that’s about it.
Contracted Corpse
Effect (3 Gold): Discover a Deathrattle minion.
Again, similarly to Titus’ Tribute, Contracted Corpse works well when you are exploiting minion Deathrattles. The problem with this spell is that so many minions have this ability that it can be pretty random.
Defender’s Rites
Effect (3 Gold): Give a friendly minion +8/+8 and Taunt.
Generally speaking, this is a combination of stat-boosting and utility types of spells. The stat that it gives is not negligible but Defender’s Rites probably see more usage because of its Taunt-giving effect. As we mentioned earlier, it can come in handy when having a Beast or Murloc army.
Tavern Tier 5
Armor Stash
Effect (2 Gold): Set your Armor to 5.
This is an overall good protective Spell that you can utilize in the mid-late stages of the game. Usually, if you have around 10-20 HP, the extra 5 Armor can save you more often than you think. Moreover, the cost of 2 Gold is not that bad.
Dreamer’s Embrace
Effect (3 Gold): Trigger a friendly minion’s Battlecry.
As you can already guess, this Tavern Spell is very situational. Triggering a Battlecry is a good ability, but consider the 3 Gold cost. It is usually good with Dragon Demon and similar high-impact Battlecries.
Golden Touch
Effect (5 Gold): Make a random minion in the Tavern Golden.
Look at this spell as a big roll of dice. Firstly, you will “roll” to make the Tavern minion Golden, and this can be a very good or a useless minion. Next, you will get to discover a Tier 6 minion, which is also a big “roll”. Considering this type of RNG and the 5 Gold cost, we can safely say that the effectiveness of this spell solely relies on rolling high.
Buddy Up
Effect (3 Gold): Discover a Buddy.
Consider this spell very niche and extremely situational. Discovering a Buddy is great, but when you’re this late in the game (Tier 5), getting a random Buddy is rarely impactful. On the other hand, if you are skilled (and lucky) enough, you can pull off some crazy stuff, but in a lot of situations, buying this spell is a waste of Gold.
Upper Hand
Effect (3 Gold): Start of Combat: Set a random enemy minion’s Health to 1.
This is the only “offensive” spell in the game, meaning it does something to the enemy board instead of yours. We have to point out that this is clearly a late-game spell and should be used in the mid-game where it is essential to build up your army. For example, it can be very powerful if you manage to turn a 500/500 minion into a 500/1. The main problem is its randomness and cost, preventing you from buying it if you don’t really need it.
Butchering
Effect (2 gold): Destroy a friendly Undead and give extra attack equal to it’s Tier this game
Butchering is another niche spell that works well if you are running an Undead comp and have a high Tier minion that you don’t need anymore (or want to cast it’s Deathrattle effect). That being said, this spell won’t win you the game – it’s just a tempo thing and sure, you can use it, but most of the time it won’t make much difference, you will still need all key minion for Undead comp in order to win.
Corrupted Cupcakes
Effect (4 gold): Friendly Demon consumes all minions in the Tavern
Another spell that is Tribe based is Corrupted Cupcakes. It works nicely since chances are that, by the time you obtain it, your minions in the Tavern will be buffed up and this will get you at least +30/+30 on one of your minions. We use it usually on Soul Rewinder as he has difficulties with his Attack potential but you can put it on any other Demon you see fit.
Top of the Beanstalk
Effect(5 gold): Discover a Tier 6 minion
Top of the Beanstalk is a great spell, especially in Duos (upgrade cost is higher). There is not much to say about this as it’s pretty straight forward and super RNG based – we just hope that you get the minion that you are looking for. Good luck!
Tavern Tier 6
Perfect Vision
Effect (2 Gold): Set a minion’s stats to 20/20.
This spell is good value for its effect, the main problem is that it’s tier 6. Once you reach Tavern level 6, you won’t need the stat set, and in most cases, it would be a minor boost since only one or maybe two of your minions can gain something from this spell.
Saloon’s Finest
Effect (2 Gold): Refresh the Tavern with Tavern spells.
This one is very helpful, especially if you’re going for a spell build, and just need to cast as much of them as possible. You can get a lot of value from it since there are some very powerful spells at this stage of the game, and filling the whole Tavern up with random ones gives you a high chance of getting the one you need.
Lost Staff of Hamuul
Effect (2 Gold): Choose a minion. Refresh the Tavern with minions of that type.
Probably one of the most useful spells in the game. Unless you are playing with mixed minions, nine times out of ten you can benefit from this spell and find the minion that you are looking for from your given Tribe.
Azerite Empowerment
Effect (4 Gold): Give your minions +4/+4.
Nothing too special about this one. It is pretty expensive, and usually straight-up buying it is not a great value, but getting it from other means (special abilities from minions, hero power, etc.) will be very beneficial since you get a “free” +4/+4 stat boost. It’s a way to ensure that spell builds have a scalable late-game.
Photo Credits: Blizzard Entertainment